News Release
US Economy Grew 1.1 Percent First Quarter 2023 – Could Be Worse: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy grew 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023, according to the Bureau of Economic Statistics. It may seem underwhelming, but…
Blog
The week in ridiculous regulations: otter casualties and moving the goalpost
Fox News settled its defamation case over its false reporting on the 2020 election with voting machine maker Dominion. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…
News Release
UK Competition and Markets Authority Anti-Merger Ruling Undermines Consumer Interests
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is blocking Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game developer Activision Blizzard out of fear the deal…
News Release
House Republicans Helpfully Tie Government Reforms to Debit Limit Deal
House Republican leadership yesterday released the text of their debt limit deal which trades a suspension or increase in the debt limit for a number…
Blog
Biden Executive Order Harms Transparency
The Biden administration recently issued an Executive Order making major changes to the regulatory system, although almost nobody noticed thanks to culture war drama…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Headline CPI inflation went down slightly, but a deeper look shows that things got slightly worse. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from low-fat…
News Release
CPI Slowed in March, More Tightening Necessary to Get Inflation Under Control
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index Summary today, showing CPI increased by 0.1 percent in March 2023. CEI Senior Economist…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
An Executive Order from the Biden administration made some of the biggest system-level regulatory changes in years. It raises the threshold for “economically significant”…
News Release
236,000 Jobs Added in March 2023
The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggesting good and bad future trends, say CEI…
News Release
FTC Antitrust Overreach Threatens Health of Americans at Risk of Cancer Diagnosis
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today ordered Illumina to unwind its acquisition of Grail, a $7 billion deal that would add an early cancer…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Finland, which borders Russia, is joining NATO. Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a grand jury. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate, signaling it intends to hold firm on fighting inflation. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from…
National Review
The Fed’s Risky Rate Increase Helped Its Credibility to Reduce Inflation
The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate again on Wednesday, in its latest move to bring inflation back down to normal. Most people…
Blog
Fed Credibility Depends on it Continuing to Raise Rates
Today’s federal funds rate hike is good news because it signals commitment. That will help the public to expect the Fed to continue to…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Silicon Valley Bank’s failure was the confluence of bad management and bad regulations. It could also complicate the Fed’s inflation-fighting efforts. Meanwhile, agencies…
News Release
CEI Economist: Inflation Remains High, Fed should Keep Raising Rates
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Amounting to an annual inflation rate of…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
President Biden released a $6.8 trillion proposed budget. The labor force grew by 311,000 people in February. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Blog
Regulatory Reform in the 118th Congress: The ALERT Act
Transparency is a vital part of good government. It is also lacking in the regulatory process. H.R. 262, The All Economic Regulations are Transparent…
News Release
Economy Adds 311,000 Jobs in February 2023 – Good News
The U.S. economy added 311,000 jobs in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than expected by experts. Competitive Enterprise Institute…
News Release
Biden Budget Amounts to Top-Down Central Planning, Lacks Needed Reforms
President Biden today unveiled his latest budget submitted to Congress. CEI experts take a dim view of the agenda of excess spending and regulation…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
CEI published a new paper on right-to-repair legislation and held a hill briefing about regulatory reform and other topics. Meanwhile, agencies issued new…
Blog
Regulatory Reform Bills in the 118th Congress: The Article I Regulatory Budget Act
The federal government is supposed to put out an annual budget to track its spending. Why doesn’t it do the same thing for regulation? The…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Last Friday marked the one-year anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. CEI released a new paper on the FTC’s upcoming merger guideline…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2023 Federal Register topped 10,000 pages on February 16. Inflation remained high, but is still below its peak. FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson…
