News Release
CEI Immigration Analyst: Gang of 8 Proposal ‘A Good Starting Point’
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 17, 2013 – A bipartisan proposal to reform America’s immigration system provides “a good starting point” for discussion but could be improved…
News Release
CISPA Voids Private Contracts, Undermines Rule of Law
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 17, 2013 — The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on final passage of H.R. 624, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing…
Blog
Fred L. Smith, Jr., In This Month’s Cato Unbound
This month’s Cato Unbound series focuses on the constraints of money in politics, how businesses respond to opportunities for rent-seeking, and prospects for the…
Blog
Lessons On Regulatory Reform: The BRAC Acts
Overview of Regulatory Reform in the U.S. from The Base Realignment and Closure Act The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Act of 1988 was created…
Forbes
Poverty Professionals And The Crony Capitalists Who Love Them
Yes, it looks like a wedding announcement out of The Onion, but when it comes to making a killing off the never-ending “War on Poverty,”…
Blog
The UAW, Having Stripped Detroit Bare, Looks To The South
By Matt Patterson & Julia Tavlas, Forbes The United Auto Workers union, having looted and stripped Detroit bare, have set their sights south, to…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Ecuador/Chevron, principles for immigration reform, and the week in regulation
Blog
Food Safety Modernization Act Far More Costly Than Supporters Claimed
“Proposed FDA safety rules frustrate tree fruit farmers,” reported The Washington Post. As the FDA puts “in place a massive overhaul of the nation’s…
Blog
The UAW, Having Stripped Detroit Bare, Looks To The South
The United Auto Workers union, having looted and stripped Detroit bare, have set their sights south, to the right-to-work states and the foreign-owned auto plants…
Forbes
The UAW, Having Stripped Detroit Bare, Looks To The South
Co-written with Julia Tavlas. The United Auto Workers union, having looted and stripped Detroit bare, have set their sights south, to the right-to-work states and…
Forbes
Carbon Tax…Are Republicans Really That Stupid?
As my respected friend Marlo Lewis at the Competitive Enterprise Institute cogently points out, economic arguments that government should tax “bads”, like CO2 emissions,…
Blog
Seven Principles Of Free Market Immigration Reform
1. Immigration laws should value human beings. America should welcome newcomers so long as they pose no threat to the health or safety of Americans.
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
67 new regulations, from drawbridge schedules to wireless signal boosters.
Blog
In today’s Wall Street Journal
Today’s Wall Street Journal covers one element of the fee dispute in Citigroup Securities. More discussion at Point of Law, together with links…
The American Spectator
Another Correa Problem
Co-written with Geoffrey McLatchey. Following Hugo Chavez’s death, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador could be considered his likely successor as leader of South America’s…
Blog
Victory in Bayer
As a result of our objection in the Bayer class action settlement, the parties modified the settlement to increase direct payments to the class…
Wall Street Journal
Dispute Arises Over Cost of Temp-Help Lawyers
The Wall Street Journal reports on Center for Class Action Fairness’s founder Ted Frank’s objection to fees in a Citigroup class action settlement. Attorneys…
Blog
House Of Representatives Rebukes Rogue NLRB
Openmarket.org On Friday, April 12, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act, a laudable attempt to rein in President Obama’s unconstitutionally staffed — and…
Blog
Conference Speaker Demonizes Alcohol Industry
[caption id="attachment_67522" align="alignleft" width="300"] Robert Denniston Presenting at AP16[/caption] There’s a certain romance associated with being in the wine industry, which is why many…
Blog
House Of Representatives Rebukes Rogue NLRB
On Friday, April 12, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act, a laudable attempt to rein in President Obama’s unconstitutionally staffed — and therefore illegitimate…
Blog
U.S. Agrees To Japan’s Entry Into Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
Today, the Acting U.S. Trade Representative announced that the U.S. has agreed to let Japan enter negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, subject…
Blog
CEI Lauds, Will Keyvote Members on NLRB Reform Measure
Competitive Enterprise Institute Today the House of Representatives is expected to vote on legislation that would require the National Labor Relations Board to cease…
Blog
Railroading The Railroads
In recent years, members of Congress have worked with various interest groups for the purpose of imposing new economic regulations on the…
Blog
Dodd-Frank’s Burden On Credit Unions Highlighted At Hearing
At a recent speech before a convention of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), new Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made the pitch that the Dodd-Frank…
News Release
CEI Lauds, Will Keyvote Members on NLRB Reform Measure
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 2013 – Today the House of Representatives is expected to vote on legislation that would require the National Labor Relations Board…
E-Commerce Times
Google Bends to Dodge European Blow
