Blog
Net neutrality is political predation
It’s fitting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chose to dig up the net neutrality corpse just before Halloween. Now, our elected representatives need to…
Blog
Here we go again: FCC tries to bring back failed ‘net neutrality’ regulation
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced a proposed rulemaking to apply Title II of the Communications Act and common carrier regulation once again…
New York Post
“FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Mission to Destroy Amazon Will Harm Millions of Consumers”
Geoffrey Manne and Dirk Auer from the International Center for Law & Economics explain that the FTC’s antitrust case against Amazon is wasteful and could…
News Release
FCC move to reinstate heavy-handed Net Neutrality regulations risks health of telecommunications infrastructure
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced her intention to re-instate so-called Net Neutrality rules that were repealed in 2018. The FCC issued the…
Blog
Biden taps Strategic Petroleum Reserve more than any other president
Instead of actually addressing the root causes of high gas prices, President Joe Biden is depleting the …
Blog
Now the Biden administration is targeting your next water heater
As discussed in recent CEI testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Biden administration Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed an avalanche…
Reason Magazine
FTC Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited on Reason Magazine following the FTC’s lawsuit against Amazon: Ryan Young, senior economist for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said in…
Blog
Federal agency closes! British embassy celebrates!
Nobody knows how many federal agencies there are, but the number just went down by one. The Board of Tea Experts is shutting down…
Comment
Comments on the Department of Energy’s Proposed Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Water Heaters
I. INTRODUCTION The undersigned free market and consumer organizations have a longstanding interest in bringing to light the deleterious consequences of federal regulations, which are…
News Release
FTC antitrust lawsuit against Amazon risks harming American consumers
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 states filed a lawsuit today in federal court alleging antitrust violations by Amazon. The lawsuit seeks the…
Washington Examiner
FTC hits Amazon with antitrust lawsuit accusing it of manipulating the online marketplace
Jessica Melugin is quoted in the Washington Examiner on Amazon’s Antitrust lawsuit: “Free markets require functioning markets,” Mr. Davis said. “This requires enforcement of our…
Blog
Former NHTSA administrator nominee still serving as acting administrator, raising serious issues
On May 30, President Joe Biden withdrew the nomination of Ann Carlson to be the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Blog
‘On a crash course with energy reality’: Study finds EPA’s Blackout Rule will hurt the US grid
Center of the American Experiment recently published a study modeling the impact of the Biden administration’s new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule regulating…
Truth on the Market
“More FTC Overreach in Labor Markets”
Alden Abbott, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and former FTC General Counsel, discusses the recent memorandum of understanding between the FTC and the…
Comment
Comments of the Competitive Enterprise Institute
September 26, 2023 RE: Premerger Notification; Reporting and Waiting Period Requirements Docket ID No.: FTC-2023-0040-0001 On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations: Tea Experts and Coin Batteries
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited America. The federal government is a week away from a potential partial shutdown. Sen. Bob Menendez was…
Blog
CEI Special Briefing Series: Defending the Personal Energy Choices of Americans
To push its energy and climate agenda, the Biden administration thinks it should limit or even prohibit what kinds of goods Americans can buy, from…
Blog
The Regulatory Assault on Gas Stoves – And Consumer Freedom
This is the debut article in CEI’s Special Briefing Series: Defending the Personal Energy Choices of Americans. Gas stoves provide tens of…
Forbes
Federal Paperwork Hours Consume The Equivalent Of 14,883 Human Lifetimes Annually
The White House Office of Management and Budget has this year issued catch-up editions of Information Collection Budget of the United States Government, a task in…
Blog
Wall Street Journal agrees with CEI, opposes Railway Safety Act
In an editorial today, the Wall Street Journal joined with many other voices, including Bloomberg, National Review, and a coalition led…
Truth on the Market
“Regulatory Humility of Regulatory Hubris at the Federal Trade Commission?”
Lawrence J. Spiwak, president of the Phoenix Center, explains how the FTC, under Chair Lina Khan’s leadership, has departed from longstanding antitrust norms.
American Consumer Institute
“An FTC Challenge to Kroger-Albertsons Merger Seems Likely to Fail”
Nate Scherer from the American Consumer Institute argues that the FTC would find little success in challenging the Kroger/Albertsons merger.
Blog
In today’s age of musical abundance, we all live like ‘kings’
We are in the midst of an art renaissance, and very few people are talking about it. One person who is talking about it is…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: unemployment that works with Matt Darling
In this week’s episode we talk about banning plastic gift cards in California, the solution to Germany’s energy crisis, the political…
News Release
Fed keeps interest rates the same but Washington politicians remain a threat: CEI analysis
As expected, the Federal Reserve today left interest rates unchanged at its Open Market Committee meeting today. CEI Senior Economist Ryan Young warns the…
Blog
What’s wrong with Bidenomics?
