VIDEO: Federal Finance Bureau Treats Consumers Like Children | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post was created by the staff of the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Economist Adam Smith outlines problems tied to new regulator

    RALEIGH - American consumers are no better than children when it comes to making financial decisions. That attitude appears to motivate much of the work of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a Johnson & Wales University economist.

    Adam Smith, assistant professor of economics and director of the Center for Free Market Studies at Johnson & Wales, critiqued CFPB during a presentation Monday for the John Locke Foundation's Shaftesbury Society. The bureau's approach relies on so-called "behavioral economics" to develop tools that push consumers away from certain financial choices, Smith said.

    In the video clip below, Smith discusses key problems linked to CFPB's work.

    Click here to watch the full 56:31 presentation.