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Free the Economy podcast: Permitting for speed with Grant Dever
In this week’s episode we talk about making a living in podcasting, confronting our mounting national debt, and assessing President Trump’s new…
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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 how…
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FTC appeals Meta antitrust ruling with a wooden racket
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could take a lesson in humility from Björn Borg, one of the true greats of tennis’s Open Era. By…
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Trump withdraws from UN Framework Convention; ends illusion we’ll always have Paris
President Trump is withdrawing the United States from 66 intergovernmental organizations he has determined are “contrary to the interests of the United States.” This is…
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The executive order explosion: When counting counts
What stands out in the Trump administration is the unnerving tension between executive orders (EOs) that shrink government and those that expand it. EOs date…
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The week in regulations: Neck floats and glazed bus portals
President Trump opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He also proposed capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent, effective January…
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Free the Economy podcast: Total boomer luxury communism with Russ Greene
In this week’s episode we talk about Trump’s 10 percent credit card interest proposal (and the dangers of populist economics in general),…
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Lots of good in the RSC’s “Restoring America’s Golden Age” Budget Blueprint
The Republican Study Committee’s new 119-page Budget for the 119th Congress, Restoring America’s Golden Age, covers a wide range of policy priorities—notably a 10-year balanced…
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The attention wars: Why Netflix is buying the past to own the future
The old “streaming wars” are over; the “attention wars” have begun. In the new battle, Netflix’s strategic acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery makes perfect sense.
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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 more…
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Streaming and Wi-Fi: A perfect storm of permissionless innovation
The most transformative technologies don’t arrive with a government blueprint. They emerge when entrepreneurs and technologists are free to experiment and innovate. Today’s transformation of…
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CEI’s The Surge: US withdraws from climate change convention, proposed Endangered Species Act reform, and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication and…
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The 2026 Unconstitutionality Index: 18 rules for every law
Article I of the Constitution vests enumerated legislative powers solely with Congress. In practice, however, administrative agencies do most of the lawmaking. Congress enacts weighty…
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The week in regulations: Taconite and label shapes
President Trump deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and embarked on a nation-building project. ICE agents killed an American citizen in Minnesota. Agencies issued new regulations…
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Politicians need to think beyond stage one on credit card price controls
President Trump, in a Friday news dump on social media, proposed price controls on credit card interest rates. He wants to cap annual rates…
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Free the Economy podcast: FDR’s political legacy with David Beito
In this week’s episode we talk about communist housing policy in New York City, the best economics and history books to read…
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Rescinding the blanket 4(d) rule is good for species and people
At the close of 2025, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed to rescind the blanket 4(d) rule in part due to a…
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AI and the electricity blackout America needs
The Washington Post’s latest coverage of the so-called “data center rebellion” highlights a trend building across America: communities rising up against server farms powering…
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HSAs: A silver bullet for the silver loading conundrum
After the longest government shutdown in American history — ostensibly caused by the expiration of the expanded Obamacare subsidies — Republicans have debated health care…
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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 a…
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New CEI study: Zero-based regulations
A new CEI study by Alex Adams looks at a regulatory reform approach that succeeded in Idaho: zero-based regulation. The idea is similar to…
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Courts reject states’ efforts to take over union law enforcement
A California court late last month struck down a law that would have allowed the Golden State to usurp the role of the National Labor…
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Free the Economy podcast: China’s economy and the US with Derek Scissors
In this week’s episode we talk about corporate real estate investing, woke pension funds, changing fuel economy rules, and questions about…
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The week in regulations: 2025 year-end special
Happy New Year, everyone. The final numbers for 2025’s regulations are in. The first half of this post summarizes those numbers and compares them with…
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Trump slashed rulemaking in 2025. The hard part starts in 2026
The new year, 2026, marks nearly the first full year of Donald Trump’s second administration. It’s a moment to assess whether regulatory liberalization has genuinely…
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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 raged…
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Free the Economy podcast: Climate policy endangerment with Marlo Lewis
In this week’s episode we talk about tariff refunds, Affordable Care Act subsidies, Ryan Young’s Books of the Year for 2025,…
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Possible Fed pick Warsh has government-backed crypto problem
Kevin Warsh, financial executive and former Federal Reserve governor, is now reportedly among the top contenders being considered to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chairman.
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CEI’s The Surge: Clean Water Act reform, new CAFE standards, and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication and…
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Best books of 2025: Johan Norberg’s Peak Human
Johan Norberg’s latest book, Peak Human, is a history of golden ages. After starting in Ancient Greece and then Rome, Norberg tours the Abbasid…