Several years ago Demos organized a small conference to bring together consumer advocacy groups with academic and think tank economists and sociologists and a few bankruptcy and consumer protection lawyers and law profs and Foundation funders.  Not only was it a very productive day but the personal and professional links  formed  or strengthened by that exercise have  reverberated and continue to reverberate to the benefit of consumers in the U.S.  The extraordinary damage being inflicted by the current economic disaster increases our responsibility to strengthen the network.  Since the time of the Demos program, the savings movement and the economic/psychology or behavioral/economics movements have grown and they need to be added to the mix.  It is only through the combined insights of folks in different fields that we can produce the kinds of results that consumers need.  Turf battles and other barriers dampen the enthusiasm for such efforts, but make them all the more essential. Maybe these efforts are ongong; if not, perhaps its time to take stock and freshen them.