by Jeff Sovern President Obama has done more for consumer protection than any president in a generation. His accomplishments include signing the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, anti-predatory lending laws, and limited the power of traditionally pro-bank agencies like the OCC to preempt state laws protective of consumers; signing the Credit CARD […]
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AdWeek has an article this morning about the more aggressive pursuit by the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection of large companies engaged in deceptive advertising. The article focuses on the Bureau's leadership under David Vladeck, who after more than three years as the Bureau's director will soon return to Georgetown Law School. As […]
Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affrimed a class-action judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in Matmaros v. Starbucks Corp., Nos. 12-1189 and 12-1207. The plaintiffs were Starbucks baristas who claimed that, under a Massachusetts wage law known as the Tips Act, they did not have to share the cash […]
Yes, according to Richard Posner. Posner says that people needing a kidney have to wait about six months on average. Meanwhile, they are often on expensive dialysis, which greatly diminishes the quality of their ilves. Here are some exceprts from Posner's piece: If kidneys were salable, the waiting time for a transplant would drop precipitately, […]
Many of the readers of this blog are advocates for consumers' welfare. Many of them are lawyers. But did they become financially literate in law school? Do they know enough about financial transcations to promote useful systemic reform? NYU law school has decided to require all of its students to take a course in financial […]
In the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 and the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 Congress expressly preempted some state laws and regulations that would set the economic rules for the commerical airline and trucking industries. Congress had partially deregulated those industries, and, to an extent, it didn't want the states to disturb the […]
The Supreme Court granted review on Friday in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant. Here is the question presented in the petition: Whether the Federal Arbitration Act permits courts, invoking the “federal substantive law of arbitrability,” to invalidate arbitration agreements on the ground that they do not permit class arbitration of a federal law […]
Appointment to the Senate Banking Committee is a plum usually reserved for Senators with more seniority than Senator-Elect Elizabeth Warren — that is, Senators with at least some seniority — but it appears that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may make it happen because of Warren's expertise on banking and finance issues. Read about it […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday I blogged about senatorial votes on consumer protection (a more succinct version of the special report can be found in the American Banker). During the period we studied–2009 to 2012–Congress voted on two major consumer protection bills, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 and the Dodd-Frank Act. But other votes were […]
by Jeff Sovern Now that the election is over, the post is back! Read the American Banker op-ed on the study here. My student, Andrew Lipkowitz, and I recently reviewed the votes of the members of the United States Senate going back to 2009 on consumer issues. I'm reporting some of the findings today and […]