Financial contracts are complicated and consumers often do not grasp them in their entirety. This may lead to financial mistakes. We develop a quantitative theory of unsecured credit and equilibrium default in a market with sophisticated and naïve borrowers who sometimes misunderstand their...

Carol Lewis, a compliance examiner at the Boston Fed, reviews the major changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Individuals can now purchase their credit scores. John Galligan explains how to interpret (and improve) scores. He also gives a personal account of how he corrected his own credit history.

Under the Truth in Lending Act, the Federal Reserve has the responsibility for writing the implementing rules, which it has carried out with its Regulation Z. Because this law is so critical for federal consumer protection policy in the credit area and because it imposes significant compliance...