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PCAOB case in the WSJ — Kazman quoted
CEI’s Sam Kazman has a great quote on the PCAOB case in James Freeman’s article today in the Wall Street Journal. Although the case,…
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ClimateGate gets even more bizarre
ClimateGate is serious. When prominent climate scientists fudge results, refuse FOIA requests, take steps to restrict publication of dissident views, etc., it’s serious business,…
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Following the scientific method: an example
Experiments in science that don’t reinforce scientists’ hypotheses can be vitally important in understanding complex systems. Serious scientists don’t fudge the results or hide…
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Friedman embraces “E.T.” as solution to energy problems
Thomas L. Friedman’s op-ed in the NYT today could have been written by Paul Krugman. And that’s not a compliment. Friedman, like…
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England’s “migrant children; US “orphan trains”
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Mixing trade and global warming — a recipe for disaster
Oh dear! Staunch trade proponent Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute is in bed with radical trade opponent Lori Wallach of Public Citizen in…
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Don’t go “lite,” shrink the state, says Smith
CEI’s president Fred Smith is featured today in a video interview with InstaPundit’s Glenn Reynolds – now appearing on Reason’s blog. Fred talks about…
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Get more doctors — get rid of H-1B visa cap
CEI’s champion of letter-writing, Alex Nowrasteh, has a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal today advocating removing the cap on H-1B…
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Baucus wants border measures in climate bill
Uh-oh. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) is raising the stakes on a U.S. climate bill by endorsing the idea of some sort of tariff on…
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Politics and . . . pizza
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Smith: Ayn Rand Redux
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Halloween treat: Top ten scariest movies
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Labeling food for their CO2 emissions — Sweden tries it out
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Surprising comments on NYT article on climate treaty
Today’s New York Times carries an article, “Hopes fade for comprehensive climate treaty.” It’s not that important an article about the lead-up to Copenhagen. …
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SuperFreakonomics generates heat on global warming
Even before publication, the book SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance is the topic of hot debate…
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WashPost buries coldest day in 138 years
It’s got a good lede that should have won at least a front-page Metro slot. Instead, buried in Saturday’s Washington Post’s Metro Section amid…
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Defending free trade: the pending FTAs
The pending U.S. Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia are languishing in limbo, despite the fact that all three agreements will improve…
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Taking the heat and defending free enterprise
It’s about time that business groups started defending free enterprise, and the U. S. Chamber of Commerce is off to a good start – a…
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Best article on Obama’s Nobel — Wash Post’s Cohen
Here’s Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen’s take this morning on the Nobel Prize announcement. It’s too good to excerpt: In a stunning announcement,…
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CBO report: new taxes will balance Baucus health care bill
Those pushing the Senate health care bill were ecstatic when the Congressional Budget Office reported that the bill “would result in a net…
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WaPo on CEI’s FOIA release – biasing by innuendo
Today the Washington Post carried a follow-up article on CEI’s release of Treasury’s estimates — through a FOIA request — on the cost of…
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Another Hoover on trade?
President Obama’s slapping of tariffs on tires imported from China is the latest in a series of protectionist moves by the U.S. that threaten the…
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Sugar on the table again
Sugar got front-page notice from the Wall Street Journal today. The article focused on a letter sent to the Secretary of Agriculture to increase the…
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More alternatives to Obamacare
Lots of commonsense suggestions to rein in health care costs that won’t bankrupt the country in John Mackey’s op-ed in the Wall…
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Krugman: Town Hall mobsters are probably racists and “birthers”
“The Town Hall Mob.” That’s the title of Paul Krugman’s opinion piece in the New York Times today – and it’s a doozy. In…
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Movement on the U.S.-Korea FTA?
