Blog
Don’t make crypto the electricity scapegoat
A radical new tax proposed by the Biden administration would make cryptocurrency mining the scapegoat for electricity usage. The so-called Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME)…
Study
Don’t Depower Crypto
Introduction In President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget blueprint,1 the president proposed a new tax aimed at the electricity use caused by cryptocurrency mining. Known…
News Release
Report: Energy Tax Targeting Crypto Industry – Bad Idea for a New Year
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report investigates whether the energy usage of certain cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin merits a targeted electricity tax on the industry…
News Release
Fifth Circuit rules for consumers on dishwasher regulation: CEI statement
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion that creates new possibilities for consumer choice and manufacturer innovation in the…
Letters
NTU Coalition Letter on Important Needed Tax Reforms
Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, Minority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Jeffries, On behalf of the undersigned organizations who represent the interests of taxpayers,…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Auto dealers and automated tariffs
The first week of the new year’s regulations is in the books. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from junk fees to cable tv competition. On…
News Release
216,000 jobs added in December, employers looking ahead to 2024: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December, slightly less than the year’s average gains. CEI experts explain why the labor market is in…
City Journal
A “Coordinated Campaign”
The Covid-19 pandemic revealed a split between those who believe that the government has broad authority to control every aspect of the economy and society…
E&E News
DOE in 2024: Hydrogen, LNG and climate
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited in E&E News on the appliance standards process: “[The gas industry’s] concern broadly — and it’s my concern too —…
Daily Caller
Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation Dreams Are A Nightmare For Average Americans, Experts Say
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited in the Daily Caller on student loan cancellation: “Parents are already willing to save and sacrifice in order to afford…
Fox News
DC greenlights aggressive electric vehicle mandate despite critics sounding alarm on high consumer costs
CEI’s Myron Ebell is cited on Fox News about aggressive EV vehicle mandates: “The only way the electrification of the transportation sector and of home…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Protecting your property rights with Betsy Sanz
In this week’s episode we cover slow-moving infrastructure projects, the impact of the conservative boycott of Bud Light, good and…
Blog
Unconstitutionality Index going into 2024: 46 rules for every law
The Biden’s administration’s 3,018 rules and regulations of 2023 is fairly typical of agency output these days. But while rule counts remain relatively stable,…
Washington Examiner
Swamp dishes most regulations in nearly three decades
CEI’s Wayne Crews is cited in the Washington Examiner about an uptick in regulations out of Washington D.C.: “The upshot here is that 46…
Town Hall
Biden Admin Targets Fridges, Freezers In Latest Slew of Appliance Crackdown
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on Townhall about the latest appliance crackdown: Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: 2023 year-end special
The tentative final numbers for new regulations for 2023 are in: The final four-day week of 2023 was relatively slow: 60 final regulations, 34 proposed…
Citation
Big Business Took A Beating From Conservatives Over Woke Marketing In 2023, But Did It Change Anything?
CEI’s Richard Morrison is cited in Daily Caller on ‘woke marketing:’ “Regardless of what InBev’s senior management or board members believe in their hearts about…
Blog
Federal Register 2023 gives Congress 90,402 reasons to restrain the regulators
As we bid farewell to 2023 and ring in 2024, the Federal Register reveals a noteworthy chapter in regulatory history under the Joe Biden administration.
Blog
Transparent New Year: SEC shows its work after CEI prodding
As we enter the New Year, it is important to reflect on what went well and not so well in 2023. We should do our…
Washington Times
Cutting-edge drugs could vanish under Biden’s unprecedented move to seize patents
CEI’s Dr. Joel Zinberg is cited in the Washington Times on the Biden Administration’s move to seize patents: Dr. Joel Zinberg, a senior fellow…
Daily Caller
‘Tremendously Damaging’: Here’s The Most Aggressive Restrictions Biden’s EPA Pushed On Americans In 2023
CEI’s Daren Bakst is cited in Daily Caller article addressing in on aggressive EPA restrictions: “The EPA took a disturbing trend to a new level…
Forbes
Artificial Intelligence Trends To Watch In 2024
Making predictions is always hard, especially in an industry moving as quickly as artificial intelligence. But as we stand on the cusp of a new…
National Review
How Does One-Third the CO2 Emissions Cause Three Times the Climate Damage?
