The Times has the story here.
I'm sure that in the days to come we'll see blog coverage of the bill, and of course there's already been quite a bit of news and blog coverage. Here's one thought: one apparent goal of the bill is to make credit card contracts more accessible. To that end, the bill requires credit card companies to post their contracts on the web. That may prove to be a treasure trove for academics but I wonder how helpful it will be to consumers; will consumers read through competing credit card contracts looking for the best terms? I'm skeptical but would love to be proved wrong. I've seen accounts in the press about how the bill will require plain English for contracts (e.g., see the editorial in today's Times here), but all I can see in the bill that serves that purpose is the usual requirement that disclosures be "clear and conspicuous," which has been in the Truth in Lending Act for decades. Am I missing something?
It's very important that more people read up on these kinds of economic developments and I'm glad that Obama is taking it one step further with the Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposal. To take matters into your own hands, there are free tools out there that help you easily see how your credit card stacks up against the new legislation. Check out http://www.billshrink.com/credit-cards/bill-of-rights/
James, sites like these will hopefully be the precursors of bank comparison sites in the very near future!
Posted by: linda | Monday, June 29, 2009 at 02:09 PM
An excellent idea, James! I hope someone does it.
Posted by: Jeff Sovern | Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 11:24 AM
How much time before someone launches a website that compares and contrasts all the agreements for the 100 best banks? Constantly updated? Seems like an ad-supported model would work there, including referral payments.
Posted by: James Moore | Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 02:55 AM