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Pre-approved plans can speed up housing without compromising health and safety
Housing affordability has renewed interest in removing unnecessary barriers to homebuilding. While much of the discussion has centered on land use and zoning regulations…
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The never-ending ferry tale: Why Washington shouldn’t subsidize ferries
The Trump administration recently announced $664.8 million in federal grants for ferry infrastructure, including $28.2 million for North Carolina’s Cherry Branch Ferry Terminal.
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Sports dominate prediction markets, but don’t bet on that being the whole story
Less than two years ago, the biggest controversy surrounding prediction markets was their enabling of speculation on elections. Then in early 2025, with…
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HHS cutting Head Start red tape shows the cost of regulatory micromanagement
Individual regulations are often defended as necessary on their own terms. But as CEI Senior Fellow Wayne Crews’ Ten Thousand Commandments documents, the…
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Are Trump’s drone tariffs flying blind?
President Trump’s new Section 232 tariffs on drones and drone components are being justified as responses to national security vulnerabilities. In its…
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Vance wants to break the dollar’s global reserve currency status: Why American consumers would pay
A recently resurfaced video of Vice President J.D. Vance has brought renewed attention to his argument that the US dollar’s status as the…
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Why a supersonic cross-country flight could be closer than you think
What if a cross-country flight took less time than your favorite movie? That future may be closer than it sounds. The Federal Aviation Administration…
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Third-party reviewers expand permitting capacity without expanding government
Housing permitting reform has become one of the few housing policies to attract support across the political spectrum. States as politically diverse as…
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The trucker shortage debate: Government recruiting more truckers won’t solve trucking challenges
When I wrote my recent piece on why Trump’s Freedom Haulers initiative won’t fix the issues facing the trucking industry that Trump exacerbated…
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Forecasts, not puppet strings: The myth that prediction markets rig reality (Part II)
Prediction markets have become an increasingly prominent tool for forecasting elections, economic indicators, geopolitical developments, and other uncertain events. Their growing popularity has also…
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Freedom Haulers won’t fix the truck driver shortage that Trump helped worsen
With more than two million truck driving jobs and a growing demand to replace departing workers, the industry requires a steady supply of…
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Forecasts, not puppet strings: The myth that prediction markets rig reality (Part I)
Prediction markets have become an increasingly prominent tool for forecasting elections, economic indicators, geopolitical events, and other uncertain outcomes. As their popularity has grown,…
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TSA Gold+ is worth its weight as a major step toward airport security privatization
For more than two decades, debate over airport security has largely centered on whether the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should continue conducting passenger screening…
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Section 338: Trump’s latest tariff tool could send trade policy uncertainty soaring
Just when businesses thought they had enough tariff uncertainty to manage, another chapter emerges. By turning a nearly century-old provision of trade law into…
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The exemptions in Trump’s latest Brazil tariffs reveal contradictions at the heart of pro-tariff trade policy
Last week, the Trump administration imposed a new 25 percent Section 301 tariff on many imports from Brazil. The administration argued that the…
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The ROAD to Housing Act’s Moving to Work expansion still misses the bigger housing issue
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is Congress’s most sweeping housing legislation in years. As I previously covered, the legislation deserves…
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Time’s up: Why housing permits need a shot clock
Governments routinely impose deadlines on businesses and individuals. Miss a tax filing deadline or fail to renew a license on time, and you face…
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How permitting is a hidden tax on housing
Imagine being a housing developer so entangled in permits, legal challenges, and environmental reviews that it takes five decades to have a housing project…
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Mamdani’s road to housing hell is paved with rent freezes
As housing affordability becomes increasingly elusive, there are few things more politically alluring than telling voters their rent will not increase. It was a…
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A $25 minimum wage cannot legislate away the high cost of living
Affordability is the political buzzword for 2026. Last week, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) announced plans to introduce the Living Wage for All Act,…
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Before reform comes review: What Warsh’s task forces could mean for the Fed
Major institutional reforms rarely begin with sweeping policy changes. More often, they begin with a willingness to reexamine long-standing assumptions. That is what makes…
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A road to housing: Two green lights and a few wrong turns
Following Senate passage by an overwhelming bipartisan vote and amid efforts to expedite House consideration, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act…
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Three consequences of Illinois’ interchange fee law
In my new CEI paper, I examine the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act and what policymakers can learn from previous efforts to restrict…
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The house doesn’t always win: Why prediction markets aren’t gambling
“If it talks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.” That phrase is not reserved for ducks. It…
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Trump’s Strait of Hormuz insurance plan gambles with taxpayer dollars
As wars and skirmishes escalate, the risks to commerce increase and are reflected in market prices. In past conflicts, shipping firms faced soaring premiums…
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Section 301 and the problem of limitless tariff justifications
Earlier this week, the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced findings from a series of Section 301 tariff investigations concerning imports allegedly made with…
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The Railway Safety Act would shift freight from safer rails to deadlier roads
More than 36,000 Americans died on US roads in 2025. Fewer than 1,000 died on the rail system. Yet while highway fatalities…
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Less discretion, more discipline: Three focus areas for Warsh at the Fed
New Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh should focus on three dimensions of reform: how the Fed makes decisions, the size of its market footprint,…
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How the Bank Holding Company Act helped shape modern banking consolidation
Back in the 1950s, Congress feared a future in which a small number of powerful banking organizations would dominate the financial sector.
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A smoother path through security: Improving the TSA short of privatization
With Congress finally passing a Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill last week, the immediate crisis that left airport security strained is behind us.
