Blog
America’s unfair second court system
Stone Washington and I have a paper out today on reforming administrative law courts, or ALCs. We also summarize our findings over at National…
News Release
Administrative Law Courts Are Unfair and Need Reform
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report delves into a court system that most people are unaware exists – administrative law courts, or ALCs. In addition…
Study
Conflict of Justice
Introduction Imagine that a federal agency has charged you with violating a law or regulation, and you have to defend yourself in court. But you…
Blog
Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next year?
As expected, the Federal Reserve kept the federal funds rate the same this week, which influences other interest rates, including car and mortgage payments. The…
Litigation
Hobby Distillers Association v. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau et al
In December of 2023, the Hobby Distillers Association – and four of its individual members – sued the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau…
Blog
Khan’s FTC could harm America’s competitiveness abroad
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) threatens to put US global competitiveness at risk by pursuing stringent antitrust goals that target the largest American tech companies,…
News Release
FTC’s Aggressive Antitrust Enforcement Threatens U.S. Advantage in AI Development
According to a new study from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) newly aggressive antitrust enforcement toward tech companies…
Study
A Global Antitrust Paradox?
Executive summary In today’s Washington, bipartisan consensus is rare. But at least two points of consensus remain. The first is that America’s defining geopolitical challenge…
National Review
Another FDA Power Grab
The comment period for the Food and Drug Administration’s latest power grab has just concluded. Roughly 20,000 comments were submitted addressing the FDA’s proposed rule which…
New York Magazine
“Lina Khan’s Rough Year”
Ankush Khardori details the rough year Lina Khan has had as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
Fortune
“Competition Cop Lina Khan’s Antitrust Overreach Is Hurting U.S. Competitiveness—and Destroying Billion of Dollars in Value”
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tain of Yale University explain how Lina Khan’s antitrust agenda is being carried out poorly.
Blog
Senators asking the right question on nuclear license renewals
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) ranking member of the SenateEnvironment and Public Works Committee and Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) ranking member of the Committee’s Subcommittee on…
Blog
Biden’s yearly Federal Register second-highest page count ever, could still score number one
The Federal Register is the daily depository of rules and regulations. Today, the count stood at 86,256 pages, with three weeks to go for Joe…
Blog
Inflation holds steady, Fed interest rates likely to stay put
The Consumer Price Index went up 0.1 percent in the month of November. Its 12-month increase is 3.1 percent, same as last month’s report.
Blog
Federal government waves goodbye to ‘economically significant’ regulations
Last week, the Fall 2023 edition of the White House’s Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions appeared. It features the…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Address labels and exporting missiles
The FDA approved the world’s first gene-editing therapy, which could cure sickle cell disease. The unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, agencies issued…
The Guardian
Revealed: more than 160 representatives with climate-denying track records got Cop28 access
CEI’s Myron Ebell is cited in The Guardian on COP28 Access. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a US libertarian thinktank which earlier this year called the…
Fox News
Why creating an international body for AI is a bad idea
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently re-upped his calls for a global body, akin to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to advise member…
Forbes
OpenAI Is Now Unambiguously Profit-Driven, And That’s A Good Thing
The recent drama at OpenAI, where CEO Sam Altman was briefly dismissed by the board of directors only to be rapidly reinstated, has sparked discussion about…
News Release
Economy adds 199,000 jobs in November: CEI analysis
The U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs in the month of November, according to newly released government data. It’s a tightening labor market, with rising…
Blog
Tom Vilsack tries to change the subject, but a slush fund is still a slush fund
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack published an op-ed in direct response to an op-ed written by CEI’s Patricia Patnode in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Centers of Progress with Chelsea Follett
In this week’s episode we cover the housing abundance agenda, antitrust concerns about corporate climate alliances, the future of global nuclear…
Forbes
Biden Releases Fall 2023 Unified Agenda Of Federal Regulations
Since the early 1980s, federal departments and agencies have highlighted rulemaking priorities (not a complete inventory) in the (mostly) twice-yearly …
Legal Brief
Reason Et Al. Netchoice Amicus Brief
INTRODUCTION AND INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE Social media companies, large or small, offer privately owned and mediated spaces for people to associate and exchange ideas…
News Release
Biden’s Unified Agenda report on regulations has two main problems
On December 6, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at last released its regulatory blueprint for the coming year, the fall…
News Release
CEI Statement on House Passage of CARS Act
In a vote of 221-to-197, the House today passed the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act (H.R. 4468). Introduced by Reps.
Blog
Important question: How many people will new AI regulations kill?
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released a draft memorandum outlining new requirements for federal agencies using artificial intelligence (AI).
