Ballooning wealth inequality is perhaps one of the greatest challenges for our current political age. French economist Thomas Piketty warned of inequalities that “radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based.” (Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014, 1)

Although the stock market dominates attention, consumer finance is also an important component of socioeconomic health. Indeed, 77 percent of Americans had some type of outstanding debt by the 2008 financial crisis (11).

Mallory E. SoRelle argues in Democracy Declined that although credit has become indispensable for American consumers, few government protections exist from predatory products. While staples like food and household appliances must conform to government-mandated safety standards, many financial products like credit cards, bank accounts, and loans rely on informational disclosures alone. However, disclosures are so lengthy and complicated, SoRelle writes, they are essentially meaningless, leaving consumers at various income levels vulnerable to a debilitating cycle of debt.

SoRelle’s unique and persuasive argument points to a path-dependent incentive structure created by the New Deal. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisors believed underco