Banking and Credit

Banking and Credit

Since the Great Depression, Congress has passed a series of laws to preserve stability in the banking and credit industries, protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices and make affordable credit available to middle class and low-income families and small businesses.  Beginning in the 1980s, the deregulation of financial institutions has fed speculative booms and devastating busts. Privatization of low-cost government credit for student loans and mortgages and weaker consumer protections has driven up the cost of credit and put consumers at risk.

Commentary

Information is power… and that’s the problem

May 02, 2012

Why #OccupyWallStreet?

October 07, 2011

The Truth in Lending Act, 1968: Don't Confuse People With Information

May 18, 2011
Debt burden

Credit Card Sharks Crying Wolf

May 20, 2009

Cry Wolf Quotes

The CRA has created opportunities for rent seeking and financial and logistical burdens for all lenders. The Act forces lenders to spend money, time, and resources on documentation, PR, and other compliance costs.

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Michelle Minton, Competitive Enterprise Institute

I think that every single company that offers a credit card is reassessing its cost….reassessing what they do and how they do it.

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Marcia Sullivan, director of government relations for Consumer Bankers Association, USA Today.

CRA has enabled special interest groups to collect billions of dollars from banks under agreements that are kept secret. Even the citizens that these groups purport to represent have no way of knowing how the groups spend the money they get from banks. That s why I hope the Senate will approve a sunshine amendment that will add accountability to this process and bring these agreements into, the light of day.

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Senator Phil Gramm , Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

[The bill would] have a dramatic impact on the ability of consumers, small businesses, students, and others to get credit at a time when our economy can least afford such constraints.

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American Bankers Association, AP

Evidence

Backgrounders & Briefs

A Timeline of the CARD Act

An interactive timeline of credit card reform.

Resources

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition works against unfair lending and banking practices, particularly those targeted towards low and middle income families.