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Wright, Joshua D. --- "Federalism and the rise of state consumer protection law in the United States" [2017] ELECD 237; in Klick, Jonathan (ed), "The Law and Economics of Federalism" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 238

Book Title: The Law and Economics of Federalism

Editor(s): Klick, Jonathan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849803625

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: Federalism and the rise of state consumer protection law in the United States

Author(s): Wright, Joshua D.

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

Consumer protection legislation has proliferated within the United States over the last several decades. The early 1960s heralded the dawn of this proliferation, as a general discontent with the ability of market forces, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), and state common law to protect consumers fueled important legislative reactions (Butler and Wright, 2011, p. 167). Indeed, state legislatures responded to these criticisms by formulating and enacting a diverse collection of legislation often referred to as state Consumer Protection Acts (“CPAs”) (Schwartz and Silverman, 2005, p. 15). The original purpose of these state CPAs was to supplement the FTC’s objective of shielding consumers from “unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” and by 1981, every state had its own version of a CPA—some even had enacted more comprehensive consumer protection schemes (Sovern, 1991, p. 446). This expansive trend has continued in recent years, exacerbated by the potent combination of the onset of the financial crisis, the rise of behavioral law and economics, and the increasingly broad interpretation of state CPAs (which themselves had already given greater latitude to consumer protection regimes). Yet despite the meteoric rise of consumer protection laws, its effect upon overall consumer welfare remains unclear; conflicting