ABSTRACT
A society based on the model of 'perfect competition' in the market should secure the best of all possible worlds for the consumer. The consumer, indeed, is dominant. He or she exercises the power of commercial life or death over suppliers in the shape of his or her purchasing decisions. Competition in the market seems inherently desirable. That is a perception which may serve as a starting point. The case for public controls becomes all the stronger when account is taken of practical difficulties which confront consumers seeking to enforce legal rights, however generous those rights may seem on paper. The requirement that each individual consumer pursue his or her own claim separately operates severely to restrict consumer redress and the control of producers through the operation of the private law. The overall picture of contract law as a means of establishing a long-term framework for a commercial relationship does not accord with the reality of many consumer transactions.
