Blog
CEI Podcast for April 28, 2011: High-Speed Rail
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…
Blog
There Is No More Fat to Trim from Government Budgets
Over the last five years, the DC Metro has spent $2.4 million on back pay... for work that was never performed.
Blog
Substantive Reform Must Include Cutting Regulatory Burdens
In today's Investor's Business Daily, Wayne Crews and I argue that reformers shouldn't forget about regulation:…
Blog
Hayek vs. Keynes, Round Two
Blog
Giving Back to the Community
Investors' Business Daily
Regulation Cuts Must Be Part Of Serious Reform
Spending reform is all the rage in Washington, with both parties offering proposals to rein in the deficit. President Obama has proposed a mix…
Blog
Polls Are Useful
Blog
Regulation: The Hidden Tax
Wayne Crews and I have a piece in today's Sacramento Bee summarizing the main findings of Wayne's "Ten Thousand Commandments" study.
The Sacramento Bee
Regulation: The Hidden Tax
Appeared: The Sacramento Bee, …
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 21, 2011: The Male-Female Pay Gap
Carrie Lukas, Managing Director of the Independent Women's Forum, argues that the pay gap between men and women isn't due to discrimination.
Blog
Icemakers: Mankind’s Doom
An article at Time explains "How the Ice in Your Drink is Imperiling the Planet," and what regulators are doing about it.
Blog
There is No More Fat to Trim from Government Budgets
Workforce Central Florida, a government agency, is spending $73,000 to give away 6,000 capes and some cardboard cutouts.
Blog
A Market Failure in Air Traffic Control?
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…
Blog
Happy Tax Day
Blog
Ten Thousand Commandments
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…
Blog
In Politics, Inertia Always Wins
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 14, 2011: Avoiding a Government Shutdown
Blog
TSA Gropes 6-Year-Old Girl
Sometimes people wonder why I favor abolishing the TSA outright. Here's one reason.
Blog
Much Ado about Nothing: Budget Cut Edition
Blog
The Environmental-Industrial Complex
Sometimes the green part of green regulations isn't the environment. It's money.
Blog
Should Helicopter Parents Stop Hovering Over Their Kids?
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 5, 2011: Reforming the Railway Labor Act
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…
Blog
Six Pages of Legislation, 1,000 Pages of Regulation
HHS is about to issue over 1,000 pages of new regulations stemming from a 6-page section of last year's health care bill.
Blog
Delaware DOT Removes a Public Menace
One wonders just how many regulations this rogue basketball hoop violated in the 60 years it spent terrorizing an unsuspecting Delaware neighborhood.
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 28, 2011: Human Achievement Hour
Human Achievement Hour founder Michelle Minton talks about the annual celebration of human creativity and innovation that happens at the same time every year as…
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 21, 2011: How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine
CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman talks about how ever-stricter energy efficiency regulations are making washing machines more expensive and less effective than they used to…
Daily Caller
Hammertime: Japanese silver lining? Not hardly
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 17, 2011: Are Biotech Crops Coming to Kenya?
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…
Blog
Are Text Messages an Antitrust Issue?
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.
American Spectator
Are Text Messages an Antitrust Issue?
Text messages are expensive. Most carriers charge customers 20 cents for every text they send. But the tiny messages use up only a fraction…
Blog
The War on Scent Continues
Nevada's legislature is considering restricting or banning pesticides, potpourri, air fresheners, candles, and pretty much anything with a scent in public places.
National Review
Broken-Window Fallacy Alert
Blog
Regulation of the Day 167: Wearing Perfume
Portland, Oregon is banning city government employees from wearing perfume or cologne at work.
Blog
Legislating the Way to Prosperity
Blog
A Tsunami is Not a Stimulus
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…
Blog
$6 Billion More in Cuts
Daily Caller
Tsunamis are not Stimulus
There is nothing good about a natural disaster. The tsunami that hit Japan today is an unmitigated tragedy. Still, there is a certain optimism…
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 10, 2011: Keeping Private Data Private
Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia talks about rampant how to prevent data privacy violations in the Internet age.
