Spending on artificial intelligence—think data centers—may have accounted for as much as half of GDP growth in the first half of the year. But economic growth does not always equal a better deal for consumers. Early tech adopters in the food space remind us why. To be sure, plenty of food tech innovations, from photosensory … Continued
If the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were to close its doors today, 836,588 Americans would be left waiting for an answer to the complaints they have filed with the CFPB. According to records in the still-operating CFPB Complaint Database, these complaints are labeled “in progress.” In essence, they have been filed, but not resolved. … Continued
Research is an essential part of any advocacy campaign. Whether you’re fighting payday lenders or pushing for greater privacy protections, legislators and regulators respond best to data that illustrate the scope and severity of a problem. One of the most effective ways to display data are with maps. Maps make abstract national and state-level averages … Continued
Trump-installed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Russ Vought is abandoning all pretense that he is serving the interests of anyone other than corporate lawbreakers. One of the ways the political leadership at the CFPB has tried to save face and contest the painfully obvious truth that it wants to end the Bureau altogether is … Continued
As our climate crisis intensifies, insurance companies are increasingly picking winners and losers in who can still afford home insurance and homeownership. Insurance costs are eating up growing shares of household budgets. Between 2021 and 2024, premiums rose in 95 percent of ZIP codes. More and more homeowners are now underinsured or uninsured. Communities of … Continued
Topics in this issue: New Report Warns Black Friday Shoppers of Unsafe Products on Online Marketplaces The Insurance Market Over the Past Five Years: What Consumers Should Know What to Make of “MAHA-Con”? CFA Challenges Trump’s Attempted Firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter
Last week, top Trump Administration officials including Vice President JD Vance and HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. spoke at an event dubbed the “Official MAHA Summit.” Aside from a conversation between Vance and RFK, Jr., the conference was not televised and excluded press. But its available now in podcast form! As FoodFix’s Helena Bottemiller Evich remarked, … Continued
As the Administration fights court orders to pay out federal food assistance to 42 million people, stories of desperation abound. With luck, the shutdown will soon put an end to the untold humiliation and stress suffered by 1 in 8 Americans who have lost a critical lifeline. But this political debacle’s public health impacts will … Continued
When I joined the Consumer Federation of America in spring 2020, I quickly plunged into the complex and fast-changing world of auto and homeowners insurance markets, learning quickly about gaps in consumer protection and the many ways we needed to stand up for consumer rights. The problems that have come into focus include extraordinary premium … Continued
Topics in this issue: New Report Demonstrates Mortgage Deserts Exist Nationwide CFA Analysis Shows Insurance CEOs Get 27% Salary and Bonus Bump While Consumers See Premium Hikes and NonRenewals The United States of Amnesia: Forgotten Lessons from the 2008 Financial Crisis The Federal Communications Commission is About to Unleash Unstoppable Robocalls
Back in September, with the shutdown looming, the Trump Administration issued “lapse of funding” plans for the various Executive agencies, including the Department of Agriculture. The plans describe the “essential” operations that will continue during a shutdown. At USDA, those operations included funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. More specifically, they included paying … Continued
The government shutdown – now heading into its fourth week – intensifies nine months of the Trump Administration’s attacks on critical agencies and programs. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been among the targets facing deep funding and staffing cuts: the agency has lost nearly 30 percent of staff since January 2025. … Continued
October is National Co-op Month and many may not know that co-ops were part of the original coalition of organizations that came together and established CFA to advocate for the consumer interest. CFA’s member organizations are not only national, state, and local consumer advocacy groups, but also state and local protection agencies, credit unions, rural … Continued
Yes, really. Robocalls are public enemy number one, yet Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr has boasted an approach of “delete, delete, delete” to the scant regulations that are in place to police the billions of robocalls Americans receive every month. To be sure, the framework for regulating robocalls, texts and unwanted telemarketing solicitations is complicated … Continued
I love Zen Koans. If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a noise? What is the sound of one hand clapping? If no one counts the bodies, did anyone really die? Ok, I made up that last one. But lately, the sentiment seems to guide many of the nation’s top policymakers as … Continued
“Selling cars to the general public has been reduced to a contest of which dealership can effectively lie the best.” –Mike Montalvo, California “I have called no less than 15 dealerships in southern California and not a single dealership has an accurate price listed online. Not a single one. It is usually $10-$15K more than … Continued
“You and your policies are really helping a lot” – Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella “Thank you for being such a pro-business and pro-innovation president…We’re very excited to see what you’re doing to make all of our companies and our entire country so successful” – OpenAI Sam Altman “We’re making it really easy for you…getting you … Continued
By Mary Barrow, CFA Legal Intern The first two installments of this blog series revealed how government policies facilitate rapid data center expansion and how the lack of transparency disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities. This third and final installment examines the tangible and deeply personal harms these communities endure: soaring utility prices, water scarcity, disruptive noise … Continued
The United States is in the middle of a housing affordability crisis. Homebuying is at its lowest level since the mid-1990s and the median first-time homebuyer is now 38 years old: an all-time high. Yet, at this critical time, the nation’s most powerful housing regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), is making it even … Continued
By: Kara Williams (EPIC) and Ben Winters (CFA) Cross-posted on both websites These headlines likely conjure up a picture of some super-intelligent, all-powerful robot capable of solving society’s problems, thinking like a human, and replacing all our existi ng technology in one fell swoop. But if that sounds too good to be … Continued
Topics in this issue… New Report Finds Auto Delinquencies Echo Pre-Recession Red Flags Online Marketplaces Are Fueling an American Product Safety Crisis CFA Releases New Fact Sheets on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Navy Federal Overdraft Complaints Reveal Impact of CFPB Rollback on Military Families
In January 2025, the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) issued a report on rising homeowners insurance costs from 2018 to 2022, based on data collected by FIO and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The report found that over this time period, homeowners insurance premiums increased 8.7% faster than inflation, and that some consumers experienced substantially … Continued
On September 18, 2025, Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Peter Feldman announced the agency has already exceeded 2024’s record of 369 recalls and warnings, issuing 376 recalls and safety warnings so far in 2025. CFA recognizes and celebrates CPSC’s robust action to protect Americans, but the sobering reality is that these numbers expose … Continued
To beat back efforts to address artificial intelligence (AI) harms, earlier this summer opponents of meaningful regulation attempted to force through a decade-long moratorium on state-level AI regulation. While this effort failed, these opponents still parade around claims that leaving regulation to the states will result in a patchwork of AI regulation dominated by big blue … Continued
The monthly inflation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) came out this morning, once again confirming what many of us have felt at the register: grocery prices are rising. The latest report is the second inflation release with a dose of uncertainty, following the termination via social media post of BLS Commissioner … Continued