The Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Protection

Morison S. E. Commager H. S. , The Growth of the American Republic, 5th ed. (1962), pp. 532–534.

FTC v. Raladam, 283 U.S. 643 (1931).

See FTC v. Brown Shoe Co., 384 U.S. 316 (1966) (antitrust); FTC v. Sperry & Hutchinson, 405 U.S. 233 (1972) (consumer protection).

The employment statistics were supplied by David Shannon, FTC Director of Personnel, on May 28, 1974. The descriptions of the work of the various bureaus are drawn from personal observation.

The FTC's authority to act by rule making was most recently affirmed in Nat'l Petroleum Refiners Assn. v. FTC, 482 F. 2d 672 (D.C. Cir. 1973), cert. denied 42 Law Week 3482 (2-26-74).

See FTC, Economic Report on Installment Credit and Retail Sales Practices of District of Columbia Retailers (March 1968).

See Posner L. , “The Federal Trade Commission,” University of Chicago Review (1969), pp. 76–82.

16 C.F.R. §410 (TV screens); 16 C.F.R. §418 (extension ladders); 16 C.F.R. §13.235-60(c) (foreign origin).

See generally Katz C. (ed.), The Law and the Low Income Consumer (1968).

16 C.F.R. §408.

See Marco Sales Co. v. FTC, 453 F. 2d 1 (2d Cir. 1971).

See Report of the ABA Commission to Study the Federal Trade Commission (1969).

All these actions are described in Pitofsky N. , “Advertising and the New Consumerism—A Second Look,” address delivered at Northwestern University on October 4, 1972 (copy on file with the author).

See FTC, Trade Regulation Rule Concerning Care Labelling of Textile Wearing Apparel (December 9, 1971); FTC, Trade Regulation Rule Concerning Posting Minimum Octane Numbers on Gasoline Dispensing Pumps (December 16, 1971).

36 Fed. Reg. 1211 (1971).

See FTC, Trade Regulation Rule Concerning A Cooling-Off Period for Door-to-Door Sales (October 18, 1972).

In February 1971 the commission announced in a press release that it was studying the desirability of adopting a rule providing a mandatory pro-rata refund of deposits made to vocational schools by students who drop out before completing the course.

See Holloway v. Bristol-Myers Corp., 485 F. 2d 986 (1973).

S. 356, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. (1973) (warranty bill); H.R. 21, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. (1973) (consumer advocate); S. 1461, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. (1973) (“Truth in Advertising”).

The new rules have not, as of this writing, yet been published in the FTC's official compilation of rules and regulations. The most comprehensive source presently available is Engman S. , “Address before the National Press Club,” Washington, D.C., February 19, 1974 (copy on file with the author).

See Keeton P. Shapo M. , Products and the Consumer: Deceptive Practices (1972), pp. 519–525; and the Firestone proceeding discussed therein.

See the cases described in Kintner E. , A Primer on the Law of Deceptive Practices (1971), pp. 30–32, 39.

Howard A. Hulbert C. , Advertising and the Public Interest: A Staff Report to the Federal Trade Commission (1973).