Simply to raise the cap on fees would exacerbate this problem, while allowing the value of fees to depreciate with inflation begins to deflate the problem away.
It is also true that with no prospect of the cap on tuition fees rising in this parliament, the value of fees is declining year on year in line with inflation, at the present rate of 2.7%.
The mean value of fees is about €96 with a big standard deviation of 89, mostly due to some outliers paying up to €1,060 per month.
School education was made free in 1980, but since 1988, the government has steadily increased the charges attached to school enrolment until they now greatly exceed the real value of fees in 1980.
After the English Civil War four bills were presented to parliament, but all failed after opposition from gentry, farmers and traders worried about cheaper water transport reducing the value of fees on turnpike roads they controlled, and cheaper produce from Wales undercutting locally produced food.
As in the case of the cost of goods, the relative value of fees for vaccine administration and for diagnosis could also impact on the price acceptable to the regulator and the investment decision.
The total value of settlements reached between regulators and Putnam is now about $1.8 billion, including penalties, restitution and the value of fee reductions.
Settlements, including penalties, restitution and the value of fee reductions, have totaled $1.8 billion so far for all mutual fund companies, not for Putnam alone.
In a comprehensive study into the value of fee-paying "packaged" accounts by consumer group Which?, to be published on 25 October, it found that the very best offering, Nationwide's FlexPlus, comes with add-ons that amount to triple the annual cost of the account.
The consumer group Which? says it has been analysing the value of fee-charging bank accounts for many years and has concluded "that you can often get the extra benefits cheaper elsewhere, and that some of the 'benefits' just aren't that much use".
Robert Hiltonsmith, a policy analyst who has written and talked about the hidden expenses in 401(k) and other retirement plans for news outlets left, right and center, said in a recent "Fresh Air" interview that many retirement accounts lose as much as 30% of their value to fees.
