Bair has a new book out, and so has been the subject of some media attention. CNN/Money interviewed her and among the questions was an exchange about the CFPB. Her reply: I support the Bureau, and I also strongly endorse it in the book. And I think they’re doing a good job. I am, if […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
The short version, coauthored with John DeStefano, is at HuffPo. Here's an excerpt: CIRC is a system for scoring local banks on a variety of issues that are important to consumers, like the amount banks charge their customers to open and maintain accounts, the location of their local branches and ATMs, and the nature and extent […]
Paige Marta Skiba of Vanderbilt, Marieke Bos of Stockholm University – Swedish Institute for Social Research and Susan Carter of the United States Military Academy have written The Pawn Industry and Its Customers: The United States and Europe. Here's the abstract: As humankind’s oldest financial institution, pawnbroking has served the financial needs of low-income families […]
Adi Osovsky, a Harvard SJD candidate, has written The Misconception of the Consumer as a Homo Economicus: A Behavioral Economic Approach to Consumer Protection in the Credit Reporting System, forthcoming in the Suffolk University Law Review. Here's the abstract: The significant increase in the number of consumer transactions, along with the expansion of information technology, […]
Amitai Etzioni has written The Privacy Merchants: What is to Be Done? Here is the abstract: Rights have been long understood, first and foremost, as protection of the private from the public, the individual from the State. True, we also recognize positive rights (such as socioeconomic rights) and the government’s duty to protect citizens from violations […]
Here. The headline: A Sense of Déjà Vu in Latest Hill Appearance of CFPB Chief. An excerpt: First came the obligatory complaint that Cordray's January recess appointment was illegal. "Dodd Frank made you a very powerful appointee, but not a legitimate appointee," Representative Jeb Hensarling (R–Texas) told the perpetually unflappable Cordray. "There's a big gray […]
David J. Reiss of Brooklyn has written Comment on the Use of Eminent Domain to Restructure Performing Loans. Here is the abstract: There has been a lot of fear-mongering by financial industry trade groups over the widespread use of eminent domain to restructure residential mortgages. While there may be legitimate business reasons to oppose its […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. An excerpt: A group of Republican state attorneys general has declined to sign cooperation agreements with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, part of an escalating Republican revolt against the agency that began in the U.S. Congress. Richard Cordray, the agency’s director, asked all 50 states in March to sign a memorandum of […]
Sunday's Times reported that the next version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer will include a "Do Not Track" privacy setting as a default. Consumers installing the browser will be presented with the option of switching from the default to permit tracking. Excerpts: But the specter of people opting out of tracking en masse presents a serious […]