As the United States slowly makes its way out of one of the worst economic recessions in recent history, government officials are once again calling for reform. The calls come in the form of a new bureau, named the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
The new office would give the government the right to regulate everything from credit cards to online banking. The idea is to make lending safer for American consumers.
A coalition of 141 professors from major universities across the U.S. have banded together and signed a petition urging Pres. Barack Obama to consider UH alumna and former Law Center professor Elizabeth Warren to head the bureau.
Among those that signed the letter is Richard Alderman, Associate Dean and Dwight Olds Chair in Law at UH.
“One of (Warren’s) former students who now teaches consumer law came up with the idea and the letter quickly spread through the academic community,” Alderman said.
Warren is well-suited for the job because she came up with the idea for the institution of the new bureau, Alderman said.
“It was she who first presented the idea for such an agency, and no one in the country has exhibited more concern for the rights of consumers,” Alderman said. “She is knowledgeable about both the workings of the institutions the bureau will regulate and the nature of the problems consumers face in the marketplace.”
Alderman has been a faculty member at the UH law center since 1973, and had the privilege of working alongside Warren during her years at UH. He said that her work ethic was the first thing that struck him as a sign that she was destined for great things.
“She was an over-achiever from her very first day,” Alderman said. “She was very bright, hard working and someone you knew would go places in the academic world.”
Warren is currently the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, which regulates the corporate bailout money authorized by Congress in 2008.
She graduated from UH with a bachelor’s degree in 1970. She went on to earn her J.D. at Rutgers School of Law in 1976. Since then, she has taught law at many prestigious universities, including UH from 1978-83 and the University of Texas at Austin from 1983-87. She has been the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School since 1995.
Alderman says that Warren’s ability to speak in front of the camera will add to her effectiveness as chief of the bureau.
“(Warren) has a media presence second to none and will be able to insure that the Bureau’s work is communicated to the people it is designed to protect,” said Alderman.