This month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published revised estimates of the social cost of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — the three…
Blog
Liz Warren’s revolving door with Wall Street
There was an interesting development in the world of big government and big business recently. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) declared that “The abuse of…
Blog
American small businesses are paying through the roof for regulations
In a new column at Forbes, I take look at the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) update of its …
Washington Examiner
Swamp’s hidden regulations cost $50,000 per employee, lost investment
CEI’s Clyde Wayne Crews is cited on Washington Examiner about hidden regulation cost: “The choices made 100 years ago in creating and erecting the administrative…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Avoiding a Central Bank Digital Currency with Nicholas Anthony
In this week’s episode we cover the legislative record of House of Representatives in 2023, the proliferation of conferences about ESG investing,…
Real Clear Markets
“FTC Chair Lina Khan Must Either Pivot, or Face Irrelevance”
Paul Steidler with the Lexington Institute details how 2023 was one of the worst years in the FTC’s 109-year history.
DC Journal
“Lina Khan and Xi Jinping – Antitrust Allies”
Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, draws parallels between Lina Khan’s approach to antitrust and the Chinese Communist Party.
Washington Examiner
“The Key Feature of Bidenomics: Regulatory Overreach”
Scott Brown, former US Senator and ambassador, explains how Lina Khan’s approach at the FTC is a key feature of Bidenomics.
CNBC
“Jim Cramer Sees FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Policies Hurting Investor Portfolios”
Host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” Jim Cramer recently commented on FTC Chair Lina Khan’s hostile stance towards mergers.
Fox News
Biden admin launched an aggressive campaign targeting home appliances with eco regulations in 2023
CEI’s Ben Lieberman was cited in Fox News on the targeting of home appliances: “Ostensibly, these DOE efficiency standards are supposed to benefit consumers. That’s…
Blog
No, we don’t want as many new laws as possible
The New York Times recently published an article reviewing what happened in the House of Representatives over the past 12 months, and it gives…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Oxides of nitrogen and approaching of whales
Congress has adjourned until January, so the Republic is safe until then. The Fourteenth Amendment suddenly became a factor in the presidential race. Meanwhile,…
Fox News
Biden anti-consumer crusade targets 4 more types of appliances
2023 was an unusually bad year for appliance regulations, and future years won’t be much better unless Congress finds a way to stop…
The Hill
Don’t hand a blank check to a troubled FDIC
When shocking reports surfaced recently of discrimination, harassment and a toxic workplace culture at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, members of both parties…
New York Post
Eco-Warriors are now battling Christmas
In one of the season’s most predictable developments, climate activists have declared war on Christmas trees, vandalizing holiday displays in cities across Germany. Like any…
Blog
The existential threat AI poses to the Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild recently concluded a lengthy strike against Hollywood studios with a contract that included new protections for its members from artificial…
Blog
Even the University of California system has dropped carbon offsets
MIT Technology Review just published an article on one of my perennial favorite topics, carbon offsets. According to senior editor James Temple, the University…
Blog
Dear California, just let the trains run
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) in April approved regulations to ban the operation of diesel locomotives in California and the rule goes…
E&E
Want to talk rules? The White House just made it easier.
Wayne Crews is cited on E&E about government rule making: Wayne Crews, a fellow in regulatory studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market think…
Forbes
Biden’s Counterproductive Crusade Against Junk Fees
In his latest effort to protect consumers, President Biden is promising to save Americans billions each year by eliminating so-called “junk fees.” Biden’s…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: (De-)regulating tech and AI with Adam Thierer
In this week’s episode we cover social mobility in the 50 states, Elizabeth Warren’s revolving door with Wall Street, the latest…
Mercatus Center
“Reforming the Federal Trade Commission”
Alden Abbott from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University proposes 12 areas of reform at the FTC for the next administration.
Comment
FCC: Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 88 Fed. Reg. 76048
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) adopted on October 19, 2023, in the…
Blog
A steel sumo that might wrestle China to the mat
There are ironies a-plenty in the news that Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. plans to buy U.S. Steel. The fact that a foreign company would own…
Comment
Comments to EPA SNPR for Power Plant Rule
Dear Mr. Fellner: I appreciate this opportunity to provide comments on the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking for the proposed rule “New Source Performance Standards…
Fox News
Biden admin aims to push towns, cities to adopt green energy building codes: ‘Very suspicious’
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited on Fox News regarding green energy building codes: “It’s a lot of money, and it’s clearly designed to push the…
IREF Europe
“THE TEN THOUSAND COMMANDMENTS” AND THE COST OF NORMATIVE INFLATION
Blog
New Liquefied Natural Gas ruling makes Jones Act even more unreasonable
A new Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) decision will make compliance with the Jones Act even more onerous for natural gas producers. The…