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Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. They are like the weather; people complain all the time but nothing is done about them. Shoes, in fact, for all their many problems have been largely ignored by the consumer movement. Consumer Reports, by way of illustration, has only conducted one test series on shoes and then only “Boys’ Shoes,” as…
It was an occasion that remains memorable 20 years later. There was the president of little American Motors, George Romney, testifying before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee and telling it like it is about General Motors and Ford Motor Co. In addition to providing valuable insights about how giant companies can reduce competition and innovation in…
The politics of fighting inflation from Washington is increasingly becoming the politics of put- ting it to the weak and subsidizing the powerful. A few days ago, at the height of the struggle over the cotton dust lung disease standard that pitted White House advisers against the Department of Labor, a White House aide told…
More than 400 years ago, Sir Edward Coke observed that the corporation has no soul. Today, Ford Motor Co. and Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. are embroiled in situations that reflect the soulless attributes of the corporate estate. Herein is a tale of two corporations in brief which raises the question: Would these people do…
The other day the Interstate Commerce Commission mailed out its announcement that the 1977 performance reports on household goods movers were available for consumer inspection. Attached to the release was a listing of the 10 largest movers by name and the statistics they filed concerning their servicing of individual householders. For movers like Allied Van…
For several years Carol Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America and Rod Leonard of the Community Nutrition Institute were on the same side of numerous food policy issues involving the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). But Foreman, now assistant secretary of agriculture, made a decision a few days ago regarding nitrites in bacon that…
Have you heard about the Gas Research Institute? Few people have. But if you are a customer of natural gas in your home or business, you will be paying as a group almost $10 million this year and over $90 million a year by the early 80s to this institute. Your payment will be added…
Kachariah D. Blackistone has been taking things easier the past few months. He is entitled to some relaxation at the age of 107. Until last year Mr. Blackistone went to work regularly as the owner of four florist shops in Washington, D.C., where he has become a community legend. At the age of 100, he…
Auto repair fraud, gouges or shoddiness are either number one or very near the top of most consumer complaint surveys in this country. Billions of dollars every year are fleeced from motorists, according to the Department of Transportation. Now comes a lawsuit brought jointly by the San Francisco District Attorney and the California Department of…
The airlines are swooping down on Congress to grab four billion more dollars from airline passengers. Behind this latest chapter of corporate pressure politics is a tale of corporate socialism so bold as to set, if successful, the stage for many similar inflationary congressional raids on consumers. It is a simple story of business greed.…