Academics back Elizabeth Warren as head of new consumer agency
The Baltimore Sun
August 4, 2010
More than 140 academics have written to President Obama in support of Elizabeth Warren as the first director of the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
It was after all, Warren's idea to create the agency. And the Harvard University law professor has been a firebrand on a congressional panel overseeing how the taxpayer bailout money is being spent by banks.
In the letter to the president, the academics wrote: "Professor Warren is an eminent legal scholar and a nationally renowned expert on consumer finance. She has authored over one hundred and twenty scholarly articles and books. These include a best-selling personal finance book for middle-class families and teaching materials that help educate thousands of law students every year.
"This scholarly expertise, along with her work as Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP, has given Professor Warren a broad, and perhaps unique, perspective on how effective consumer protection is essential for the safety and soundness of the financial system and the health of the American economy. She is an effective manager with clear vision and the ability to coordinate complex projects, as demonstrated by her groundbreaking scholarly studies, her work as reporter for the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, and her leadership of the Congressional Oversight Panel."