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Highway robbery in plain sight and how to fix the Highway Trust Fund
Established to provide a dedicated, user-financed stream for highway investment, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was once a model of fiscal alignment between…
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The limits of balance sheet runoff at the Fed
At his confirmation hearing last week, Kevin Warsh called for a smaller Federal Reserve balance sheet. This statement revives debate over how the…
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A quantitative easing hangover has the Fed in a balance sheet trap
As Kevin Warsh undergoes the Fed Chair confirmation process, debate has returned to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and how it should be managed…
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Quantitative easing and the Fed’s free lunch problem
As Kevin Warsh undergoes his confirmation process for Fed Chair, one of the most consequential yet least straightforward issues in modern monetary policy is…
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Forward guidance is not a crystal ball: A case for rules-based monetary policy
Throughout history, the urge to predict the future has been hard to resist. The Federal Reserve is not immune to such temptation. In recent…
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The quartz tariff case and why tariffs cause net job loss
Last year, domestic quartz surface product manufacturers filed a petition with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking relief from quartz imports. The…
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From lifeline to lifestyle: How quantitative easing became the Fed’s default setting
The nomination of Kevin Warsh has renewed scrutiny of the Federal Reserve’s expanding role in the economy. One of the most consequential shifts in…
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Dual mandate, dual headache: Why the Fed should focus on price stability
With Kevin Warsh set to appear before the Senate for his Fed confirmation hearing, the question of his monetary priorities is taking center stage.
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Questions Kevin Warsh needs to answer if he is to become the next Fed Chair
A new CEI paper out today by John Berlau, Ryan Young, and myself offers some questions that Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh…
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FAR too restrictive: Time to repeal floor area ratio limits
In cities across the world, fights over housing affordability come down to a simple question: how much can be built on a single lot?…
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Privatize a little, fix a little: Why Trump’s TSA contracting plan is not meaningful privatization
If this latest Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown has confirmed anything, it is how deeply structural the drawbacks of the Transportation Security…
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When solar tax incentives overheated, the residential solar market became scorched
Residential solar has long been sold as a win-win for consumers and the environment. It was marketed as an affordable way for homeowners to…
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Quartz tariffs are looming and your kitchen could pay the price
Earlier this week, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that increased quartz imports are injuring the domestic quartz industry. The petitioners, the…
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From airport security lines to the Danger Zone: TSA delays and public safety
The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) staffing shortfall is creating more than long lines. It may already be putting travelers’ lives at risk. Since the…
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License to misfire: The new CDL rule backfires on safety and prices
The American economy runs on trucks. From groceries to medical supplies to construction materials, nearly everything travels by road at some point. In the…
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End minimum parking requirements and let the housing market drive
It may sound counterintuitive, but some significant housing policy is tucked away in the parking sections of local zoning codes. A minimum parking requirement…
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The Jones Act: High seas, higher costs than necessary
As the war with Iran intensifies, the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of global oil flows, has seen dramatic disruptions that…
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Shutdown woes show why it is time to privatize the TSA
Imagine arriving at the airport for a long-anticipated vacation, only to face a line longer than an airport runway. The excitement quickly gives way…
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Mandates before proven safety: How the Railway Safety Act ignores rail safety
The Washington Post’s recent piece on the Railway Safety Act underscores an essential point: safety legislation must be grounded in evidence, not fear…
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No free lunch: Price controls won’t make groceries more affordable
When Americans go to the grocery store, they expect to find food and drinks. Lately, many are encountering something else: sticker shock. According to…
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The Railway Safety Act would derail progress one provision at a time
On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment spilled hazardous chemicals and prompted a massive, controlled burn that sent…
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Minimum lot sizes, maximum costs
When Americans think about the housing affordability debate, they tend to picture cranes, lumber prices, or mortgage interest rates. It is certainly important to…
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Trump’s State of the Union: A closer look at the claims
Last night, President Trump delivered a State of the Union address filled with optimism, applause lines, and bold claims about the country’s direction.
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Red tape, green bribes: Deregulation as an anti-corruption strategy
Corruption in politics is often thought of in narrower terms, such as bribes, kickbacks, or high-profile scandals with millions of dollars of fraud. However,…
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Cut the steel, cut the cost: Why Congress is right to scrap the chassis mandate
If buying a home in the US feels more expensive, that is not merely your imagination. A Harvard University study found that national single-family…
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Congress should short-circuit the nation’s electric vehicle charging program
Congress recently finalized the fiscal year 2026 budget to end the partial government shutdown while spending billions of taxpayer dollars along the way. One…
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Congress keeps propping government-backed deposit insurance up, risk keeps rising
On Sunday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 marked its 20th anniversary. This Act consolidated the Bank Insurance Fund and the…
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Full steam ahead: How 50 years of deregulation revitalized US freight rail
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, better known as the 4R Act. For…
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From heavy hand to light touch: How CFPB rulemaking shifted in 2025
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established in response to the 2008 financial crisis to serve as a watchdog over financial markets and…
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When airline competition gets squeezed, so do airline seats
Aircraft cabins are under more pressure than ever. With every inch of space accounted for, airlines are making increasingly visible choices about who gets…
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Trump’s credit card interest rate cap would kneecap everyday Americans
Credit cards are an indispensable tool in the modern economy. Most adults use them for everyday purchases, emergency spending, and managing cash flow. Yet…
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Burned by the sun: How tax incentives distort the residential solar market
As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, a much-hyped tax credit boosting the installation of solar panels on residential rooftops came to…
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Let’s resolve to repeal Durbin’s debit card interchange price controls in 2026
One safe New Year’s political prediction is that the fight between retailers and financial institutions over so-called swipe fees will continue. The debate has…
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Everyone hates congestion pricing…until it is shown to save time, air, and sanity
New York City is famously referred to as “the city that never sleeps.” The hustle and bustle that makes New York City iconic makes…
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Off the rails and behind the times: How FRA rules hinder automated track inspection
The railway system has long been the backbone of the American economy by connecting communities, supporting supply chains, and carrying passengers safely to their…