It looks like things may be moving – slowly — on the trade front. The U. S. Trade Representative has published a notice in…
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Put it in quotes: health care “reform”
Robert J. Samuelson has a hard-hitting column in today’s Washington Post on the non-reform elements of the health care reform package. He points out…
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If you like FEMA, you’ll love federal health care, says Jindal
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal providing a succinct critique of the Democrats’ health care plan and offering…
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“Farming” for dollars in the EU
Most of us knew that the European Union’s system of farm subsidies, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) gives out huge amounts to farmers in the…
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Health care taxes — devastating effects for NYC
Lead headline on the Drudge Report today – “Terrifying 57% tax looms for biggest earners in NYC.” It links to a…
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Government health care monopoly–not in consumers’ interests
Regina Herzlinger, chair of Harvard Business School, in National Review takes on health care and the Obama Administration’s arguments that a government-run plan…
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Leading trade lawyer: real problems with carbon tariffs
Leading trade lawyer Gary Horlick testified yesterday on carbon tariffs before the Senate Finance Committee. As the Senate prepares an energy suppression/global warming bill,…
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Lesson: don’t mix real and virtual worlds
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“If you like public housing, you will love public health care”
Best line this week — should be a slogan for health care debate: “If you like public housing, you will love public health care.” Read…
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“Treason on the House floor,” says Krugman
Noted atmospheric scientist and Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Paul Krugman, has a rant in the New York Times today saying that…
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WTO-UNEP report gives the nod — sort of — to carbon border taxes
Today, the World Trade Organization, together with the UN Environment Programme posted a report on trade and climate change that outlines…
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“Leveling the playing field” with border taxes (read “bring down the economy”)
In Washington, beware any proposal that attempts to “level the playing field.” What is usually meant is hobbling competition with restrictive rules and regulations…
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Steve Forbes celebrates CEI’s 25th year
Steve Forbes in the Washington Times today has a very nice tribute to CEI on its 25th Anniversary. Forbes points out some of CEI’s…
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Confiscating wealth in the name of fairness
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NYT: “Buy American” angers allies, loses jobs
The New York Times opined today that the so-called stimulus bill’s “Buy American” provisions are having some unintended consequences –…
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Celebrating the Bard’s birthday
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Diamond in the rough?
Hmm. A Papua New Guinea tribesman is suing the The New Yorker magazine over an article penned by MacArthur “Genius” and Pulitzer…
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CBO catches up with CEI on ethanol
Well. The Congressional Budget Office has finally caught up with what CEI has been saying for years — misguided ethanol policies cause higher food prices…
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Smith on Smith (and Gjerstad)
In a letter in today’s Wall Street Journal, CEI’s Fred Smith references Steven Gjerstad and Vernon Smith’s earlier op-ed to point out that…
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Credit card debt drops in February
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India calls carbon tariffs protectionist
At the Bonn, Germany, UN meetings on global warming issues, India urged rich countries not to use “green” protectionism by imposing carbon tariffs on…
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GASPing at the Geithner-Summers Plan
Like the acronym for the Geithner and Summers Plan — GASP — in the article by Laurence J Kotlikoff and Jeffrey Sachs. And “gasp”…
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Salt of the earth
Many people believe that salt is bad for your health, but John Tierney’s column today in the New York Times points out the body…
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Energy bill — “first shot” in carbon trade war?
In the wake of the release of the Waxman-Markey energy bill, many commenters have pointed to the drastic restrictions on domestic energy use to…
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Cap-and-trade and carbon tariffs — the economic downside
Today the lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal takes a hard look at some of the negative economic consequences of touted cap-and-trade programs…
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TGIF whimsy: some Metrobus observations
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Policymakers’ letter asks tough questions re carbon tariffs
Yesterday Ranking Members of both two House committees and two subcommittees wrote to the new U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and asked him to…
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Can he terminate protectionism?
It seemed like California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t have guts, despite his super-macho screen image. Yesterday, however, he wrote to members of the California…
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Losing talent in these perilous times
We’re beginning to see the talent exodus from TARP-funded financial institutions. Yesterday in an op-ed Jake DeSantis of AIG-Financial Products wrote his “resignation letter”…
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Obama for global financial governance?
With the G-20 meeting looming in the midst of a worldwide recession, President Barack Obama sent an essay published today in about 30 newspapers…
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Will talent flee to the City?
A different take on possible effects of lawmakers’ rabble-rousing on TARP bonuses. Jeffrey Goldfarb at breakingviews.com says that driving out talented financial…
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“Going Galt”– 90 percent tax may provide impetus
Already there’s confusion over what the 90 percent bonus tax bill passed by the House really means. Targeted at the AIG bonuses,…
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No “hysteria” about trade — just some facts
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NYT soft-balls trade protectionism
A New York Times editorial today urges the Obama Administration to take a stronger role in supporting open trade, more specifically, to reinstate the…
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Ron Kirk confirmed as USTR — vowed trade “enforcement”
The U.S. has a new U.S. Trade Representative — former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk. Kirk was confirmed by the Senate today in a 92-5…
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Tit-for-tat: Tariffs and trucks
It’s no empty threat — Mexico will be slapping high tariffs on almost one hundred U.S. products beginning tomorrow, according to its economy minister. …
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More on carbon tariffs
For more on the insanity of carbon tariffs, there’s an excellent 2008 article by the National Post’s Terence Corcoran appropriately titled “Blowing up the…
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Carbon tariffs quid pro quo?
Just as the World Bank put out a report on increased trade protectionism in the world, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu…
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Mexico wants to keep on trucking
Mexico said it would impose tariffs on about 90 U.S. exports in retaliation for a recent bill that violates the North America Free Trade…
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Trade and special interests
A National Review Online editorial today takes President Obama to task for catering to Democratic special interests opposed to free trade. The…
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The deep social meaning of couture fashion in Paris
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Fed’s “Beige Book” paints a bleak picture
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CBO’s newest estimates of stimulus package’s effects
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Will the “food police” be nationalized?
