The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. LEGAL

British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepares to extradite three bankers to the U.S. to face fraud charges related to the Enron collapse.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Journalism Fellow Timothy P. Carney explains how government policies facilitated the Enron scandal in his new book, The Big Ripoff : How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money::

“Far from free-market cowboys, Enron officials lobbied for electricity regulations (mis-characterized as “deregulation”), environmentalist treaties, and bottomless subsidies.”

2. BUSINESS

European regulators fine Microsoft $375 million for antitrust violations.

 CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews examines the Microsoft case and the threat to innovation from over-regulation:

“The Microsoft case signals a move toward micro-managing the way businesses organize and re-organize over time, a profoundly anti-competitive and dangerous stance. Politicians too often take regulation for granted, unaware of the academic debate on the merits of antitrust.”

3. TECHNOLOGY

NASA considers whether the space shuttle program can be operated safely enough to finish work on the $100 billion dollar International Space Station.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: General Counsel Sam Kazman on the potential for privately funded innovation in space – and here on earth:

“When Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, they shot for the stars and succeeded. More recently, Allen shot for the stars again.  The two successful launches of his SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X competition for private manned space flights.  This feat may ultimately do for private space ventures what Charles Lindbergh’s crossing the Atlantic did for commercial aviation.”

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI Open Market.

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