![Businesses flocking to states with lower taxes, better regulations](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-851770176-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Businesses flocking to states with lower taxes, better regulations
Experts on U.S. economic policy spend a lot of time looking at competition between states and how good tax and regulatory policy can help…
![Younger workers don’t favor full-remote work](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-103060206-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Younger workers don’t favor full-remote work
Among people who follow the news on workplace (and workforce) satisfaction, the opinions of younger workers are often considered especially relevant, because we assume that…
![Das Adam Smith problem? Nein!](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Adam-Smith-statue-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Das Adam Smith problem? Nein!
2023 is the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. This post is part of a series highlighting aspects of Smith’s thought that continue to influence…
![America takes Entrepreneurship Index top spot, former Soviet bloc countries close behind](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-89285817-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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America takes Entrepreneurship Index top spot, former Soviet bloc countries close behind
Retail software maker Shopify recently released its “Entrepreneurship Index,” a global ecosystem of entrepreneurial activity. Shopify ranks the top ten countries with economies that…
![This week in ridiculous regulations: tart cherry assessments and big cat safety](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-98215577-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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This week in ridiculous regulations: tart cherry assessments and big cat safety
The House passed two regulatory reform bills, the REINS Act and the Separation of Powers Restoration Act. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. Meanwhile,…
![Here comes state capitalism. There go our liberties.](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1149339136-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Here comes state capitalism. There go our liberties.
CEI’s own Wayne Crews told the Washington Examiner recently, “Everything from local tap water to space commercialization is being turned into a government project.”…
![Free the Economy podcast: growth and taxes with Alex Muresianu](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/e25-free-the-economy-578x324-c-default.png)
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Free the Economy podcast: growth and taxes with Alex Muresianu
In this week’s episode we talk about Gen Z and remote work, businesses moving between states, and inspiring evidence of human…
![Market failure? Let’s talk about government failure](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-517934076-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Market failure? Let’s talk about government failure
Government interventions in the market are often said to be justified by market failures, which prevent the free market from maximizing social welfare. What is…
![Adam Smith on how to love and be lovely](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Adam-Smith-statue-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Adam Smith on how to love and be lovely
2023 is the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. This post is part of a series highlighting aspects of Smith’s thought that continue to influence…
![Is Biden admin disappearing a red flag for costly regulations?](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1164751366-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Is Biden admin disappearing a red flag for costly regulations?
Is the Biden administration trying to do away with the category of “economically significant” regulations altogether? Before this administration, an “economically significant” regulation was one…
![Court punts to FTC, freezing Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1413195930-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Court punts to FTC, freezing Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action Monday to stop Microsoft from purchasing the game developer Activision Blizzard. The FTC filed for both a…
![Adam Smith’s ‘tolerable administration’ vs. America’s increasingly intolerable one](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Adam-Smith-statue-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Adam Smith’s ‘tolerable administration’ vs. America’s increasingly intolerable one
2023 is the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. This post is part of a series highlighting aspects of Smith’s thought that continue to influence…
![New Biden White House Agenda shows 3,666 rules in regulatory pipeline](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1164751366-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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New Biden White House Agenda shows 3,666 rules in regulatory pipeline
The Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions has been released. A fall version of this twice-yearly document will also contain a…
![Senate Commerce hearing shows why some junk fees aren’t garbage](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-889108426-1-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Senate Commerce hearing shows why some junk fees aren’t garbage
In his State of the Union address this February, President Biden reiterated his intent to crack down on so-called junk fees. Biden discussed…
![Time to shine more light on regulators’ ‘shadow boxes’](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1157957895-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Time to shine more light on regulators’ ‘shadow boxes’
Accompanying presidential executive orders and memoranda are the numerous sub-regulatory proclamations of departments and agencies we like to call “regulatory dark matter.” Occasionally we…
![The real Adam Smith](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Adam-Smith-statue-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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The real Adam Smith
2023 is the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. This post is part of a series highlighting aspects of Smith’s thought that continue to influence…
![Why Trump and Biden are wrong to sweat a trade deficit](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Container-ship-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Why Trump and Biden are wrong to sweat a trade deficit
Do trade deficits make American workers worse off? Trade deficits occur when a country imports more goods than it exports, which the U.S. has done…
![This week in ridiculous regulations: fireworks shows and cybersecurity subsidies](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1404630183-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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This week in ridiculous regulations: fireworks shows and cybersecurity subsidies
Russia destroyed a major dam in Ukraine, putting thousands of homes and a nuclear power plant at risk. Former President Donald Trump was indicted again.