Blog
The Judiciary Is Skeptical of FTC Power Grabs in Meta/Within Case
The FTC tried to stop a merger between Facebook’s parent company Meta and the virtual reality app developer Within Unlimited. A court recently ruled against…
Blog
New CEI Paper on New Merger Guidelines
Any day now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will release new merger guidelines. FTC Chair Lina Khan has not yet released a draft of the…
Blog
Regulatory Reform Bills in the 118th Congress: The Less Is More Resolution
Often, spending is regulation in disguise. The 185,000-page Code of Federal Regulations is not the only way Washington regulates the economy. The federal government…
National Review
FTC Runs into the Judicial Wall
National Review
FTC Runs into the Judicial Wall
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust crusade has run into an obstacle: the judiciary. Indeed, the agency wants to expand its authority and broaden enforcement standards so…
Blog
Regulatory Reform Bills in the 118th Congress: The GOOD Act
Regulatory dark matter is a serious problem. Agencies are supposed to run new regulations through a formal process which includes publishing a draft version of…
Blog
Mixed Inflation News for January
Today’s inflation news is mixed. We’re still almost certainly past the worst of the COVID inflation, but January’s numbers took a turn for the…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
An earthquake killed at least 20,000 people in Turkey. President Biden delivered the State of the Union speech. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from…
Blog
Regulatory Reform Bills in the 118th Congress: The REINS Act
Every new session of Congress is a new chance to enact substantive regulatory reform. This post inaugurates an occasional series highlighting reform bills that have…
Blog
State of the Union and Inflation
Presidents, like quarterbacks, get too much blame when things go badly, and too much when things go well. Look for President Biden to take advantage…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had a setback in one of its cases against Meta. The Fed raised interest rates. Meanwhile, agencies…
News Release
Economy Adds 517,000 Jobs in January: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January 2023, according to newly released government numbers. That’s higher than expected. CEI experts explain what it…
News Release
Latest Fed Interest Rate Increase Brings Us Closer to a Soft Landing: CEI Analysis
The Federal Reserve today announced an interest rate increase of a quarter percentage point, as expected. CEI Senior Economist Ryan Young says the series of…
Blog
FTC Should Not Trade Consumer Welfare for an Antitrust Crystal Ball
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Department of Justice filed another antitrust lawsuit against Google. GDP numbers for the final quarter of 2022 looked healthy. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations…
News Release
Good News on Economic Growth: CEI Analysis
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis released data today showing the economy grew 2.1 percent in 2022. CEI Senior Economist Ryan Young…
News Release
Why DOJ’s Antitrust Suit Against Google’s Digital Ad Business Misses the Mark
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Google today, a division of parent company Alphabet, alleging the company has a monopoly over digital…
Blog
Adam Smith, Greek Tragedy, and Public Policy
In high school civics classes, Adam Smith is a cartoon character. Like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, he is portrayed as selfish, cold, and calculating.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The U.S. government hit its debt ceiling, setting up some congressional drama. Microsoft and Google joined the parade of antitrust targets announcing layoffs despite…
Blog
The Debt Ceiling and the Trillion-Dollar Coin
Another debt ceiling battle is brewing, and pundits are debating what to do about it. Over at National Review’ Capital Matters, I take a look…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Inflation fell to a 6.5 percent annual pace. Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro staged their own version of January 6. An…
National Review
Can a Trillion-Dollar Coin Repay Our Debt?
The red wave that wasn’t has consequences for policy-making in Washington. One result of the GOP’s new, narrow House majority is that outlandish and marginal policy…
News Release
Inflation Ticks Down in December – Fed Should Stay on Course, CEI Economist Urges
Good news – the annual inflation rate fell from 7.1 percent in November to 6.5 percent in December, according to the latest consumer price…
Blog
Federal Reserve Declines to Become Climate Regulator
Most agencies can either do one thing well or many things poorly. For example, the Federal Reserve would be perfectly capable of keeping inflation low…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The new Congress began with a lot of drama over selecting a speaker. The Federal Trade Commission announced its intention to ban non-compete clauses.
