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This week in ridiculous regulations: Cable pricing and outer space arms trafficking
Donald Trump won a second term. The change in power might mean a second regulatory midnight rush between now and the inauguration. An initial rush…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Human subjects and food paper
Republicans called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” as a voter outreach tactic. Democrats got upset that a newspaper that generally supports Democrats didn’t endorse…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Nursing pillows and mobile driver’s licenses
One more week until election season is finally, mercifully, over. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from space exports to recreational fires. On to the data:…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Nuclear fuel and eagles’ nests
It was a four-day week due to Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The terrorist group Hamas’s leader was killed by the Israeli military. The economics…
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AJR’s economics Nobel is a partial victory for institutions
This year’s economics Nobel Prize winners are Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. They are frequent collaborators, often collectively called AJR. Much of their…
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#NeverNeeded regulations hindering hurricane recovery
It may be time to revive the #NeverNeeded campaign to assist the Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton recovery efforts. The idea behind #NeverNeeded…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Refrigeration products and off-road vehicle debris
Iran fired 180 missiles at Israel. Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina. Longshoremen went on strike. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent. The…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Bent coins and Irish potato taxes
The leader of the Hezbollah terrorist group died in an Israeli military strike. The 2024 Federal Register is poised to reach 80,000 pages this week.
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Pedestrians’ heads and avocado maturity
CEI celebrated its 40th anniversary at its annual Julian Simon Memorial Award Dinner. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Agencies issued new regulations…
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Turning point on interest rates
The Federal Reserve went for the big cut at its interest rate meeting this week. There was uncertainty on whether the federal funds rate…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Robocalls and toddler carriers
Culture warriors falsely accused immigrants of eating people’s pets. Donald Trump discussed the issue in his presidential debate with Kamala Harris. The final…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Nuclear casks and radiofrequency toothbrushes
It was a four-day week due to Labor Day. The unemployment rate declined from 4.3 percent to 4.2 percent. The Biden administration signaled it…
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Government efficiency commission: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Donald Trump is proposing a new government efficiency commission and he wants Elon Musk to lead it. Like most campaign proposals, it does not…
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Steeling politics
Politics ruins everything. Right now, it is ruining America’s steel industry. The Biden administration, with plenty of bipartisan support, has announced it will block…
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Price controls: right problem, wrong solution
In an op-ed being syndicated by Inside Sources, I take a look at Kamala Harris’s price control proposals for groceries and housing:…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: marijuana scheduling and do-not-call fees
Rather than allow more housing to be built to combat rising rents, the Justice Department sued RealPage, a rent-listing service. CEI’s James Broughel released…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: energy labeling and FCC rules for homework
There are now more than 2,000 new final regulations on the year. The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago. A labor market statistic caused…
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Price signals and virtue signals
It’s a divisive election year, but all of us still have some things in common. Since the pandemic began, inflation has devalued the dollar by…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Horse race integrity and threatening air cargo
Now that it’s August, agencies began publishing their Spring 2024 Unified Agenda entries for their planned regulations. Economists had a frustrating week, with Kamala…
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Ten Thousand Commandments in the news
The 2024 edition of Wayne Crews’s Ten Thousand Commandments is out now. For those not familiar, the report puts together a big-picture view of…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Bank hiring and salmonella frameworks
Baseless recession freakouts dominated the news cycle. The just-released 2024 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments got its share of attention as well. Kamala…
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Americans are open to trade
Politicians win elections by telling voters what they want to hear. Right now, both parties think voters are angry about foreign trade. But when you…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Closed captioning and toothless blindcats
The new 2024 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments is out now. The Paris Olympics began. Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro stole another election. Agencies issued…
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Jerome Powell risks the Fed’s gains against inflation
The big story from today’s Federal Reserve decision isn’t that interest rates are staying the same. It’s that the dual mandate is back. This…
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2024 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments is out now
The federal government has a spending budget that the public can see. Every year Congress allocates a certain amount of money to each agency, and…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Water heaters and children’s passports
President Biden dropped out of the race, leaving Vice President Kamala Harris as the likely Democratic nominee. The Federal Register topped 60,000 pages and remains…
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Book review: The War on Prices by Ryan Bourne
I have reached a stage in my career where younger colleagues sometimes ask me for advice. There are a few evergreen pieces of advice I…
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Rent control doesn’t work. Increase housing supply instead.
