To the Consumers Union gala, published on this Washington Post blog.  This caught the Payday Pundit’s eye:

But today, credit markets work differently. With credit, the product is, in an important sense, the contract itself. And lengthy credit agreements written in overly legalistic language too often make it difficult for families to compare costs, benefits, and risks. Certain lenders have taken advantage of this lack of transparency. Too many profit models have been built around keeping customers confused or uncertain, pretending to sell at one price on the front end and knowing that the real profits will be made on fees, penalties and re-pricing on the back end – when it is too late. Too many profit models have been built around steering customers into products they can’t understand and may not be able to afford. All this was a way to boost profits by avoiding head-to-head competition on features that customers could easily understand.