Blog
Popularizing Hayek
Blog
Mission Creep
Andy Greenberg reports that the TSA would like to expand its scanning operations to pedestrians and train passengers.
Blog
Setting a New Tone
Daily Caller
About the New Tone
Blog
Regulation of the Day 166: Cowboy Poetry
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…
Blog
How to Help Small Businesses
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…
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 3, 2011: Citizens United, Annie Leonard, and Free Speech
Blog
CEI Podcast for February 24, 2011: On, Wisconsin
Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray discusses the labor reforms that have led a thousands-strong protest in Madison, Wisconsin.
Blog
Are the Wisconsin Protests Backfiring?
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…
Blog
Eliminate the Cap on H-1B Visas
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.
Daily Caller
Bad Publicity, Good Results
Turns out there is such a thing as bad publicity. School districts across Wisconsin have closed because of the number of teachers calling in…
Blog
CEI Podcast for February 17, 2011: Let the Best Bulb Win
Brian McGraw, a Policy Analyst for CEI's Center for Energy & Environment, talks about the coming incandescent light bulb ban, who it benefits (bulb manufacturers),…
Blog
More Corporate Welfare on the Way?
Politico headline from today: "Qualcomm exec calls for small-business research funding." Alternative headline: "Businessman asks government to give money to businesses."…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 165: Singing in Public
It is against the law to sing in public in Anderson, South Carolina. But the ban could be lifted as soon as today.
NCPA
Regulation without Representation
Blog
CEI Podcast for February 10, 2011: How Not to Stop Eminent Domain Abuse
Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner takes a close look at an eminent domain reform bill just passed by the Texas State Senate.
Blog
Regulation without Representation
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.
Blog
Regulation of the Day 164: Panhandling
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.
Investors' Business Daily
Regulation Without Representation
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…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 163: Switchblades
Maine state representative Sheryl Briggs would like to end her state’s switchblade ban – but only for people with one arm.
Blog
CEI Podcast for February 3, 2011: The EPA vs. West Virginia
Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman looks over the EPA's recent decision to deny a mining permit in Logan County, West Virginia.
Blog
Regulation of the Day 162: Breaking Wind
The southeast African country of Malawi is about to make farting illegal. The government there is trying to “mould responsible and disciplined citizens.”…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 161: Crossing the Street
Three states are proposing to make it illegal to listen to your iPod while crossing the street. Legislators in California, New York, and Oregon are…
Yahoo! News
Tuning out: New York, California and Oregon propose banning cell phone and iPod use by pedestrians
Blog
Bush’s Third Term Continues
Cafe Hayek
Reactions to Last Night’s State of the Union Address
Daily Caller
Bush’s Third Term Continues
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space. Therefore, taxpayers should give more money to politically favored corporations. This is not a…
Blog
State of the Union Live-Blogging
CEI's Ryan Young live-blogs President Obama's State of the Union address. Coverage will begin shortly before the speech at 9:00pm EST.
Blog
Tim Carney Knows How Washington Works
Tim's latest column is a must-read. Lobbying wouldn't be such a booming business if regulation wasn't, too.
Blog
The Economics of Toilet Seats
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 20, 2011: The Future of Space Policy
CEI Adjunct Scholar and space policy expert Rand Simberg explains why NASA stagnated after its early success in bringing man to the moon.
