Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Study Explores Consumer Confusion About Native Advertising

David A. Hyman of Illinois, David J. Franklyn of San Francisco, Calla E. Yee, and Mohammad Hossein Rahmati of Sharif University of Technology have written Going Native: Can Consumers Recognize Native Advertising? Does it Matter?  Here's the abstract: Native advertising, which matches the look and feel of unpaid news and editorials, has exploded online. The Federal […]

Payday Lending is a Public Health Concern and Other Payday Lending News

by Jeff Sovern So says a study from the Glassgow Centre for Population Health, Public Health Implications of Payday Lending. The study's "key messages:" • Payday lending is a contemporary public health concern: the vulnerability of the populations involved, the urgency, scale and growth of the issue coupled with the corrosive nature of personal debt and financial […]

Former CFPB Staffer Op-Ed in Weekly Standard Criticizes Proposed Debt Collection Regs

Here. The staffer, Ronald L. Rubin, has also served as senior counsel to the House Financial Services Committee and as a partner at a big law firm.  Excerpts: Nobody should be charged, harassed, or sued for a debt they've already paid or for someone else's debt. However, the CFPB's proposed solution is a hopelessly complex […]

Newman Paper: Free Things Aren’t

John M. Newman of Memphis has written The Myth of Free.  Here's the abstract: Myths matter. This Article is the first to squarely confront a powerful myth that pervades modern economic, technological, and legal discourse: the Myth of Free. The prevailing view is that consumers capture massive welfare surplus from an ever-rising flood of innovative […]

Employer’s Lawyer Explains That Arbitrators Favor Employers Out of Self-Interest

Irvine lawyer Greg Labate is quoted in the Orange County Register: Labate advises clients to get their employees to sign arbitration agreements, waiving their right to sue in court, and sending disputes to privately hired arbitrators. * * * “People question whether arbitration tends to favor employers,” Labate told a [Professionals in Human Resources Association] […]

Adam Levitin Paper: Digital Wallets and Honor All Wallets Rules

Adam J. Levitin of Georgetown has written Pandora's Digital Box: Digital Wallets and the Honor All Wallets Rules.  Here's the abstract: Digital wallets are poised to transform the world of retailing. These digital wallets, such as ApplePay and Android Pay, are “smart” payment devices that can integrate payments with two-way, real-time communications of any type […]

Noll Article on Regulating Arbitration, including the CFPB’s Proposed Regulation

David L. Noll of Rutgers has written Regulating Arbitration,  California Law Review, Forthcoming.  Here's the abstract:  Arbitration is everywhere, as are calls to regulate its use in consumer and employment contracts. But when should Congress and federal administrative agencies do so? That is, what is the policy rationale for regulating arbitration through federal legislation and agency […]

The Conversation: How companies learn what children secretly want

Here.  Op-ed by Faith Boninger, Research Associate in Education Policy, University of Colorado, and Alex Molnar, Research Professor, University of Colorado.  Excerpt: In the U.S. and around the world, millions of digital data points are collected daily from children by private companies that provide educational technologies to teachers and schools. Once data are collected, there is little […]

WSJ Article Criticizes CFPB for Using “Mystery Shoppers” Who Find Evidence of Racial Discrimination

by Jeff Sovern Here (behind paywall).  Excerpt: In 2013, a loan officer at BancorpSouth Bank's Madison, Ala., branch received visits from two people with similar profiles within 10 days of each other, both saying they were first-time home buyers — one white, the other black. The employee allegedly steered the black customer to a smaller […]