Blog
Utah’s Contact Lens Law Flouts Constitution’s Commerce Clause
Blog
Dodd-Frank Is Five Years Old
Blog
Dodd-Frank’s Dire Legacy: The Durbin Amendment
Blog
Happy “No Food is Junk Food” Day!
Blog
Reports of Capitalism’s Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
British journalist Paul Mason has famously declared that capitalism is dying, and he is in no sniffling state of mourning about it. In advance…
Blog
Not Dodd-Frank, Not Glass-Steagall, But Real Competition to End TBTF
Progressives cheered Hillary Clinton last week when she said policy makers need to “go beyond Dodd-Frank.” She didn’t rule out repeal of some sections, but most…
Blog
HUD’s “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” Rule Is about Social Engineering, Not Desegregation
Failure to meet a racial quota is not the same thing as segregation. That basic fact has eluded the federal Department of Housing and Urban…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a busy week for the Federal Register, which included a 629-page proposed regulation from the EPA for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy for…
Blog
EEOC Legislates New Federal Ban on Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
When Congress declines to pass a law that would expand an agency’s powers, the agency will sometimes respond by making up the law on its own.
Blog
The Persistent Truth of Income Mobility
There’s a lot being written these days about income (and wealth) inequality, and how a free market economy allegedly exacerbates the divide between the rich and…
Blog
After 80 Years, Labor Law Needs Reform
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) recently penned an op-ed that celebrates the 80th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act and praises the work of the…
Blog
Slate Exposes Deceitful Heart of the Anti-GMO Movement
Will Saletan has an exhaustively researched and cogently argued piece at Slate on the dishonesty of the anti-biotechnology activists and the harm they have caused.
Blog
What Cartoons Can Teach Us about Capitalism
The Freeman has an excellent article by FEE advisory board member Robert Anthony Peters on economic lessons in popular culture—in this case focusing on the wealthiest…
Blog
CEI Sues TSA for Violating Federal Law and Court Order on Body Scanners
Yesterday, July 15, 2015, CEI filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Our suit requests the court enforce its…
Blog
More Unintelligible Gibberish on GMO Risks from Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A few months ago, statistician and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb, known mostly for his intriguing 2007 book The Black Swan, teamed up with a handful…
Blog
Sunsetting Federal Regulations
An average of around 70 rules and regulations are issued every week. There were 3,554 in 2015, and have been 1,693 in 2015 as of…
Blog
Do Conservatives Really Care about the Poor?
American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks has a new book out this week, The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous…
Blog
Ex-Im Expired: Now What?
Two weeks ago, the Export-Import Bank’s authorization lapsed. The agency remains open, but is not allowed to consider new loans or other projects. It may…
Blog
The SEC Sinks Its Claws Deeper into Executive Pay Packages
Once upon a time critics of corporate America complained that executive salaries were too high, and too often disconnected from the performance of the firm.
