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How do large American and European food and drug corporations affect consumers abroad, say, in South America? Robert Ledogar, a soft-spoken for­mer Roman Catholic priest with a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, set out two years ago to find out. BACKED by a grant from Consumers Union, Ledogar journeyed, observed and re­searched…

There is nothing that upsets corporate and gov­ernmental bureaucrats more than an effective proposal on behalf of con­sumers. So, expectedly, Gerald Ford, his golfing partners from the auto, steel and oil industries and dozens of trade associations in Wash­ington are straining to stop the establishment of a tiny consumer protection agen­cy to fight consumer abuses…

One of the surest ways to lose your job in the federal government is to do your job, even if it makes waves. Ask David Shaw, a 38-year-old statis­tician for the Bureau of the Census. A few years ago he became interested in how the Census Bureau could collect more information for local neighbor­hood and…

Maria Sanchez and her neighbors in adjoining apartments were concerned about an abandoned build­ing next door at 2639 W. Haddon Ave., in Chicago. It was strewn with broken glass, foundations were badly cracked, floors buckled, exterior doors missing and rats every­where. THE OWNER of this sag­ging structure was the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

Ever since the introduc­tion of the farm tractor in the 1920’s, farmers have suffered the economic abuse of the giant oil companies. But, unlike their urban consumer counterparts, they fought back by forming farmer-owned oil cooperatives. Starting with coopera­tively owned filling stations and bulk storage plants, they gradually introduced the cooperative idea into oil-product distribution,…

Ever since the introduc­tion of the farm tractor in the 1920’s, farmers have suffered the economic abuse of the giant oil companies. But, unlike their urban consumer counterparts, they fought back by forming farmer-owned oil cooperatives. Starting with coopera­tively owned filling stations and bulk storage plants, they gradually introduced the cooperative idea into oil-product distribution,…

Question: What is it that would cost the public less than a million dollars a year but is driving multi-billion-dollar banks and cor­porations frantic? Answer: H.R. 7590, a bill to provide for an­nual congressional audit of the giant Federal Reserve System. With the vote by the House of Represen­tatives on this legislation expected within the…

In the escalating veto war between Gerald Ford and the Congress, it is time to ask why the White House is so far ahead in its strategic use of that presidential authority compared to the naive and unimaginative measures pursued by the Congress to override it. Through the use of intricate power plays, White House…

U.S. and foreign fishery firms are harvesting about one fifth of the fish resources available on an annually renewable basis off our shores. This startling fact, contained in a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) report, contrasts starkly with the worsening news about world hunger and rising meat prices in this country and abroad. How can…

Question: What is it that would cost the public less than a million dollars a year but is driving multibillion-dollar banks and corporations frantic? Answer: HR7590, a bill to provide for annual congres­sional audit of the giant Federal Reserve System. WITH THE VOTE by the House of Representatives on this legislation expected within the month,…