Yesterday, I pointed out that in the looming threat of a government shutdown, President Joe Biden is aiming to cement as his legacy something that…
National Review
Restricting Pharmacy Benefit Managers Could Decrease Competition and Increase Drug Costs
Congress is considering multiple bills that aim to restrict the ability of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate discounts and rebates and to require the PBMs…
Blog
Flawed guidance for monetizing nature should be withdrawn
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has proposed new guidance aimed at improving how federal agencies account for environment-related costs and…
Comment
CEI’s James Broughel Comments on Proposed Guidance for Assessing Changes in Environmental and Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis
September 18, 2023 Docket ID: OMB–2022–0016 Request for Comments on Proposed Guidance for Assessing Changes in Environmental and Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis Comments Prepared…
Econlib
Reevaluating the Influence of James Buchanan on Libertarian Thought
James M. Buchanan was an economist known for his affiliation with the “Virginia School of Political Economy,” otherwise known as Public Choice theory. Trained at…
Blog
Bill banning Fed-controlled crypto a good first step, but Congress must do more for monetary freedom
On Wednesday, the US House Financial Services Committee is expected to vote on House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s ‘‘CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act,” aiming to prevent…
Blog
Congress can say no to Bidenomics in shutdown showdown
The contentious fiscal year 2024 budget battle, which might result in a partial federal government shutdown, is unfurling precisely as the national debt is…
Blog
Shareholder support for ESG proposals is falling
With the 2023 proxy voting season officially behind us, we can note a few trends in corporate governance that stood out. For one, it…
Washington Examiner
UAW strike: What the media won’t tell you about the strike
One of the things that liberal groups, unions included, have been good at is creating a narrative and selling that to the …
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: milk losses and duck vehicles
Google’s antitrust trial started, and the Justice Department cited Russian antitrust actions to back up its case. The latest inflation numbers were a…
Blog
Will polyester recycling become fashionable?
The Wall Street Journal ran a fascinating article last week on the future of innovation and technology, but it’s not about AI or semiconductors.
Blog
22 months after we asked, the Food and Drug Administration answered!
Finally! Nearly two years after we asked, the government has finally told us what it was doing! Here’s what happened: We asked the Food and…
Washington Times
Newsom boosts climate cred by suing ‘Big Oil’ as California struggles to tap brakes on fossil fuels
CEI’s Myron Ebell is cited by the Washington Times on Newsom suing big oil: Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for…
Reason
Environmentalists Are Destroying My Kitchen
Reason Magazine cites CEI’s Devin Watkins and Sam Kazman on environmentalist agendas: “When a new energy standard is adopted by the DOE, the result is…
Forbes
Regulatory Reforms Belong In The FY2024 Budget Deal
Certain regulatory reforms with deep bipartisan endorsement should be incorporated into contentious fiscal budget agreements, particularly when spending cuts are difficult (which is always). We’re…
New York Post
Americans may be richer, but they’re not happier
US household wealth has hit an all-time record of $154.3 trillion. So what? “Americans have never been wealthier,” CNN’s Matt Egan reports, and then raises…
Frederick News Post
A new proposal for constitutional restoration
Now that Congress has gotten past debt-ceiling drama, next up is wrangling the nation’s budget for the coming year. A budget is about policy and…
Blog
The road to pork product serfdom
There are interesting developments afoot in the world of agriculture and livestock, as recently recounted in the pages of the New York Times. According…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Supreme Court preview with Ashley Baker
In this week’s episode we talk about the long history of the Lewis Powell memo of 1971, innovation in textile recycling, how…
Blog
UAW strike mostly a PR move
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is making much of the fact that the union is currently engaged in its first-ever strike against three…
PCMA
Just the Facts: Research and Analysis Finds Anti-PBM Legislation Does Not Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Patients
PCMA cites CEI’s Joel Zinberg anti PBM legislation: “This policy would significantly change drug pricing and utilization and shift billions of dollars annually from patients…
Wall Street Journal
Court to FDA: Stop Playing Doctor
The Food and Drug Administration regulates pharmaceuticals, but it has no business playing doctor and giving you medical advice. That’s the message of a Sept.
Comment
CEI Comments on FTC-DOJ Merger Guidelines
September 15, 2023 RE: FTC-DOJ Merger Guidelines Matter No.: P859910 The authors of this submission first want to thank the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and…
News Release
CEI commends House for bipartisan vote to help preserve vehicle choice for Americans
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1435, the “Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act,” today by a bipartisan vote of 222-190. Eight Democrats voted for…
Blog
What I told Congress about the unlawful plan to ‘align’ NEPA with Biden Climate Targets
I testified today at the House Natural Resources Oversight Subcommittee hearing on “Examining Systemic Government Overreach at CEQ.” My testimony developed three main points…
Blog
Will COVID-era work-from-home flexibility disappear?
