News Release
CEI Criticizes Center for American Progress on Community Reinvestment Act
Washington, D.C., October 2, 2008—A policy expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank, today harshly criticized the supposed “myth-busting” of the Center…
Op-Eds
Greens Exploit Wall Street Bailout
Will the Wall Street bailout be the beginning of the New (Green) Deal?…
Newsletter
Internet Radio, Mark-to-Market Accounting and Private Mortgage Insurance
The Senate approves a bill to regulate royalties for web-based radio services. The Security and Exchanges Commission relaxes accounting rules that may have worsened current…
Blog
Deregulation Didn’t Cause the Financial Crisis, But It Might Help Solve It
Banking expert Peter Wallison explains why deregulation didn’t cause the financial crisis, while Steven Malanga explains how government regulators foolishly pressured banks to drop prudent lending…
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CDS’s House of Cards
It’s been called a ticking time bomb by Investor’s Business Daily. CNNMoney asks if this will be the next disaster. Yet the Feds…
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sports stadiums and taxpayer subsidies
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SEC accounting regulations
Op-Eds
The Conscientious Objector
Pete Eyre has a shaved head and six tattoos, including two tattooed quotes: one from Thomas Jefferson—“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance”—on his stomach…
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The Conscientious Objector
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SC Insurance Reforms
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Another bad bailout idea — raising deposit insurance cap is regressive and counterproductive
As the Wall Street crisis has expanded, politicians are falling all over themselves arguing on behalf of the “little guy” against “fat cats.” But in…
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Let’s Eliminate PMI-As-We-Know-It
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SEC Loosens Rigid Accounting Rules
Rigid mark-to-market accounting rules may have triggered the current financial crisis by artificially undervaluing mortgages and securities (making financial institutions appear insolvent). Even the…
Newsletter
Bailout Rejected, Affordable Housing Mandates and Faltering Stock Values
The House of Representatives rejects the White House’s proposed $700 billion corporate bailout plan. Thirty years of “affordable housing” laws take some of the heat…
Blog
The Market’s Winners and Losers
The People have spoken. They have picked the Market over the Government to be the chooser of winners and losers. Here are the Market’s choices…
Op-Eds
Will More Drilling Increase U.S. Energy Security?
Iain Murray Mr. Abraham’s Parthian shot in this debate is a precise example of why I feared it would disappear in…
Blog
What Are Markets For?
There are all sorts of people today who normally talk about free markets but who have got themselves into a tizzy over the failed bailout.
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Republican Study Commitee plan now best viable alternative
The stunning defeat of the Hank Paulson’s socialism-for-Wall Street bailout on Monday has just made planks of a pro-free market alternative much more viable. As…
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Bailout fails — Move on to Mark-to-Market Reform
Oh, Happy Day! And it certainly is for all those who value freedom, responsibility and the true free market in which individuals are free to…
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Investing in Communal Failure: The Current Economic Crisis as a Result of Regulation
Unfettered greed is the suspect many point at to explain the current economic crisis. To some extent, they are right, but it isn't irrational…
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Stocks Climb as House Rejects Bailout
Though the bill may have been defeated for the wrong reasons—like the lack of freebies, giveaways, and handouts that many on the left had hoped…
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BREAKING NEWS: Bailout Vote Fails in House
The House of Representatives just voted down the $700 billion corporate finance bailout, despite earlier urging from President Bush to push the measure…
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LibertyWeek 9: Ballparks & Bailouts
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Bailout Bill Just Got Worse, But Congress May Approve It Without Reading It, Based on Misleading Claims
The bailout bill has been larded up with additional welfare that will increase its cost, but the House will likely approve it today without…
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Bailouts to local govts and also foreign authorities
Andy McCarthy on National Review’s Corner points out, The scheme “[a]llows the government to purchase troubled assets from pension plans, local governments, and small…
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$700 billion to worsen economy? — Berlau in American Spectator
Here are excerpts from my story in today’s American Spectator Online on how the $700 billion bailout could actually make things worse — in terms…
Blog
Hurry up with that exchange
Credit default swaps remain a large part of this financial crisis, with some analysts crediting the failures in the $58 trillion market as more important…
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the elimination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
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the collapse of AIG and the future of insurance regulation
Op-Eds
Doing Something
"The government has to do something to keep markets from falling and the economy from getting worse." How many times have you heard…
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A Roundup of Bailout Reactions From People I Respect
Op-Eds
Doing Something?
