Archives

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/20/2011

CEI Senior Fellow Greg Conko has an excellent piece in today's Wall Street Journal. Greg doesn't think it's right that the FDA is denying terminally…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/17/2011

Lemonade stands are technically illegal in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/15/2011

In a recent NBC interview, President Obama blamed ATMs for taking away bank tellers' jobs. Communications Coordinator Lee Doren points out that innovation doesn't affect…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/15/2011

Children would be far better served if government were to take a leading role in K-12 education… oh, wait.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/10/2011

A new Senate bill would make lip-synching to other people’s music a jailable offense, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/09/2011

Online poker has been illegal since April 15, now called Black Friday by poker fans. Policy Analyst Michelle Minton goes over the controversy and explains…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/08/2011

Businesses often use regulations as a cudgel to bludgeon their competitors. Occupational licensing is one of the most-abused types of regulation.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/06/2011

Last Wednesday, three people were arrested in Orlando for giving food to homeless people.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/03/2011

Mike Haege, a tree-trimmer in Hastings, Minnesota, was threatened with jail and fined $275 for helping clear damaged trees from tornado victims' yards.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/03/2011

Tennessee makes it illegal to use someone else's Netflix password, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/01/2011

According to Ben Powell, the three most common immigration myths are that immigrants are a drag on the economy, they steal our jobs, and that…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/31/2011

Conko believes this battle boils down to one question: who decides which treatments patients can use? Will it be the FDA, or doctors and patients?…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/31/2011

Over at the Daily Caller, Alex Nowrasteh and I tell the story of Jeffrey Lin. He is a Ph.D student at CalTech who holds three…

Trade and International

• By: Alex Nowrasteh, Ryan Young
• 05/31/2011

  Jeffrey is a talented electrical engineering PhD student at CalTech. He already holds three patents. One of his inventions may cure glaucoma. It is…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/27/2011

Some of the zanier happenings in the world of regulation:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/26/2011

Cass Sunstein, President Obama's regulatory czar, announced today that the administration intends to repeal regulations from 30 different agencies. CEI Vice President for Strategy Iain…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/26/2011

Winston Churchill observed that "Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities." We may finally be…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/25/2011

In Cordova, Alabama single-wide trailer homes are illegal. After years of lax enforcement, regulators are cracking down after tornadoes left many residents homeless.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/23/2011

In North Carolina, it is illegal to cook a burger to an internal temperature under 155 degrees.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/19/2011

TSA officials recently performed a bomb drill at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and didn't tell anyone about it in advance.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/19/2011

The good folks at Reason.tv have released an educational music video about the TSA featuring singer-songwriter-comedian Remy. Worth watching.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/12/2011

If you live in Texas, look over your shoulder before you tell a tall tale about your last fishing trip.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/12/2011

The USDA is spending $2 million to take pictures of what San Antonio school children eat for lunch.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/12/2011

Surprisingly, no explosives were found during extra screening, including what a TSA official describes as a "modified pat-down" of the suspicious infant.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/11/2011

San Francisco is phasing out the distribution of hard-copy Yellow Pages.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/10/2011

Congress might as well pass a law guaranteeing an above-average lifestyle for all Americans.

Labor and Employment

• By: Jacqueline Otto, Ryan Young
• 05/10/2011

The House of Representatives is not exactly a bastion of economic knowledge. But it can be a goldmine for economic educators if they know where…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/06/2011

NBC Miami's Brian Hamacher with the second-best lede I've read this week: "Floridians are going to have to start pulling up their pants and stop…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/06/2011

A new study says that high-salt diets may not be as harmful as once thought. Research Associate Daniel Compton takes a look.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/05/2011

This blog will be paying close attention to the heated legislative battle in Madison to give the delicious cream puff its due.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/04/2011

Over at the Daily Caller, I look at employment data and find out that the labor force has grown by 23 million people since NAFTA…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/04/2011

  The U.S. is slowly working towards free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. After years of wrangling, they might even pass this…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/03/2011

Regulatory reform is at least as important as spending, taxes, and deficits, but it doesn’t get nearly as much attention. That’s why we are pleased…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/03/2011

Kinder eggs are a type of candy that enjoys worldwide popularity. They are also illegal in the United States.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/02/2011

A British man was arrested for singing the 1970s hit “Kung-Fu Fighting”.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/29/2011

In Hopewell Township, New Jersey, chickens are only allowed to mate on 10 pre-selected days per year.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/28/2011

Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at China's experience with high-speed rail, and finds that it may not be a very good…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/28/2011

Over the last five years, the DC Metro has spent $2.4 million on back pay... for work that was never performed.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/28/2011

In today's Investor's Business Daily, Wayne Crews and I argue that reformers shouldn't forget about regulation:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Clyde Wayne Crews, Ryan Young
• 04/27/2011

  Spending reform is all the rage in Washington, with both parties offering proposals to rein in the deficit. President Obama has proposed a mix…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/25/2011

Wayne Crews and I have a piece in today's Sacramento Bee summarizing the main findings of Wayne's "Ten Thousand Commandments" study.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Clyde Wayne Crews, Ryan Young
• 04/25/2011

Appeared: The Sacramento Bee, …

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/21/2011

Carrie Lukas, Managing Director of the Independent Women's Forum, argues that the pay gap between men and women isn't due to discrimination.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/19/2011

Workforce Central Florida, a government agency, is spending $73,000 to give away 6,000 capes and some cardboard cutouts.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/19/2011

Air traffic control is simply too important an issue to leave to the free market. It is time to put the government in charge of…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/18/2011

The 2011 edition of Wayne Crews’ “Ten Thousand Commandments” was released today. The annual study gives a big-picture view of the regulatory state. You can…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/13/2011

Sometimes people wonder why I favor abolishing the TSA outright. Here's one reason.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/05/2011

Russ Brown, a vice president at the Labor Relations Institute and a CEI Adjunct Analyst, talks about recent changes made to the Railway Labor Act…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/29/2011

One wonders just how many regulations this rogue basketball hoop violated in the 60 years it spent terrorizing an unsuspecting Delaware neighborhood.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/21/2011

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/17/2011

CEI Senior Fellow Greg Conko discusses his recent trip to Kenya where he met with members of Parliament and other officials about the best way…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/17/2011

Text messages cost 20 cents to send, even though they use a fraction of a penny of bandwidth. What gives? Antitrust authorities want to know.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/17/2011

  Text messages are expensive. Most carriers charge customers 20 cents for every text they send. But the tiny messages use up only a fraction…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/15/2011

Nevada's legislature is considering restricting or banning pesticides, potpourri, air fresheners, candles, and pretty much anything with a scent in public places.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/15/2011

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/14/2011

Portland, Oregon is banning city government employees from wearing perfume or cologne at work.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/11/2011

Tragedy struck Japan this morning. It will be some time before we know just how many lives the tsunami took, and how much damage was…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/11/2011

  There is nothing good about a natural disaster. The tsunami that hit Japan today is an unmitigated tragedy. Still, there is a certain optimism…

Banking and Finance

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/10/2011

Andy Greenberg reports that the TSA would like to expand its scanning operations to pedestrians and train passengers.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/08/2011

This year’s budget battle is especially heated. Democrats want the federal budget to be $3.7 trillion. Republicans want it to be $3.6 trillion. Both sides…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/07/2011

Politicians love small businesses. Almost every campaign stump speech gushes about how important they are for the economy. Never afraid to put our money where…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/24/2011

Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray discusses the labor reforms that have led a thousands-strong protest in Madison, Wisconsin.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/18/2011

Protests in Wisconsin over public sector compensation cuts have been the big story this week. Over at the Daily Caller, I explain why some of…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/18/2011

My colleague Alex Nowrasteh has an op-ed in Investor's Business Daily where he makes the case for liberalizing the H1-B visa for skilled immigrants.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/18/2011

  Turns out there is such a thing as bad publicity. School districts across Wisconsin have closed because of the number of teachers calling in…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/14/2011

It is against the law to sing in public in Anderson, South Carolina. But the ban could be lifted as soon as today.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/11/2011

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/09/2011

Congress never actually votes on most regulations. As Wayne Crews and I explain in today's Investor's Business Daily, this is regulation without representation.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/08/2011

If Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett gets his way, panhandlers will need a government permit to ask people for money if they’re near a road.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Clyde Wayne Crews, Ryan Young
• 02/08/2011

  Regulatory agencies enact more than 3,500 new regulations in an average year. A new federal rule hits the books roughly every two hours, 24…

Banking and Finance

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/04/2011

Maine state representative Sheryl Briggs would like to end her state’s switchblade ban – but only for people with one arm.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/31/2011

The southeast African country of Malawi is about to make farting illegal. The government there is trying to “mould responsible and disciplined citizens.”…

Consumer Freedom