Blog
Markets Aren’t Perfect; Regulation Is Often Far Worse
A rhetorical tactic commonly employed by both my technocratic and progressive friends is a straw man argument. “If market processes are so great,” they…
Blog
The United States Should Oppose the EU’s Proposed Common Charger Regulation
The European Union (EU) wants to require all cell phone manufacturers to use a common charging device. According to European policy makers, if…
Blog
The Radicalism of “Build Back Better” Is the Crisis that Classical Liberals Must Not Let Go to Waste
If the mantra of the day is, “Never let crisis go to waste,” then what are we to do when artificial crisis is being…
Op-Eds
Facebook keeps asking for regulation that would crush its competition
Repost: Tim Carney’s piece at the Washington Examiner, as part of their Restoring America Project…
Blog
There Is Less to Biden’s Ports Deal than It Appears
President Biden on Wednesday announced that the two main ports on the West Coast will start operating 24 hours a day to help…
Blog
Sen. Klobuchar’s Half-Baked Antitrust Bill
A famous scene in the 1990s comedy movie Half Baked has a young Jon Stewart musing about how different everyday activities can be…
News Release
Jobless Claims Just Fell, but Government Barriers Remain a Problem
The number of new jobless claims fell below 300,000 for the week ended Oct. 9 — the first time since COVID-19 hit. Continuing…
National Review
Rise of the Woke Taliban
The ascent of civilizations is a wondrous thing. On the way up, each generation produces treasures of its own, building on the achievements of…
News Release
New CEI Poll: Four in Ten Americans Unwilling to Spend $1 Annually on Higher Gas and Electricity Prices to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change
WASHINGTON – The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new poll today, gauging the public’s views on energy issues and climate change…
Blog
IRS Licensing of Tax Preparers Is Ripe for Abuse
Roughly a quarter of all jobs in America now require some sort of occupational license. Sixty years ago, it was about one job…
Blog
September Inflation Remains High and Fixable
Inflation remains high, with September’s numbers coming in at a 5.4 percent annualized rate, the highest number in a decade. The Federal Reserve’s…
Forbes
The Greater Reset: An “Abuse-Of-Crisis Prevention Act” To Restore Limited Government
Coming in the wake of 9/11 and its Patriot Act, and the 2008 financial meltdown, the pandemic marked the third major economic shock of the…
The Washington Times
Not One Dollar: One-Third of Voters Unwilling to Spend Anything to Counter Climate Change
The Washington Times cites CEI’s poll gauging the public’s views on energy issues and climate change. A poll released Wednesday by…
News Release
FDA Approves One E-Cigarette for US Market – More Needed to Help Smokers Quit
The Food and Drug Administration on October 12 authorized the first electronic cigarette in the U.S. – one made by tobacco giant R.J.
Letters
Coalition Letter to Senate re Tax Preparer Licensing
Dear Senator: We write to urge you to oppose all proposals, including H. R. 4184 and similar legislation that may be introduced…
The Washington Times
Libertarian Analyst Warns of Socialist Drift in Dems’ Spending Plan
The Washington Times cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on a recent $3.5 trillion social spending bill proposal: A prominent…
National Review
Will the Energy Crisis Be ESG’s Great Reset?
When it comes to the world of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, we’ve become used to Panglossian headlines about how every new development only …
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Urging Senate Republicans to Reject Democrat Antitrust Trap
Dear Senator, Recent media reports have indicated that Senate Democrats are crafting a package of European-style antitrust regulation. Some left-wing…
Blog
The 2021 Economics Nobels: The Importance of Empiricism, and its Limits
The economics Nobel is given to individuals, but it often really intends to recognize schools of thought or methodological approaches. That is the case…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Katherine Tai, the new U.S. Trade Representative, gave a major speech affirming President Biden’s commitment to former President Trump’s trade protectionism. Facebook’s website…
The Wall Street Journal
The Fed’s Dismal Digital-Dollar Idea
Alexander William Salter is spot on when he warns of the “Dangers of a Digital Dollar” (op-ed, Oct. 6) to…
Blog
Public Interest Groups Challenge Nasdaq Diversity Rule in Federal Court
Back in August, I wrote about the new board diversity requirements on Nasdaq-listed companies that had been approved by the Securities and…
Forbes
How Budget Reconciliation’s IRA Regs Undermine Bipartisan JOBS Act
In 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, a bipartisan bill that reduced regulatory barriers preventing ordinary…
Blog
IRS Needlessly Chases Minnows to Catch Whales
As part of its Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has asked Congress to authorize a sweeping new financial…
News Release
Jobs Added to U.S. Economy in September Show Signs of Hope and Hesitancy: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 194,000 jobs added in September, and unemployment dipped. CEI experts Ryan Young and Sean Higgins say this is encouraging because…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing IRS Financial Reporting Requirement
