Last week, we posted about JP Morgan's tentative agreement with the federal government to pay $13 billion to settle claims that it knowingly sold faulty mortgage securities that contributed to the financial crisis. The Wall Street Journal's editorial page and other members of the conservative press responded to the agreement by calling it a shakedown by […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
That's the finding of this study from the New America Foundation. Here's the Foundation's data summary: Last year, the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute published The Cost of Connectivity, a first-of-its-kind study of the cost of consumer broadband services in 22 cities around the world. The results showed that, in comparison to their international […]
That's how much nuclear waste is hanging around the U.S. — a good bit of it in Illinois — with no feasible solution in sight that would provide long-term (or even middle-term), safe storage. The waste is comprised of spent fuel from nuclear reactors. As this report by Brian Wingfield explains: With no place to […]
Over two years ago, we posted a link to an opinion piece by former Senator Christopher Dodd, which responded to common criticisms of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, including the criticism that the law's allegedly excessive regulation will harm small, "community" banks. Now, law professor Tanya Marsh and Joseph Norman have written The Impact of […]
For years now, some people wanting the U.S. to trim "entitlement" costs have, among other things, proposed raising the age at which non-disabled people become eligible for Medicare. The current eligibility age is 65. (Disabled people generally are eligible for Medicare two years after they become eligible for federal disability benefits.) Early last year, the […]
This article by Jennifer Haberkorn says that delaying implementation of the Affordable Care Act is not as easy as bumping things back a few days on the calendar. Insurance companies would raise a ruckus because they set their prices based on customers enrolling before April. The Obama administration doesn’t want to push the successful enrollment […]
We have covered the question whether self-driving cars would benefit consumers by making driving easier and reducing injuries and deaths from crashes. California has enacted legislation setting up a framework for the regulation of self-driving cars in that state. At the federal level, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration announced a new policy in late […]
We blog frequently here about access-to-the-courts issues, such as standing, class-action status, pre-dispute mandatory arbitration, and so forth. So, I thought our readers might be interested in this decision issued today by Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia holding that an advocacy group (Scenic America) has standing to […]
by Bradley Girard (guest post) File this under terrifying. Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission settled with Aaron's, a rent-to-own furniture company, over charges that Aaron’s violated laws protecting consumer privacy. Aaron’s franchisees were allegedly renting computers with pre-installed software that secretly monitored consumers and transmitted information back to Aaron’s. Now, this would be cause for […]
In case you didn't see it, go here or click on the embedded video below for a 60 Minutes report claiming that members of Congress use "Leadership" PACs, the hiring of family members on campaigns, and high-interest loans to themselves to enrich their lifestyles and, sometimes, their and their family members' personal bank accounts. And, […]