Business and the Consumer: Wither Goes the Confrontation?

Although the consumer movement has made significant strides in the past ten years through the efforts of government agencies, consumer organizations, and social activist groups like Ralph Nader's, all that could have been achieved has not been. Instead of continuing with consumer protection as it is, with its regulatory mechanism, judicial process, organized consumer groups, and industry self-regulation, three kinds of balances must be restored between the consumer and the producer: information balance, bargaining power balance, and adjudication and remedy and relief balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]