Who’s Watching the Watchdog?
There was a time when consumers regularly depended on private insurance coverage to protect our cars and homes against the unexpected occurrence of a major loss. But, there has been a growing threat to consumers. That consumer threat, however, is not posed by private insurance carriers, who are demonized as price-gougers, profiteers [...]

We can all understand and appreciate the importance of conserving energy, saving gasoline and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  One suggestion has been to increase the use of hybrids.  However, in terms of cost-effectiveness, hybrids can cost a lot more than they save in gasoline.
We developed a “calculator” that looks at all major vehicles sold in the U.S. and found that [...]

The latest move by State Farm to leave Florida is yet another sign that insurers are getting pushed out of the state, leaving an unprofitable state-owned insurance company on track to take 50% of the homeowners insurance market, and putting consumers just one or two storms away bailing the government-run operation.  To read about this, see this piece in the Orlando [...]

If one thing stands out from recent news reports on auto insurance in Georgia, it’s that economic regulation and rate review are not needed to protect the state’s consumers from rate gouging.
With nearly 90 auto insurance providers in the state, Georgia consumers enjoy more competition and choice of auto insurance plans than they do for [...]

Over the last couple of weeks, we asked our readers whether they supported the Pickens Plan to achieve energy independence. And, here are the final results:

95% YES (902 votes)
<1% NO (8 votes)
4% Partially Support (34 votes)
<1% Undecided (2 votes)

Based on these results, our readers overwhelmingly support the Pickens Plan.

Our last ConsumerGram analyzed the hidden telephone fees that consumers pay as a result of an outdated system of regulated payments between telephone companies. We concluded then that these payments represent subsidies that hurt consumers, are inefficient, and are not sustainable in the face of increasing competition. Moreover, the subsidy scheme works to discourage investment [...]

Less than six weeks from now, millions of Americans will be denied access to news, information and entertainment now provided by their television sets. Having sold the airwaves now used to transmit programmed TV signals, the government has discovered that its efforts to inform consumers and to have them convert to the new technology are [...]

Consumer Perspectives for the New Year: The Need for Full Disclosure of Relevant Information about Products
Discussion of stimulus packages, bailouts and related macroeconomic policy options to create jobs and to get the economy going again has pushed into the background equally important debates over the role of government in individual market segments ranging through those [...]

We previously discussed the pending transition from analog to digital TV and mentioned that consumers using over-the-air transmission may soon lose their signal reception unless they get a convert box.  To help with this transition, Congress funded $40 coupons (per set) to defer most of the cost of these converter boxes.  Well, now the New York Times reports that [...]