by Brian Wolfman Last October, we told you that California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that establishes a regulatory framework for allowing self-driving cars on California roads. If self-driving cars work as planned they will greatly reduce crashes that kill and maim tens of thousands of people every year. They'll improve fuel economy too. […]
After 42 years as head of Public Citizen Health Research Group, Dr. Sidney Wolfe is handing the reins over to his deputy director Dr. Michael Carome, effective today. Sid founded the Group in 1971, with Ralph Nader. Under Sid’s direction, Public Citizen helped to have 25 dangerous drugs removed from the market and pushed the […]
by Brian Wolfman After the Supreme Court last summer held (7 to 2) that the Affordable Care Act's medicaid expansion could not be forced on the states under the Constitution's so-called Spending Clause, it was left to the states to decide whether they wanted the expansion. Medicaid expansion under the ACA is broad, providing coverage […]
by Deepak Gupta The Voice of San Diego has been publishing a muli-part series on mandatory arbitration by reporter Will Carless. The most recent installment explores the war on consumer class actions and the impact of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion. Previous installments focus on arbitration secrecy, the National Arbitration Forum debacle, and the plight of an individual […]
by Jeff Sovern Last week, the Times ran an article about companies that sell consumer data to businesses but won't provide it to the consumers involved. Despite the headline, reprinted above, I thought the article didn't really explain why companies won't provide the information to consumers. So I wrote a letter with my explanation, which […]
by Jeff Sovern Tomorrow's Sunday Times has a series of letters on the issue of whether society needs more regulation or less. One letter, by Dennis Canfield of Western Springs, Ill., opines: The problem with the current state of government involvement in our daily lives is that the overwhelming majority of it — from employment regulations […]
by Jeff Sovern The report is here. The study identifed "best" and "good practices" and then looked to see if 36 of the largest 50 banks employed those practices (the practices of the other 14 could not be obtained without physically visting the banks). From the Overview: Pew defines best practices as those that are the […]
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Richard Cordray announced today that the agency has enhanced its Consumer Complaint Database to include state-by-state information. The CFPB also added complaints about money transfers and credit reporting to the database. “This data puts valuable information in the hands of consumers to help them understand what is happening in their […]
As explained in this article by Ylan Mui, "American households have rebuilt less than half of the wealth lost during the recession, leaving them without the spending power to fuel a robust economic recovery, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve."
Here. One possible compromise: create an inspector general for the CFPB.