Consumer protection: The issues

This paper seeks to organize the discussion of the “issues” in consumer protection by identifying and analyzing the basic factors that have given rise to the demand for consumer protection. Five are singled out for discussion. They are: (a) the monopoly problem at both industry and retail levels; (b) informationally imperfect markets in which consumers are unable or unwilling to obtain and act upon the information that would enable them to make effective choices; (c) the consumer grievance problem, meaning the dissatisfaction that consumers often encounter in consumer purchases; (d) the underrepresentation of consumers and the consumer interest; (e) the desire to shelter vulnerable consumers — the poor, the aged, etc.