Blog
Financial Regulation and Payments Update: July 31, 2015
Last week saw the fifth anniversary of Dodd-Frank and there was a great deal of commentary from opponents of the act, not least from us…
Blog
Dodd-Frank’s Dire Legacy: The Durbin Amendment
Study
How Dodd-Frank Harms Main Street
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 was a drastic shock to the American economy. Now five years after being signed into law, Dodd-Frank was just as powerful…
National Review
There Is No ‘Deal’ to Reauthorize Ex-Im
I am bemused by Senator Cruz’s volte-face on trade-promotion authority. There is no deal to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank (which CEI, like…
National Review
Raisins Takings Case Goes Back to Magna Carta
One of the oddest cases the Supreme Court decided today also should have been one of the simplest. In Horne v USDA the very simple…
National Review
The True Myth of Magna Carta
Today, Britain, America, and other Anglosphere countries celebrate the 800th Anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. In that meadow, tranquil to today (at least…
The Freeman
The Poor Need Affordable Energy
Affordable energy is fundamental to what economist Deirdre McCloskey calls the “Great Fact” of the explosion of human welfare. It remains central to the…
National Review
America’s Own FIFA: the EPA
The Freeman
Britain Back from the Brink of Socialism (For Now)
RealClear Policy
Special Interests vs. Trade Promotion Authority
With the United States currently negotiating two mammoth trade agreements, President Obama being granted Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) is far from a done deal. Opposition…
The Freeman
The UK’s Return to Socialism
Blog
UK Banks End Reward Programs in Anticipation of Interchange Fee Caps
File this one under “we told you so.” The Independent reports a scale-back in credit card reward programs in the United Kingdom: The…
Blog
Operation Choke Point: The CFPB Is Now in Charge
I suggested at TheBlaze some weeks ago that even as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was stepping back from its involvement in Operation Choke Point, the…
Comment
Remarks at the International Alliance for Electronic Payments Panel on EU Interchange Fee Regulations
Blog
International Panel Outlines Problems with EU Interchange Fee Regulation
On March 17, an international panel of experts gathered in Brussels to discuss the proposed EU interchange fee regulations that are set to be approved…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Bitcoin
On the eve of the financial crisis of 2007-8, financial systems had grown extremely sophisticated, but were still essentially based on a model of trust.
Products
Wall St. attacked, Main St. wounded
Washington Examiner
No Currency Manipulation Rules in Pacific Trade Deals a Good Thing for Americans
Last week, President Obama told Congressional Democrats not to expect any rules against “currency manipulation” in the forthcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. This is…
The Blaze
Operation Choke Point: Consumer Protection Bureau Can Act as Judge, Jury and Executioner to Targeted Businesses
The Obama administration has been waging an undeclared war on businesses it doesn’t like by stretching executive authority beyond its proper bounds. Known as Operation…
The Freeman
Greece Jumps from Scylla to Charybdis
Every Greek child reads Homer in school. So Greek children are familiar with the legend of Scylla and Charybdis, from Homer’s Odyssey. The sailor Odysseus,…
Blog
FDIC Retreats from Operation Choke Point
In a partial victory for all those campaigning against the abuse of power known as Operation Choke Point (see our comprehensive study here), the Federal…
The Blaze
Obama’s Abuse of the Veto Makes Him an ‘Imperial President’
Just a few days into the new Congress, and President Barack Obama already has made three—count ‘em—credible veto threats. Representatives and Senators had barely started…
The Freeman
The Importance of Free Speech to Human Progress
The Blaze
Want to Help Someone Rebuild Her Business? Better Lawyer Up!