It now seems that Google has offered to refrain from featuring its own content, Ryan Radia, analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told…
Blog
CEI Podcast For April 11, 2013: Reining in Unfunded Mandates
Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews warns that the higher the deficit goes, the more tempted the federal government is to resort to unfunded mandates,…
Blog
Obama Budget: Bad News For Investors, Taxpayers, And Education Reform
Blog
Time To Rein In Unfunded Mandates
In today's Investor's Business Daily, Wayne Crews and I point out that the higher deficits go, the more tempting it becomes for Congress to resort…
E-Commerce Times
Barbara Boxer Reveals EPA Email Aliases During Gina McCarthy Hearing
The secret email accounts were publicly revealed last fall by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think-tank that was tipped off about Jackson’s alias…
Daily Mail
Phony email account used by recently-resigned EPA administrator was NOT standard practice and broke federal law, researcher responds to Sen. Barbara Boxer
But Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) senior fellow Chris Horner told MailOnline that Jackson, who resigned in December, broke with tradition and created an entirely new…
Blog
Who Profits From Alcohol Taxes?
While there appears to be no acceptable level of alcohol consumption to participants at the Alcohol Policy 16 Conference, which met last…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: April 10, 2013
National: Constellation Brands revealed this Monday that a preliminary deal has been reached regarding the sale of Gupo Modelo -- the maker of Corona.
Blog
Obamacare Strangles Job Creation, Stifles Medical Innovation
Earlier, I wrote about the dismal March jobs report and how high unemployment has been masked by rising numbers of discouraged workers and people…
Blog
NOAA Proposes Tuna-Dolphin Regulations To Comply With WTO Ruling
To comply with a World Trade Organization ruling in a tuna-dolphin complaint brought by Mexico, the U.S. proposed new regulations that would tighten the…
Blog
Americans Reject Actual E-Verify System
Imagine there was a free program that could guarantee for employers a legal workforce and eliminate illegal immigration. Would you favor such a system? Yes…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Margaret Thatcher, net neutrality, and reg reform
The American Spectator
The Lady Wasn’t for Turning
When Margaret Thatcher was about to enter 10 Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister in 1979, she surprised everyone by quoting a…
Capital Press
Group Sues EPA Over Instant Messages
A new lawsuit accuses U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials of using instant messaging to avoid revealing their communications to the public. The plaintiff, the Competitive…
Blog
Health “Advocates”: Tax And Regulate Responsible Drinkers
“Don’t just lean in, barge in,” said Rebecca Ramirez of Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health at the opening of the Alcohol…
Blog
Protectionist Law Proposed In New York Would Hit Wine Consumers Hardest
While most states are desperately trying to figure out ways to encourage business development and reduce the cost of consumer goods, New York is considering…
Blog
JOBS Act — What’s Been Implemented — Is Working; Now Implement The Rest!
CEI Research Associate Evan Woodham contributed to this post. Another round of disappointing jobs numbers released last Friday shows more than ever that massive…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
56 new rules, from school lunches to studying landfills.
Capital Press
EPA vows better records management amid criticism
A pair of conservative groups – the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the American Tradition Institute – have expanded their push for more records disclosure…
Bloomberg
Ignore Hysteria Over New ‘Monsanto’ Bill
Greg Conko, who studies biotech issues for the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, points out that this fear is overblown, since organic standards require farmers to…
Philly
Letter to the Editor: Race Has No Place in Gun-Law Debate
Charlotte and Harriet Childress falsely claim that "nearly all of the mass shootings in this country in recent years . . . have…
News Release
Margaret Thatcher: A Defender of Liberty and an Inspiration
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 8, 2013 — Iain Murray, vice-president of strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, native of the United Kingdom, graduate of Oxford…
Reuters
Judge weighs fairness of Citigroup’s $590 mln investor pact
Reuters reports on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s founder Ted Frank’s objection to the fees in a Citigroup class action settlement. The judge…
Law 360
$100M Kirby McInerney Fee Bid In Citi Case Meets Skepticism
Law 360 reports on a case where Ted Frank objects to the plaintiffs' lawyers fees which overcharged the class members they represented. Tort…
Blog
Overcriminalizing Childhood: Maryland Turns Distressing Speech Into A Crime
Under the First Amendment, the government has far less power to restrict speech when it acts as a sovereign (such as when it criminally prosecutes…
Trib Live
Environmental judge, jury & policeman
Marlo Lewis Jr. is a senior fellow in the energy and environment program at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank advocating limited…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Suing EPA, capitalism’s false prophets, and computer fraud
Blog
Bitcoin: An Escape From Currency Debasement?
