This article provides an introduction to a law review symposium by the Journal of Law, Economics, and Policy on our book (co-authored with Michael E. Staten), Consumer Credit and the American Economy (Oxford 2014). The conference, held November 2014, collects several articles responding to and...

The growth of the American economy in the post-War era has been characterized by a growth in the consumer economy as a fundamental driving force in the economy. In turn, this growth in the consumer economy has been driven by a growth in usage and spread of the use of consumer credit. Yet the...

Consumer Credit and the American Economy examines the economics, behavioral science, sociology, history, institutions, law, and regulation of consumer credit in the United States. After discussing the origins and various kinds of consumer credit available in today's marketplace, this book...

Credit related insurance and other debt protection are products sold in conjunction with credit that extinguish a consumer's debt or suspends its periodic payments if events like death, disability, or involuntary unemployment occur. High penetration rates observed in the 1950s and 1960s raised...

In 1968 Congress passed the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to require written disclosures of key credit terms for consumers, including finance charges, payment sizes, payment totals, and interest rates mathematically calculated as a defined Annual Percentage Rate (APR). Much has changed in the...