Bedoya, focused and passionate, talks about putting consumers first
Federal Trade Commission member Alvaro Bedoya just reached his six-month work anniversary. The former Senate staffer and Georgetown University professor arrived at a time of incredible activity at the FTC. It issued an advanced notice of proposed...
Some hits and a miss in Section 5 policy statement
The diplomat Talleyrand, who represented post-Napoleonic France at the make-or-break Congress of Vienna, cautioned his staff to move only in measured steps: “Above all,” he said, “no zeal.” This would have been equally good advice for the Federal Trade Commission’s policy statement on Section 5...
Current Issue: 829
FTC takes aim at costly mobile phone bill scams that jam consumers
Most consumers don’t have a clue that they can be billed for goods and services on their mobile phones. Scammers are taking advantage of this ignorance by putting charges on bills that many...
Appeal of municipal bond convictions hangs on attempted suicide
Did the attempted suicide of a cooperating government witness make it impossible for three convicted municipal bond traders to get a fair trial?
Subcommittee chair blasts credit reporting system as “Kafkaesque”
Calling the nation’s credit reporting system “Kafkaesque,” U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, (D-Mo.), publicly pressed the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to take...
Book review: Cass Sunstein’s Simpler: The Future of Government
If you think a book about regulatory policy by a Harvard Law School professor and the former top regulatory official would be dry and sleep inducing, think again.
FTC gets mixed verdict in suit against McWane
An administrative law judge upheld exclusive-dealing competition restriction charges that the Federal Trade Commission filed against pipe manufacturer McWane, Inc., but dismissed charges of illegal...
FTC doubles down on identity theft targeting senior citizens
Identity theft is at the top of the list of all the complaints that older citizens raise with the Federal Trade Commission. That fact was highlighted by FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez at an all-day...