Although gold traditionally has been the alternative asset for those wary of fiat currency debasement, there is an emerging newcomer: virtual currency. Bitcoin, created in…
Blog
Retailing As Liberating
Blog
Dismal Jobs Figures Don’t Increase Official Unemployment Rate, As Job-Seekers Give Up, Or Go On Disability
The stock market has fallen this morning in response to the dismal March jobs report released this morning, which showed that a meager…
Blog
Regulation Roundup
Man avoids jail time for falsely yelling out "Bingo!" during a game, plus more.
Blog
CEI Podcast For April 4, 2013: Reining In The CFAA
Under the CFAA, it is currently a federal crime to enter an incorrect age on your Facebook profile or an incorrect weight on a dating…
Legal Brief
CEI v. EPA, Fee Waiver Case – April 4 Complaint
Full Document Available in PDF Plaintiff COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE (“CEI”) for its complaint against Defendant UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (“EPA” or…
Blog
Lessons From Dutch Regulatory Reform: How The U.S. Could Save $450 billion Per Year
In 2003, the Dutch improved their regulatory situation through the “Dutch Administrative Burden Reduction Programme.” This program sought to reduce the cost of regulatory burdens…
News Release
CEI Back to Court to Seek Answers on EPA’s Fee-Waiver Denials
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 4, 2013 — Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully seek to impose fee barriers as a means of denying and, at…
Forbes
When Steven Pearlstein Bashes Capitalism, Is It Really Capitalism?
Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein recently touched on several important tensions that arise in our conceptions of capitalism—tensions that lie at the core of America’s…
Blog
Mercantilism Is An Outdated Concept
There’s an excellent Letter to the Editor in the Financial Times today (“Trade is now about participation,…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Bloomberg foam cup ban, Cyprus bail-in, and hating on capitalists
Blog
The Origin Of Interest Groups
Blog
The Myth Of Welfare Reform
Welfare reform is largely a myth. Many people who used to be on welfare have since gone onto Social Security Disability. That benefits states…
Blog
Regulatory Lessons From The United Kingdom (Continued)
Overview of the Red Tape Challenge In early 2011, the UK started the Red Tape Challenge to gather ideas as to how it could improve…
Blog
Unions attempt to silence elderly in power grab
VTdigger.org Imagine if your elderly relative was seeking in-home care and was denied the right to negotiate the terms of care with the caregiver.
VT Digger
Unions attempt to silence elderly in power grab
Imagine if your elderly relative was seeking in-home care and was denied the right to negotiate the terms of care with the caregiver. Well, the…
Forbes
We Can’t Save Capitalism Unless We Denounce Its False Prophets
A debate is raging among free market advocates regarding the proper posture to take with respect to Too Big to Fail (TBTF) banks. This has…
Forbes
Barack Obama’s BRAIN Initiative Vs. Bioengineered Gills And One-Wheeled SegWays
In a widely reported announcement, President Barack Obama outlined a major research initiative to map the human brain, building on…
Forbes
Conservative groups sue for EPA officials’ instant messages
Two conservative groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for instant- message records for several top officials, including former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s “Richard Windsor”…
Forbes
Morning Energy
EPA COMMUNICATIONS LAWSUITS CONTINUE WITH IM COMPLAINT: The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the American Tradition Institute last Thursday filed a new lawsuit that continues the…
Blog
Cyprus Is A Lesson For U.S. Policy Makers: Too Big To Fail Is Not Inevitable
American financial regulators could take a lesson from their European counterparts. The recent EU bail-in/bailout of Cyprus, despite its dangers, shows that reducing moral hazard…
Blog
Incentives Matter, Even For Transportation
CEI’s Marc Scribner previously commented on how advocates for greater investment in transportation infrastructure frequently disregard the infrastructure measure that really matters -- the…
Townhall
Libertarians (And Fiscal Conservatives) Should Oppose Road Socialism
Libertarians and transport economists for decades have advocated tolling as an alternative to fuel taxes, which have…
Daily Caller
Little support from conservative groups for a carbon tax
