Topics in this issue: Major Retailers Agree to Stop Sale of Water Beads to Children Micah Hauptman Testifies before the U.S. Department of Labor Retirement Security Proposal Hearing CFA and Consumer Advocates Applaud FTC for Moving Forward with CARS Rule The Townstone Case Imperils Fair Lending Law
Parent advocates, consumer groups, and lawmakers have sounded the alarm over the risks associated with water beads. Now, some major retailers have announced that they will prohibit the sale of water beads for children. Specifically, Amazon introduced a new policy that will stop the sale of water beads marketed to children later this month. Walmart … Continued
Topics in this issue: CFA Hosted 36th Annual Financial Services Conference Are You Serving Natural Flavors for Thanksgiving? Unfair Discrimination in Car Insurance New FHFA Report Seeks to Bring Critical Reforms to Federal Home Loan Bank System
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a longstanding and tireless advocate for consumers, is stepping up again for society’s most vulnerable – infants and babies. This week, Senator Blumenthal sent letters to Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean, two companies that make and sell weighted infant sleep products. In his letters, Senator Blumental outlined a number of startling concerns … Continued
This week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has a chance to reverse a dangerous decision that gives lenders the license to discriminate. To honor the clear intent of Congress, the Court must side with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). If the CFPB’s appeal is not granted, the case could roll back decades of … Continued
More than any other holiday, Thanksgiving celebrates food. But this year, with over 42% of Americans suffering from obesity, many consumers are taking a closer look at what they are eating. Some may be surprised to learn that many dishes on the holiday table—the cranberry relish, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the mushroom green bean … Continued
Not long ago, unless you were a philosophy student, it might have been rare to come across a discussion of “epistemology”—the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion. That’s changed in recent years. In particular, there are lots of stories and analyses about how social media is tearing apart any notion of a shared … Continued
The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) system was founded in the depths of the Great Depression in 1932, as a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) with a public mission to help address the greatest housing crisis of the twentieth century. Today, we find ourselves in a new housing crisis: buying a house has reached its highest cost … Continued
The ways insurance companies decide who gets to be insured and the premiums they pay have raised concerns about racial discrimination for decades, and Consumer Federation of America has conducted numerous studies about these problems in American insurance markets. Many articles about discrimination in claims handling and concerns about techniques for fighting insurance fraud have … Continued
Topics in this issue: New Report Highlights Consumer Risks and Regulatory Gaps in “Buy Now, Pay Later” Services Federal Agencies Continue the Fight Against Junk Fees By Insuring Coal Mines, Insurance Companies Are Profiting from the Climate Crisis and Then Foisting These Costs onto Consumers Voluntary Window Covering Safety Standard Fails to Protect Children Guest … Continued
Climate change impacts Americans both directly and indirectly. Over the past year, homeowners and businesses have felt the effects of climate change on their wallets when they open up their insurance bills. The nation’s (and planet’s) growing exposure to catastrophic, climate-driven risks is leading to rising homeowners insurance premiums, reduced availability of insurance in many … Continued
Photo by Matt Brown on Unsplash A recent court decision is a safety setback for children and families. Despite decades old knowledge about the serious risk window coverings pose to the lives of children, the industry continues to deploy obstructive tactics. As a result, unsafe custom window coverings continue to present a serious risk to … Continued
Today, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is giving a big shout-out for Energy Efficiency Day calling on Americans to be proactive by taking positive steps to be more energy efficient. Consider joining CFA and the hundreds of other organizations, cities, businesses, and individuals in the nationwide effort to become more energy independent, improve the … Continued
Recently the Biden Administration released an analysis of manufacturing in the United States. Increases in so-called “advanced manufacturing” investments—the creation or expansion of factories making things like semiconductors and renewable energy technology—accounted for the bulk of the growth. According to the Administration, this growth shows that recent tax breaks and other incentives passed by Congress … Continued
Next month, on September 12th, Consumer Federation of America will host the 46th Annual National Food Policy Conference. It will be my seventh year working to organize the event as CFA’s Director of Food Policy, and the task feels more important than ever. I have always enjoyed putting together the National Food Policy Conference each … Continued
Tips for Saving Money on Your Auto Insurance Life Hack for Saving Time: Pass the FTC’s Auto Dealer Rule Department of Labor ERISA Council Must Protect Retirees and Workers Pensions CFA Report Shows That Real Estate Agent Glut Harms Both Industry and Consumers Tips for Saving Money on Your Auto Insurance By: Michael Delong, Research … Continued
Auto insurance is an interesting product: we are all required to have it if we own a car, but we hope never to have to use it, and we try not to think about it. But as insurance premiums continue to skyrocket, it has probably been on your mind more. Even though we can face … Continued
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sells its Motor Vehicle Dealer Rule short when it estimates that consumers will only save $30 billion over ten years. The $30 billion number is the dollar equivalent of the time savings (on average: 3 hours per transaction) for consumers because the rule would prohibit dealers from advertising deals that … Continued
An Analysis of OHV Recalls: Increasing Number of OHVs Pulled from Market due to Safety Concerns A Consumer Federation of America (CFA) analysis of off highway vehicle (OHV) recalls found that from January 2010 to July 14, 2023, there have been 175 OHV recalls, and the number of recalls per year has increased from two … Continued
Susan Grant to Retire After 15 Years as CFA’s Privacy Advocate For the Good of Consumers, Ireland’s Alcohol Health Labeling Law Should Be Respected Consumer Federation of America Supports Consumer Product Safety Commission Against Unwarranted Attacks Consumer Groups Urge Congress to Support the PAID Act Florida Student Privacy Bill Bans Educational Apps from Selling Data … Continued
Attacks from regulated industries and some lawmakers are threatening the important work of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The attacks against the CPSC are consistent with other efforts to weaken the federal agencies that protect consumers and workers. CFA, with its long history of fighting for consumer protections, supports the CPSC and its critical … Continued
What do international trade agreements have to do with consumer protections? Increasingly, the answer seems to be “too much.” Recently, the United States joined Mexico and the Dominican Republic in challenging Ireland’s regulation of alcoholic beverage labeling in the World Trade Organization. The new Irish law would require alcoholic beverage labels to disclose calories, the … Continued
You know that something is scary when the businesses that have created it ask Congress to regulate it, as they did in a recent Senate subcommittee hearing on artificial intelligence (AI). AI is the ability of computers to use the intellectual processes characteristic of humans to perform tasks. A subset, “generative AI,” is a class … Continued
The Next Consumer Protection Front: Artificial Intelligence Auto Sales, Leases and Repair Remains Top Consumer Complaint for Seventh Year in a Row Deregulatory Agenda on Display in House Committee Markup is Anti-Investor and Anti-Consumer Consumer Advocates, Agencies, and State Regulators Come Together for CFA’s 57th Annual Consumer Assembly Overview: CFA’s 51st Annual Awards Celebration The … Continued
On April 26, the House Committee on Financial Services conducted a “mega” markup to consider dozens of anti-investor/anti-consumer bills. Many of the bills considered aim to further expand private capital markets at the expense of our public capital markets and to expand the pool of investors that can be sold private securities without the protections … Continued