Elizabeth Warren On Consumer Financial Product Agency (VIDEO)

Elizabeth Warren, the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel and a professor at Harvard, has been on a mini-media blitz of late. Yesterday, she released a YouTube video supporting President Obama's Consumer Financial Product Agency. Today, the Baseline Scenario has a guest post from Warren in which she describes three myths surrounding the proposed agency.

The Consumer Financial Product Agency would shield consumers against exotic mortgages and confusing credit card offers. As Warren describes it, creating a new agency would, in fact, simplify the current regulatory structure:

"I believe it will reduce risk in the system and can reduce the overall regulatory burden. That's right, it can actually reduce it. Right now, there are seven federal agencies that have some piece of credit regulation...In place of old, complex regulations, the new agency can encourage and help develop some plain-vanilla products."

WATCH:

Warren has also compiled what she calls "3 Myths About The Consumer Financial Product Agency". Here's her summary:

"At the end of the day, industry lobbyists try hard to invent myths and make things sound confusing to intimidate the public and to keep policymakers from acting. But this issue is simple: keeping safety and soundness and consumer protection together has not ensured safety and soundness, has not protected consumers, has not fostered choice and innovation, and has not minimized regulatory burden. In fact, the current regulatory structure that combines consumer protection with other bank oversight responsibilities has led to the kind of bad regulatory oversight that has led us to this crisis. The CFPA would put someone in Washington--someone with real power--who cares about customers. "

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Comments

[IDIOTA]

01:11 AM on 07/23/2009

But Geithner would disagree.

[LeeCalif]

07:53 PM on 07/22/2009

I love Elizabeth Warren. She's the most honest person in D.C.

[gentlewomanfarmer]

07:59 PM on 07/21/2009

I fear this is a day late and a dollar short. The credit card companies are gouging overtime in anticipation of having their wings (modestly) clipped once the new limitations become effective - my personal favorite being the "conversion" of fixed rate cards to variable rate cards, so that as the index rate rises their rates will rise as well.

I agree with the other posters, and have advocated this myself as well: move to cash as soon as you are able, and stop doing business with these predators.

[AngieMom57]

11:03 AM on 07/22/2009

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." - Henry Ford

[iblogleft]

05:15 PM on 07/21/2009

We need this program, and we need her.

[MaximinLimbo]

04:57 PM on 07/21/2009

Definetly the best speaker of the Obama Administration.

[NC1165]

04:23 PM on 07/21/2009

Why don't we just reenact Glass-Steagall?

[Coltrane1234]

09:34 PM on 07/21/2009

Why is this never mentioned?

[balrog60]

02:14 PM on 07/22/2009

a damn good idea. but that would be too simple

[sonofsamphm1c]

03:38 PM on 07/22/2009

Because it was a broken-down antique that made us noncompetitive.

The new regulations have to work in a global economy.

[Realization]

03:51 PM on 07/21/2009

Simple, effective, and common sense regulation would do it for me. I have lived extensively overseas and am continually amazed at the "B&B" factor in sector after sector in the U.S. That's Balkanized and Byzantine.

[Eris23Skidoo]

03:37 PM on 07/21/2009

If I was president, Elizabeth Warren would be Treasury Secretary!

[tck29]

10:18 AM on 07/22/2009

I LOVE this woman! She should be president!!

[sonofsamphm1c]

03:38 PM on 07/22/2009

It should be obvious to anybody that she would make a horrible treasury secretary.

[LeeCalif]

07:54 PM on 07/22/2009

troll man.

[robinhood1]

03:34 PM on 07/21/2009

Elizabeth Warren is a very bright lawyer. I hope she succeeds in getting her agency. But don't expect too much of her or the CFPPA if it comes into being. The FDA does not always ban products that are unhealthy for you, such as sodium nitrate in hot dogs. Even kosher hot dogs have this chemical in them. It is up to you to avoid foods which are unhealthy for you. It will still be up to you to stay away from financial products that are bad for your financial health. But the CFPPA may be turn out to be helpful to some consumers. Remember, the FDA still does not have the power to ban cigarettes, which just about everyone knows are bad for year.

[momofvegasgirls]

03:24 PM on 07/21/2009

I really do hope that this change will come. I also wish H.U.F.F.P.O.S.T. would stop bury.ing Elizabeth Warren's stuff to the bottom of the page. This won't happen unless people see that this is important. And important stuffshould be relegated to the top of the page. B.U.R.Y Michael Steele stories ( fairytales?), not Ms. Warren!

[AnthonyVolpe]

03:17 PM on 07/21/2009

We need to stop using credit cards, get out of debt, and start living within our means. None of this crap would be a problem if we all told the credit card industry we want nothing to do with them.

[iblogleft]

05:16 PM on 07/21/2009

That is simply not true.

Had the money Americans borrowed not been leveraged up to 30 to 1 or more, this would have been a manageable recession.

[Labsaregreat]

12:23 PM on 07/22/2009

are you saying that credit cards should be finance with with equity?

[GhostwriterDoF]

03:12 PM on 07/21/2009

The quiet hum of human decency ebbs and flows against the barking blind arrogance and avarice, and the winds, the winds of Change are but breezes in the calm before the storm.

[mjtaylor22]

02:55 PM on 07/21/2009

Liz Warren,
Thansk for being so honest with us all, she is a true advocate for the consumer and her reportign and explainations make so much sense
and I can see she has the best interest of the public at heart

[joshquasimoto]

03:34 PM on 07/21/2009

Seconded!

[HellothereEveryome]

02:37 PM on 07/21/2009

Elizabeth Warren is an American treasure. This was an absolutely brilliant presentation.

[joshquasimoto]

03:33 PM on 07/21/2009

Seconded!

[MoEls]

02:35 PM on 07/21/2009

A great statement. Thank you for sharing your insight.

I wouldn't want a very important point to get lost: It helps to create real innovation. It helps to prevail competitiveness in the long run. Not js by abusing the rules of the game.