Anne Fleming’s History of Law and Consumer Finance

Abstract

This article has teased out Anne Flemings’s interests and the overarching themes in her research. It shows how these themes and interests influenced the direction of her research in the hope that these ideas will continue to be influential in the years to come. Her scholarship tells a compelling story of individual lives, consumerism, and the pitfalls of leaving capitalism unbowed. The significance of Anne’s scholarship is not only owing to her substantive claims but also to her approach. She mapped out elaborate histories of lending, although she primarily assessed consumer finance law and economic policy by looking at their impact on the end user. There is much to be gained by taking such an approach and from using the consumer as a lens to examine banking and financial regulation.

Keywords: Anne Fleming; History of Law; Consumer Finance; Bank Regulation; Consumer Law