As this article by Jared Bernstein explains, corporate profits as a percentage of gross domestic product has passed where it was prior to the economic recession, but compensation as a percentage of gross domestic product is far lower that pre-recession levels. See the graph below.
by Jeff Sovern We have blogged many times about the Republican call for the CFPB to have a commission-structure, rather than a director (see, for example, here). That call has been spearheaded by Senator Shelby. So that makes it all the more surprising to note that during the Senate's consideration of what became the Dodd-Frank […]
Myriam E. Gilles of Cardozo has written Killing Them with Kindness: ‘Consumer-Friendly’ Arbitration Clauses after AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, forthcoming in Notre Dame Law Review. Herer’s the abstract: In AT&T v. Concepcion, the Supreme Court struck California’s so-called “Discover Bank rule” – a judge-made rule providing that arbitration agreements attended by class action waivers are […]
Here is a report on the pain involved in satisfying the "undue hardship" standard for discharging student loans in bankruptcy and here is a story about the case Scott Michelman blogged about earlier this week addressing debt collector liability for misleading borrowers about the dischargeability of student loans.
Daniel Schwarcz of Minnesota has written Transparently Opaque: Understanding the Lack of Transparency in Insurance Consumer Protection. Here's the abstract: Consumer protection in most domains of financial regulation centers on transparency. Broadly construed, transparency involves making relevant information available to consumers as well as others who might act on their behalf, such as academics, journalists, […]
by Paul Alan Levy Many groups at Public Citizen issue hard-hitting reports, but we are scrupulous about reviewing reports about particular companies and individuals to ensure their accuracy, not to speak of avoiding the prospect of libel litigation. This was certainly true with respect to letters to the FDA back in July, asking why it […]
Today, the Supreme Court granted a petition that asks whether the named plaintiff in a class action filed in state court can prevent removal of the case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) by filing with the complaint a “stipulation” that states that the class will not damages of […]