![FTC, or ‘Fundraising Trade Commission,’ tries to shrug off a Supreme Court judgment](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-1478507423-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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FTC, or ‘Fundraising Trade Commission,’ tries to shrug off a Supreme Court judgment
If you thought the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was only coming after “big” business, think again. The FTC is targeting small and family businesses too. …
![Congress should block Biden’s harmful environmental regulations with power of the purse](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Government-spending-GettyImages-1221018933-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Congress should block Biden’s harmful environmental regulations with power of the purse
Congress shouldn’t sit back and watch as the Biden administration proposes and finalizes costly and harmful energy and environmental regulation. Instead, it needs to take…
![<strong>SEC just dismissed dozens of cases before its ‘not-quite courts,’ thanks to real court rulings</strong>](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1345904494-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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SEC just dismissed dozens of cases before its ‘not-quite courts,’ thanks to real court rulings
For over a decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been forcing people into in-house quasi-judicial proceedings that lack the basic constitutional protections of…
![Free the Economy podcast: Immense economic costs with Scott Lincicome](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/e24-free-the-economy-578x324-c-default.png)
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Free the Economy podcast: Immense economic costs with Scott Lincicome
In this week’s episode we talk about central bank digital currencies, bankers backing off of ESG claims, avoiding the mistakes of…
![Biden Labor pick Julie Su claims she cannot recall her Prop 22 vote](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1273842933-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Biden Labor pick Julie Su claims she cannot recall her Prop 22 vote
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su claimed multiple times Wednesday that she could not recall how she voted on California’s Proposition 22, the ballot initiate…
![Activist securities regulators should worry as Supreme Court revisits Chevron doctrine](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Supreme-Court-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Activist securities regulators should worry as Supreme Court revisits Chevron doctrine
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a major announcement that may impose significant changes to agency statutory interpretation. The Court has agreed to hear…
![<strong>Rising small business regs may spur Senate to pass REINS Act</strong>](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Regulation-stamp-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Rising small business regs may spur Senate to pass REINS Act
In a bid to restore congressional accountability over the regulatory enterprise, the 118th Congress this week is set to vote on the so-called REINS Act,…
![War over gas stoves heats up with two House votes today](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-517898524-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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War over gas stoves heats up with two House votes today
President Biden’s administration has declared war on gas stoves, but today the House of Representatives is fighting back Two Biden administration agencies, the Consumer Product…
![<strong>Biden administration keeps making it harder to track government ‘guidance’ documents</strong>](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-103060206-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Biden administration keeps making it harder to track government ‘guidance’ documents
Federal government “guidance documents” consist of agency memoranda, bulletins, circulars, administrative interpretations, letters, manuals, and so much more. These are not supposed to be regulatory…
![Lina Khan’s whole new level of economic bloodletting](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FTC-GettyImages-499125789-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Lina Khan’s whole new level of economic bloodletting
The Biden administration in its Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy and, more pointedly, the Federal Trade Commission in many of…
![5 myths about Joe Biden’s crackdown on gas stoves](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-517898524-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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5 myths about Joe Biden’s crackdown on gas stoves
The Biden administration’s craziest idea yet? The assault on gas stoves. Second craziest? The lame attempts to deny it. Now that two bills…
![This week in ridiculous regulations: electric motors and small business loans](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-618422684-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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This week in ridiculous regulations: electric motors and small business loans
Congress and President Biden reached a debt ceiling deal. Texas attorney general and antitrust hawk Ken Paxton was impeached. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
![SPPI-TV hit: How price controls endanger small dollar loans, boost loan sharks](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GettyImages-955088912-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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SPPI-TV hit: How price controls endanger small dollar loans, boost loan sharks
In my first media appearance from the sleek new CEI studios at our offices in Washington, DC, I joined a great panel on the May…
![‘Passive-aggressive’ regulators are a growing headache for American business](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-1364004798-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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‘Passive-aggressive’ regulators are a growing headache for American business
“The Future of Independent Agencies: Fallout from Problems at the Federal Trade Commission,” was an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to alert…
![<strong>Congress should stop the White House from rewriting ‘Circular A-4’</strong>](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GettyImages-454146711-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Congress should stop the White House from rewriting ‘Circular A-4’
Barring an extension, next week (June 6) is the deadline for comments on the White House Office of Management and Budget’s …
![Free the Economy podcast: Capitalists of the world unite! with Richard Salsman](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/e23-free-the-economy-578x324-c-default.png)
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Free the Economy podcast: Capitalists of the world unite! with Richard Salsman
In this week’s episode, we talk about conservatives defending the D.C. swamp, Andrew Stuttaford’s warning about green land grabs, a new Heartland Institute report…
![Do more deregulation in debt limit deal](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-913434770-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Do more deregulation in debt limit deal
The internal GOP debate this week is over lower-case “d” default if a June 6 deadline for an increase in the debt limit is…
![Moore good news? CEI responds to government in landmark tax case](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1224641847-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Moore good news? CEI responds to government in landmark tax case
Earlier today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a reply brief in the Moores’ case. A few weeks ago, the government argued that the Supreme…
![Debt deal’s PAYGO law won’t pay out. Here’s how to fix it.](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Government-spending-GettyImages-1226588502-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Debt deal’s PAYGO law won’t pay out. Here’s how to fix it.
