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1 Richard Higgins, Credit Practices Rule 1 (1983)

handle is hein.usfed/crdpcrle0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 
                                                  UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

  O.T.: April 5,1983                       memorandum

Sor:    Richard Higgins, Deputy Director, BE

sumXICr: Credit Practices Rule


   TO: Commission

        Recommendation: I recommend that the proposed rule be
   rejected. Based on my evaluation of a highly relevant part
   of the record and my assessment of BE staff's evaluation of
   the record, I think it is more likely than not that consumer
   welfare would be lowered by restricting the group of creditor
   remedies according to the proposed rule. Although I think a
   similar statement is appropriate for each of the restrictions
   taken singly, the shortcomings of the record make statements
   about individual restrictions much more imprecise than
   conclusions about joint restrictions. Detailed discussion
   by BE staff and BCP of the welfare effects of the individual
   restrictions indicates that unsystematic problems of deception
   may exist in the disposition of collateral, specifically,
   the disposition of repossessed autos. Thus, it seems, a
   concerted case-by-case enforcement effort in this area might
   be justified.

        Summary: The analysis of the record evidence, excluding
   the econometric study by James Barth and Anthony Yezer, l/
   by BE staff and the BCP Director casts considerable doubt on
   the efficiency of the proposed Credit Practices Rule. 2/
   Thus the welfare implications of the Barth-Yezer (hereafter
   B-Y) analysis are critical in deciding whether the rule
   should be promulgated. On the basis of the B-Y econometrics
   alone I conclude that the proposed rule would on balance
   harm consumers. Combining the B-Y evidence with the other
   available evidence yields strong support for Mr. Muris'
   recommendation.



        1/ Barth and Yezer, The Economic Impact of the FTC
   Proposals for Credit Contract Regulation on the Cost and
   Availability of Consumer Credit, 1977, R-XI-161, and Barth and
   Yezer, The Economic Impact of the FTC Proposals for Credit
   Contract Regulation on the Cost and Availability of Consumer
   Credit: Rebuttal Evidence, April 1978, R-XIII-39.

        2/ BE staff's a priori provision-by-provision analysis
   of the proposed rule suggests that at least a few of the
   proposed restrictions have the potential for increasing
   consumer welfare. The efficiency of the proposed rule
   depends on questions of fact, not speculation, however.


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