Loan problems

A logical continuation of the discussion of stereotypes and trends in the economic behavior of the population in times of crisis is to consider the issue of selling financial services. We have already touched upon the issue that financial behavior can be considered as a kind of integrating part of the economic and broader social behavior of the population.

An important factor influencing financial behavior is the design of the financial services system. Hence, the topic of the second discussion within the framework of the project “Creation of social partnership institutions in the financial market”, implemented by the “Center for the Development of Business and Cultural Cooperation “Expert” and the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, will be “The practice of selling financial services: between ethics and law.”

As the organizers noted in the announcement, the modern financial market offers a wide range of services. Among the most popular and at the same time the most problematic are: mortgage lending, microloans, consumer lending, insurance, car loans. During the discussion, it is planned to compare the opinions and experiences of representatives of various types of economic entities and social groups about what constitutes a problematic situation, what are the existing trends and what could be the directions for solving existing problems and contradictions.

The financial services market is quite diverse; the organizers decided to focus on the issue of lending and related services and processes (from insurance to the work of collection agencies).

As in the first discussion, the conversation will be structured around basic forks covering problems, trends and possible solutions.

Problem analysis involves identifying the entities creating problems, the origins and nature of the problem situation. In the first case, it makes sense to understand whose actions are the root of the problem being analyzed - business, the state, individual citizens, society as a whole or its certain parts, the expert community (leaving aside the marginal point of view about the harmful effects of some external to a given society of actors.

Following the question of the subject, the question of the genesis of problems should be raised. Are they caused by a lack or excess of government regulation, a lack or excess of business self-regulation, underdevelopment of the broader institutional environment (including, say, the law enforcement and judicial system), a low level of development of business culture, a low level of development of financial literacy of the population, etc.

Note that the fork between regulation and self-regulation (together with social control) is somewhat consistent with the fork between the “law” and “ethics” indicated in the title of the discussion.

Speaking about the structure of the problem, it is advisable to identify exactly what types of interactions and between what groups of economic entities are perceived as problematic, what are the criteria and boundary conditions for the problematic nature of these interactions. A separate issue is the degree of symmetry in the assessment of interactions as problematic by different subjects participating in them or forming their assessment due to one form or another of correlation with a given area.

Moving from a synchronic to a diachronic view, it seems important to analyze the nature of the changes taking place in general and by type of financial services, as well as by specific types of interactions and the entities that carry them out: whether we are talking about a more or less unchanged picture, about an increase in problematicness or its weakening, Are these processes uniform for different spheres, subjects and types of interactions?

Moving from trends to solutions, it is important to recognize the partial mirroring of this discussion to the discussion of problems. Of course, the subjects of problem solving do not necessarily have to coincide with the subjects of their creation, but, say, the genesis and structure of problems is likely to be reflected in the directions of influence in solving problems.

So, one of the questions is who exactly should solve the problems existing in the field of financial services - business (financial and not only), the state, citizens, society, the expert community, some external actors?

Related to this question is the question of how exactly these problems should be solved, for example, whether the state should tighten regulation, maintain it in its current form, weaken it, or perhaps make regulation more understandable. Should the state set up a dialogue with business, set up a dialogue with society, etc.

The next question arises about the actions of business to solve the identified problems: does it need to strengthen self-regulation, maintain it in its current form, weaken self-regulation, build it on some other principles, set up a dialogue with society, set up a dialogue with the state.

The question also arises about the tasks of society: strengthening the self-organization of society, the formation of full-fledged institutions of civil control, mutual assistance, etc.

A separate issue is a set of tasks for the expert community - including research into the functioning of institutions in Russia and other countries, development of proposals for improving Russian (and, perhaps, interstate) institutions, development of relevant projects and their promotion, provision of expertise and constant educational activities, the addressee of which There can be both ordinary citizens and representatives of the state and business.

The role of external actors interested in setting up the institutional environment in Russia may also be noticeable - in their interaction with government agencies and business, civil society and the expert community.

A separate question is about the role of educational activities - the solution of which of the problems arising from which subjects it can contribute to, respectively - who should be its addressee, in what aspects and forms it should be carried out, who should be the subject of educational activities (is it only the expert community and etc.) and who, finally, should be its social “customer”.

Discussing the answers to these questions seems to help achieve the goals of the project being implemented.