News Release
Economy Added 223,000 Jobs in December – Some Good News and Bad
The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in December, according to government data, and the unemployment rate dipped down to 3.5 percent, where it was…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations – Year-End 2022
Happy new year, everyone. Year-end totals for 2022’s new regulations are in. The 2022 Federal Register weighs in at 80,756 pages. It includes 3,168 final…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
A massive snowstorm with heavy winds hit most of the U.S. just in time for Christmas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington and addressed…
News Release
Senate Passes $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill, No Help to Inflation Reduction
The Senate today voted to pass a $1.7 trillion omnibus package to fund the federal government through September next year. CEI Senior Economist Ryan…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
CEI released its latest Agenda for Congress. Inflation slowed down in November, though there is still a ways to go before it’s…
Blog
Agenda for Congress: Inflation
CEI’s Agenda for Congress is out now. This post summarizes its recommendations for inflation. Since inflation is mostly a monetary phenomenon, it is…
News Release
Fed Raises Rates Again to Slow Inflation
The Federal Reserve has been trying to slow inflation by raising interest rates, today issuing its smallest rate increase since June – raising the federal…
News Release
November Inflation Less Bad Than Before, but the Fed Should Stay Focused on It
The latest consumer price index (CPI) released today by the Labor Department revealed that inflation, while still high, has been slowing as of November. That…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
A former president called for terminating the U.S. Constitution. Socialism failed again, this time in Peru. Congress passed a bill to protect…
Blog
Gas Prices Are Lower than a Year Ago: What Does that Mean for Inflation?
Even with inflation near 40-year highs, gas prices are lower than a year ago, and not just in real, inflation-adjusted terms. They’re lower even…
Blog
Regulatory Reform in Mississippi
Washington isn’t the only place that needs regulatory reform. States have their own excesses to deal with. To that end, our friends at the Mississippi…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The World Cup is underway in Qatar and the labor market had another good month. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from canola oil jet…
Blog
Retro Review: George Selgin, Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing Economy (Institute of Economic Affairs, 1997)
This year, inflation reached levels not seen in 40 years. The Federal Reserve spent most of 2022 trying to undo its runaway money creation in…
News Release
Job Gains in November 2022 Amid Inflation, Economic Problems: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in November while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, according to the Labor Department. CEI experts break…
News Release
Fed Should Do More to Fight Inflation with Interest Rate Increases
The Federal Reserve Chairman today confirmed that further interest rate increases are likely, maybe as soon as December. CEI economy expert Ryan Young says…
Fox 26 News
Some states still delivering final round of stimulus payments as inflation lingers
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
We hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from nuclear drug tests to food tracing. On to the data:…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2022 Federal Register surpassed 70,000 pages on Friday, and is on pace for 79,617 pages. The first Artemis moon mission rocket launched. The…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The midterm elections happened, and most of us (sorry, Georgia) are finally free of misleading, scaremongering political ads. Inflation slowed down slightly. Meanwhile,…
Blog
October Inflation Slightly Improves: Time for Less Politics and More Policy
Thank goodness the election is over. One of the frustrating parts of midterm season was that many people were more interested in how inflation would…
American Viewpoints
AUDIO: Senior Fellow Ryan Young Joins American Viewpoints
Senior Fellow Ryan Young reacts to President Biden’s announcement that his administration is going to address “junk fees” as part of his effort to lower…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate again, though it remains less than the rate of inflation. Employment increased by 261,000 in…
News Release
US Economy Added Jobs in October, but Unemployment Remains High – Signs of Cooling
The U.S. added 261,000 jobs in October, while unemployment ticked up to 3.7 percent, according to data released today by the Labor Department. That’s more…
Blog
Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rate; Uncertainty Strengthens Case for a Policy Rule
As expected, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage points coming out of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)…
Blog
Retro Review: Jared Diamond—Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (Norton, 1997)
In 1972, Jared Diamond was researching bird evolution in New Guinea. While walking along a beach, he had an hour-long conversation with a local politician…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Happy Halloween! CEI released the latest edition of Wayne Crews’s Ten Thousand Commandments report, which gives a big-picture overview of the federal regulatory state.
