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 [...]

Our last ConsumerGram analyzed the hidden telephone fees that consumers pay as a result of an outdated system of regulated payments between telephone companies.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 [...]

Google is trialing a new service that could produce significant benefits for consumers. It is called GOOG-411, a free telephone information services. Like calling information services to get a telephone number, consumers can dial 1-800-GOOG411 to get a business listing and then to be automatically connected – at no charge.
The service appears to work well. [...]

Reston, VA, December 12, 2008 –– In a nationwide survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute, 93.4% of consumers say that the economy is worse than a year ago with only 1.1% saying that the economy is stronger. The results are significantly worse than the Institute’s December 2007 Consumer Pulse Survey, which found that 68.8% [...]

On February 18, 2009, over-the-air television stations will be required to broadcast their television signals in digital format. This means that older analog TVs will no longer be able to receive signals over-the-air, unless they have a digital converter. Analog TVs that are connected to cable TV, satellite or other video programming services will still [...]

IT Consumers Need Fuller Disclosure:
Privacy, Security, Labeling and Online Safety
 
Consumers can make rational choices only when they are given full and accurate information about their options.  Indeed, insufficient, misleading, or otherwise incomplete information is a prime cause of both market and government failure.  Consumers pay, and pay dearly, when they are not given sufficient information [...]