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EPA right to propose repeal of 2024 power plant mercury rule
The Obama EPA’s 2012 rule for mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants may have been the agency’s least defensible measure ever under the Clean Air…
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Happy birthday, Smokey Bear! Let’s fight forest fires the right way
Smokey Bear, the famous US Forest Service (USFS) mascot, celebrated his 81st birthday this past Saturday, August 9. Smokey Bear was created in 1944…
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July CPI: Inflation still above target, politicized clouds on the horizon
Today’s CPI report is not apocalyptic, but still concerning. This is in line with expectations. The CPI rose 0.2 percent during July, and 2.7…
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Closing the window on public media funding
A door has closed, but windows remain open. Recently, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced that it would discontinue operations in light of…
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Half of 2025’s public laws are Biden rule killers
In a notable twist, Congress has spent half of 2025’s lawmaking undoing Biden regulations. So far in the 119th Congress, 31 public laws have been…
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The week in regulations: Blue food coloring and pipeline recordkeeping
The Liberation Day tariffs took effect on August 7. The president continues to announce new tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and more. Republicans are proposing gerrymandering…
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Trump’s economy off to a slow start
Last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its estimates of the performance of the US economy in the second quarter. The headline result…
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Trump EO on debanking is a mixed bag for financial freedom
President Trump’s new Executive Order (EO) on debanking correctly decries the weaponization of the financial regulation, and contains many good provisions preventing government regulators…
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Free the Economy podcast: Girlbossing the discourse with Emma Camp
In this week’s episode we cover the controversy at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, myths of the auto industry, and a…
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AI’s real job threat is to Washington, not workers
There’s no denying artificial intelligence (AI) can replace a lot—including, eventually, the very think tankers analyzing its effects as we do occasionally here at CEI.
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The CAT’s nine lives could be up
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated a funding proposal for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) largest regulatory program to date. Known…
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BLS data is faulty, not rigged
The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has struggled in recent years to produce an accurate measure of the national employment situation. President Trump…
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The week in regulations: Nuclear coolant and medical food
President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs are set to take effect on August 7 for countries he did not strike deals with. He is also ending…
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How ‘Unrules’ are powering down the bureaucracy
The year 2025 may be remembered as the year regulation hit pause. As of the end of July, 1,518 finalized federal rules have been published…
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Free the Economy podcast: Crushing capitalism with Norbert Michel
In this week’s episode we cover the Trump administration’s AI action plan, Detroit’s unlikely rebirth, pushing back on EU tech regulation,…
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Congress considers micromanaging PBM finances
With the first reconciliation bill behind it, Congress is now looking to reform other aspects of the health care system. Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM)…
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Rail merger does not create monopoly
Union Pacific has proposed buying Norfolk Southern in what would be the largest railroad merger in history. Regulators have not yet approved the merger. The…
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EU tariff agreement could be worse, still not the final word
In January, Americans paid an average tariff of under 5 percent on European products. Similar to his recent Japan agreement, President Trump’s new agreement…
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The week in regulations: Cable TV and paper straws
Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, and Chuck Mangione passed away. President Trump issued an Executive Order on artificial intelligence and announced a tariff deal with Japan.
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Victory for liberty: 11th Circuit vacates SEC’s unjust CAT funding rule
In a decisive blow to regulatory overreach, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals last week vacated a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule that…
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Favorable selection in Medicare Advantage can’t be managed from the top
A previous post covered how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) attempts to mitigate upcoding have been unsuccessful. Another often-decried activity…
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Free the Economy podcast: Costs and benefits of urban transit with John Charles
In this week’s episode we cover Dodd-Frank’s 15th anniversary, a victory for homeowners in Oregon, and an alternative to socialist grocery…
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Trump’s AI Action Plan: Deregulation on paper, industrial policy in practice?
