Max N. Helveston of DePaul has written Judicial Deregulation of Consumer Markets, forthcoming in the Cardozo Law Review. Here's the abstract: The dangers posed by insufficiently regulated consumer markets are both real and monumental. While the rights of consumers expanded drastically in the mid-to-late twentieth century, these protections have weakened in the new millennium. […]
by Jeff Sovern Last Friday, I posted a comment on Alan Kaplinsky’s remarks, quoted in the Bloomberg Business story, Bank Customers May Get Their Day in Court, about the CFPB arbitration report. Alan replied in a post captioned “Sovern v. Kaplinsky.” Here I offer a rebuttal. In my original post, I expressed the view that […]
The Hill reports that on a party-line vote, "[t]he Senate Budget Committee added an amendment to the GOP budget that would subject the agency’s budget to the congressional appropriations process. Currently, the CFPB receives its funding directly from the Federal Reserve, and bureau advocates argue that giving appropriators control would allow Republicans to starve the […]
Seeking to help consumers avoid becoming trapped in a cycle of debt, the CFPB announced today that it is considering new rules that would require payday lenders to take steps to make sure that borrowers can repay their loans. The Bureau's press release explains the problem: For consumers living paycheck to paycheck, the short timeframe […]
The CFPB's field hearing on payday lending is underway, and is being livestreamed at the Bureau's website. Watch it here.
by Jeff Sovern Not that I need one, but my question is prompted by my expectation that during the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus's field hearing today on payday lending, the Bureau will propose new restrictions on payday lending. Critics may claim that the restrictions will drive consumers to loan sharks. For a past example of […]
Two weeks ago, we flagged an NPR piece about the dangers of transporting oil by rail. Very glad to see that we're not the only ones concerned. Today, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington will introduce federal legislation to prevent oil train disasters. From the Public Citizen release on the bill: The U.S. Department of Transportation […]
Commentator Nicholas Kristof has never been a fan of unions, but in this New York Times op-ed, he explains, he’s changed his mind about them. Why? In Kristof’s words: I’m as appalled as anyone by silly work rules and $400,000 [salaries for] stagehands [at Carnegie Hall], or teachers’ unions shielding the incompetent. But unions also […]
Last week the Department of Health and Human Services (which includes the Food and Drug Administration) announced it would curtail the controversial practice of including "lost pleasure" as a "cost" of health regulations when it does a cost/benefit analysis of the regulations. Including "lost pleasure" in the analysis artificially reduced the projected health benefits of […]
by Jeff Sovern According to ThinkAdvisor, Georgia Senator David Perdue has introduced an amendment that would subject the CFPB to the congressional appropriations process. Calling the Bureau "reckless," Perdue added "the CFPB is a rogue agency that dishes out malicious financial policy and creates new rules and regulations without any oversight from Congress. As seems […]