Credit Slipbits

A few short items of note from around the blogosphere:

• The Supreme Court heard arguments today in Watters v. Wachovia Bank, which considers whether the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency can preempt state consumer protection laws applying to national banks. We have previously discussed the case here and here. The Consumer Law & Policy Blog is closely following the case, and I hope for some updates from them. SCOTUSblog posts recaps of Supreme Court arguments and may have a recap in a few days.
• Credit Slips readers who also have interests in the business law area might be interested to know that UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge is back in the blogosphere with his Business Associations Blog. Professor Bainbridge has one of the leading textbooks in the field along with a treatise I often recommend to students: Corporation Law and Economics. The blog is well worth following.
• Houston Chronicle columnist Loren Steffy who often writes about consumer matters in his own blog has a column today reflecting on holiday spending and US consumers' addiction to debt. Steffy writes, "With so much easy credit available — a dozen or more offers a week, if your junk mail load mirrors mine — we can borrow to cover our crises as well as our whims. Debt, in other words, is the new saving." It's worth a read.