Democracy News: Obama Proposes Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Mission News & Events Masthead

June 22, 2009

Obama Proposes Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Democracy: A Journal of Ideas

President Barack Obama has proposed the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, an idea first written about in Democracy by law professor Elizabeth Warren. As The Wall Street Journal and Time have reported, the agency will be based on Warren's 2007 Democracy article, "Unsafe At Any Rate." Warren wrote then:

Just as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) protects buyers of goods and supports a competitive market, we need the same for consumers of financial products – a new regulatory regime, and even a new regulatory body, to protect consumers who use credit cards, home mortgages, car loans, and a host of other products. The time has come to put scaremongering to rest and to recognize that regulation can often support and advance efficient and more dynamic markets.

You can read the full article here.

The Lion at Rest

Thomas Oliphant: Ted Kennedy's greatness lay in his surprisingly rigorous self-awareness.

Out of the Rubble

Amy Wilentz: Do we create more caring communities in the wake of natural catastrophes? Depends on what "we" you mean.

The Courage of Our Contradictions

William Galston: A new liberalism must reflect not only on our permanent beliefs, but also on many Americans' reservations about them. A response to E.J. Dionne, Jr.

Clinton's Foundations

Matthew Cooper: Bill Clinton acted on principle far more often than you may think.

German Lessons

Clay Risen: Should progressives frustrated with our democracy pine for a parliamentary system? In a word—nein.

That Old College Lie

Kevin Carey: Are our colleges teaching students well? No. But here's how to make them.

The Next War on Poverty

Peter Edelman: Conventional wisdom aside, some '60s-era inner-city programs have been a success. Now it's time for Obama to launch phase two.

Federalism and Its Discontents

Greg Anrig: The states are drowning. The best life-preserver that Washington can throw at them is to take over Medicaid.

The Cairo Conundrum

Shadi Hamid: Egypt is the linchpin to America's Middle East policy—a policy that must make interests reinforce ideals, rather than conflict with them.

Obama Proposes Consumer Financial Protection Agency

News: President Barack Obama has proposed the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, an idea first written about in Democracy.

Michael Tomasky to Become Editor of Democracy

News: Michael Tomasky, a highly respected writer and editor with more than 20 years' experience covering American politics and helping to define and update progressive ideas, will join Democracy: A Journal of Ideas as its Editor.