Meltdown ─ The Financial Crisis, Consumer Protection, and the Road Forward

Combining extensive research with interviews with key players in the efforts to recover from the 2008 crash of the consumer credit markets, this book looks at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's evolving efforts to curb predatory lending practices in the consumer financial services sector.

• Presents the first comprehensive examination of the CFPB that identifies its successes during its first five years of operation and addresses the challenges the bureau now faces

• Exposes the alarming possibility that as the economy recovers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's efforts to protect consumers could be derailed by political and industry pressure

• Offers provisional assessment of the effectiveness of the CFPB and consumer protection regulation

• Gives readers unique access to insightful perspectives via on-the-record interviews with a cross-section of stakeholders, ranging from Richard Cordray (director of the CFPB) to public policy leaders, congressional staffers, advocates, scholars, and members of the press

Larry Kirsch is managing partner of IMR Health Economics, Portland, OR.

Gregory D. Squires is professor of sociology and public policy and public administration at George Washington University.