Fourth Annual Henry G. Manne Law & Economics Conference

Program Description: The one-day symposium featured a comprehensive analysis of the history and economics of consumer credit and its regulation in America, with commentary from leading economists, law professors, and policy-makers. Panels focused on policy and contemporary debates as well as economic and legal perspectives. Research papers presented at the conference will be published in a special edition of the George Mason University School of Law Journal of Law, Economics, and Policy. In addition, participants were given a complimentary copy of the forthcoming book Consumer Credit and the American Economy, by Tom Durkin, Gregory Elliehausen, Michael Staten, and Todd Zywicki published by Oxford University Press.

JLEP received approval of Virginia MCLE for this program.

Agenda

Keynote Address: An Overview of Consumer Credit and the American Economy

Todd J. Zywicki, George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law

Reading Assignment: 
Durkin, Elliehausen, and Zywicki, Consumer Credit and the American Economy: An Overview

Panel 1: Economic Perspectives

Anthony M. Yezer, Professor of Economics, The George Washington University

Thomas W. Miller, Jr., Professor of Finance and Jack R. Lee Chair of Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, Mississippi State University College of Business

Michael D. Calhoun, President, Center for Responsible Lending

Jim Hill, Chief Executive Officer and President, First Heritage Credit, LLC

Moderator: Janis K. Pappalardo, Assistant Director, Division of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission

Reading Assignment:
Yezer, Comments on Consumer Credit and the American Economy, November 14, 2014

Miller, “Differences in Consumer Credit Choices By Banked and Unbanked Mississippians,” November 6, 2014.

Lacko and Pappalardo, “The Failure and Promise of Mandated Consumer Mortgage Disclosures: Evidence from Qualitative Interviews and a Controlled Experiment with Mortgage Borrowers,” American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 100 (May 2010): 516-521.

Panel 2: Legal Perspectives

Jim Hawkins, Associate Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center

Richard Hynes, Nicholas E. Chimicles Research Professor of Business Law and Regulation and Director, John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics, University of Virginia School of Law

Hilary B. Miller, Chairman of the Board, Consumer Credit Research Foundation

Heidi Mandanis Schooner, Professor of Law, Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America

Moderator
J.W. Verret, Chief Economist and Senior Counsel, US House Committee on Financial Services

Reading Assignment:
Fritzdixon, Hawkins, & Skiba, “Dude, Where’s My Car Title?: The Law, Behavior, and Economics of Title Lending Markets.”

Luncheon Address: Consumer Credit and the American Economy as a Research Program: The Economics and Regulation of Consumer Installment Lending

Thomas A. Durkin, Senior Economist (retired), Federal Reserve Board

Reading Assignment:
Durkin, Elliehausen, and Hwang, “Findings from the AFSA Member Survey of Installment Lending,” October 18, 2014

Panel 3: Policy and Contemporary Debates

J. Howard Beales III, Professor of Strategic Management and Public Policy, The George Washington University School of Business

G. Marcus Cole, Wm. Benjamin Scott and Luna M. Scott Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

Jeffrey A. Tassey, Principal, Tassey & Associates

Moderator:
The Honorable Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

Reading Assignment:
Beales, “Competition Protection and Beha

RESEARCH 

The following papers were published in 11 Journal of Law, Economics, & Policy (No. 3, Fall 2015):

Beales, J. Howard, “Behavioral Economics and Credit Regulation”

Cole, G. Marcus, “Rational Consumer Ignorance: When and Why Consumers Should Agree to Form Contracts Without Even Reading Them”

Hawkins, Jim, “Are Bigger Companies Better for Low-Income Borrowers?: Evidence from Payday and Title Loan Advertisements”

Hynes, Richard, “The Social Costs of Credit Reporting Errors”

Miller, Thomas, “Differences in Consumer Credit Choices by Banked and Unbanked Mississippians”

Yezer, Anthony, “Symposium Comments on Consumer Credit and the American Economy”

For More Information Contact:
Academics and General Public:	Attorneys General and Staff:
Henry G. Manne Program jsmithq@gmu.edu 703.993.8382	Attorneys General Education Program AGEP@gmu.edu 703.993.9964