Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
New Era is a village in Oceana County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 461 at the 2000 census. New Era is the birthplace of Caldecott Medal-winning children's author Verna Aardema. The village is near the halfway point on the Hart-Montague Trail, and local businesses (including a trailside dairy bar popular during summer months) woo visiting cyclists as they pass by along the trail.