When you buy a dishwasher, you know it probably won’t explode. When you buy aspirin, you can figure out the side effects without an advanced degree. When you buy zucchini, you can feel confident it won’t be toxic. And when you buy movie tickets, you can presume the terms of your purchase won’t change after you leave the window. But when it comes to financial products like mortgages and credit cards, you can’t be sure of any of those things. That’s the basic case for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), the centerpiece of President Obama’s push to reform financial regulation.