Ten years ago, just before the onset of the financial crisis, I wrote an article for an academic journal proposing a new agency that would regulate financial products and protect American consumers. I set my expectations low: This idea would go nowhere.
But after the financial system imploded, there was sudden interest in my idea from that dusty academic journal. I started to talk to groups about building a consumer agency, and one after another came on board: unions, AARP, Consumers Union. The giant financial institutions were dead set against it—and they spent more than $1 million a day lobbying against the new agency and tougher financial rules. It was David-versus-Goliath all the way, but in 2010 President Obama signed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) into law.
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