Fox News
Biden’s billion-dollar plan to build 500,000 EV chargers has yet to yield a single charger
CEI’s Daren Bakst is cited on Fox News regarding the EV plan: “Too many members of Congress think ‘Field of Dreams’ is a blueprint…
Daily Caller
House Passes Bill Hitting Back Against Biden’s EV Agenda
CEI’s Daren Bakst is cited on the Daily Caller on The House passing a bill pushing back against Biden’s EV agenda: “I applaud the…
The Power Hour
The Power Hour | Free Markets, Free People, and a Clean Environment
CEI’s Myron Ebell joins The Power Hour radio show on December 6th, 2023. Listen to the show here.
Comment
OMB Proposed Memorandum on Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence.
December 5, 2023 Docket ID: OMB–2023–0020 Proposed Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use…
The Center Square
New Mexico governor seeks to create ‘strategic’ brackish water reservoir
CEI’s Iain Murray is cited in The Center Square regarding strategic water resevoirs: “It is good to see Governor Lujan has realized the value of…
News Release
CEI Statement on CARS Act
Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Andrew Clyde (R-GA) have introduced legislation that is expected to be considered on the House floor this week,…
Blog
House should brake bureaucrats limiting vehicle choice with CARS Act
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is trying to limit the ability of Americans to buy gas-powered cars. That is, the cars that people actually want…
Blog
COP28: The conference on penance
Dubai is currently hosting the 28th Conference on Penance (COP). Well, that’s what the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on…
The Hill
Why are some Republicans pushing new taxes and higher prices?
Here’s a concoction whose toxicity conservatives instinctively recognize: new taxes, higher prices, punishing energy use, and giving foreign countries leverage over how the U.S. regulates.
News Release
Supreme Court hears challenge to a provision of 2017 law that taxes unrealized income
Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on behalf of Charles and Kathleen Moore, taxpayers who are challenging a provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts…
Comment
Comments on Proposed Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence
To Shalanda D. Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit public interest organization committed to…
Blog
Central banks are watching. Let’s watch them back.
One of the biggest dangers of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), I and others have warned, is that it would give a government that…
Blog
Is UAW still an automaker union? How Gaza became a top issue
The name “United Auto Workers” would appear to pretty clearly indicate who that union represents, but it is increasingly becoming inaccurate. Today, only about…
Truth on the Market
“Where Are the New FTC Rules?”
Alden Abbott from the Mercatus Center discusses the FTC’s recent “rulemaking blizzard.”…
Real Clear Markets
“Lina Khan Is Between a BlackRock and a Hard Place”
Robert Bork Jr. argues against antitrust challenges to acquisitions by ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Wall Street Journal
“Meta Sues FTC Over Its In-House Courts”
The Wall Street Journal reports on Meta’s constitutional challenge to the structure of the Federal Trade Commission.
Real Clear Markets
“Despite Divestments, the FTC Still Can’t Handle Kroger/Albertsons”
Isaac Schick from the American Consumer Institute discusses antitrust, divestments, and unions regarding the merger between Kroger and Albertsons.
News Release
New CEI paper analyzes the top issues up for negotiation at COP28
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) continues its focus on COP28 in Dubai with a new paper by Henrique Schneider, who is a…
Study
Four Hot Issues at COP28
Over 75 different agenda items will be discussed and negotiated in Dubai at the 28th annual Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Au pairs and processed pears
The 2023 edition of Wayne Crews’ Ten Thousand Commandments is out now. Henry Kissinger died at age 100. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Comment
Comments RE: Docket No. FDA–2023–N–2177 for “Medical Devices; Laboratory Developed Tests
I am an attorney with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a non-profit research and advocacy organization that focuses on regulatory policy.
