City Journal
An Affirmative Action Endgame?
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases challenging racial preferences in university admissions. It’s an important move that could pave the way…
The Tribune-Democrat
There are Better Ways than Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to Boost Workers’ Pay
Twenty-five states raised their minimum wages this year, but the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Is it…
Real Clear Policy
Bureaucracy Isn’t the Answer to Ocean Pollution
The existence of plastic waste in the world’s oceans has raised reasonable concerns about the impact on wildlife and the environment. But rather than…
Blog
Better Ways to Fight Poverty than the Minimum Wage
Every January, states and cities across the country raise their minimum wages. There are also calls to raise the federal minimum wage, which has…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
A major antitrust bill from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is poised to hit the Senate floor without a proper hearing. Considering its contents,…
CoinDesk
Professor Gensler Gets an F on Crypto
Crypto insiders lauded Gary Gensler’s nomination to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last February. They thought the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor…
Fee Stories
Where Have All the Capitalists Gone?
Economist Richard Salsman presents liberty advocates with a striking rhetorical question in the title of his most recent book. Are there really fewer capitalists than…
Blog
Court Enjoins Enforcement of Federal Workforce Vaccine Mandate
The Biden administration has promulgated four COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Two were issued via administration regulations and were recently reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Blog
CFPB’s Dodd-Frank Race and Gender Data Collection Mandates Will Harm Financial Inclusion
In mid-2020, on the 10th anniversary of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul being rammed through Congress and signed by then-President Obama, I catalogued the…
Blog
This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Tenth in a Series: Baltimore Edition)
This Baltimore Brew news story describes how the Baltimore Police Department (BPD)—like many police departments around the country—seizes millions of dollars, thousands of…
News Release
Fed Plans for Central Bank Digital Currency Pose Big Risk to Financial Sector, Economy
The US Federal Reserve today published a discussion paper on central bank digital currencies or CBDCs, signaling policymakers’ ambitions to start one. CEI expert Paul Jossey, author…
National Review
The Environmental Left Is Its Own Worst Enemy
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has staked his legacy on the persecution of “climate deniers.” It’s a cause for which he seems ideally suited:…
The Washington Examiner
Regulatory Costs Soar as Biden Adds Rules Faster Than Predecessors
The Washington Examiner cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on Biden Administration regulations: In a broader sense, Wayne Crews, vice…
Blog
As Numbers Stagnate, Unions Continue to Look to Congress For Salvation
The Department of Labor’s latest statistics confirm that the union movement in the U.S. remains stagnant and slowly declining. Only 10.3 percent of…
City Journal
The Pandemic Job Shuffle
Policymaking involves tradeoffs. As the Covid-19 pandemic started in the U.S. in early 2020, governments chose to impose lockdowns and other restrictions in an…
The Wall Street Journal
A Regulatory Burden for Every Room of Your House
Skyrocketing inflation, empty store shelves, rising crime and endless Covid restrictions have been grabbing headlines, but lesser-noticed regulatory mischief from the Biden administration may…
News Release
Senate Antitrust Bill Would Deny Consumers Popular Services from Large Tech Platforms
WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S. 2992) today, a…
Blog
The American Innovation and Choice Online Act Would Regulate Away Consumer Benefits
Perhaps Congress’ enthusiasm for ongoing government oversight of business decisions, embodied in tomorrow’s closed door markup of the American Innovation and Choice Online…
Blog
Comments on Department of Labor Pension ESG Rule
At the end of last year, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to rewrite rules on pension…
Blog
Six Myths about Bitcoin Energy Use
Newsweek: Bitcoin Mining on Track to Consume All of the World’s Energy by 2020 Bloomberg: What if there were a safe…
Blog
Larry Fink and BlackRock Pulling Back on “Woke” Investing?
Larry Fink and his team at BlackRock seem to have heard the growing roar of opposition to politicized investing that is emerging in the…
Blog
In Russia, Government Tells Internet What to Say
As a general rule, if you’re on the same regulatory page as Russia, you should probably turn the page—if not set fire to it.
