Consumer Protection Bureau Can Teach Financial Self-Help
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The long gestation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, is over.
Now that the bureau’s chairman, Richard Cordray, is in place and it is rolling out programs, it is a good time to think about how government intervention can improve outcomes in the financial products consumers buy. Regardless of whether one prefers caveat emptor, a paternalistic federal government or something in between, the CFPB is a reality. Improving financial decisions by consumers is a worthy goal, but it will not be easy to design effective government actions to help them do so.