American consumers have become accustomed to obtaining instant credit. The process requires that credit bureaus have easy access to sensitive financial information about individuals, compiled largely without their consent. This report examines the debate surrounding the role of the states in regulating these credit bureaus, especially in light of expiring amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which have allowed bureaus to continue these practices, exempting them from state laws that might obstruct them.
How this controversy is resolved will have an important bearing on credit markets and financial privacy in the future. The authors make the case for continued federal preemption of the states in this area. Without it, the authors argue, the consumer credit system has developed in the United States would be put in jeopardy.
In Making a Killing: The Deadly Implications of the Counterfeit Drug Trade, AEI resident fellow Roger Bate analyzes the burgeoning international trade in counterfeit drugs and recommends steps that governments and law enforcement agencies could take to stop it.
Should Medicare pay for patient expenses the way automobile insurers pay for car-repair bills? In How to Fix Medicare, health economist Roger Feldman argues that a radical shift in Medicare policy is not only possible but imperative.