Blog
Join the “I, Whiskey” Team
The Competitive Enterprise Institute's newest film project, I, Whiskey: The Spirit of the Market, is currently in production, and you can help make it…
Blog
Highlights of FreedomFest 2015
The happy warriors of CEI have returned from our sojourn to Las Vegas and the excitement of FreedomFest 2015: Discover the New American Dream. The…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The newest batch of federal regulations cover everything from municipal fireworks shows to Venezuelan sanctions. On Monday, the Federal Register will likely pass the 40,000-page mark. On…
Blog
Federal Financial Aid Drives Up Tuition and College Costs, Study Finds
The federal government is now admitting that its own financial aid is partly to blame for rising tuition, reports Blake Neff in The Daily Caller:…
Blog
Supreme Court Expands Power of Trial Lawyers Over Elections in Arizona Ruling
The Supreme Court’s recent healthcare decision in King v. Burwell wasn’t the only case in which it twisted clear statutory or constitutional language in order to protect…
Blog
Largest Union Decertification Effort in Railway Labor Act History Underway at Allegiant Air
Last week, Allegiant Air flight attendants have filed with the National Mediation Board to decertify the Transport Workers Union. If successful, it would be largest…
Blog
Joel Kotkin’s Analysis of Pope Francis’s Encyclical
Joel Kotkin has written an outstanding analysis posted on the Daily Beast of Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’. I would quibble with certain details. For example, I think Francis…
Blog
Texas: Austin and San Antonio Release Time Records
The San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) granted 4,238 release time hours in fiscal year 2012, at a cost to taxpayers $135,786. In FY 2013, release…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week due to the July 4 holiday, but regulators still managed to publish 34 proposed regulations and more than 90…
Blog
The Other “Fourth” Worth Celebrating
Blog
Vatican Downplays Political Involvement in Climate Debate While Joining Forces with Radical Leftist Naomi Klein
Kathryn Jean Lopez reports on NRO’s The Corner that Cardinal Peter Turkson downplayed the political intentions of Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, when he spoke to…
Blog
Clarification Regarding the Oregon Governor’s Scandal
Blog
Supreme Court Ruling that Fair Housing Act Bans Disparate Impact Creates Confusion and Uncertainty
The Supreme Court’s June 25 decision in Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. creates confusion and uncertainty in multiple respects. In…
Blog
Advocating Free Trade, Not Foreign Aid for the World’s Poverty
A Review of the Poverty Cure Documentary Series Poverty Cure is a six part documentary series directed and hosted by Michael Matheson Miller, produced by…
Blog
Government Union Privilege Highlights Necessity to End Forced Union Dues in Public Sector
Every worker should be able to get and keep a job without being forced to pay union dues. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it…
Blog
Independence Day? Yeah, Right: A Fourth of July Roundup of Federal Regulation
Congress is in recess and can’t do any more damage as the Fourth of July approaches, but federal agencies remain in business until they enjoy…
Blog
Are There Broader Implications of the Supreme Court’s EPA Ruling?
“In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court blocked the Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury and air toxics standards, charging that the administration failed to adequately consider…
Blog
U.S. Supreme Court to Take on Government Union Power
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert to a case that could give all public employees right-to-work protections. If SCOTUS rules in favor of the…
Blog
Reimagining Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Pro-Market Recommendations for Policy Makers
Today, CEI published my white paper, “Reimagining Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Pro-Market Recommendations for Policy Makers.” In it, I lay out the case for making…
Blog
5 Reasons Why It’s Time to Close the Ex-Im Bank
The clock is ticking on the Export-Import Bank’s upcoming reauthorization. Here are the top 5 reasons why it’s time to finally close the Ex-Im for…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big news from last week was the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision, which upheld the IRS’ right to issue regulations directly contradicting legislation passed by…
Blog
Supreme Court Rewrites Obamacare, Again
This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the Obama administration in King v. Burwell, upholding the legality of health insurance tax credits for people…
Blog
Kudos to Rep. Tom McClintock for His Principled Stand
Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of TSCA reform (H.R. 2576) by a roll call vote of 398 in favor, one opposed,…
Blog
California Department of Water and Power Trusts Used as Union Slush Fund
Public resources should be used to promote public purposes, meaning tax dollars should not go toward efforts that exclusively financially assist a private entity.
Blog
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 8: Back Door Bank Subsidies
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
Blog
Suspending Reason to Pass “TSCA Reform”
The process of lawmaking is often compared to sausage making: an unpalatable job that produces a palatable result. It’s easy to agree with the first part…
Blog
Was Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s Right-to-Work Veto Influenced by UAW Campaign Contributions?
On June 4, Governor of Missouri Jay Nixon vetoed right-to-work legislation, which would end forced union dues payments, and was joined by UAW Local 249…
Blog
Ten Years After Kelo v. New London
Ten years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision upholding the City of New London, Connecticut’s “right” to condemn Connecticut homeowners’…
Blog
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 7: Mercantilism
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
Blog
One Nation, Ungovernable? Confronting the Modern Regulatory State
(Note: What follows is a hyperlinked version of the introductory paragraphs to the chapter of the same name in the new Fraser Institute/Mercatus…
Blog
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 6: Ex-Im’s Strange Dual Mandate
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…