Blog
New U.S. Dietary Recommendations to Correct Misunderstanding about Cholesterol, Not Fat
Thomas Jefferson once said, “If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in…
Blog
GOP Divided on Internet Gambling Ban
As expected, members of the GOP reintroduced a measure that would create a de facto prohibition on all Internet gambling. The effort, which was written by GOP mega-donor…
Blog
No Sprinkles in Obama’s America: Trans Fat, Hyperbole, and the Threat Nobody Is Talking about
“Say goodbye to your favorite sprinkled doughnuts,” warned Clayton Morris, guest host on Fox & Friends. “The [FDA] is now regulating Americans intake of trans fat…the…
Blog
Bet on the Big Game? You Probably Broke the Law
Industry experts expected yesterday’s Super Bowl game to bring in around $100 million in legal sports wagering in Nevada. That’s a lot of moola, but…
Blog
Study Shows Health Benefits of Moderate Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is a favorite target for health nannies and politicians looking to boost revenue. Excessive drinkers, they say, cost society millions or billions of dollars!…
Blog
Could the FDA’s New Calorie-Count Mandate Harm Winemakers?
The trade association, WineAmerica, which represents 600 wineries in the U.S., seems to think so. The group has hired a lobbyists to push the…
Washington Examiner
Beer Tax Overhaul Pits Big Brewers Against Crafty Upstarts
Blog
Besting a Billionaire: How a Grassroots Campaign Stopped a Ban on Internet Gambling
This week we get to say goodbye to the 113th Congress. For those who believe in free markets and individual liberty, it was a doozy.
Blog
Fraternal Order of Police Once Again Opposes Internet Gambling Ban
Once again, the Fraternal Order of Police expressed their staunch opposition to a federal prohibition on Internet gambling. In a letter sent to Sens. Harry Reid…
Blog
Adelson’s Online Gambling Ban Losing Political Steam
It was a bad week for Sheldon Adelson. The billionaire casino owner has said he’ll spend whatever it takes to stop the spread of legal…
Blog
How the “Stupid” American Public Pays for Gruber’s Deception
The Washington Times points out that Jonathan Gruber, our nation’s most famous sufferer of foot-in-mouth-disease, has profited greatly from the “stupid” American public to whom he…
The New Republic
Let Chris Christie Legalize Sports Gambling. It Won’t Ruin the Game.
Last Friday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill legalizing sports gambling in his state. Casinos and racetracks began preparing to…
Pittsburgh Courier
Online Gambling Ban Does Nothing to Protect Consumers
Wellington Webb says gambling ensnares “naïve and foolish” people who think they can strike it rich. But how is legal online gambling any more of…
Study
The Wire Act and Implications for State-Based Legalization of Internet Gambling
More than 30 years after the original Federal Wire Act, members of Congress seek to use it to stop the rise of casino-style gambling on…
Blog
Journalists Called Out for Bad Reporting on Consumption Data
Being a journalist is not an easy job; it demands fast paced and high volume production. For those “wonk” journalists tasked with analyzing data-heavy reports…
Blog
Cyanide, Tylenol and How Free Markets Make You Safer
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant food and drug related events in recent memory. Often discussed in college business classes these…
Blog
Study on Artificial Sweeteners Interesting But Flawed
A new study out of Israel on the possible effects of artificial sweeteners is making a lot of headlines this week. Unfortunately (and as usual)…
The Hill
Black Markets Do Not Protect Minorities
Originally published at The Hill Former Denver mayor Wellington Webb argues in a Sept. 14 op-ed in The Hill that legalized online gambling would…
Blog
CDC Study: Kids Eat Same Amount of Sodium as Worldwide Average
It’s not exactly a blood-pressure raising headline, which is probably why the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actually…
Blog
Cops to Destroy Rare Wine Collection in Pennsylvania
In the fifth century BCE, famous Greek tragedian Euripides supposedly said, “where this no wine there is no love.” This certainly holds true in present day…
DC Beer
Could Prohibition Still Be Slowing the Craft Beer Boom?
Originally published on DC Beer This week marks the sixth year bars, brewers, distributors and other beer enthusiasts will come together to celebrate the…
Blog
Newsweek’s Cover Story on Internet Gambling Plays Fast and Loose with Facts
Newsweek’s recent cover article on online gambling, “How Washington Opened the Floodgates to Online Poker, Dealing Parents a Bad Hand,” by Leah McGrath Goodman,…
Town Hall
Republicans Seek to “Restore” an Online Gambling Ban that Never Existed
Republicans generally oppose federal encroachment on policy matters traditionally left to the states. SO why is Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex) alone among his GOP House…
Baltimore Sun
Are Tax Dollars Paying for Anti-Alcohol Advocacy?
This month, Maryland banned high-proof liquors like Everclear and other inexpensive tipples. Self-proclaimed public health activists claimed such "high octane" liquors increased the likelihood of…
Blog
Happy There’s-No-Such-Thing-as-Junk-Food Day!
Whomever it is that decides the dates for the ever multiplying obscure holidays apparently designated today, July 21, as “Junk Food Day.” While the origin and…
Blog
FDA’s Trans Fat “Ban” a First Foray into Controlling Americans’ Diets
Last November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its plan to revoke the “Generally Recognized As Safe” designation for partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs),…
Blog
Celebrate Food Freedom this 4th of July
“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a…
Blog
FDA’s Salt Phobia a Waste of Money
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week plans to phase in “voluntary” reduction in the level of sodium in foods produced by manufacturers and…
Blog
Friday June 6th: Have a Doughnut for Freedom
Do you know what today is? If you said D-Day, you’d be right. But this year, June 6 also marks another, less well known occasion.
Blog
Reihan Salam’s Argument for Alcohol “Prohibition Lite” Doesn’t Hold Water
In Slate recently, Reihan Salam argued that as America eases up on the criminalization of marijuana use it ought to consider ramping up the war…
Blog
No, Gov. Perry, a Ban on Internet Gambling Won’t Protect the Internet or Individual Freedom
In an attempt to save face, Texas Governor Rick Perry is trying to justify his support for a federal online gambling ban by claiming that it’s the…
Roll Call
Republican Online Gambling Ban Sets a Dangerous Precedent for States’ Rights
Washington Post
The consequences of Sheldon Adelson’s push to ban Internet gambling
Study
Republicans’ Bad Bet
Roll Call
Libertarian CEI Knocks GOP Internet Gambling Bills
Roll Call
CEI’s Minton: Push to Ban Internet Gambling Divides GOP
The Hill
Libertarian groups slam online gambling ban
Blog
Republican Internet Gambling Ban Undermines States’ and Individual Rights
Despite rhetoric that we need to “restore” the Federal Wire Act in order to protect states’ rights, Republican lawmakers are pushing a bill that…
Letters
Coalition Letter to the Judiciary Committee on HR. 4301
Blog
Pseudoscience and Clickbaiting Results in Beer Fear
There’s a lot of pseudoscience about food out there. From genetically modified crops to organic foods to corn syrup, to preservatives, passionate opinions abound, but…
Blog
Victory for Maryland Parents and Consumers: Energy Drink Ban Voted Down
A bill that would have banned the sale of energy drinks for minors in Maryland was recently voted down in committee almost unanimously. The…
Heartland Institute
Bill Would Force Florida Brewers to Pay Distributors for Their Own Beer
Michelle Minton, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Fellow who specializes in alcohol regulation, said although all the states but Washington have a “three-tiered” system for alcohol…
Blog
Professional Licensing: A Risk to the Free Markets and Freedom of Speech
From physicians to dentists to lawyers, the licensing requirements of many professions are well known—but for bloggers? A recent case in North Carolina demonstrates the…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Hydrogen Power from Plants
Early in the week I wrote about a major breakthrough toward the peaceful use of nuclear fusion. While that type of energy could drastically…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day from HumanProgress.org: Organ Replacement Technology
We are only three days away from Human Achievement Hour (March 29, 8:30pm to 9:30pm)! What better way to celebrate than with a post from…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Breakthrough toward Unlimited Clean and Cheap Energy
Shocking as it might seem, some of us at CEI agree with environmentalists that reducing personal waste is a good idea. Voluntarily reducing our individual…
Comment
Comments to the FDA on Trans Fats
Baltimore Sun
Banning Energy Drinks for Kids Isn’t the Answer
Baltimore Sun
No One Cards At Starbucks
In Maryland, as in other states, consumers need to show ID when buying alcohol or tobacco products. Energy drinks could be added to that list…
Blog
New York Alcohol Bill Benefits Big Business at Consumers’ Expense
New York’s consumers and small alcohol retailers could soon be paying more for their tipples, for the benefit of big wholesalers. A bill now making…
Blog
Should States Legalize Sports Gambling? Yes!
With Super Bowl XLVIII in the history books, all that remains now is for the losers to lick their wounds and for the victors to…
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Don’t ‘fix’ state liquor monopoly — get rid of it
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Refresh Pa. beer laws
For beer lovers in Pennsylvania, good news may be on the horizon. Laws on the books since the end of Prohibition that make it more…
The Hill
Sheldon Adelson’s futile war on online gambling
Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is not known for modesty. So it was fitting the recent announcement of his plans to push for a federal…
Study
Prohibition Hangover Cure for Keystone State Brewers
Full Document Available in PDF Pennsylvania could lead the nation in reforming anti-competitive,…
Blog
Good News to Share Over the Holidays: The World Is Getting Better
In the middle of this holiday season my colleague Stephanie Rugolo over at the Cato’s new project, HumanProgress.org, is spreading cheer by getting…
Blog
Taxpayer-Funded Propaganda to Show the “Evils” of Private Alcohol Sales
As if there wasn’t enough money in politics, now government agencies are using taxpayer dollars—our dollars—in an attempt to influence state policy. The National Institutes…
Blog
FDA Trans-Fat Ban Sets Stage to Target Sugar, Salt, and More
On November 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to change its classification of trans-fatty acids and remove the designation "Generally Recognized…
Blog
CEI Study Supports Tax Cuts for Beer
If you’ve read Lauren French’s Politico article on the two beer tax reduction bills currently under consideration in Congress, you might think that the Competitive…
Study
BEER and Small BREW Can Be Good for You
America’s beer industry directly supports over 1 million jobs and nearly $100 billion in economic activity. However, the entire beer industry still faces the burden…
Human Events
Alcohol Crimes Decline After Liquor Sales Privatization
In the lead up to Washington State voters approving privatization of liquor sales in the state, opponents claimed—as they always do—that the increased availability and…
Blog
Alcohol Crimes Decline in Washington After Liquor Sales Privatization
In the lead up to Washington State voters approving privatization of liquor sales in the state, opponents claimed—as they always do—that the increased availability and…
Blog
Is Katy Perry Causing Childhood Obesity?
No, of course not! However, a coalition of health advocates seems to be making that assertion when they sent her a letter this week…
Blog
Loosened Laws in New Jersey Result in Brewery Boom
Only a year after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that would allow breweries in the garden state to sell beer…
Breitbart
Study Discovers Problems With Parenting, Not Energy Drinks
More than half of all calls to Poison Control resulting from energy drinks involve accidental exposure by children under age six, according to a new…
The Hill
D.C. Abuzz About Energy Drinks
America’s politicians and media love a good public panic. And right now they’re having a field day touting the supposed dangers associated with energy drinks.
Daily Caller
Today it’s ‘nudge squads,’ tomorrow it’s enforcement
It’s not yet true that the White…
The Hill
Sen. Durbin’s vendetta against supplements
Blog
Bloomberg’s Soda Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Today, an appeals court ruled that New York City’s Board of Health overstepped its authority when, at the behest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, it attempted…
Blog
Bad Science: CDC Forced to Reverse its Recommendations on Salt
Mother may know best, but Uncle Sam certainly doesn’t. In 1977, the federal government put a warning label on saccharine, claiming it caused cancer. It…
The Hill
Should Online Gambling Be Legalized?
US News
The Great Pennsylvania Liquor Store Privatization Battle
Writing for National Review Online, Michelle Minton cites the example of Washington state, which just took the steps Corbett is urging for Pennsylvania. "Now more…
National Review
A Bar Fight over Privatization
A booze-fueled brawl has broken out in Pennsylvania. But not in a bar — this fight is unfolding in the statehouse. Pennsylvania is one…
Blog
D.C. Council Passes New Rules: Food Trucks Are Here to Stay
After four years, the Council of the District of Columbia finally passed rules to regulate the burgeoning mobile food industry that seem to please all sides.
Blog
Pennsylvania’s Liquor Privatization Plan Forgot about the Beer
Beer wholesalers are testifying yesterday morning in the Pennsylvania Senate, expressing their opposition to the proposed plans to privatize the state-run liquor store system.
Blog
TTB to Allow, Not Require, Nutritional Labeling on Alcoholic Products
It’s a rare occasion that we get to praise government agencies. While the federal agency governing alcoholic beverages certainly took it’s time to make a…
Politix
Will Politics Take Away Your Caffeine?
Wall Street Journal
Should Washington Allow Internet Gambling?
Real Clear Markets
The GOP Has a Blurry View of Free Markets In Medicine
Bad ideas and special interest politics don't ever die in Washington, D.C. They get re-introduced in the next Congress. Earlier this month, Rep. Larry Bucshon,…
Blog
Bill Would Prevent CDC’s Taxpayer-Funded Anti-Food Propaganda
Even in a divided Washington, everyone agrees on the importance of creating jobs in America. So why are some government agencies using taxpayer money to…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: April 10, 2013
National: Constellation Brands revealed this Monday that a preliminary deal has been reached regarding the sale of Gupo Modelo -- the maker of Corona.
Blog
Protectionist Law Proposed In New York Would Hit Wine Consumers Hardest
While most states are desperately trying to figure out ways to encourage business development and reduce the cost of consumer goods, New York is considering…
Blog
Minnesota’s 300% Alcohol Tax Hike Will Hurt Consumers And Businesses
Politicians love to sell alcohol tax hikes as pennies on the drink that won’t really hurt anyone’s pocketbook, while helping to pay for the…
Study
Human Achievement Hour 2013
Blog
Human Achievement Of The Day: Replacing Herbicides With Lasers
Blog
Human Achievement Of The Day: Using HIV To Cure Leukemia
The title of the Vimeo video below is “Fighting Fire with Fire,” which conveys fairly well what doctors from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and…
Blog
Capitalists Do It With The Lights On: Human Achievement Hour 2013
It’s that time of year again when we at the Competitive Enterprise Institute celebrate the innovative power of humanity and demonstrate our commitment to protecting…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: March 1, 2013
National: The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit to block Anheuser-Busch Inbev from taking full control over Negro Modelo. A few weeks later…
Daily Caller
Beer market needs liberty, not lawsuits
The U.S. Department of Justice wants to protect your ability to buy cheap beer. At least, that’s what it’s claiming to do in its January…
Human Events
Chicago Adults Could Be Forced to Give Up Energy Drinks
Are adults responsible enough to choose whether or not to consume energy drinks? Chicago Alderman Edward M. Burke doesn’t seem to think so. He introduced…
News Release
Sin Taxes Fail to Tackle Sin, Report Finds
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 20, 2013—From alcohol to tobacco to sugary or caffeinated foods and beverages, price increases known as “sin taxes” that target politically incorrect…
Study
The Wages of Sin Taxes
In The Wages of Sin Taxes, Chris Snowdon reveals that sin taxes not only do little to limit the use of “bad” products, they do…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 25, 2013
National: According to the Brewers Association, the trade group that represents smaller craft breweries, the Small BREW Act will be reintroduced in Congress in…
Blog
Washington’s Liquor Privatization Did Increase Prices, But Also Selection And Availability
Since selling off the state-owned liquor monopoly, many Washington State residents have noticed an unfortunate development; despite what proponents of privatization promised, the cost of…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: New Year Edition 2013
With a new year comes a new opportunity to take stock in our past endeavors and renew our goals for the future. While many a…
Study
Avoid a Beer Monopoly By Setting the Market Free
The number of craft breweries continues to rise as states free up the market, making it easier for brewers to produce and sell their products.
Blog
The Temperance Movement Is Alive And Well
Today, Dec. 5, is the day to go out and raise a glass to celebrate the anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition in the United…
Op-Eds
Senator Durbin is wrong on energy drinks ban
Several lawmakers have called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “do something” to protect the public from the alleged threat of energy…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: Turkey Day 2012 Edition
While most people in the U.S. are fantasizing about turkey slathered in gravy, yams, and pumpkin pie right now, beer connoisseurs throughout the nation --…
Blog
Overhyped Energy Drink Reaction
As has been reported extensively, the Food and Drug Administration has received several recent reports of alleged side-effects sustained by consumers who have ingested energy…