We’ve discussed Elizabeth Warren to death.  Let’s look at another candidate who is said to be in the running for the CFPB top spot: Michael Barr, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions.  From his official biography:   

Barr has taught Financial Institutions, International Finance, Transnational Law, and Jurisdiction and Choice of Law, and co-founded the International Transactions Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. He has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and at the Brookings Institution. Barr has researched and written about a wide range of issues in financial regulation. He has conducted large-scale empirical research regarding financial services and low- and moderate-income households. Barr recently co-edited Building Inclusive Financial Systems (Brookings Press 2007, with Kumar & Litan) and Insufficient Funds (Russell Sage 2008, with Blank).

Barr previously served as Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin’s Special Assistant, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, as Special Advisor to President William J. Clinton, as a special advisor and counselor on the policy planning staff at the State Department, and as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and then-District Court Judge Pierre N. Leval of the Southern District of New York.