Economy Briefs: Consumer watchdog to oversee debt collectors

Expanding its reach, the government’s consumer finance watchdog agency will monitor the day-to-day operations of big debt-collection companies, the agency said Wednesday.

It is the first time that debt collectors have been subject to federal scrutiny of their routine business practices.

The move lengthens the list of industries that face oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

LAYOFFS

Dow Chemical to slash 2,400 jobs, close 20 plants

MIDLAND, Mich. — The Dow Chemical Co. will eliminate about 2,400 jobs and close roughly 20 manufacturing facilities as part of a restructuring plan aimed at coping with slowing economic growth in Europe and elsewhere.

STOCKS

DuPont to cut 1,500 jobs after profit slide

DOVER, Del. |The DuPont Co. said Tuesday that it will cut about 1,500 jobs and take other steps to increase its competitiveness, after weak demand for a key industrial pigment and uncertainty in the solar panel market led to a sharp drop in third-quarter earnings.

FINANCIAL

Obama: Accountability lacking on Wall Street

President Obama, who once called bank executives “fat cats” and their pay “obscene,” says Wall Street needs to change pay incentives that reward risky bets.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Mr. Obama says that despite congressional passage of a financial regulation overhaul in 2010, there still are not enough adequate means of holding risk takers in the industry accountable.

“You still have a situation where people making bets can get a huge upside, and their downsides are limited,” Mr. Obama says in the edition that reaches newsstands and subscribers Friday.

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