News Release
Biden Wrong About “Junk Fees” in Sweeping Government Mandate
Today the Biden administration announced a new whole-of-government initiative against “junk fees” from airlines, banking, and other industries. But what he is calling junk fees aren’t…
Blog
New Whole-of-Government Initiative on Junk Fees Comes with Unintended Consequences
Today the Biden administration announced a new whole-of-government initiative on junk fees from airlines and other industries. The news comes on the same day…
National Review
No Need for Antitrust Scrutiny of Kroger–Albertsons Merger
The Hill
Biden’s ‘whole of government’ overhaul of federal agencies undermines their purpose
Blog
Ten Thousand Commandments 2022 Released
The 2022 edition of Wayne Crews’s Ten Thousand Commandments report is out now. Now in its 28th year, it has its usual panoply of…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Just two more weeks until the relentless barrage of misleading election ads goes away. The Energy Information Administration warned that heating bills could get…
News Release
Union Risks Job Loss in Bid to Stop Kroger/Albertsons Merger, Warn CEI Antitrust Experts
Four local chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers International representing some 100,000 workers are reportedly lobbying regulators and lawmakers to oppose the $25…
Blog
Policy and Politics Are Different Things
What is more important this election: The culture wars or policy issues like inflation? In an op-ed as part of a point-counterpoint series from…
Blog
Not a Policy Paper, Just a Thought: Anti-Merger Mania
What is the correct number of corporate mergers that should be allowed? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) thinks it knows the answer: less. It has…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Inflation took a turn for the worse and the January 6 Committee voted to subpoena former President Trump over his role in the…
Blog
CPI Rises 0.4 Percent in September, 8.2 Percent over Past Year
September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation numbers came out this morning, and they aren’t pretty. The month-to-month increase was 0.4 percent, after rising just…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Aaron Judge finished the baseball season with 62 home runs, setting a new American League season record. President Biden pardoned the sentences of all…
News Release
September Jobs Report Shows Signs of Business Recovery but Inflation Remains a Problem: CEI Analysis
The federal government today released its data on how many jobs the U.S. economy added during the month of September: 263,000. CEI experts offer analysis…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Blog
Troubling Inflation News: Core PCE Increases 0.6 Percent
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation indicator, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), was updated this morning with August’s numbers. PCE measures inflation more accurately than the…
News Release
Amid Hurricane Power Outages, Biden Administration Waives Senseless Jones Act Shipping Restrictions: CEI Statement
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Ryan Young praised the Biden administration for temporarily waiving shipping restrictions imposed by the 1920s era Jones Act. “The…
Citation
Podcast: Another Fed Interest Rate Hike: What It Means To You
Senior Fellow Ryan Young joined American Viewpoints to discuss how the Federal Researve’s decision to raise the interest rate again affects many Americans’ budgets.
Blog
The Jones Act vs. Puerto Rico, Again
Puerto Rico is almost entirely without power after Hurricane Fiona. Right now, there is a ship just offshore, ready to help. It has…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points, with more increases likely to come. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Blog
Fed Raises Federal Funds Rate
As expected, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 75 basis points as part of its inflation-fighting efforts. Its target range will…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
CEI hosted its annual Julian Simon dinner on Thursday. The Consumer Price Index gave a mixed picture of inflation. A railroad strike was…
Blog
FTC Hearing on Vaping Case Shows Antitrust at its Worst
Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a public hearing about a seemingly resolved antitrust case about the vaping market. In 2018,…
Blog
Virtual Reality and the Relevant Market Fallacy
The relevant market fallacy is one of the most common analytical mistakes in antitrust policy. One of the first legal questions in an antitrust…
National Review
Virtual Reality and the Relevant-Market Fallacy
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is at a crossroads. Its main social-media platform is declining under heavy competition and faces twin federal and …
Blog
Mixed News on CPI: Headline Rate Improves, Core Rate Accelerates
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August is out. It increased 8.3 percent over the last year, down from 8.5 percent in July. The…