“The government has to do something to keep markets from falling and the economy from getting worse.” How many times have you heard…
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Bailout drama fuels debate on regulation of insurance
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Bailout Gets More Costly Due to “Bipartisan” Deal; Foolish Limits on Foreclosure Should Be Removed
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Bailout Pushes Affirmative Action After “Diverse” Bank Collapses
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Remove ACORN Slush Fund from Bailout Bill
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carbon dioxide cap-and-trade schemes
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Beachcombing on the Bailout
Here are a few treasures I found this morning: Kathryn Jean Lopez on National Review Online points out that some of the 20% of…
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Bailout Bill Drafted by Senator Dodd Is a Scam on Taxpayers to Bankroll Left-Wing Extremists
The $700 billion bailout of the financial system just got worse, thanks to a rewrite by Senate banking committee chairman Chris Dodd. If the government…
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Le Schadenfreude?
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NAIC oversight of AIG
Study
Facts About the AIG Collapse: A Response to the NAIC
Full Document Available in PDF Following the collapse…
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Welfare Added to Bailout to Appease Liberals
The cost of the $700 billion bailout bill, criticized as unconstitutional by legal scholars, is rising, as Congressional leaders demand new handouts for deadbeats (and…
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More, thicker, and earlier Arctic Ice
Where was the press release from National Snow and Ice Data Center? In the past they had these breathless ones: “Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Lowest…
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Bailout Bill Is Unconstitutional Delegation
Constitutional experts have concluded that that the $700 billion bailout bill is an unconstitutional delegation of power, in violation of constitutional separation-of-powers safeguards. I earlier reached the…
Op-Eds
Picking on the Pickens Plan?
Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens’ camp responded last week to this column’s multi-part analysis of the so-called “Pickens Plan.” Focusing on…
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More on the Diversity Racket and the Home Loan Debacle
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Kudos to Republican Study Committee for bailout alternative
Those of us (and CEI is among the “us”!) who oppose Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion bailout of Wall Street have been challenged to…
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Bailout Bills, Illegal Aliens, and Weird Lending Practices
The proposed $700 billion bailout is “dangerous, inflationary, unnecessary, and unconstitutional,” funds left-wing special-interest groups, ignores less costly ways of propping up financial markets, and fails…
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Do Pre-Schoolers Vote in Virginia?
Virginia is a key battleground state in this election, with polls showing Obama and McCain very…
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NHS Reform: A Few More Brits Might Survive
Great Britain’s Vaunted National Health Insurance won’t pay for necessary drugs to its patients, but it has refused to allow them to contribute their own…
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The new 4th branch of government
I’d rather my government individually bail out each institution that is “too big to fail” and let the smaller imprudent ones fall, sending them a…
Op-Eds
Gale Force Foolishness: Congress pushes for a federal windstorm insurance program.
AS CONGRESS WINDS down its current session, there’s little doubt that plenty of bad ideas will pop out of the woodwork as members…
Op-Eds
Toxic Arguments
A Review of “Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children” by Philip and Alice Shabecoff By Iain Murray There’s…
Op-Eds
Fannie, Freddie Critic Ridiculed In 2000
It is now consensus that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the systemic meltdown we are seeing in the…
Op-Eds
It’s Paulson’s Own Mess
They said it was "too big to fail." This multi-billion dollar firm was now on the brink of bankruptcy. Although not a bank,…
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When ‘reporting’ is replaced by opinions
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Massive Bailout Plan Menaces Economy, Triggering Opposition
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Answers
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Chimeras
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Cost of Bailout Gets Bigger; SEC Regulation Backfires
The financial bailout bill is not just “dangerous, inflationary, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.” It’s also a lot more costly than the government admits, judging from the hypocritical arguments…
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Strictly circumscribed containment
From today’s Washington Examiner editorial: “There are credible alternatives to the Bush administration’s bailout approach. Economist Brian Westbury, for example, suggests allowing troubled…
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Bailout Bill Dangerous, Inflationary, Unnecessary, and Unconstitutional
The $700 billion financial bailout bill being pushed by Bush and Congressional leaders is attracting broad opposition. Not only does it rip off taxpayers…
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Socialized Health Care Feels Like it is … Socialized!
Want to nationalize American health care? Just compare what it’s like to be treated in America and in Britain. Writes F. Brinley Bruton: A…
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Ecuador taking control of more mining concessions, Petrobas oil field
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Republicans Oppose Democratic Plan to Aid Burdened Homeowners
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Kill the Bailout: Newt Gingrich Gets on Board
News Release
Senate Hearing Examines Possible EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Washington, D.C., September 23, 2008— The U.S. Senate on Tuesday is slated to hear testimony on possible regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, part of…
Comment
Testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Greenhouse Gas Regulation under the Clean Air Act
My name is Marlo Lewis. I am a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market, non-profit public policy group. I have been active…
Blog
Bailout Threatens Economy, Shreds Constitution, Rips Off Taxpayers
The stock market sank as the Bush Administration capitulated to liberal demands that its proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial system be expanded to add more…
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Mark-to-Markets for Dummies
News Release
Walk in the Rain for World ‘Car-Free Day’
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News Release
T. Boone Pickens Touts Windwill in Nat’l. Press Club Speech Today
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Op-Eds
Ecuador Should End WFT Double-speak
In the midst of congratulating the Ecuadorian government on its landmark decision to eliminate the proposed 70 percent windfall tax on mining…
Blog
Paulson bailout would worsen contagion-spreading accounting rules
My colleague Hans Bader is correct that most of the aims of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion bailout -- stopping the "contagion" of…
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$700 Billion for Disastrous Financial System Bailout
Op-Eds
Maybe the Banks Are Just Counting Wrong
In the year since the credit crunch began, reading the financial pages has become a bit like perusing a medical journal. Market…
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Carney on AIG’s big government ways
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My Heart Bleeds
From today’s Greenwire: NEW YORK — The crisis roiling Wall Street is threatening to choke financing for green energy projects. Venture capitalists and private equity…
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Trillion Dollar Bailout Will Lead to Future Bubbles
Why did the mortgage bubble occur? One reason was probably that financial institutions engaged in irresponsible lending suspected they were too "big to fail," and that the government would bail them out if their…
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The ‘Naked’ Truth — Short sellers are unsung financial heroes
At the peak of the real estate boom, there was one group of individuals who said the bubble was about to pop. They pointed to…
Op-Eds
Be wary of insurance rate cut
Although it may seem like an early New Year’s present, North Carolina drivers have every reason to be wary of the 16.1 percent…
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The Mother of All Bailouts = The Death of Fiscal Conservatism
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Eurocrats Push European Consolidation
Nothing horrifies the New Class of bureaucrats, intellectuals, politicians, and activists than an aroused public dedicated to defeating their plans. The Irish vote against the…
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Financial Regulators Not the Answer
Newsletter
Hurricane Recovery, Union Politics and Disaster Insurance
Residents of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast are being advised to avoid taps and drink only bottled water. Unions increase their spending on campaign advertisements and…
Op-Eds
Activists Hit the (Plastic) Bottle Again
Anti-chemical activists opened a new front in their jihad against the plastics chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) this week.
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CEI Insurance Project and SC Department of Insurance hold joint conference
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Are There No Workhouses?
Newsletter
Congress Does Energy, Lehman Bankruptcy and Price Gouging
The House of Representatives considers a new bill on offshore oil drilling. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers shakes confidence in the U.S. economy. Texas Attorney…
Blog
More on the Energy Bill
I have a post up about the terrible energy bill currently before Congress on The Hill’s Congress Blog. The teaser: The Energy Bill currently…
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Lehman Bros: The Environmentalist Connection
If you go to the web site of the Alliance for Climate Protection, the group that is sponsoring the $300 million “We Can Solve It”…
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CEI’s disaster insurance conference
Op-Eds
CAFE Oh Nay, Standard Has Hurt
The Detroit auto industry is clearly a victim of CAFE. But it’s not the only victim, and it’s not even the most prominent one.
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Al Gore’s ties to Lehman Brothers
Op-Eds
No Compromise in this Energy Bill
There is very little in this bill that energy consumers can be glad about. But the environmental industry's lobby has reason to cheer.
Blog
LibertyWeek 8: Cheese for Dogs
Newsletter
Lehman Brothers, Flood Insurance and Energy Independence
Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Members of Congress consider reforming the National Flood Insurance Program. Democrats and Republicans debate U.S. offshore oil…
Blog
College Official Ignorantly Claims Pacific Northwest Is Racist
Is it worth it to spend $49,385 a year to send your kid to Connecticut College? The answer is no, judging from a wacky,…
Blog
Blame Canada (arts funding)
In any list of programs that could be easily cut without much disruption -- except to a small rent-seeking elite -- is arts funding. It…