Neighbors and people across the nation were appalled when local shops in Ferguson, Missouri, burned down during the recent disturbances there. Thankfully, family, friends, and…
The Freeman
Kickstarting It Old School
Blog
Rep. Leutkemeyer Moves to Choke off Operation Choke Point
The release this week of a new House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staff report into Operation Choke Point provides another opportunity to underline just how…
Washington Examiner
What Lame Ducks Might Do
Iain Murray spoke with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Congress' Lame Duck December Q: With just a handful of legislative days remaining in December, what concerns…
Blog
Corporate Action against Disease Points Way to Resiliency Strategy for Developing World
In a piece at The Freeman today, I examine how corporations in the developing world have reacted to the threat to their workers from diseases such…
The Freeman
Greedy Corporations Save Lives
With Ebola wreaking havoc across West Africa, news that a private company has virtually eradicated the disease on its extensive property invites sighs of relief.
CNBC
Why Retailers are Wrong on Apple Pay
There's a war going on for your wallet. Around the world, the credit and debit cards we use every day are under threat from a…
The Blaze
Dodd-Frank Court Case Could Provide Injunctive Relief for America
The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 has been a disaster for our financial system. Passed in haste after the financial crisis ostensibly in order to stop…
Blog
The Long National Nightmare of Dodd-Frank Is Almost Over
One of the prime reasons for the continuing economic uncertainty that bedevils so many ordinary Americans is the presence in law of the Dodd-Frank Act…
American Spectator
No Triple Mandate for the Federal Reserve
A recent speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen got considerable attention over her subtly implied suggestion that the Fed consider taking on a…
Washington Examiner
Minimum Wage, Maximum Damage
This article was originally published at the Washington Examiner on October 27, 2014. There are few policies more popular than increasing the federal minimum…
The Blaze
Has Operation Choke Point Ended?
Has your bank account been canceled for no good reason? If you’re in a business the government doesn’t like, soon it could be. Firearm sellers,…
The Freeman
Freedom and Whisky Go Together
On Thursday, Scottish voters will decide whether to dissolve the 300-year-old union with England and Wales or remain in it. Until a few weeks ago,…
The Freeman
Sending Money Home: Technology or Bureaucracy?
Blog
The Impending BitLicense and Premature Regulations
Last month, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced its proposed regulations for businesses engaged in “Virtual Currency Business Activity.”The Department defines these businesses…
Products
Deputizing America
The Freeman
Deputizing America
Study
Cutting the Gordian Knot: A Road Map for British Exit from the European Union
This study was originally published at the Institute for Economic Affairs as a finalist for the 2014 IEA Brexit Prize coauthored with Rory…
Study
Operation Choke Point
Can the government shut down legal but politically disfavored businesses? If an ongoing federal regulatory campaign continues, that may be precisely what happens.
Products
Study: Collective Bargaining Slows Economic Growth, Lowers Wages
Collective bargaining may not be the boon for workers that labor unions claim it is, according to a new study. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI),…
The Freeman
A Petition from the Booksellers
To the Parliament of France, Gentlemen, you are on the right track. Time and again you have shown your willingness to defend the humble French…
The National Review
The Federal Reserve Overreaches
Is the Federal Reserve after your debit and credit cards? In a move little noticed except by those in the payments industry, the Federal Reserve…
The National Review
How the High Costs of Public-Sector Pensions Affect States’ Economic Growth
Today my colleagues and I on the labor team at the Competitive Enterprise Institute released the first installment in CEI’s new three-part series ”The High…
The Freeman
Breathtaking Lawlessness
America’s federal executive branch has met some setbacks as of late. Two recent Supreme Court rulings have constrained the administration’s impulse to act as it…
Blog
Separation of Powers Survived Today by a One-Vote Margin
My colleagues over at GlobalWarming.org are already mulling over what today’s ruling in UARG v. EPA means for the future of American industry and energy production, but there’s…
Blog
India Takes Action against Eco-Colonialism
In The Really Inconvenient Truths, I wrote about the environmentalist mantra I = PAT, where I is environmental impact, P is population, A is affluence,…
Blog
Finance for the People
Over at The Freeman, I take a look at how technology has been democratizing access to capital, bringing news ways of raising money to people…
The Freeman
Finance for the People
Financial innovation: People like to talk a lot about it these days. But what is it? If you read the business press, it’s all about…
Blog
Questions for Richard Cordray
This morning, Richard Cordray, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Board, testifies to a House Committee on the Board's semi-annual report. One of the Board's…
The American Spectator
Exporting Solyndras?
