News
Supreme Court to Decide the Constitutionality of the CFPB
On March 3, 2020, the Supreme Court will hear Seila Law, LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to determine whether the structure of the CFPB is constitutional. How the Court answers the question could have far-reaching impact, not only in determining how the CFPB operates in the future, but also in potentially invalidating past CFPB…
Meet the “new middle class” — spending more, earning less, target market for payday loans
from BobSullivan.net Here’s all you need to know about the fragile state of the American middle class. An online payday-type lender named Elevate Credit sees the middle class as its target market. “Decades–long macroeconomic trends and the recent financial crisis have resulted in a growing ‘New Middle Class’ with little to no savings, urgent credit…
‘A billion useless people’ — the end of work (and pay) is coming, but no one seems very concerned
from BobSullivan.net A billion useless people. No, maybe that’s generous. Billions, thanks to robots and artificial intelligence. The “rise of the useless class.” The end of work. And with it, the end of pay. There are the things that the world’s biggest thinkers are thinking about right now. It’s frightening how little everyone else is…
Mark Zuckerberg is the world’s front-page editor now. That’s the real problem.
from BobSullivan.net Mark Zuckerberg never set out to be the world’s editor in chief, but here we are. And sorry Mark, you are a terrible front page editor. Hearings in Congress today dug into the weeds of why Americans feel like social media is letting them down — it was a ready-made tool for Russian…
Are you living below the ALICE line? 43% of Americans can’t cover the basics
from BobSullivan.net Two-thirds of all jobs in the country are low-paying at less than $20 an hour or $40,000 a year About 43% of households, or about 51 million, don’t earn enough to cover the basics. Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, or ALICE, is a worrisome group for America What’s the minimum amount of money…
A Student Debt Crisis is Imminent, But Loan Companies and the Trump Administration are Not Likely to Provide Solutions
By all accounts the country faces a looming student debt crisis. Debts from student loans currently amount to $1.4 trillion, a number that has grown exponentially over the last decade as more and more students take on debt only to face a demanding labor market. Default rates are also on the rise—recent data from the…
The Pay Gap Between CEOs and Workers
It is no secret that the executives of publicly traded companies are paid at rates that greatly exceed those of the rank-and-file. In a recent survey of 356 companies by Equilar, the median ratio of CEO to worker pay was found to be 140:1, the average ratio jumps even higher, to 241:1. A 2016 survey…
Security Speculation Tax
We urge the implementation of a Securities-Speculation Tax, a small tax on all financial transactions that would restrain financial gambling and redirect investment towards productive enterprise. Security speculation tax
Financial Consumer Association
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Citizen Works Archives
Our April 4, 2014 Event at Georgetown Law
Our December 11, 2013 Event with Author John Wasik
Our December 19, 2012 Event with Author/Law Professor Margaret Jane Radin
Press and Event Highlights
- Lauren E. Willis and Theresa Amato, "What your bank owes you: clarity," The Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2015.
- Jeanine Skowronski, "The Hidden Risks in Your Credit Card's Fine Print," The Fiscal Times, October 30, 2014.
- Ralph Nader, Corporate Destruction of Free Markets Rules Us, The Nader Page, October 30, 2014.
- Joe Sharkey, "The Value of Unused Tickets? Airlines Won't Say," NYT, April 22, 2014.
- Bob Sullivan, Say It Ain't So, Cheerios!, Coupon Fine Print Now Means You Surrender Your Rights, April 17, 2014.
- The Strip Mining of Legal Rights, Ralph Nader & Theresa Amato, Trial magazine, April 2014.
- How Boilerplate Contracts Strip Our Rights, Theresa Amato, The Nation, January 27, 2014.
- Wrap Contracts, the Online Scourge, Nancy S. Kim, Oxford University Press Blog, December 17, 2013.
- Consumer Law & Policy Blog, Theresa Amato: Wrap Contracts Are Like Asbestos, November 22, 2013.
- Wrap Contracts Symposium, Part VII: Theresa Amato, Contracts Law Prof Blog, November 22, 2013.
- "Those Wordy Contracts We All So Quickly Accept," Alina Tugend, the New York Times, July 12, 2013.
- Boilerplate Symposium II: Theresa Amato on Remedies to the Problems Posed by Boilerplate, Contracts Law Prof Blog, May 14, 2013.
- Small Print, Big Problem (Part I: Diagnosis and Part II: Remedies) by Rick Perlstein, The Nation, from the March 14, 2013 issue.
- "Corporate Kangaroo Courts Supplant Our Seventh Amendment Rights" by Jim Hightower, Creators.com, March 2013.
- "Corporate kangaroo courts have quietly usurped our constitutional right to trial by judge and jury," by Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown, March 2013,, Volume 14, No. 3.
- Senator wants plain language placed in consumer contracts, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, May 7, 2012
- Control the Corporation Conference Videos, Nader, Amato, April 2, 2012
- Occupy DC Set to 'Control the Corporation' after 80 occupiers arrested, examiner.com, March 22, 2012
- If you're about to lose your home, maybe it's just time to occupy it, Nader & Amato, Chicago Tribune, February 2, 2012
- Hidden Traps, Fair Contracts, and Consumer Choice, co-sponsored with Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, January 27, 2012
- Wicked Smart and On Her Way Out, Amato, The Washington Post, July 18, 2011
- America, down but not out: A Nation of Fighters Responds, Bob Sullivan, MSNBC.com, Red Tape Chronicles, Amato profile, July 07, 2011
- What Can Be Done to Make the Fine Print in Standard Form Contracts Fair for Consumers, at ITT-Chicago Kent Law School, Friday, June 24, 2011
- Letters, Work for New Lawyers, Amato, The New York Times, January 22, 2011