by Jeff Sovern Bear with me for a moment. As is well-known, Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein,in their important book Nudge, describe how classical microeconomics assumes that all people are rational. They call such rational people "Homo Economicus" or, for short, "Econs." But, as they also describe, and as Thaler elaborates on in his […]
Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The late Jean Braucher of Arizona and Angela K. Littwin of Texas have written Examination as a Method of Consumer Protection, 87 Temple Law Review, 807 (2015). Here is the abstract: Lack of compliance with consumer protection law has been a crucial problem in the field for as long as such law has existed. The Consumer […]
by Jeff Sovern In a recent American Banker essay, I argued that businesses praise arbitration not because they genuinely value it, but because it enables them to block class actions. I said that for two reasons: first, that if businesses truly believe arbitration is superior to litigation, as they say they do, they should prefer […]
Here. Excerpts: [T]he U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the most powerful business lobby in the country, started a new effort to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by lobbying lawmakers to attach a rider to the federal budget bill that would force the regulator to conduct a new study before issuing any rule, according to people […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. Excerpt: [C]ompanies can use class action waivers to block consumer protection laws unless consumer protection laws find a way to block class action waivers. * * * Last month, the bureau made public a proposal to block class action waivers in arbitration clauses. A leading advocate for arbitration in the financial […]
Allison posted yesterday about the anti-CFPB ad. The American Banker's Rachel Witkowski and Rob Blackwell have more here. Among their reasons for saying it could backfire: "the ad is over the top;" "Consumer credit isn't tighter since the CFPB's creation;" and "The ad's sponsor has connections to a company under investigation by the CFPB."
Here. The entire essay is worth reading, but here's an excerpt to whet your appetite: The latest industry-sponsored bill would fundamentally change the structure of the CFPB by replacing the agency's single, independent director with a commission of political appointees. * * * [T]he agency is working, which may be exactly why the big […]
by Jeff Sovern Did Congress give the CFPB the power to ban or regulate arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts? Not according to a Pepper Hamilton partner, according to a pair of recent reports. Here's an excerpt from a piece at credit.com. The CFPB’s Arbitration Ban Could Be the Next Supreme Court Showdown: “It comes down […]