RIT Professor Robert Manning to Testify at Senate Banking Committee, Jan. 25

—Robert D. Manning
Research professor, consumer financial services
RIT’s E. Philip Saunders College of Business

The year’s first hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), is “Examining the Billing, Marketing and Disclosure Practices of the Credit Card Industry, and Their Impact on Consumers.” Called to Washington to testify this Thursday, Jan. 25, is Professor Robert D. Manning, author of Credit Card Nation and director of Rochester Institute of Technology’s recently established Center for Consumer Financial Services in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business.

“Sen. Dodd is making credit card regulation a key issue for his legislative agenda, so this is a big event in terms of demonstrating the difference between a Democratic- vs. Republican- controlled Congress,” Manning says. “I am going to focus more on broad issues such as regulatory trends, practices and profitability of the credit card industry, and consequences of rising debt burdens and end of housing bubble on the U.S. economy—American households in particular.”

As Manning further explains, the credit card industry is one of the most powerful and profitable in the United States. “The industry seeks to insulate itself from government regulation and even civil litigation through the masterful control of state and federal legislators,” he says.

“Sen. Dodd’s hearing will provide a first step in examining the problems of rising finance charges and fees as well as insufficient consumer disclosure,” Manning notes. “For many Americans, the outcome of these initial hearing will determine whether rising numbers of families will find themselves in bankruptcy court in the next few years simply due to escalating interest rates.”

Editor’s Note: Robert D. Manning-Credit Card Industry—RIT PODCAST available at: www.thetigerbeat.com/rss/podcasts/robert_manning_interview.mov
For information on the Sen. Dodd-credit card regulation hearing on Thursday, Jan. 25, visit: http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=246

The E. Philip Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB International) and enrolls more than 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students. The college is spearheading an initiative to establish a university-wide Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is also creating a new research center and academic major in consumer financial services.

Robert D. Manning is Director of RIT\'s recently established Center for Consumer Financial Services at http://centers.cob.rit.edu/ and Editorial Advisor for the soon to be released (February) and widely acclaimed documentary: IN DEBT WE TRUST: America Before The Bubble Bursts at www.indebtwetrust.com. He can be reached at (585) 475-4342 and www.creditcardnation.com