The undersigned organizations write in opposition to the proposed new reporting regime to have the IRS collect the account inflows and outflows for bank,…
Blog
EIA Releases International Energy Outlook 2021–What Is the Big Picture?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) yesterday released International Energy Outlook 2021, this year’s iteration of the agency’s annual report projecting world energy…
Blog
Retro Review: The Social Responsibilities of Business (1970)
The Biblical book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that “there is no new thing under the sun.” Even centuries before the modern era, our…
Forbes
The Debt Ceiling Marks Republicans’ Turn to Not Let Crisis Go to Waste
Where does all that talk about teachable moments and national conversations go when government refuses to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, a …
Blog
Why Don’t U.S. Ports Operate 24/7? Ask the Unions
There has been a massive backlog for months now of cargo ships waiting to drop their goods at West Coast U.S. ports. As…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet Fall 2021
Blog
How Civil Forfeiture Can Enable Public Officials’ Misuse of Funds
A fascinating story at Reason last week—about the misuse of money confiscated through civil forfeiture—illuminates the many kinds of corruption that the practice…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Congress averted a government shutdown and continued to negotiate over nearly $5 trillion in combined spending. Merck announced an antiviral pill for COVID-19…
The Washington Examiner
Biden Declares War on Showerheads
President Joe Biden may lack the authority to reach into your shower and turn the dial down in order to save water.
Barrons
A Key FTC Case Goes Down the Regulatory Rabbit Hole
As imagined in Lewis Carroll’s classic, having gone down the rabbit hole, a bewildered Alice learns from the Cheshire Cat that, if you don’t…
Op-Eds
Journalists Face Disaster as COVID-19 Deaths Drop
The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. is ebbing, but you would never know it from the headlines. Bad news, accurate or not, sells. And in…
Blog
Let the Market Make Corrections and Leave the Red Tape out of It
YouTube banned anti-vaccine content on its platform, Instagram is accused of being “toxic” for its teen users, and Facebook’s Oversight Board is…
Blog
CEI Files Legislative Proposals to Rescue Crypto
On Monday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute responded to Sen. Patrick Toomey’s (R-PA) request for proposals to clarify laws around cryptocurrency and blockchain…
Blog
America Needs More Truckers on the Road
Severe backups and bottlenecks in the nation’s ports, particularly on the West Coast, have created severe logistical and supply problems throughout the country. This…
News Release
Senate Should Weigh Disturbing Writings of Biden’s CFPB Nominee and Reform Unaccountable Agency
Today the Senate is expected to vote on President Biden’s nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra. CEI Senior Fellow…
National Review
A Preemptive Attack on the Supreme Court
America’s progressives have spent most of the past year wailing about people who undermine faith in democratic institutions. “Misinformation” that casts doubt on the election…
Blog
Federalist Society Experts Duel on Climate Risks and Regulation
Earlier this week, the Federalist Society presented a panel discussion titled “Corporate Social Responsibility, Investment Strategy, and Liability Risks” that addressed some important…
Blog
Illusory Climate Benefits: CEI Comments on EPA’s Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards
CEI submitted comments yesterday on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for motor vehicles during model years…
Blog
Tobacco Tax Equity Act Perpetuates Economic and Health Disparities
Mainstream interest in the issue of structural racism is long overdue. Yet nascent efforts to root out vestiges of racism in the U.S. political…
Inside Sources
People Have Few Protections Against Law Enforcement Civil Asset Forfeiture Practices
Imagine a world where police officers regularly confiscate property from civilians, based only on officers’ accusations of criminal conduct. Imagine that these allegations are…
Blog
Fighting Income Inequality Won’t Help Workers
I just learned of the latest forthcoming study focusing on the issue of income inequality, this one promising to explain how regulations can…
Inside Sources
If You Care about Wildlife, Oppose Plastics Bans
Ask an environmentalist how to stop plastics litter and ocean pollution and you’ll likely get a litany of proposed regulations and bans on plastic…
Comment
CEI Feedback on Clarifying Laws Around Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technologies
Competitive Enterprise Institute 1310 L Street NW, 7th Floor Washington, DC 20005 U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs…
Comment
CEI Comments on Revised 2023 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards Proposed Rule
Environmental Protection Agency, Revised 2023 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards, Proposed Rule, 83 FR 43726 (August 10, 2021)…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
CEI held its Julian Simon Award dinner, honoring the development economist William Easterly. We also paid remembrance to 2020’s winner, the late,…