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Buy Now, Pay Later doesn’t mean pay more, owe more, and panic more
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) has become a familiar way to pay for everything from discretionary purchases to everyday expenses. BNPL lets consumers divide…
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What Mexico City can teach America about the cost of public transit
I recently vacationed in Mexico. While in Mexico City, I tried to take the metro to attend a concert. At five pesos, or…
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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,…