Elizabeth Warren

When I worked at the University of Pennsylvania Law Library, I had the pleasure of knowing Professor Elizabeth Warren, a leading bankruptcy scholar, who has since left and now teaches at Harvard Law School. She is the subject of a recent Newsweek article, entitled "The Debt Crusader," describing her new post as head of the "Congressional Oversight Panel, the group that's critiquing the government's bank bailout and advising legislators on how to reform the financial system. For years Warren has been an outspoken critic of banks, and in this new job she's got her best chance yet to see her views turned into law. That's a prospect that pains financial lobbyists, who basically despise her." Why do these lobbyists hate Professor Warren? She has been an outspoken critic of the consumer credit industry for many years, believing that easy credit is at least part of the cause of the increase in personal bankruptcy. The article describes the Panel's work to date, and speculates about the direction in which the Panel might go in the future. Not everyone believes that Professor Warren is the right person to head up this group. For instance, a very critical Forbes.com article about the initial work of the Panel and Professor Warren was published yesterday.