Consumer Protection, Democracy, and the CFPB: A Thought-Provoking Debate with Amelia O'Rourke-Owens

Consumer Protection, Democracy, and the CFPB: A Thought-Provoking Debate with Amelia O'Rourke-Owens

From Consumer Finance Monitor by Ballard Spahr LLP

May 28, 2026 · 56 min · Season 9 · Episode 26

About this episode

The episode features a discussion on consumer protection law and its implications for democracy with Amelia O'Rourke-Owens.

On a recent episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, Alan Kaplinsky, host of the podcast, had the opportunity to interview Amelia O'Rourke-Owens, a legal scholar and former CFPB policy fellow, about her article, "Tearing Holes in Consumer Protection: Democracy's Safety Net." Amelia is the founder and CEO of Resilience Solutions, which provides subject matter expertise and consulting services around policy solutions and strategic planning. The services enhance strategic objectives of their clients and build resilience in their enterprise and efforts. The discussion explored the role of consumer financial protection law, the evolving mission of the CFPB, and the broader implications for democracy, innovation, and financial regulation. Amelia advances a bold thesis in her article: that consumer protection law, and particularly consumer financial protection law, may be the most impactful body of law in the United States. She further argues that the strength of consumer protection laws may serve as a barometer for the health of American democracy. To support this thesis, Amelia proposes a three-part framework for evaluating the "impact" of a body of law: 1. The number of…

People in this episode

Host: Alan Kaplinsky

Guest: Amelia O'Rourke-Owens

Topics covered

  • consumer protection
  • democracy
  • CFPB
  • financial regulation
  • policy solutions

Keywords

  • consumer protection
  • CFPB
  • democracy
  • financial regulation
  • policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Resilience Solutions, CFPB

Books & works: Tearing Holes in Consumer Protection: Democracy's Safety Net

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