Background Information

Robert D. Manning with Frank J. Battisti Award for Outstanding Contributions to Law and Public Policy, Case Western Reserve School of Law, 2007Robert D. Manning with Frank J. Battisti Award for Outstanding Contributions to Law and Public Policy, Case Western Reserve School of Law, 2007

Robert D. Manning, PhD, President and CEO of Responsible Debt Relief Institute, Inc. and Developer of the Responsible Debt Relief Algorithm


  • Dr. Manning Submits Comment to FTC Regarding Proposed Amendment to the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule to Address the Sale of Debt Relief Services

    • Author of the widely acclaimed book Credit Card Nation; The Consequences of America’s Addiction to Credit (Basic Books, 2000), which received the 2001 Robert Ezra Park Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sociological Practice, Dr. Manning is a specialist in consumer finance, deregulation of retail banking, comparative economic development, immigration, ethnic/race relations and globalization.

    Dr. Manning is a Fellow of the Filene Research Institute and past Director of the Center for Consumer Financial Services at Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Manning’s research has influenced public policy debate on the statutory regulation of retail banking and consumer debt in the United States and other countries. A frequently invited expert before U.S. Congressional committees, in January 2007 Dr. Manning testified at the Senate Banking committee’s hearing on “Examining the Billing, Marketing, and Disclosure Practices of the Credit Card Industry and Their Impact on Consumers.” He has also served as an expert witness in numerous class-action lawsuits against the credit card industry.

    A documentary based on his research, “In Debt We Trust: America Before the Bubble Bursts,” was released in March 2007. Dr. Manning’s popular web site Credit Card Nation includes research, public policy analyses and educational programs.