The New York Times’ crusading columnist Joe Nocera is an unlikely supporter of crony capitalism. Yet this week he has come out unabashedly in favor of the…
The Freeman
Earthquake Europe
An earthquake, they called it. The European political establishment looked on helplessly over Memorial Day weekend as elections for representatives to the European Parliament showed…
Blog
Export-Import Bank Subsidizes the Western World
On its “About Us” page, the Export-Import Bank gives us its purported mission: “Ex-Im Bank does not compete with private sector lenders but provides…
National Review
The Anniversary of Anglo-American Constitutional Liberty
National Review
Operation Chokepoint: Creeping into Unconstitutionality?
National Review
The Worst Federal Agency
National Review
Administration Still Dragging Feet on Official Time
National Review
Lawmaker Excluded from CFPB Meeting, Unable to Hold Executive to Account
Blog
Bureaucrats Line Up to Regulate Bitcoin
The regulators are tasting blood around bitcoin, and like sharks they are positioning for the kill. The blood that they taste was not actually shed…
National Review
‘Stop Government Abuse’ Week
This week, House majority leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) is promoting a series of ten bills as part of his Stop Government Abuse Week (hashtag:…
National Review
La Reyne Le Veult
Newsmax
Cuomo’s ‘Tax-Free’ Plan for NY Is Not So Tax-Free
National Review
Obamaloans
We know the pattern by now. A crisis arises. As my Competitive Enterprise Institute colleague Chris Horner puts it, this administration says, “There’s no time…
The American Spectator
Santa Capitalism
We should call it the “Great Fact,” argues University of Illinois at Chicago economist Deirdre McCloskey. “It” is the Industrial Revolution that, starting in Great…
The American Spectator
The Legislature’s First Job Is Not to Legislate
Defenders of Sen. Harry Reid’s triggering of the “nuclear option,” ending the filibuster for all Executive Branch nominees save those to the Supreme Court, call…
McClatchy DC
Regulatory bullying? You bet your life
If companies failed in insurance pursuits, many people would suffer, but the financial system would not be affected in a major way. It is additionally…
Blog
Retailers Only Sell Half a Loaf in their Analysis of the Costs of Interchange Fees
In a comment on my American Spectator article on the deleterious effects of debit card interchange fees on American households, Sara Durr, Spokesperson for…
Comment
Balance of Competences Review: Trade and Investment
In December, 2013, Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute submitted evidence to the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in order to argue…
Blog
The Administration’s Regulatory Uncertainty
Groups like the Center for American Progress are claiming that the possibility of another row over the budget and debt ceiling are creating “uncertainty”…
The American Spectator
The Unintended Consequences Of Credit Card Regulation
When you try to regulate things, you’re really regulating people. If there’s one crucial lesson to keep in mind about regulation, this is it. And…
Blog
We Didn’t Regulate Credit Cards, We Regulated People
That was the upshot of a panel I spoke at yesterday in New York at the Atlas Liberty Forum. It looked at the impact of…
Providence Journal
Labyrinthine law threatens our life insurance now
Dodd-Frank, the law more properly known as the 2010 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, was intended to stabilize the financial system and end…
News Release
Exit Plan For UK/EU Earns Finalist Spot in Competition
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 – How might the United Kingdom best extract itself from the European Union? A plan focused on deregulation and put forward by…
Study
Questions for Federal Reserve Nominee Janet Yellen
Full Document Available in PDF Janet Yellen is President Obama’s choice to succeed Ben Bernanke as the Federal Reserve Chair. Yellen is…
Blog
Contradictory Financial Regulations Cause Problems
It’s a case of “When Regulations Collide.” As we’ve seen in the energy field, contradictory regulations cost jobs as employers struggle to comply with…
Blog
Scientific Literacy and a Storm in a Tea Party Cup
The American Spectator
BART’s Bogus Ride
