A new court ruling raises doubts that hard-fought consumer protection laws will actually be able to protect consumers.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that consumers who signed up for a credit card with a binding arbitration clause don’t have the right to dispute creditors in court over unfair fees or charges. Instead, they must hire an independent (read: expensive) arbitrator.

Here’s the kicker: many credit users don’t even realize their card came with an arbitration clause because it was hidden among fine print in the credit card agreement. That’s exactly the sort of sneaky behavior the formerly heralded Credit CARD Act of 2009 was supposed to prevent.

Critics say the 8-to-1 vote will only encourage credit card issuers and lenders to add even more clauses restricting consumers to arbitration down the road. Large credit card companies know that, when it comes to arbitration, consumers don’t have much of a shot.

Chicago bankruptcy lawyers rarely hear of a credit card holder winning an arbitration case.

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This is a seminal article and one that western companies and governments should study. The general assumption is that manufacturing work is outsourced overseas due to lower wages. Not so.

How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work | NY Times

Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”

This story developed following a question last year from President Obama to Steve Jobs. The backstory

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At Howard Law, P.C., Vincent Howard and our team of Highland foreclosure defense attorneys were interested to see a case in which a mortgage lender was penalized for failing to foreclose after the borrowers gave up the property. In Canning v. Beneficial Maine, Ralph and Megan Canning of Sanford, Maine, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after falling behind on their mortgage payments, and ultimately agreed to surrender the property. However, after the surrender and after their discharge, Beneficial Maine wrote the Cannings to demand that they repay the considerable balance on their underwater loan. They reopened their bankruptcy case and filed an adversary proceeding to require Beneficial to either repossess or give up lien to the home. The bankruptcy court found that the collection letters violated the Cannings’ discharge, but that failure to foreclose did not.

The Cannings bought their home in 2007 and found themselves unable to refinance a year later because of a price drop. This led to a default and their Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in 2009. With their petition and a separate letter to Beneficial, the couple indicated that they would surrender the home.

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More than half of people aged over 60 are finding it harder to manage their outgoings compared to a year ago, new research has found.

Age UK, the leading British charity, has found that 55% of over 60s are finding it harder than last year to keep on top of their finances.

Despite CPI inflation dropping slightly last month, it still remains way above the government’s target and is still making life tough for many people.

And it is the older generation who are often affected the most; with things like energy costs meaning that RPI inflation for the over 50s is still around 5.5%.

“Living costs have risen somewhat less fast in December but today’s inflation figures are nothing to celebrate,” said Dr Ros Altmann, Director General of Saga. 

“Inflation remains over double the Government’s 2% target and older people are suffering worse than anyone.”

Research by Age UK has revealed that nearly one in ten people over 60 are struggling to get by on their income.

As the economic downturn continues to take its toll on people’s bank accounts, the majority of over 60s surveyed said they were cutting back as much as possible.

Age UK estimates that as many as 4.5 million people over 60 can only afford to buy the basics they need to get by.

“Living on a low income is hard work. Currently ther

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Aussie families are under a lot of financial pressure. In fact, households have not been in such a bad place financially for over a decade.

The Melbourne Institute household financial conditions index fell to 25.2 points in June, its lowest level since the start of the survey in March 2001. The March 2011 survey recorded an index of 33.3 points.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul is becoming the norm for many. Cost of living is continually going up. Recent price increases on everyday items including food as well as basic services have been squeezing many families budgets. Water, power and gas prices are going up in most states, while the summers floods restricted supplies of many fruit and vegetables with lingering effects for many produce costs.

The household financial conditions index shows the proportion of households who are saving relative to the proportion of households who are running into debt or drawing on their savings. The survey tapped responses from 1200 households nationwide.

People are trying to keep up their debt repayments, paying loans out whenever possible and saving more than in prior years.

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