National Review
In Texas, ESG Virtue-Signaling Is a Risky Investment
As the old saying goes, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh. Large financial corporations are now being skewered in the…
National Review
In Texas, ESG Virtue-Signaling Is a Risky Investment
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, everyone. Inflation hit a 40-year high last week. Meanwhile, agencies issued new rules ranging from French dressing freedom…
Blog
This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages (Ninth in a Series: Texas Edition)
There is a big difference between being accused of misconduct and a court finding of misconduct. Nonetheless, the recent accusations leveled against Nathan Johnson,…
Blog
The Fed Is Not a Climate Regulator
On Tuesday, January 11, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the re-nomination of Jerome Powell to be Federal Reserve chairman. If…
National Review
The Supreme Court’s Vaccine Decisions Are a Blow to the Administrative State
The Supreme Court issued a split decision on two of the Biden administration’s Covid-19 vaccination mandates. In the first, a 6–3 majority stayed the Occupational…
The Washington Times
Experts Say More Americans Will Face Debt, Credit Card Delinquency This Year
The Washington Times cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on the consequences of lockdowns: John Berlau, director of finance…
News Release
Constitutional Challenge to Trump Tax Repatriation Law to be Argued Tomorrow in Ninth Circuit
On Friday, January 14, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a constitutional challenge to a provision in the 2017 federal tax…
News Release
Supreme Court Blocks Biden Vaccine Mandate, Cites CEI-Related Case on Separation of Powers
The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked the Biden administration’s controversial test-or-vaccine mandate to be imposed on countless employers nationwide – and cited to a…
News Release
Anti-Plastics Bill Could Eliminate Jobs, Raise Prices on Consumers and Create Shortages of Critical Products
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new paper today, arguing the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act (S. 984, H.R. 2238),…
Study
The High Costs of the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act
Concerns about plastics waste in the world’s oceans have raised genuine issues about the impact of plastics on the environment. In response, Sen. Jeff…
News Release
Biden Energy Department Blocks Faster Dishwashers That Consumers Want
The Biden administration today undid a useful, consumer-friendly reform put in place by Biden’s predecessor, reinstating energy restrictions that make household dishwashers take much…
Reason
Lawsuit from Former Students Alleges Financial Aid Price Fixing at Elite Universities
Reason cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on how federal regulations affect student loans: Iain Murray, the vice president for…
The American Spectator
How ‘We’ Obscure the Truth About Policy
Blog
Equity Crowdfunding Success Should Spur Further Deregulation
Equity Crowdfunding (Reg CF), the innovative tool that allows middle class people to invest in early-stage companies, has now topped $1.1 billion in…
Blog
CEI’s Advice to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Steer Clear of Climate Policy
On Friday, January 6, CEI submitted comments on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s November 2021 Technical Conference on Greenhouse Gas Mitigation under…
Blog
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Provisions In Build Back Better – A Slippery Slope?
There are many carrots for low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels in the Build Back Better legislation passed by the House and now being…
News Release
Inflation Hits 40 Year High, but Policymakers Can Fix It
Inflation is up, again, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports today. The Federal Reserve has a clear job to do, but Congress and…
News Release
Revived FTC Antitrust Suit Against Facebook Could Put Chill on Innovative Acquisitions in Tech Industry
WASHINGTON – A federal judge today reversed an earlier decision and permitted a case filed against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)…
The Economist
Enthusiasm for Regulation, Often in Areas Like the Climate, Shows No Sign of Flagging
The Economist cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on regulatory guidance: Many new instructions come not as formal rules but…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Teachers’ unions continued to make an eloquent case for school choice by shutting down schools in major cities like Chicago. The country also observed…
Blog
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments over Vaccine Mandates
Today the Supreme Court heard over three hours of oral arguments on two of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. In the…
Comment
CEI Comments on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation under Sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act.
Docket No. PL21-3-000 Comments submitted by Patrick Michaels, Kevin Dayaratna, and Marlo Lewis.[1] Thank you for the opportunity to respond to…
The Washington Examiner
Zogby: US Overwhelmingly Wants Less Federal Meddling
The Washington Examiner cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on President Biden and regulations: The results were stunning, especially coming…
News Release
December’s Disappointing Job Numbers Show Government Should Loosen Restrictions on Economy
On Friday, the Biden Administration released the jobs report for December 2021, showing the U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs. The number was far short…
Blog
This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Eighth in a Series)
I wish it were harder to find forfeiture outrages to write about, but they keep popping up. This week, I focus on Massachusetts.
Blog
Retro Book Reviews: A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity by Luigi Zingales (Basic Books, 2012)
University of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales’s book A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity, which celebrates its 10th…
Blog
An Option Isn’t an Option When It’s Mandatory, Even Online
Later this year, Instagram users will have the option of a chronological feed of the accounts they follow. This option is already available…