In an effort to curb excessive government spending, a provision known as statutory administrative PAYGO (Pay-As-You-Go) has been introduced in the debt ceiling deal struck…
![Why is the debt ceiling deal helping to ban gas stoves?](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-517898524-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Why is the debt ceiling deal helping to ban gas stoves?
When Biden-appointed Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr. announced last January that his agency was investigating gas stoves and that a…
![McCarthy-Biden debt-ceiling deal fully funds the climate-industrial complex](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-102285633-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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McCarthy-Biden debt-ceiling deal fully funds the climate-industrial complex
The deal to raise the debt ceiling announced Saturday by the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) drops the provisions in the…
![Protecting private property in the Peach State](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GettyImages-664680998-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Protecting private property in the Peach State
Institute for Justice communications manager Dan King brings us an infuriating but important story out of the state of Georgia. Property owners in the…
![This week in ridiculous regulations: baby formula labels and room air conditioners](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Baby-formula-GettyImages-1265018329-1-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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This week in ridiculous regulations: baby formula labels and room air conditioners
Happy Memorial Day, everyone. The Supreme Court upheld property rights in a 9-0 decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County, in which CEI joined…
![Repealing green energy subsidies must come before permitting reform in debt ceiling package](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-102285633-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Repealing green energy subsidies must come before permitting reform in debt ceiling package
There are reports that the debt ceiling negotiators are close to agreeing on permitting reform provisions as part of the final package. This may sound…
![Supreme Court ruling restores property rights, closes spigot on Clean Water Act abuses<strong></strong>](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-1211239164-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Supreme Court ruling restores property rights, closes spigot on Clean Water Act abuses
The U.S. Supreme Court in Sackett v. EPA has finally provided some clarity on one of the most basic questions in environmental law: what…
![Free the Economy podcast: Transparency for government, privacy for people with Brian Hawkins](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/e22-free-the-economy-578x324-c-default.png)
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Free the Economy podcast: Transparency for government, privacy for people with Brian Hawkins
In this week’s episode we talk discuss Tim Carney’s view on why big government is good for big business, Stone Washington on the…
![Supreme Court breathes new life into Takings Clause in <em>Tyler v. Hennepin County</em>](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Government-spending-GettyImages-1226588502-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Supreme Court breathes new life into Takings Clause in Tyler v. Hennepin County
When you don’t pay property taxes, you run the risk of the government seizing and selling your property. That’s what happened to Geraldine Tyler, a…
![<strong>Let’s get this huge ‘hidden tax’ of regulation out into the open</strong>](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GettyImages-1471705401-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Let’s get this huge ‘hidden tax’ of regulation out into the open
Smack dab in the middle of contentious debt limit negotiations, the House Budget Committee held another in its series of hearings on American economic growth,…
![What happens if governments stop trying to make electric vehicles happen?](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Electric-vehicle-charging-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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What happens if governments stop trying to make electric vehicles happen?
I recently spotted an interesting analysis of the market for electric vehicles and the prospect for them eventually replacing ones powered by internal combustion…
![A remembrance: C. Boyden Gray, 1943-2023](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-919409918-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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A remembrance: C. Boyden Gray, 1943-2023
We mourn the passing of C. Boyden Gray. He was a man of his family, the law, and his country. Boyden served in the highest…
![This week in ridiculous regulations: lowfat yogurt and halibut sharing](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-1435026978-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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This week in ridiculous regulations: lowfat yogurt and halibut sharing
Debt ceiling negotiations remain stalled, and will likely remain that way until the deadline draws nearer. The Supreme Court left Section 230 intact. A…
![Bill targets ag department slush fund worth billions](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GettyImages-1440595587-578x324-c-default.jpg)
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Bill targets ag department slush fund worth billions
The House Appropriations agriculture subcommittee favorably reported its spending bill along party lines Thursday. The bill’s next stop is the full House Appropriations…