Donald Trump’s follow-up executive orders to his 2020 artificial intelligence (AI) offerings and the new Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan signal…
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The number of agency-made rules for every bill passed by Congress last year was…
When you think about the production of laws in the United States, you probably picture something like the Schoolhouse Rock video “How a Bill Becomes…
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America’s tariff-induced isolation grows
Few other nations or trading blocs can announce tariffs on the whim of one man, as President Trump claims the power to do (although…
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The PERMIT Act is an important step for permitting reform
Tomorrow, the House is expected to consider the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today Act or PERMIT Act (H.R. 3898). It contains several…
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Dissolve the Sugar Program
Last week, President Trump declared on Truth Social that Coca-Cola had agreed to use cane sugar in its sodas. The announcement…
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Top-down management can’t fix upcoding in Medicare Advantage
Among the most consistent criticisms of the Medicare Advantage program is that private plans game the system. Over the years, policymakers have devised…
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Latest rescissions bill finally kills spending on 1987 Montreal Protocol
The most recent congressional rescissions package will block $9 billion in spending, including funds for United Nations (UN) environmental treaties such as the 1987…
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New bill would repeal the Jones Act
Over at the National Interest, Paige Lambermont and I take a look at the Open America’s Waters Act from Sen. Mike Lee…
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The week in regulations: Subsistence fishing and electric borrowers
Regulators focused on cleaning up mining regulations this week, with more than 20 rules revised or rescinded. Inflation crept upward as tariff-related price increases worked…
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Dodd-Frank 15 years later: How financial regulators leveled up
The leadup to Dodd-Frank This month marks the 15th anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. This law was enacted in the wake…
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Free the Economy podcast: Corporate responsibility and taxpayer protections with John Mozena
In this week’s episode we cover new Trump tariff rates, Obama’s endorsement of housing abundance, and why the green energy industry needs…
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No Escape: SUVs don’t fit Vietnam’s roads or its market
This year marks 30 years of America’s diplomatic relationship with Vietnam. In that time, both nations have worked together on everything from joint economic ventures…
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Predicting a brighter regulatory future for prediction markets
CEI scholars have many skills, but predicting the future is not one of them. However, when it comes to prediction markets, based on recent events,…
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ESG refugees: Ally with taxpayers
Yesterday the Competitive Enterprise Institute published my new study with John Mozena, “Corporate Social Irresponsibility: After ESG, activist investors should side with…
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How to end the ‘free rider’ problem with union representation
Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA) has re-introduced the Employee Rights Act, legislation that would codify several individual workers’…
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America targets Korea with illegal tariffs, strengthens China
President Donald Trump is in the process of imposing a 25 percent tariff rate on South Korean and Japanese imports to the United States. This…
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The Dreck Equation: Charting the regulatory cosmos
Most people think of federal regulation as the 3,000 or so rules published each year in the Federal Register and archived in the Code of…
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Congress should support the Grizzly Bear State Management Act
Tomorrow, the House Natural Resources Committee will meet to consider 12 pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the 119th Congress. One of…
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The unfinished state AI regulation debate
Following internal party negotiations, the Senate declined to include a multiyear moratorium on state artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”…
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California’s fast-food minimum wage is super-sizing job losses
Minimum wage increases would be a fine idea if they worked the way that their fans assumed that they did: increasing the take-home pay of…
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The week in regulations: Deep seabed mining and recreational gulf gag
A massive flood in Texas killed at least 120 people. President Trump announced new 50 percent copper tariffs which will take effect on August 1.
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Tariff letters go out, with little rhyme or reason
The table below lists all the countries to which President Donald Trump has so far sent letters informing them of new universal tariff rates. The…
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Congress should recognize the importance of prescribed burns
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major air pollutants:…
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Free the Economy podcast: AI frontiers with Corbin Barthold
This week’s episode features Corbin Barthold, Internet Policy Counsel at TechFreedom and host of the Tech Policy Podcast. This is a…
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The logbook of federal red tape last year came to…
The Federal Register for 2024 closed out Joe Biden’s final year in office with a record 106,109 pages. This count swamps the previous record of…
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Lawmakers continue to embrace incoherent tech policy
As Congress continues its march to “rein in Big Tech,” some lawmakers seem unaware of how their stated goals conflict with each other. Members want…
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Big business is a myth
Many policy discussions, from antitrust to telecom policy, focus on how large businesses should be. Almost no one asks the big questions. Why are businesses…
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The week in regulations: Farmer training and approving fireworks
Tuesday’s Federal Register contained 105 proposed regulations and 86 final regulations. Much of it was regulatory cleanup for railroads, pipelines, and mining. The reconciliation bill…