Protecting the consumer : an economic and legal analysis / Peter Smith and Dennis Swann.

Includes bibliographic details and index.

The subject matter --
Institutional background --
Competition policy - creating a European market --
Competition policy- the domestic market --
market intervention --
Preparing to buy -acquiring information --
Preparing to buy -preventing deception --
Preparing to buy -acquiring finance --
Protection at the point of sale --
Redress and the enforcement of rights.

An up-to-date analysis of policies for protecting the consumer interest in the UK this book makes an important and unusual contribution by combining an economic and legal approach It duals both with the creation and maintenance of competition and the legal protection of consumers, and reviews the position of the consumer through all the stages of the process which culminates in the sale and purchase of goods and services.

Increased choice for the consumer stems partly from the penetration of the British market by foreign producers British membership of the Common Market is, therefore, highly significant and the book opens with a discussion of competition rules enshrined in the Treaty of Rome The creation of competition between British producers is also a source of protection. The authors examine policies on U K. restrictive practices, monopolies, and mergers, together with a variety of other market interventions, including controls under the Price Commission, and regulations covering the design and composition of goods. This is followed by a discussion on the provision of information for consumers, the prevention of deception, and the implications of the Consumer Credit Act. The authors outline consumer rights in the context of the Sale of Goods Act and the Unfair Contract Terms Act, and they study the question of who does the protecting and who deals with the redress of grievances In conclusion, they assess the progress which has been made in the field of consumer protection. Future policies are debated with particular reference to the recent Green Paper on Mono poly and Merger Policy and to the immediate changes in consumer policy made by the Thatcher Government