“There is little chance that this Congress (or even a future Congress in which Democrats control both chambers) will enact a carbon tax on straight…
American Thinker
Busting the EPA’s secret government
Something is rotten in the EPA, and Christopher Horner is the man exposing it. For reasons undisclosed, the agency with vast discretionary power over the…
American Thinker
Cypriot deal is welcome change to EU approach
BRUSSELS – In the wake of the bailout/half bail-in that is the Cyprus rescue package, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said last week the EU is…
Law 360
$590M Citi Settlement Draws Skepticism From Judge
Law 360 reports on a case where Ted Frank challenges a settlement in which the plaintiff's lawyers recieved a huge pay out and the class…
Legal Brief
CEI and ATI v. EPA – March 28 Complaint
Full Document Available in PDF Plaintiffs COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE (“CEI”) and AMERICAN TRADITION INSTITUTE (“ATI”) for their complaint against Defendant UNITED STATES…
Blog
The problem with Perez
The Washington Times If you saw a man standing outside the grocery store swinging a baton and glowering at passers-by, would you go inside?…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
100 new regulations, from collisions at sea to electronic forms.
Newsletter
CEI Today: Subsidizing unions, Labor nominee, Monsanto Protection Act?, and Rand Paul
News Release
CEI, ATI Sue EPA for Instant Messaging Records
Law 360
The problem with Perez
If you saw a man standing outside the grocery store swinging a baton and glowering at passers-by, would you go inside? Perhaps, but more likely…
Cato
Public Choice and Political Advocacy
In the three decades since I founded the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I have seen the pro–free market intellectual movement grow by…
ABA Journal
Expert in Legal-Fee Fight Blasts ‘Make Believe’ Game Over Cost of Contract Lawyers to Do Doc Review
ABA Journal discusses how Ted Frank is challenging the pracitce of lawyers raising fees in class action cases. Ruane is working with attorney Theodore…
Blog
How the Government Could Save Move-And Protect Workers
By Trey Kovacs, Townhall.com In this era of sequestration, why is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) awarding millions in grants to an…
Townhall
How the Government Could Save Move-And Protect Workers
In this era of sequestration, why is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) awarding millions in grants to an organization under Congressional investigation? The…
Citation
Green Tyranny
Angela Logomasini Discusses Proposed Foam Regulations…
Legal Brief
Michael Mann. v. National Review, CEI, et al.: Michael Mann Complaint
Legal Brief
CEI response to Michael Mann’s retraction demand
Blog
CEI Podcast For March 28, 2013: The TSA’s Illegal Body Scanners
Despite a court order, the TSA is still dragging its feet on complying with the law. Fellow in Land-use and Transportation Studies Marc Scribner has…
Blog
Texas appellate victory for CCAF
We won the case of Kazman v. Frontier Oil, knocking out 100% of the attorneys’ fees in a $0 shareholder derivative suit that made shareholders…
Fox Business
Green Tyranny
My mayor, Michael Bloomberg, now wants yet another ban-Styrofoam. He says it's "environmentally destructive." But Angela Logomasini, from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, argues that banning…
News Release
Greens Falsely Sow Seeds of Doubt on Farmer Assurance Provision
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 28, 2013 — During negotiations on the continuing budget resolution last weekend, farm state senators inserted a rider they call the “Farmer Assurance…
News Release
CEI Lawyer Wins Fight Against Sky-High Class Action Attorney Fees in Groundless Merger Challenge
Washington, D.C., March 28, 2013 – In a victory for shareholders over baseless class actions, a Texas appeals court has ruled that trial lawyers were…
American Thinker
Michael Mann’s latest bogus claim
Michael Mann, the Father of the Hockey Stick graph — you know, the one where they had to “hide the decline” — seems to have…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Central planning Renewable Fuel Standard, Law of the Sea Treaty, and Victims of Gov’t video
Blog
White House Immigration Bill Will Be A Disaster Without Accessible Work Visas
President Obama’s recently leaked immigration bill left off the most important component of an immigration bill: the immigration part. Given the fact that the Chamber…