In this bizarre Washington world, it can’t possibly be true, but it is: a top staffer at the lobbying organization often pejoratively referred…
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Obama Administration’s trade agenda released
According to President Obama’s 2009 Trade Policy Agenda, trade policy in his Administration will be used to promote “social accountability” and make…
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GDP drops sharply — not a time to raise taxes
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An open auction for price clarity?
In today’s Financial Times, Gillian Tett addresses the opaqueness of determining the “price” of collateralized debt obligations backed by mortgage…
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SOTU watch: Farm programs
Ten words in the SOTU address last night could presage some modest reform of wasteful agricultural programs: “. . .end direct payments to large…
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More protectionism on the horizon?
Good article today by Bloomberg columnist Michael Sesit, who lays out the protectionist actions many countries are taking in the midst of…
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Obama in Canada — where U.S. protectionism is an issue
President Obama is in Canada today to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a range of issues – chief among…
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Chapter 13 could be your lucky number
Today President Obama announced his homeowner bailout plan. While that plan will spend huge sums of money helping “renters” stay in homes…
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Can prediction markets help value toxic assets?
Can prediction markets – virtual markets – play a role in valuing toxic assets? A critical obstacle in evaluating the health of financial institutions…
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Has anybody read the text?
There ain’t no way any of the lawmakers voting for the $790 billion stimulus package today could have read, comprehended, and analyzed the…
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A matter of principle — Commerce nominee steps down
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“Regulatory forbearance” in today’s context
Harking back to the much-maligned concept of “regulatory forbearance” that was a hallmark of the S&L debacle, Holman W. Jenkins Jr writes in…
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15 Years of NAFTA
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No holiday cheer here
If you’re looking for holiday cheer, you might not want to read Holman Jenkins’ article in the Wall Street Journal today, even though…
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“Calling all economists . . .”
Supposedly President-elect Obama’s transition team has been calling up economists and asking for their views on a possible $1 trillion stimulus spending plan. …
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Ron Kirk’s Texas origins may temper trade stance
Selecting former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as the nominee for U.S. Trade Representative sends a signal that perhaps President-elect Obama will temper his anti-trade…
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Credit Card Price Controls Harm Consumers
The Wall Street Journal editorial got it exactly right: The Federal Reserve cut rates to historic lows Tuesday, but today it…
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U.S. and Latin America need closer ties
Four former presidents of Latin American countries and the former president of Spain joined in an ardent plea for the U.S.
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To world leaders: halt the spread of protectionism
It’s timely and needed — a new publication gives leading trade economists’ views on “What world leaders must do to halt the spread…
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If Obama Rewrites NAFTA, Canada Could Hit Back Hard
As President-elect Obama fills his Cabinet and top-advisor positions, he has not yet named a U.S. Trade Representative, but, as CEI noted, he…
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Holiday foods and natural carcinogens
I always enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday Dinner Menu from the American Council on Science and Health. It lists the natural carcinogens…
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Will Obama go after farm bill pork?
Cutting some of the pork in the 2008 farm bill may be on President-elect Obama's plate. In his press conference November 25 to…
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Slowdown may affect green investment, says NYT
An article today in the New York Times notes that the worldwide economic slowdown may hold up investments in clean energy projects to…
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IHT profiles Václav Klaus
The International Herald Tribune takes a look at the in-coming president of the European Union, Václav Klaus, the president of the Czech…
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FT says “nay” to Hillary choice for State
As pundits bet that Sen. Hillary Clinton is a done deal for Secretary of State, today’s editorial in the Financial Times calls it a…
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Hillary at State — not good for trade
Controversy continues over the strong possibility of President-elect Barack Obama naming Sen. Hillary Clinton as the new Secretary of State. Politico today notes…
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President Bush — In defense of free markets and capitalism
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Championing civil liberties — mostly
I’ve been a closet admirer of Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) since he singlehandedly opposed the Patriot Act in the Senate. According to…
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Are liberal groups’ lobbyists banned from transition team?
On Tuesday, John Podesta, the head of President-elect Obama's transition team, said that lobbyists will be banned from working on the transition team…
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Last-minute push for Colombia trade pact
Major newspapers around the country including the Washington Post, the LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal are urging President-elect Barack…
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“Cap-and-cash-back” — A new Ponzi scheme?
Came across this in-depth analysis on Reuters for President-elect Obama to consider. It’s a new twist on the cap and trade scheme for…
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Defending the free market — “Yes, we can!”
Matt Welch’s Reason piece “Back to the Barricades —Free Markets are Under Attack Again” is a good read, if not…