President Biden will soon announce a proposed 5 percent cap on rent increases. Rent control is one of the most ridiculed economic policies there…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Watermelon taxes and crash test dummies
CEI’s home distillery court case had a good week. President Biden had a bad week. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from rotorcraft to desert…
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You have the right to a jury trial
The Supreme Court’s recent Jarkesy decision affirms that people have the right to a jury trial, even in regulatory agencies’ special in-house courts. My colleague…
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A rule for the Fed
The Washington Examiner is running a series of pieces on policies the next administration should pursue. My contribution details a way to contain inflation…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Coke ovens and stolen firearms
It was a short week in honor of Independence Day. Speculation swirled about President Biden’s political future. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from brominate vegetable…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Rear impacts and hot air balloons
The Supreme Court issued its Jarkesy decision and restored the right to a jury trial in regulatory agencies’ in-house courts. President Biden and former…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: known mailers and medical gases
The Supreme Court issued an unfavorable but narrow decision in the Moore v. United States case about taxing income that was never received. CEI’s…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: amplifiers and subsidized chickens
CEI’s Joel Zinberg released a new study on guidance document reform. The unemployment rate extended to 30 months its streak of being 4…
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Fed hold interest rates steady, balance sheet concerns remain
The Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady at its June 11-12 meeting. This is good news, but the bigger story isn’t about…
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David Boaz, 1953-2024
It usually begins with Ayn Rand. In my case, it began with David Boaz. David, the Cato Institute’s longtime executive vice president, passed away…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Texas pimplebacks and pension funds
The 60-legislative-day Congressional Review Act deadline has likely passed, unless Congress keeps an unusually busy election year schedule. As a result, rulemaking has slowed to…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: food hazards and powerline permits
Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in his hush money case. Apparently nothing else of note happened all week, since that was the only…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: electric programs and EV powertrains
The midnight rush to beat the 60-legislative-day deadline for possible Congressional Review Act repeals appears to be slowing down, but Federal Register activity is still…
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New CEI book: Adam Smith’s guide to life, loveliness, and the modern economy
Adam Smith is 300 years old, and CEI is 40 years old. To celebrate this dual milestone, I edited an essay collection about Adam…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Drain tiles and garbage fires
Inflation remains stubbornly high. President Biden announced a round of tariffs on EVs, solar panels, and medical supplies from China. The Biden administration also…
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Three strikes against Biden EV tariffs
Over at the syndicate InsideSources, I have an op-ed explaining three problems with President Biden’s new tariffs on $18 billion worth of EVs, solar…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Housing subsidies and non-compete clauses
The Federal Register had what may have been its first 4,000-page week. It is on pace to exceed 112,000 pages for the year, or more…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: government space innovation and pear marketing
Regulators had another busy week leading up to the likely Congressional Review Act deadline. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from bird harvests to partially hydrogenated…
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Fed flirts with stimulus
As expected, the Federal Reserve signaled its commitment to fighting inflation by holding interest rates steady at this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. It…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: airline fees and greenhouse gas reporting
The Federal Register grew at nearly triple its usual pace last week. It is on pace for its first-ever 100,000-page year. GDP growth slowed to…
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Weak GDP is first stress test for inflation fighters
I have been saying for a while that inflation expectations will remain high until policymakers prove they can restrain their stimulus spending during an economic…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: service lamps and summer meals
Congress debated aid bills to Ukraine and Israel. Donald Trump’s hush money trial began. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from incinerator permits to effluent analysis.
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This week in ridiculous regulations: train crews and airport concessions
Our colleague R.J. Smith passed away. R.J. coined the term “free-market environmentalism,” ran CEI’s private conservation efforts for many years, and was a valued…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: energy labeling and wheel weights
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to visit President Biden this week. The moon may get assigned a time zone. Agencies issued new regulations…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Trademark fees and threatened sloths
A cargo ship struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman died at age 90.
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Climate change doesn’t cause inflation.
