Prices are falling, isn't that a good thing?

The government's March report on consumer prices registered an annual drop, a first in over 50 years, but that might not be good news for cash-strapped consumers, economist Nouriel Roubini told Consumer Reports.

Roubini, a professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, warned that deflation could cause more problems for an already struggling economy.

"There are different types of deflation. There is good deflation and there is bad deflation. And we are now in a period of bad deflation," Roubini said. "Right now there is too much supply and not enough demand."

More from our interview with Roubini:

Part 1: It’s not all bad news

Part 2: Surviving the next year

2009 New York Auto Show: Consumer Reports Videos

The Consumer Reports Cars team spent the past week at the annual auto show in New York City. Here are the videos they produced with Consumer Reports Television.

Click here to see our complete coverage of the New York Auto Show, and, as always, keep up with the Consumer Reports Cars Blog for all the latest automotive news.

Lessons from one family's encounter with a forclosure rescue scam

While the government announced yesterday that it is cracking down on mortgage and foreclosure fraud, Consumer Reports tackled to the problem in the March issue and gave some advice on how to protect yourself and your home.

In the video on the right, meet Kari and Roger Mizer, first-time homeowners who faced foreclosure on their home in 2007 after the monthly payment on their adjustable-rate mortgage hit $1,850.

The Mizers found hope when they received a letter from a mortgage-restructuring firm that claimed to have a 95.5 percent success rate in stopping foreclosures, but it turned out to be a scam. (Read more of the Mizer's story here.)

To keep from getting into a similar situation yourself, Consumer Reports advises you to avoid some common traps:

• Watch out for unsolicited offers
• Be wary of demands for up front fees
• Stay away from any service that advises you to stop contact with your lender
• Stay away from any service that asks you to transfer title of your home

Here's what you should do to deal with the threat of foreclosure:

Anyone anticipating problems making mortgage payments should seek legitimate free or low-cost help as soon as possible. Contact a housing counseling agency certified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov/foreclosure or 800-569- 4287). Their agents can assess options and advise you in negotiating with the lender. Advice is also available at the Homeowner's Hope Hotline, at 888-995-4673 (see box below). Another good source of help is the Institute for Foreclosure Legal Assistance, www.foreclosurelegalassistance.org, which funds and trains groups nationwide that give subsidized legal representation to families facing foreclosure.

Today In Our Test Labs: The toilet paper video edition

Crack jokes at our expense if you want, but Consumer Reports tests toilet paper.

Everybody uses it. Everybody buys it. So Consumer Reports tests it.

Our team looks at not only the feel and strength of the paper, but how easy it is to open the packaging and how hard it is to start a roll.

Bottom line, we do all this to find the softest, strongest toilet paper for the best value.

UPDATE: Our new ratings-based report on toilet paper is online now and appears in the May 2009 issue of Consumer Reports.

For more news and tips on keeping your home running smoothly, visit our Home & Garden Blog.

You can watch more of our testing at the Consumer Reports video hub.

Some Consumer Reports history

One of the hundreds of dedicated folks who test, write, edit, and produce for Consumer Reports forwarded this video clip to all of us this morning, and you should see it, too.

It's a 1960 film produced for Consumers Union, our publisher, showing what was happening inside the Consumer Reports test labs.

The video is old and a bit grainy, but the mission is the same as it is today: to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves.

For a more timely take on what we're doing here at Consumer Reports, visit our video page.

The singing pirates of the FTC and your free credit reports

For those of you who can't get the freecreditreport.com jingle out of your head, the Federal Trade Commission has something for you to think about: there's only one place approved under federal law for you to get your free annual credit report.

The government-mandated place for those free credits reports is: AnnualCreditReport.com.

"Other sites require users to pay hidden fees or agree to additional services," the FTC said in a statement. "For example, some sites provide a free credit report if you enroll in a new service."

To let everybody know that, the FTC has launched an ad campaign that looks a whole lot like the ubiquitous freecreditreport.com spots. The government's jingles may not be quite as catchy, but they are pretty good spoofs of the originals.

The FTC's ads:

And the freecreditreport.com ads:

Freecreditreport.com does note on its web site that it is not part of the government's program. The site says this on the front page:

ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies.