Op-Eds
Crisis Management
One of the more confusing aspects of the great economic meltdown of 2008-09—even more confusing than collateralized debt obligations—has been the tortured…
Blog
Forbes on Redish on class actions
Excellent article in Forbes on liberal professor Martin Redish’s take on class actions. Redish sees similar constitutional difficulties with so-called cy pres (pronounced…
Blog
Rubber stamps for two settlements
Judge Snyder has (all but literally) rubber-stamped the objectionable settlements in the AOL e-mail footer and Yahoo advertising cases. We are likely to…
Blog
An Unintentional Legacy
Now that the health care bill no longer seems likely to pass, the late Ted Kennedy’s election reforms may have unintentionally solidified his own place…
Blog
Populism, jobs and the economy — where do we go from here?
Scott Brown’s decisive victory in the Massachusetts Senate race has upturned the Democrats’ Progressive agenda. Brown, “the people’s seat” senator, had a resonant message…
Blog
Why does everybody think BPA is safe but us?
Regarding the ubiquitous plastic ingredient bisphenol A (BPA), my colleague Angela Logomasini blogged that “The greens are rejoicing today because the Food and Drug…
Blog
Sorry, no RIP yet for the health care reform legislation
It’s fine to celebrate the Massachusetts victory of Scott Brown. I like how Daily Show host Jon Stewart put it: “The Kennedy legacy goes down…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 101: Brushing Teeth After Meals
[A]ny child who has a meal in day care or is in care for more than four hours will be required to brush their teeth,…
Op-Eds
Year One Report Card: Treasury gets a ‘D’
In a libertarian world of civil rather than political society, the Treasury Department would pay the modest bills of a constitutionally limited government. It’s…
News Release
Report Card for the Obama Administration
One year ago today, Barack Obama took the oath of office as President of the United States. Since then, he and his appointees have had…
Blog
A Skeptic’s Desultory Philippic (or how I was not Al Gore’d into submission – with apologies to Paul Simon)
A pithy column in Foreign Policy by the Breakthrough Institute’s Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger says that “twice-fooled” Democrats, who have been “BTUed” by two Democratic administrations,…
Blog
Baby Bottle Politics Trumps Science at FDA
The greens are rejoicing today because the Food and Drug Administration has softened its stance on the safety of Bisphenol A, a…
Blog
LibertyWeek 77: The Future of the Senate
Blog
Steve Forbes: How Capitalism Will Save Us
Steve Forbes gave a very good talk today, on the topic of his new book (co-authored with Elizabeth Ames), How Capitalism Will Save Us:…
Blog
Enron: Lobbyist for both Kyoto and Wind Farm Mandates
Dr. Rob Bradley, CEO of the Institute for Energy Research, documents in Political Capitalism how fraud and corruption at Enron were the inevitable consequence of a business strategy…
Blog
More swine flu hysteria apologism – “a stunning public health success”
In response to my Philadelphia Inquirer piece “Swine Flu Epidemic Ends with a Whimper,” predictably public health community members have squealed that the only…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 100: Posting YouTube Videos
The Italian government is considering making it illegal for its citizens to post videos on the Internet without a license.
Newsletter
Net Neutrality, the War on Salt and Beach House Insurance
The Federal Communications Commission receives thousands of comments on its proposed “net neutrality” regulations. New York City public health officials launch a campaign to reduce…
Op-Eds
The Bank Tax and the Bay State
As the race for the late Ted Kennedy’s seat goes into the home stretch, financial-services policy has suddenly emerged as a top issue in…
Blog
Lonardo v. Travelers Indemnity
A lawsuit against two home insurance companies settled for $8.69/policy year for class members who submit a claim by mail—and $6.6 million for the attorneys.