Politico
Courts, tax bills and impeachment — oh, my
CEI’s coming Supreme Court Case is cited in Politico’s newsletter: SO, A LOT GOING ON: It’s now officially December, which so frequently is crunch time here…
Daily Caller
Here’s Where Americans Are Feeling The Greatest Pain Under Biden’s Economy
CEI’s Ryan Young cited in the Daily Caller on economic conditions: “When some goods are hurt worse than others, the causes are not inflation,”…
Blog
Inflation makes regulations even more expensive
The just-released 2023 edition of Wayne Crews’ Ten Thousand Commandments report estimates that the total cost of complying with all federal regulations is $1.94…
Blog
The latest on nuclear power bans: Illinois poised to take an important step
The Illinois nuclear construction ban will soon be a thing of the past.Earlier this year, both state chambers, through a supermajority vote, passed a…
Blog
Biden admin: Taxpayers don’t need to know about ‘official time’
The Biden administration is actively rolling back transparency requirements for unions, most recently by no longer posting information on the controversial practice of…
Blog
Equity shmequity: How US government’s ‘discounting’ policy hurts the global poor
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently finalized its Circular A-4 guidance on regulatory analysis, constituting the first update to the guidance in…
American Radio Journal
Wayne Crews with Ten Thousand Commandments
CEI’s Clyde Wayne Crews joins the American Radio Journal to discuss Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State. Listen to…
Sound Cloud
Wayne Crews Are Federal Regulations Costing Taxpayers And Companies Almost $2 Trillion Per Year
The Lars Larson Show is joined by CEI’s Clyde Wayne Crews on November 30th, 2023.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: The future of energy and environmental policy with Travis Fisher
In this week’s episode we cover the political path toward abundance, the need for permitting reform beyond the National Environmental Policy Act,…
Washington Times
Better late than never: New York Times finally admits school shutdowns hurt children
The New York Times has made a “startling” discovery. Its editorial board has recognized that “school closures that took 50 million children out of classrooms…
Blog
The catastrophic consequences of COVID for California constitutional government
COVID-19 hit California hard. The effects of COVID on California’s population were terrible, and the government policies that California imposed on its citizens may have…
Antitrust Education Project
“No Matter How You Slice It, Consumers Should Be What Matters in Subway Antitrust Investigation”
Robert Bork Jr. discusses the FTC’s investigation into Roark Capital’s acquisition of Subway sandwiches.
Reason
“FTC Fights Grocery Store Merger That May Bring Down Prices”
Nate Scherer from the American Consumer Institute argues that the FTC should not ignore the many upsides of a Kroger-Albertsons merger.
Blog
Ten Thousand Commandments 2023 is out now
The 2023 edition of CEI’s flagship annual study, Wayne Crews’s Ten Thousand Commandments, is out now. For those not familiar, 10KC gives a big-picture…
The Daily Signal
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s How Much Regulations Cost Average American Family—and How Biden Is Making It Worse
“American households pay at least $14,000 in hidden regulatory costs every year,” Wayne Crews, the Fred L. Smith fellow in regulatory studies at the institute,…
Washington Times
Biden’s battle on climate and social programs escalates red tape
Rules on everything from new safety measures for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic to new standards for grades of canned baked beans have…
News Release
Report: Federal regulatory burden undermines economy, financial security
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute tallies the huge and growing cost federal regulations impose on American businesses and families – $1.939…
Daily Caller
‘Hidden Tax’: Biden Clocks In Biggest Regulatory Burden In Recent Memory, Report Says
Under President Joe Biden, the federal government completed 89 economically significant rules in 2022, defined as those with at least a $100 million economic impact,…
Products
Chapter 5: Page Counts and Numbers of Rules in the Federal Register
The Federal Register is the daily repository of all proposed and final federal rules and regulations. Although its number of pages is often cited as…
Products
Chapter 3: Getting Beyond a Federal Regulatory Budget and the Limitations of Administrative Reform
Federal programs are funded either by taxes or by borrowing, with interest, from future tax collections. When Congress spends, no one questions that disclosure…
Products
Chapter 6: The Expanding Code of Federal Regulations
The page count in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), where the Register’s rules come to rest in small print, is not as dramatic…
Products
Chapter 9: A Note on Rule Reviews at OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Tracking the effects of rules and regulations, executive orders, memoranda, and regulatory guidance is vital. These alternative regulatory actions have become powerful means of working…
Products
Chapter 13: Federal Regulations Affecting State and Local Governments
Ten Thousand Commandments primarily emphasizes federal regulations imposed on the private sector. However, state and local officials’ complaints over federal mandates’ overriding their own…
Products
Chapter 1: Biden’s Regulatory “Modernization” Continues Whole-of-Government Pursuit of Coercive Progressivism
The 2022 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments extensively surveyed the Biden administration’s executive actions, rules, and memoranda that reversed the Trump regulatory policy and attenuated…
Products
Chapter 10: Analysis of “The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions”
“The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” (the Unified Agenda) is the document in which agencies have outlined regulatory priorities…
Products
Chapter 8: Another Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Over 22,000 Agency Public Notices Annually
Along with presidential proclamations are those of departments and agencies. These are numerous and sweeping. Through various kinds of guidance documents, notices, and policy statements,…
Products
Chapter 15: Regulation without Representation: The “Unconstitutionality Index”—13 Rules for Every Law
Administrative agencies, not Congress, do most U.S. lawmaking, despite Article I of the Constitution stipulating otherwise. Congress is to blame here, as it routinely enacts…
Products
Chapter 4: The Unknowable Costs of Regulation and Intervention and a $1.939 Trillion Estimate
The federal government undertakes little review of federal regulation to ensure that regulations individually do more good than bad each year, and it performs no…
Products
Executive Summary – Ten Thousand Commandments 2023
The cost of government extends well beyond what Washington taxes. Federal regulations add another $1.939 trillion to Americans’ annual burden. Federal environmental, safety and health,…
Products
Chapter 2: Competition Policy That Exiles Competitive Enterprise Harms Equity
Biden has repeatedly claimed, “I’m a capitalist.” He also rightly says that capitalism without competition is “exploitation.” However the top-down vision Biden promotes, which is…
Products
Chapter 11: Notable Rules and Rulemakings by Agency
In recent Unified Agenda editions and in other venues, federal agencies have noted the regulatory initiatives listed below, among many others pending or recently completed.
