POSTPONED: The Mercatus Consumer Credit Conference: Consumer Choice and Safety after the Financial Crisis

Thank you for your interest in attending the Mercatus Center at George Mason University’s Consumer Credit Conference: Consumer Choice and Safety After the Crisis. Unfortunately, given the uncertainty associated with the government shutdown, we have decided to postpone the program.

Rescheduling for this program is underway  and we will notify you once those arrangements have been made.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact Chad Reese with any questions related to Mercatus research in this area, or take advantage of our many online resources on consumer credit issues including:

The Pitfalls of Regulating Consumer Credit

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Savior or Menace?

Loans are not Toasters: The Problems with a Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Dodd-Frank: What it Does and Why it’s Flawed

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to see you at the soon to be rescheduled program.

No matter the state of the economy, consumers rely on credit to make advances in their lives—from purchasing household appliances or automobiles to financing a new home. With the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), consumers face a brand new regulatory regime that will play an instrumental role in determining the availability of that credit. While the agency’s mission is to protect consumers as they purchase and use financial products, its unique structure has raised concerns about the potential unintended consequences of regulating consumer credit. In a timely event featuring experts on consumer financial markets policy, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University is hosting a conference analyzing the new regulatory landscape facing policymakers, industry participants, and individual consumers. Panelists will address key questions on the issue of consumer credit, including:

• Based on the CFPB’s active agenda in a number of areas of great importance to consumers, what can we expect to see from the agency in the future? Is the CFPB’s approach helping consumers or hurting them?  
• How important is market competition to consumers? Do consumers benefit or suffer from policies like limiting interchange fees? 

Date: Thursday, October 24, 2013

Location: Hotel Monaco, Washington DC

Time: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Speakers:

Keynote: Joshua Wright, FTC Commissioner

David Balto, The Law Offices of David Balto

Tom Durkin, Formerly Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Board (now retired)

David Evans, University of Chicago Law Professor

Geoffrey Manne, Executive Director of the International Center for Law and Economics

Ed Mierzwinski, Federal Consumer Program Director and Senior Fellow for U.S. PIRG

Tim Stanley, President and CEO Heights Finance Corporation

Todd Zywicki, Mercatus Center Senior Scholar and George Mason University Professor of Law

Questions? Contact Elizabeth Leibundguth at eleibundguth@mercatus.gmu.edu or (703)  993-4967