What kind of protections do you have as a consumer and what kind of protection do you actually need?

Questions we ask as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enters stage left as the world turns in the new Trump administration.

Let's talk about it. I'm of government that we don't normally discuss.

And I have received a ton of questions on what we're going to focus on today.

I do admittedly have a soft spot for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because I was

there when it started a million years ago or during the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008

when I worked as a business journalist and covered the rise of this agency. The Consumer Financial

Protection Bureau rose out of a period of economic chaos.

And it's really easy to forget what that crisis was like.

So let me just take you back there for a moment.

There was a real concern about the collapse of the global banking system, a real concern

about the collapse of our currency, a real concern about the collapse of our financial system

in general and maybe a depression,

let alone a recession, which we actually did experience.

I remember one night going into work around 1.30 in the morning because I worked as an early

morning business news anchor and had a 5 a.m. show Eastern time.

And Midtown Manhattan in the middle of the night was as busy as it was in the middle of the day.

Because an investment bank right near our office was on the verge of collapse and people were just

filling the streets trying to get their stuff out of the office coming and going. It really felt

like a movie scene. But it was reality. And I remember wondering, is life over as we know it? Is this,

is this the end of something? It felt that serious. Part of the reason for this crisis included

questionable lending practices. And I'm going to say very general for the purpose of our conversation

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