Blog
What we’re not seeing here: Why policy debates need Bastiat
I was honored to give a presentation this week to the George Mason University Economics Society. The title of my presentation was “Unseen Consequences: Frederic…
Blog
Issue at a glance: Blocking the Biden climate change slush fund
Overview of the issue: The Biden administration is using what has become a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) slush fund to spend billions of…
Blog
NLRB expands ‘joint employer’ rule to include kitchen sink
The National Labor Relations Board has issued its new rule for “joint employer status.” As expected, it extends the rule for when one company…
Blog
Ford-UAW deal: Declare victory and go home
The current United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers has been more of a public relations spectacle than an actual strike. At no…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Polling capitalism with Karlyn Bowman
In this week’s episode we talk about the surprisingly low demand for free transit, the demographics of higher education in the U.S.,…
Washington Times
Supreme Court ruled public sector workers cannot be forced to pay dues; unions take them anyway
In the five years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME that public sector workers cannot be forced to pay union dues, many…
News Release
Big Economic Growth for Third Quarter of 2023, Taming Inflation Didn’t Cause Recession: CEI Analysis
CEI Senior Economist Ryan Young pointed to new data on the economy’s impressive growth in the third quarter of 2023 as evidence that the…
Forbes
Net Neutrality Resurfaces To Join The Bidenomics Regulatory Costberg
“It was always about government control.” —Commissioner Brendan Carr, Federal Communications Commission Open Meeting, October 2023 Just in time for Halloween, “net neutrality”…
Testimony
Regulatory streamlining in Pennsylvania would boost opportunities for state residents
Introduction Good morning, members of the Senate Majority Policy Committee. My name is James Broughel and I am a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Pope’s letter on climate change misses mark
The Vatican is concluding the last week of the 2023 Synod of Synodality, a three-year series of discussions involving Catholic bishops and selected laypeople.
Blog
Air travel will continue to increase—unless grounded by climate change policies
The Duke of Wellington was said to have opposed the growth of railroads in 19th-century Britain because they would “only encourage the common people to…
National Review
The FTC Is Now Trying to Stop Mergers Before They Start
Lina Khan’s antitrust crusade is not confined to the courts. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair has turned her attention to a nearly 50-year-old law about…
Citation
Red tape burden surges to 10.34 billion hours, 15,000 lifetimes
In his new report on red tape, Clyde Wayne Crews, the regulatory expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the bulk of…
Washington Times
Industry reports see ‘Spookflation’ as Halloween demand meets rising prices
Blog
UN Montreal Protocol meeting begins in Nairobi
The United Nations’ 35th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) begins this week in…
Blog
Stopping mergers before they start
If two companies above a certain size want to merge, antitrust regulators have to approve the deal first. The FTC recently published draft guidelines for…
Blog
Biden admin wants to sweep independent agency regulation costs under the rug. Congress should say no.
When Congress gets around to streamlining federal regulations and forcing disclosure of their costs, exposés of the paperwork inflicted on the economy by independent…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Blood donations to mortality tables
Poland voted its nationalist-populist government out of power. The US House of Representatives remained without a speaker, but with a lot of drama. Agencies issued…
The Gazette
Grassley’s USDA spending reforms would protect farmers and taxpayers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending billions of dollars each year for programs that Congress never specifically authorized. Fortunately, Sens. Chuck Grassley, (R-IA.)…
Blog
US to import more oil from Venezuela, still denying domestic energy projects
The Biden administration suspended certain sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas operations Wednesday. The Treasury Department stated that this action was taken “in…
Blog
Gensler SEC’s PDA rule would keep investors in the dark
Hailing one of his new mandates on entrepreneurs and investors, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler proclaimed, “In today’s fast-moving financial markets, it’s important that market…
Fox Business
Biden called upon by pro-growth groups to withdraw CFPB’s late fees rule
CEI’s John Berlau is cited by Fox Business outlining the CFPB’s late fees rule: John Berlau, senior fellow and director of finance policy at…
Blog
It’s time to bring reason to emotional AI debates
Artificial intelligence (AI) promises immense benefits, ranging from revolutionizing healthcare diagnostics and treatment to radically improving transportation safety. However, as this rapidly advancing technology spreads,…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Creating the future with Jim Pethokoukis
In this week’s episode we talk about income and tax migration, refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the problem with federal crop…
DC Journal
Counterpoint: Davis-Bacon Requires Pork Spending, Costs Taxpayers Billions
Forcing federally funded public works projects to pay the so-called prevailing wage is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The intention behind…
News Release
‘Rules for Robots’ report offers framework for AI regulation
Artificial intelligence technology seems poised to transform our lives in both beneficial and detrimental ways. A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report offers a thoughtful, fact-driven…
Study
Rules for Robots – A framework for governance of AI
Introduction With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies in recent years, we have seen increasing calls for regulation to mitigate the…
Real Clear Markets
“Lina Khan Hasn’t Found an Antitrust Violation, She’s Found the Past”
John Tamny from the Market Institute explains how Lina Khan’s suit against Amazon underappreciates the fast and ever changing nature of markets.