It was the 1970s and Britain was the “sick man of Europe.” Labor unions had toppled one Conservative government and were bullying the existing Labour…
Human Events
How the Shutdown Can Inform the Debt Ceiling Debate
Co-authored by George Landrith. It’s all-shutdown-all-the-time in Washington these days. But all that talk has obscured the far bigger challenge facing the nation next week,…
Human Events
Obama’s Brinkmanship
We all remember the term “brinkmanship” from the Cold War, coined by President Eisenhower’s Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles. In an interview in Life…
Blog
Regulators and Justice
The federal government cajoled JP Morgan into acquiring Bear Stearns. Now they are punishing JP Morgan for crimes allegedly committed by Bear Stearns prior to…
Blog
Environmental Regulations Threaten Refining Sector Jobs
I had the privilege of meeting with Charlie Drevna, President of American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers this week. He had some extremely interesting things to…
National Review
Truly Global Free Trade
Co-written by research associate Alex McHugh As the U.S. and several Asian Pacific nations resume discussion this week over the the Trans-Pacific Partnership…
Fox News
The suspicious science behind ‘happiness’ surveys
Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs, perhaps the world’s leading “sustainability” guru, has a favorite country when talking about progress: the tiny mountain Kingdom of Bhutan. …
Fox News
Happiness is overrated, says Competitive Enterprise Institute
Using happiness surveys for political purposes is flawed, according to a study from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a libertarian thinktank CEI accuses happiness indices…
WorldMag
Signs and Wonders
Are you happy? One problem with surveys such as the one above is that they measure factors irrelevant to the outcome, and ignore factors vital…
Study
What Is the Happiness Lobby?
Huffington Post
Don’t Let Entrepreneurs Become a Casualty of the Immigration Impasse
Eberhard Anheuser came to America as a soap and candle maker in 1842. When he died, his company had pioneered the pasteurization of beer. Marcus…
Huffington Post
Inside the Beltway: Regulating the Gun Relics
We’re touchy-feely on a global level. Several large scale “happiness” indexes have emerged in recent years from the United Nations and other sources, measuring the…
Blog
Historians Should Learn the Economic Way of Thinking
Simon Schama is one of the world’s great historians. Indeed, I am currently having my children watch his magisterial “History of Britain,” and they are…
Blog
Germany Legalizes Bitcoin: Competing Currencies Are Here!
While Thailand may have banned Bitcoin, the electronic currency — although some are not so sure — the economic powerhouse of Germany has…
Conservative Way Forward
The Eurocrisis Started in Basel
The popular wisdom about the Euro crisis is that it was all the greedy bankers' fault. Yet, we live in a political world, not a…
Comment
Balance of Competences Review: Trade and Investment
Full Document Available in PDF Iain Murray is a British citizen who is Vice President at CEI and heads the…
Daily Caller
A culture of freedom: the first casualty of the U.S.-EU trade deal
Co-written by Research Associate Alex McHugh The proposed trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment…
Letters
Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives on HR 2642, The FARRM Act
Dear Representative, The House is slated to vote on H.R. 2642, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM Act). This bloated…
Letters
Open Letter to Speaker Boehner
Full Document Available in PDF On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the undersigned organizations, we write…
National Review
Obama’s Climate Plan: It’s for the Kidz
Yes, the official subtitle of “President Obama’s Plan to Cut Carbon Pollution” is “Taking Action for Our Kids.” That should give you plenty of clues…
Blog
Obama Should Learn from Germany about Cape Wind
I have an op-ed online in USA Today today entitled “America should learn from Europe on wind power.” In it, I outline how Europe…
USA Today
America should learn from Europe on wind power
As the Department of Energy considers a loan guarantee for the Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts, it should learn from Europe's failed wind energy experiments…