Skip to main content
Policy Forum

Did a Lack of Consumer Protection Cause the Financial Crisis?

Watch the Event

Join the conversation on X using #CatoEvents. Follow @CatoInstitute on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Date and Time
-
Location
Auditorium/Wintergarden
Share This Event
Featuring
Featuring Janis Bowdler, National Council of La Raza; Thomas Durkin, Former Economist, Federal Reserve Board; Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG; and Todd Zywicki, George Mason University School of Law. Moderated by Mark A. Calabria, Director, Financial Regulation Studies, Cato Institute.

There is likely no issue more contentious in the debate over the causes of the recent financial crisis and the appropriate response other than “consumer protection.” The question of whether credit was too cheap or too expensive (or predatory) is at the heart of the differing narratives of the crisis. Panelists will examine these opposing narratives and debate the merits and substance of proposed consumer protections in our financial markets, including the creation of a Consumer Finance Product Agency.