Ralph welcomes the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, to talk about how this important agency - created in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown and moribund in the Trump years - needs to start protecting consumers again. Plus, Ralph pays tribute to the late great muckraking journalist, James Ridgeway.
Richard Cordray is the founding director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he served from 2011 to 2017. He is the author of “Watchdog: How Protecting Consumers Can Save Our Families, Our Economy, and Our Democracy.”
“Every aspect of our legal system has been turned around by financial companies to oppress individual consumers. And yet, individual consumers are not permitted (often by these arbitration clauses) to band together to seek collective justice against the company.”
Richard Cordray, author of Watchdog: How Protecting Consumers Can Save Our Families, Our Economy, and Our Democracy
“For consumers… financial contracts loom much larger in their lives than they did a couple of generations ago. Consumer finance now dominates pretty much every aspect of household finances and household credit… And in many cases, the company reserves the right to change the contract terms unilaterally. Think about that. You sign up for a contract to buy a product and finance it in a certain way, and the company reserves the right to change the terms. Even after the fact.”
Richard Cordray, author of Watchdog: How Protecting Consumers Can Save Our Families, Our Economy, and Our Democracy
“One of the pieces of advice to give to consumers– but it’s not all that helpful– is to say to be very careful. The trouble is you’re very careful about the things you know about, the things you’re conscious about. But how can you be careful about the things that you’re unaware of or not conscious of.”
Richard Cordray, author of Watchdog: How Protecting Consumers Can Save Our Families, Our Economy, and Our Democracy
“As good [of] a job you and your associates did, strong as this agency was as a law enforcement institution, it seems like you just scratched the surface. And I know when you return $12 billion you deter some companies from cheating people… It seems like you dealt with the tip of an iceberg. And I’m very curious to know how big you think that iceberg is.”
Ralph Nader
“Small claims courts in this country are used by creditors. They’re used by companies. They were envisioned to reduce complexity and to be used by the little guy.”
Ralph Nader
Protecting Your Finances