A new study in Nature from two scientists and two European Central Bank officials argues that climate change could cause inflation. A Daily Caller…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: NASA penalties and emergency alerts
The 2024 Federal Register topped 20,000 pages. The Justice Department sued Apple for having an iPhone monopoly. Russia held an election-themed event where Vladimir Putin…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Space innovation and mariner credentials
The House passed a bill to ban TikTok that could easily be repurposed for other companies. It now moves to the Senate. Agencies issued new…
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The FTC, the Kroger-Albertsons merger, and the relevant market fallacy
Over at National Review’s Capital Matters site, Alex Reinauer and I look at the FTC’s word games in its case against the proposed Kroger-Albertsons…
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February inflation stays high, fiscal credibility remains a problem
Headline CPI inflation numbers sped up in February. Monthly inflation increased 0.3 percent in January, and 0.4 percent in February. Year-to-year inflation is 3.2…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Taconite and lab fees
President Biden delivered his State of the Union address. Super Tuesday primaries all but settled this year’s presidential combatants. The FTC has a full slate…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Seabird mitigation and nuclear locations
CEI is hosting a hill event on March 5 about reforming administrative law courts. Politicians got upset about Wendy’s menus. GDP growth was…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Space debris and dried prunes
The privately-built Odysseus spacecraft became the first American moon lander since 1972. President Biden announced new Russian sanctions in response to opposition leader Aleksey Navalny’s…
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New student loan proposal is regressive, politicized, and won’t stop rising prices
President Biden this week unveiled a new student debt relief proposal. It would cancel student debt for up to 153,000 people who incurred $12,000…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Cooking energy and steel plants
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Time to simplify trade agreements
Over at National Review’s Capital Matters site, Kent Lassman and I make the case that trade agreements should stick to trade. We also argue…
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Adam Smith, national ruin, and human progress
During the American Revolution, British Member of Parliament John Sinclair wrote a letter to Adam Smith. He was worried about how badly the war was…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Horseracing and postal products
The Supreme Court heard a case about whether Donald Trump should be disqualified from holding public office under the Fourteenth Amendment. A lawyer’s memo called…
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New CEI paper: Toward a US-Swiss Free Trade Agreement
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have gotten so large and unwieldy that they are almost impossible to pass. The result is lost economic opportunities for America…
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Trump proposes 60 percent China tariff
Donald Trump recently pledged to enact a 60 percent tariff against China if he becomes president again. His latest comments indicate, “Maybe it’s going…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Energy labels and human food guidance
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady. Employment grew by 353,000 workers in January. The Energy Department partially backed off its proposed…
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The good and bad of Nippon Steel deal
There is good and bad in everything. This includes Nippon Steel’s planned buyup of US Steel, which politicians from both parties are criticizing. The good…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Burning trash and methane emissions
GDP grew at a healthy 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023. Regulators blocked an airline merger, and a carbon tariff moved…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: address labels and consumer reviews
Yet another federal shutdown crisis was averted, this time until March. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee marked up the PROVE It Act,…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Independent contractors and emergency haddock action
Happy MLK-government snow shutdown days, everyone. There was more shutdown drama last week. The US launched strikes against the Houthis, one of three factions trying…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Baby formula waivers and phonorecords
The 2023 Federal Register became the second-largest ever, dating back to 1936. A new CEI study makes the case for reforming administrative law…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Junk fees and dehumidifiers
It was a four-day week due to Veterans Day. Another government shutdown deadline is less than a week away. The FTC issued a proposed rule…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Gas cans and shorts reporting
President Biden issued an Executive Order on AI regulation. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. Jobs growth slowed, but still grew.
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Is the Fed done with interest rate hikes?
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee held the federal funds rate steady this week at its most recent meeting, as expected. It will range…
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H.L. Mencken channels Adam Smith
Over at Liberty Fund’s AdamSmithWorks website, I have an article drawing a parallel between Adam Smith’s moral philosophy and H.L. Mencken’s satire:…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Joint employers and almond taxes
GDP grew 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023. Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from Kraft…
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Stopping mergers before they start
If two companies above a certain size want to merge, antitrust regulators have to approve the deal first. The FTC recently published draft guidelines for…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Blood donations to mortality tables
Poland voted its nationalist-populist government out of power. The US House of Representatives remained without a speaker, but with a lot of drama. Agencies issued…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Junk fees and pool pumps
Hamas attacked Israel, and another tragedy is unfolding in the Middle East. Claudia Goldin won the economics Nobel for her work on women in…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Improper CHIPS funding to pool motors
The FTC filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. Sen. Dianne Feinstein passed away. The federal government almost partially shut down. Agencies issued new regulations…
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Barbie, lemons, and economics
Wayne Crews and I have a fun piece up at RealClearMarkets that ties together the Barbie movie, the vintage toy market, and Nobel economist…
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Federal agency closes! British embassy celebrates!
Nobody knows how many federal agencies there are, but the number just went down by one. The Board of Tea Experts is shutting down…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations: Tea Experts and Coin Batteries
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited America. The federal government is a week away from a potential partial shutdown. Sen. Bob Menendez was…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: milk losses and duck vehicles
Google’s antitrust trial started, and the Justice Department cited Russian antitrust actions to back up its case. The latest inflation numbers were a…
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August CPI: Rising energy prices hide underlying inflation progress
This month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a jumble of numbers that look like they contradict each other. But they make sense on closer…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: crash test dummies and potato promotion
Congress returned from its August recess. It was a four-day week for the Federal Register due to Labor Day, but the Federal Register still grew…
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Politicians take too much credit for good news
Over Labor Day weekend, Inside Sources syndicated an op-ed of mine arguing that politicians do not deserve credit for the economy’s post-COVID recovery. They…