Consumer Prices and Protection

Our Work

America is in the middle of a long simmering cost-of-living crisis with no end in sight. Policymakers from across the ideological spectrum are waking up to this fact and trying to find ways to bring down costs.

VPA is contributing to this effort by proposing solutions to bring consumer prices down, using the full toolkit within the long American tradition of policy and law: including network, platform, and utility law; antitrust; consumer protection; industrial policy; and public options.

Complaints.gov

12/18/25

Complaints.gov: A National Infrastructure for Consumer Protection Americans file complaints with at least 176 different government agencies, each with its own forms, systems, and siloed data. Erie Meyer exposes how this fragmentation leaves people trapped in automated loops while regulators fly blind. She proposes Complaints.gov, a platform and infrastructure that routes complaints to the right agency, publishes redacted complaint data, and gives both small regulators and major companies modern tools to spot patterns and respond faster.

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Price Gouging Captive Customers

11/5/25

From egregious prices in airports and stadiums, to overcharging in hospitals during health emergencies, to excessive commissary prices when customers are literally captive in prisons, the modern economy is full of corporations that overcharge customers because they are stuck with one provider. This form of overcharging is just as illegal as price gouging during a disaster and enforcers can act now to stop this very unpopular norm in the modern economy.

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The Loyalty Trap

10/18/25

Loyalty programs are everywhere. From airlines to the grocery store and gas station, companies are seeking your loyalty in exchange for discounts. These programs may look simple: collect your points, get some deals, and save some money, but this research reveals how loyalty programs – once simple tools for clipping coupons and collecting points – have transformed into powerful engines of surveillance pricing.

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Capping Credit Card Rates

9/4/25

Bipartisan proposals to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10%, 15%, or 18% would save Americans and small businesses billions. Because credit card profits are so excessive, these savings would come with little downside other than lower profits for the handful of megabanks.

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