Blog
Six Painless Ways to Cut Federal Red Tape
President Obama signed an Executive Order this week that will initiate a "government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations…
AOL News
6 Painless Ways to Cut Federal Red Tape
In this age of trillion-dollar budgets, deficits and stimulus packages, taxes and spending get all the press. But while the $3.5 trillion federal budget…
Study
Forge a Bipartisan Approach to End Corporate Welfare
Study
Rein in the $1.75 Trillion Regulatory State
Liberate to Stimulate Index Regulations are frequently anti-competitive and anti-consumer. They cost consumers hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Policy makers…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 12, 2011: Public-Private Partnerships
Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner talks about his new CEI Issue Analysis, "The Limitations of Public-Private Partnerships."…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 6, 2011: D.C.’s Plastic Bag Tax
Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellow Kathryn Ciano talks about Washington, DC's five-cent tax on plastic bags.
One News Show
Record-breaking federal report
Blog
New Jersey Trying to Seize Unused Gift Card Balances
That's one way to fix a busted budget. Here's another: spend less.
Blog
TSA’s High Failure Rate Is the Least of its Problems
If policymakers were rational, they would give twenty times more attention to lightning strike prevention than to terrorism. But they aren't, and they don't.
One News Show
IRS’s tax help could hurt, says critic
Blog
2010 Federal Register is Third-Largest Ever
The final unadjusted page count is 82,589 pages. That's the third highest ever.
The New American
Prof. Alfred Kahn, Father of Airline Deregulaton, Passes Away
Blog
New CEI Podcast — December 28, 2010: IRS as Tax Preparer?
Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young looks at the IRS' proposal to save you time by doing your taxes for you.
Blog
Alfred E. Kahn, 1917-2010
The man behind airline deregulation passed away yesterday at age 93. Let us learn from his example of a life well lived.
Blog
CEI Podcast — December 21, 2010: What’s Next for Immigration Reform?
CEI Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh goes over the good and the bad of the DREAM Act, which recently stalled in the Senate, and offers his…
Blog
Once Again, the Terrorists Win
All it takes to turn the tables is a bit of common sense. Unfortunately, that may be asking too much.
Blog
CEI Podcast — December 15, 2010: Alcohol Regulations Across the Country
Michelle Minton, CEI's Director of Insurance Studies, takes a whirlwind tour of alcohol regulations across the country.
Blog
TSA’s Bad Policies Aren’t Going Away
Public outrage at the TSA's new policies has died down. That's a real shame, because people are still having experiences like this one.
Blog
CEI Podcast — December 8, 2010: What’s Driving Ethanol Subsidies
CEI Research Associate Brian McGraw takes a look at what's behind the federal government's multi-billion dollar subsidies for ethanol.
Blog
Printing Money Troubles
Blog
Fuzzy Math on Foreign Aid Shows Why Spending Cuts Are Difficult
Most Americans want to increase government-to-government transfers ten-fold from current levels while also cutting them in half.
Blog
From Poor and Sick to Healthy and Rich
I'm always impressed with creative, compelling ways to use data to tell a story. And this story is one of the most important in human…
Blog
Federal Register Hits 75,000 Pages
At its current 327-page per day pace, the 2010 Federal Register would be 81,560 unadjusted pages long.
Cafe Hayek
Ryan Young advises that you not allow the IRS to prepare your tax filings
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Do You Really Want the IRS to Do Your Taxes?
Appeared In: The Centre Daily, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Smart Pros, The Sun News, The New Hampshire Union Leader,…
Blog
Do You Want the IRS Doing Your Taxes?
The income tax is a pain in the neck. The obvious solution is the simplify the 70,000-page tax code. But some are proposing to have…
NPR
The IRS’s Proposal to do Your Taxes for You
Blog
CEI Podcast — November 30, 2010: Food Safety, Washington-Style
CEI Senior Fellow Greg Conko looks at the major provisions of the food safety bill that the Senate is voting on today.
Blog
The War on Terror, the TSA, and Useful Partisans
Blog
TSA Sexual Harassment: Disappointing, but Not Surprising
Woman: TSA Agents Singled Me Out For My Breasts…
Blog
TSA Exempts Politicians from Body Scans and Pat-Downs
Don't like dealing with the TSA's body scanners or pat-downs? Consider getting into politics.