Antitrust Education Project
“What’s Missing in CNN’s Lina Khan Profile”
Robert Bork Jr. discusses Lina Khan, the FTC’s antitrust suit against Amazon, and the consumer welfare standard.
Blog
Cease and desist, CEI urges National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
I submitted comments on behalf of CEI to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Monday on its proposed model year (MY) 2027-2032…
Blog
A Jury Trial Must Precede Fines and Occupational Banishment
Imagine that the government has accused you of wrongdoing that you didn’t commit. You would expect a jury of your peers to recognize your innocence.
Politico
Anti-monopoly, the game
But the problem she faces is that she’s being pinched at both ends of the ideological spectrum. Conservative groups including the Bull Moose Project and…
Blog
The Surge: Energy and Environmental Updates – Appliance efficiency standards, IRA tax credits, and more
The following is the second edition of CEI’s new biweekly publication “The Surge.” If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and…
Comment
CEI comments on NHTSA’s proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) proposed corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Junk fees and pool pumps
Hamas attacked Israel, and another tragedy is unfolding in the Middle East. Claudia Goldin won the economics Nobel for her work on women in…
Blog
What you should know about the grid: A brief primer
For a long time, the electrical grid has dwelt quietly in the background of American life. It hums away quietly and most people seldom think…
Blog
Don’t drink the water: Why FCC treating broadband like a utility could make service worse
In its initial Fact Sheet, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposes to apply Title II of the Communications Act to affirm “that broadband service…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Going into labor with Sean Higgins
In this week’s episode we talk about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s legal fate, rising economic might in India, terrible federal…
News Release
Inflation still too high as of September: CEI analysis
The federal government today released an update on inflation for the month of September, a rise of 0.4 percent in September compared to a 0.6…
Blog
Congress should prohibit the EPA’s use of IRA subsidies to justify its regulations
Instead of taking a regulatory or “stick” approach to address many issues within the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), legislators specifically chose to use subsidies or…
Blog
Federal energy efficiency requirements are outdated and should be repealed
This is the second article in CEI’s Special Briefing Series: Defending the Personal Energy Choices of Americans. Americans have experienced appliance inflation over the past…
Blog
The SEC’s misguided attempt to regulate AI
My colleague John Berlau and I submitted a comment letter this week to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), arguing its proposed regulations on…
Blog
New EPA air conditioner regulation certain to get homeowners heated up
Another Friday news dump, another bad Biden administration appliance regulation slipped in ahead of the weekend. Last Friday it was one targeting air conditioners –…
Econlib
Seeking an Explanation for the Stagnation
This is the second of two posts I am writing in reaction to Adam Martin, who wrote two responses to my essay about ways in which …
Fox News
Biden admin issues eco regulations impacting air conditioners, refrigerators
Fox News cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on EPA regulations targeting HFCs: “This is likely to raise the costs — it may raise it substantially…
Comment
Conflicts of Interest Associated with the Use of Predictive Data Analytics by Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers
October 10, 2023 Docket ID: Release Nos. 34-97990, IA-6353, File No. S7-12-23 To the Honorable Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and…
Fox News
Biden’s depletion of emergency oil stocks comes back into focus amid Israel-Hamas war, price surge
Fox News cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: “There are a lot of reasons why the Biden administration should not have…
Real Clear Markets
“Lina Khan Concocts Market Definitions that Defy Reason”
Luke Hogg from the Foundation for American Innovation argues that the FTC’s relevant market definition in its antitrust suit against Amazon fails to accurately portray…
R Street Institute
“Breaking Down the FTC’s Case Against Amazon”
Josh Withrow from the R Street Institute addresses a long list of problems with the FTC’s antitrust suit against Amazon.
Truth on the Market
“The Changing Role of Structural Presumption at the Federal Trade Commission”
CEI’s Jessica Melugin discusses structural presumptions in the Draft Merger Guidelines as part of Truth on the Market’s symposium, “The FTC’s New Normal.”…