Op-Eds
SarBox Might be Coming to an End
Prospects for substantial relief from or repeal of one of the most burdensome corporate regulations in recent memory have suddenly grown in Congress and…
Philadelphia Inquirer
Climate and Rogue States Not Smoothly Linked
Marshall Saunders argues that fighting climate change is important for national security because warmer temperatures will cause food and water crises in poor countries, thereby…
Blog
“Swine Flu Epidemic ends with a Whimper,” my Philly Inquirer piece
Hidden within the latest edition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s FluView was this sentence: “The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Net Neutrality vs. “BandWealth”
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features Wayne Crews' public comment against the FCC's plans to regulate…
Blog
NC court might block insurance rate drop
Blog
Flu Watch Jan. 14 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing this week
Infections are down, hospitalizations are down and deaths are the same. But given the reporting time lag it should prove that these were…
Letters
Coalition Letter on Conrad-Gregg
Full Letter Available in PDF CFA and ATR have joined forces with numerous groups representing…
Philadelphia Inquirer
Obama’s Penalty Tax Could Hit Banks that Refused TARP Funds
President Obama’s so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the president declared, “We want our…
Blog
Roundup
I’m speaking at NYU Law January 21 on class action issues. I’m quoted in Legal Newsline on Schwarzenegger’s proposed class action reforms. Aside…
Comment
Net Neutrality Comment to the FCC: Net Neutrality vs “BandWealth”
Full Document Available in PDF On Thursday, October 22, 2009, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)…
Blog
TSA Security Playset
The Playmobil Security Check Point has experienced a new surge in popularity (so much so that it is currently out of stock) on Amazon in…
Blog
Obama Bank “Responsibility Fee” Is Destructive, Hypocritical and Likely Unconstitutional
The so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the President declared, “We want our money back.” Yet his…
News Release
FCC ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules Endanger a Truly Open Internet
FCC ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules Endanger a Truly Open Internet Watchdog Group Warns Against Internet Regulation, Urges “Agency Neutrality” in FCC Filing Washington, D.C.,…
Blog
Health Insurance and Campaign Contributions
$40 million and change plus some antitrust troubles is a really small price to pay for a legal guarantee of vastly increased business, forever.
Blog
New York Salt-Slashing Op-Ed in NY Post
Here is my op-ed published in the New York Post on January 13th. As-salt on science On Monday, city officials rolled out an initiative…
Blog
A French Kiwi wine? New Zealand and Australia say “non”
Nice article in the Wall Street Journal today by Anne Jolis on a trademark brouhaha between France and Australia that highlights some…
Blog
Experts Question Enormous Cost and Constitutionality of Healthcare Legislation
The health care legislation backed by the president and congressional leaders will increase Americans’ health care costs by more than $200 billion,…
Newsletter
CIA Climate Data, Fannie and Freddie Absent and Health Insurance and Antitrust
The Central Intelligence Agency shares classified satellite data with climate researchers. Executives from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are conspicuously absent from the first hearing…
Blog
Financial Crisis Hearing is Partisan Sham that Skips Over Fannie and Freddie’s Role
John Berlau, director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, offers the following thoughts on what’s missing from the first hearing of the Financial Crisis…
Philadelphia Inquirer
House Panel Approves Ban On Retail Price-Fixing Deals
Philadelphia Inquirer
Sarbanes-Oxley: Albatross to Growth
Philadelphia Inquirer
Financial Crisis Hearing Is Partisan Sham
Today marks the first-ever meeting of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which is charged with investigating the causes of the mortgage meltdown.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Sarbanes-Oxley: Albatross to Growth
Many economists, policy makers, and members of Congress of both parties are questioning whether what is good for the Big Four accounting firms is…
Philadelphia Inquirer
As-salt on Science
On Monday, city officials rolled out an initiative to curb the salt content in manufactured and packaged foods. But the idea behind it — that…
Blog
Gag me. Public health establishment takes credit for mildness of swine flu season
Inevitably when pandemic doom fails to pan out, whether it be heterosexual AIDS, SARS, avian flu, or anything else the public health establishment that panicked…
Blog
Trumka: “Well, I’m not done.”
Showing a stubborn belligerence more commonly seen in the coal mines where his father worked than in the leader of one of the largest…
Blog
Why Can’t We Have a “Three Strikes” Policy for Public Financing?
Blog
Regulation of the Day 99: Salty New Yorkers
New York City is seeking to regulate how much salt is in peoples' food. Enforcement will prove difficult; most food that New Yorkers eat comes…
Washington Times
Secret Science from the CIA?
The CIA has reactivated a Clinton-era program, code-named MEDEA (Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis), that allows environmental scientists access to classified…
Blog