The question of how many Americans are going to continue working remotely, post-COVID, is back in the news again (if, indeed, it ever left).
Based Politics
GOP Senator Josh Hawley channels his inner AOC with new nanny-state credit card proposal
Testimony
CEI’s Marlo Lewis testifies before Natural Resources subcommittee on examining systemic government overreach at CEQ
Testimony of Marlo Lewis, Jr.Senior Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)on“Examining Systemic Government Overreach at CEQ” before Natural Resources…
Testimony
CEI’s Ben Lieberman testifies before Energy and Commerce Committee on DOE efficiency standards for home appliances
Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security U.S. House of Representatives 2123 Rayburn House Office Building…
Forbes
How Durbin & Co. Credit And Debit Card Controls Could Pave The Way For CBDCs
Central Bank Digital Currency – the digital form of a national currency that tracks transactions within a government digital ledger – is an idea that…
Forbes
DC Politicians Roll Out The Red Carpet For Big Tech At AI Meeting
America’s tech luminaries gathered in Washington, D.C. this week, ostensibly to “educate” senators on the nuances of artificial intelligence. The convening, referred to as an…
Blog
United Auto Workers want a bigger slice of a shrinking pie
If the United Auto Workers go on strike this week – and as I write this it appears as though they will – it…
Truth on the Market
“The FTC Lacks Authority for Competition Rulemaking”
Gregory J. Werden from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University argues that the FTC’s proposed rule banning noncompete agreements in employment contracts is unsupported…
Blog
August CPI: Rising energy prices hide underlying inflation progress
This month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a jumble of numbers that look like they contradict each other. But they make sense on closer…
DC Journal
Gensler ‘Choke Point’ Strategy on Crypto Suffers Legal Setbacks
CEI’s John Berlau is cited on DC Journal discussing crypto choke points: “There just seems to be a war on crypto if you look at…
News Release
Congressional Efforts to Regulate PBMs Risk Higher Drug Costs, Worse Health Outcomes for Patients
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are private businesses that developed in the free market to manage prescription drug benefits for health insurance plan sponsors. Nearly all…
Study
A Free Market Solution for Drug Distribution
Executive summary This paper describes and explains the function of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) in the American health care economy. PBMs are private businesses that…
Blog
The SEC’s anti-competitive assault against private fund advisers
The Securities and Exchange Commission is adopting new rules that radically redefine how investment companies are regulated, undercutting the ability of private fund advisers to…
Blog
Biden admin blocks oil and gas leases in Alaska, hurting Alaskans and all Americans
The Biden administration took two aggressive steps in its war on energy last week. The US Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the cancellation…
News Release
DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google Would Protect Competing Search Engines, Not Consumers
This week, the trial resulting from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Google parent company Alphabet begins in a Washington, DC courtroom.
News Release
CEI Supports House Bill to Preserve Motor Vehicle Choices for Americans
The House of Representatives is expected to hold a vote this week on H.R. 1435, the “Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act,” which would…
Blog
Under Biden, thousands of government guidance documents are becoming much harder to find
Laws passed by Congress get cataloged in the U.S. Code, while rules and regulations that incubate in the daily Federal Register land in the…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: crash test dummies and potato promotion
Congress returned from its August recess. It was a four-day week for the Federal Register due to Labor Day, but the Federal Register still grew…
Forbes
Early Warning Signs Emerge For U.K.’s New Innovation Office
A recent Financial Times profile of the U.K.’s newest scientific innovation office has garnered attention, and rightly so. Modeled after the U.S.’s Defense…
Blog
Senate needs to block USDA slush fund in its minibus bill
The House agriculture appropriations bill, which was favorably reported out of the Appropriations Committee, includes language to help put a stop to what has…
Blog
The Powell Memo was good, actually
This week the Competitive Enterprise Institute published my study (co-written with my colleague Iain Murray) on the 50-plus year history of the…
Washington Examiner
“FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan Faces Ethics Complaint Over Alleged Bias Against Pharmacy Benefit Managers”
Cami Mondeaux from the Washington Examiner reports on a potential ethics violation by FTC Chair Lina Khan over the agency’s actions against Pharmacy Benefit Managers…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: freedom and conservatism with Avik Roy
In this week’s episode we talk about the future of nuclear power, the possible end of remote work, and the complexities of…
Blog
If you thought being on the road this past Labor Day weekend was unusually expensive, then you would be right
This August, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data going back to 1991, regular retail gasoline prices reached $3.84 per gallon. This marked the…
Real Clear Markets
“The FTC’s New Merger Guidelines Attack Freedom and the Economy”
Charles Sauer, president of the Market Institute, argues that the draft merger guidelines run contrary to a thriving free market.