Products
Chapter 14: Government Accountability Office Database on Regulations
The federal government’s reports and databases on regulations serve different purposes: The Federal Register details and depicts the aggregate number of proposed and final rules—both…
Products
Chapter 16: Liberate to Stimulate: Framing an Agenda for Rightsizing Washington
It should be hard to enact bad law and regulation, not to get rid of them. A whole-of-government spending and regulatory agenda like the one…
Products
Chapter 12: Federal Regulations Affecting Small Business
Given discrepancies seen in the final rule counts, the overall counts of both small business rules and significant small business rules could also be understated.
Study
Ten Thousand Commandments 2023
View Full Report Here Ten Thousand Commandments is the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s annual survey of the size, scope, and cost of federal regulations, and…
Products
Chapter 7: The Presidential Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Executive Orders and Memoranda
Executive orders, presidential memoranda, presidential directives, ersatz fact sheets of recent administrations, and other executive proclamations make up a substantial component of what has replaced…
Blog
Wall Street Journal reports consumer frustrations with over-regulated appliances
2023 is turning into the year of bad appliance regulations. Since January, CEI has submitted comments critical of proposed Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency…
News Release
Ex Google CEO’s Call for UN Organization Focused on Artificial Intelligence Would Be a “Historic Mistake”
At a forum on Artificial Intelligence in Washington today, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt endorsed the idea of an international body like the United…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Slender salamanders and joint employers
Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary cease-fire. OpenAI’s board of directors fired CEO Sam Altman, then re-hired him and fired themselves. President Joe Biden…
City Journal
Not-So-Affordable Care
In a 2022 book, Seemed Like a Good Idea, health economist Mark Pauly and his University of Pennsylvania coauthors describe how health-care policymakers “often rely on…
The American Spectator
The Forces Behind ESG’s Blacklisting Effect
Underneath the political back-and-forth over environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, we are seeing a sinister shift in targets. What began as a campaign among…
The Wall Street Journal
Why Does My ‘Efficient’ Dishwasher Take a Zillion Minutes for a Load?
Competitive Enterprise Institute was cited in the Wall Street Journal on dishwasher efficiency: The average standard cycle time for a dishwasher has increased from…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Making college pay with Preston Cooper
In this week’s episode we cover Javier Milei’s election as president of Argentina, how much money it takes to be happy,…
Comment
Comment to FAST-41 Steering Council on reducing scope of mining industry
John G. CossaGeneral CounselFederal Permitting Improvement Steering Council1800 M St. NW, Suite 6006Washington, DC 20036 Submitted via Regulations.gov November 22, 2023 RE: Permitting Council Docket…
Blog
Cold truth about government pushing electric: Natural gas is much cheaper
The Department of Energy (DOE) has repeatedly documented that using natural gas in homes is far cheaper than using electricity.This hasn’t stopped the Biden…
Forbes
Effective Altruism Contributed To The Fiasco At OpenAI
In a surprising turn of events, OpenAI’s board abruptly fired co-founder and CEO Sam Altman on Friday. Following a backlash on social media, the board…
Blog
Slice the regulatory turkey this Thanksgiving
The turkeys Liberty and Bell just received a Thanksgiving pardon from Joe Biden. The official presentation of a turkey for a presidential pardon and rescue…
Duluth News Tribune
Point/Counterpoint: Technology once again is altering how, where we work
Technology is making the 40-hour workweek an outmoded tradition. Historically, the workweek concept was based on the cycle of working from sunup to sundown, stopping…
PJ Media
Biden Uses Cold War Law to Nuke Your Gas Furnace
PJ Media cites CEI’s Ben Lieberman: The money comes from a presidential slush fund authorized by the Democrats’ trillion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act (that did not…
Blog
CEI’s The Surge: Carbon tariffs, CAFE standards, and more!
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: California raisins and debit card fees
There was a pro-Israel and anti-Hamas rally on the National Mall of more than 200,000 people. A fight nearly broke out at a Senate hearing.
Fox News