Capitalists beware. Parliament and the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) are getting awfully close: A number of MPs have come out strongly in favor of strengthening the CPA through the amendments to the Consumer Protection Act. House Economics Committee chair MP Ali El Moselhy and MP Ashraf Amara, who introduced the legislation, have both said that the CPA’s budget, staff and operations have been increased significantly in the new law to allow it to perform its job more effectively. This follows statements last week that the Economics Committee approved granting the CPA powers of arrest. No one has publicly come out yet to confirm that provisions in the law would allow the government to implement measures such as price controls, something CPA head Atef Yacoub and MPs have called for. The thought of MPs teaming up with the organization behind the Smiley Face initiative leaves us expecting base, anti-capitalist populism that would make Nasser blush.