Forbes
Once-Promising Guidance Document Disclosures Are Stagnating Under Biden: Inventory and Observations
Laws passed by Congress are archived by subject matter in the U.S. Code. The rules and regulations that incubate in the daily Federal…
Wall Street Journal
“Biden FTC’s Antitrust Bark Proves Worse Than Its Bite”
David Wainer from the Wall Street Journal discusses the FTC’s recent settlement in Amgen’s acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics.
Real Clear Markets
“Lina Khan Exhibits Impressive Hypocrisy Even by D.C. Standards”
Norm Singleton from the Market Institute addresses FTC Chair Lina Khan’s resistance to congressional oversight.
Fox News
Snapchat expands into AI with ‘Dreams’ tool: Tech frontiers ‘are messy places,’ expert warns
CEI’s Jessica Melugin is cited on Fox News about the AI Dream Tool: “We’ll see if people think this is super fun and great…
Blog
Politicians take too much credit for good news
Over Labor Day weekend, Inside Sources syndicated an op-ed of mine arguing that politicians do not deserve credit for the economy’s post-COVID recovery. They…
News Release
Leftwing conspiracy theories about 1971 “Powell memo” debunked in new CEI report
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report debunks a leftwing conspiracy theory that free market interests seek a “corporate domination of America” (as Greenpeace put…
Study
Threats Then and Threats Now
Executive summary In 1971 Lewis Powell, a prominent Republican lawyer who would go on to serve on the Supreme Court, wrote a memo warning about…
Center for Growth and Opportunity
What Does the New FTC Policy Statement Mean for Antitrust?
Dr. Ted Bolema provides an analysis of the FTC’s 2022 Policy Statement in a new paper for the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah…
Real Clear Markets
“Celebrate This Labor Day, and Thank a Techie”
Paul Steidler from the Lexington Institute discusses the FTC’s growing interest in regulating labor and employment issues.
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: dairy donations and kiosk interpretations
The 2023 Federal Register topped 60,000 pages. Price controls are on the way for 10 common prescription drugs. Hurricane Idalia hit Florida. Culture warriors shouted…
DC Journal
Point: This Labor Day, Don’t Let Pols Take Credit for Economy
Workers have much to celebrate this Labor Day. Unemployment is near its lowest level since the 1960s, and real wages are growing again. Post-pandemic inflation…
The Regulatory Review
Modernizing the “Value of a Statistical Life”
The Biden Administration’s “modernizing regulatory review” initiative offers a rare chance to correct historical mistakes in the federal regulatory framework. Central to this effort…
Fox News
This Labor Day, let’s get real about how things have gotten better for workers in the USA
The nature of employment has changed in the last decade more than many people might realize. More of us work from home. More of us…
The Hill
My job, my choice: The National Labor Relations Act does not require unionization
It’s been just shy of a century since the National Labor Relations Act was signed into law, guaranteeing workers nationwide the right to bargain collectively.
Blog
An invitation for union organizers to cheat in elections
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a new rule for union organizing elections that says the election will go ahead even when there…
Citation
AUDIO: Ryan Young Joins the Bob Harden Show
Senior Economist Ryan Young joined the Bob Harden Show to discuss the current state of our economy: Ryan-Young-September-1Download…
News Release
187,000 jobs added in August 2023, with more people trying to get back to work: CEI analysis
The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in August 2023, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent, according to data released Friday by the…
Washington Times
The rise of ‘old’ politicians likely to continue
Forbes
White House Environmental Regulation Undermines Permitting Progress
In late July, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) dropped a regulatory bomb that threatens to blow up infrastructure permitting reform. The proposal,…
DC Journal
“Keep the FTC from Aiding and Abetting China”
Paul Steidler with the Lexington Institute contends that the FTC’s targeting of American tech companies may benefit China in the race for technological supremacy.
ProMarket
“The Draft Merger Guidelines Abandon the Persuasiveness of their Predecessors”
Bilal Sayyed from TechFreedom argues that Draft Merger Guidelines are more of an advocacy document than an effective tool.
Blog
Climate policy deserves thoughtful discourse, not petty attacks: a response to Paul Krugman
Just because someone doesn’t support an extreme climate policy agenda, like the Inflation Reduction Act, doesn’t mean that they deny climate change is occurring. Science…
Blog
Biden administration working overtime to regulate working overtime
The Biden administration issued a new rule this week that vastly expands of the number of workers covered by federal overtime rules. While some…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Defend your points and miles with Bryan Bashur
In this week’s episode we talk about where our doctors come from in the US, what current inflation numbers tell us about…
Blog
Why Congress needs to care about Biden’s ‘Circular A-4’ subterfuge
Proposed changes in the American government’s executive regulatory functions showcase a conflict of visions over separation of powers; over executive overreach; over the size and…