The Open Market Blog

• By: Iain Murray
• 08/28/2008

The Brookings Institution is the most establishment of establishment think-tanks. Old-fashioned, genteel, liberal, they do a lot of good work while at the same time…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/28/2008

In a move reminiscent of Minority Report, the Cuban government has arrested punk rock singer Gorki Aquila Carrasco, for charge of “pre-crime social…

• By: Gary Howard
• 08/27/2008

Some thoughts on why our side is losing in its efforts to promote and defend free trade:…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/26/2008

The scandal that broke at the largest union local in California earlier this month, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, has…

• By: Gregory Conko
• 08/25/2008

It’s no surprise to many readers of this page, but governments in North America and Europe often funnel millions of dollars to activist groups that…

• By: Sam Kazman
• 08/25/2008

Will gas prices keep dropping? A recent drive I took ended with a very strange coincidence.  If…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/23/2008

On Friday, a divided appeals court rejected a constitutional challenge to a powerful board set up by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to regulate the accounting industry. …

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/23/2008

…to promise much and deliver little, if anything — all the while making themselves feel just great. The Israeli news site Ynetnews.com reports: A…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/23/2008

An editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal gives “Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern credit for tenacity” in pressuring private equity firms. SEIU,…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/23/2008

In response to my two posts on the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), I got forwarded this story. Pro-union student activists, in a…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/23/2008

It can’t be true.  Canada, that paragon of health equality, the place where all health shortages are shared and shared alike, might have more private…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/22/2008

Union organizers try to recruit workers by saying that they’ll go to bat for them when things get tough for them. So it’s fair to…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/22/2008

Following up on my earlier post about The Los Angeles Times‘ investigation into allegations of financial malfeasance by the head of a California affiliate…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/22/2008

Today, a divided D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-to-1 to uphold a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, over a strong dissent by Judge…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/22/2008

This week, The Los Angeles Times featured a three–part series on suspicious dealings at a local of the 2 million-member Service Employees…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/22/2008

You’d better keep two or three dates open.  It seems that the National Health Service likes to cancel operations even after they are scheduled.  A…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/21/2008

American immigration law is perverse, baffling, and dysfunctional.  It keeps out energetic legal immigrants who could make America richer and smarter, while encouraging unskilled illegal…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/21/2008

Congress gave the phone companies immunity against the billions of dollars in lawsuits brought against them for cooperating with federal antiterror surveillance programs.  The ACLU and some trial…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/20/2008

Federal “affordable housing” and “diversity” mandates helped spawn the mortgage crisis.  Additional evidence comes from a Washington Post story, which notes that  “even late in the housing bubble, Fannie…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/20/2008

Maryland’s government, which recently raised taxes by record amounts to pay for more government spending, welfare, and public-employee salaries, is now pleading for a federal bailout,…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 08/20/2008

According to news reports, New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg wants to build a wind farm to meet 10 percent of New York City’s energy…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 08/19/2008

We keep hearing in the news these days that bottled water and tap water are basically the…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/19/2008

Ted Frank has an entertaining and disturbing column in the Washington Examiner about how a compulsive gambler blamed his medication for his irresponsibility.  A jury…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/18/2008

Not everyone is equally likely to get AIDS, notes former World Health Organization official James Chin in “Political Correctness Undermines AIDS Fight,” an editorial in today’s Washington Examiner.   As he points out, “We…

• By: John Berlau
• 08/17/2008

For more than two years, the Competitive Enterprise Institute has been involved in a constitutional challenge to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the giant…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/16/2008

The next time you hear someone complain about Americans who don’t get needed health care, think of Great Britain, where the government has decided that…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/15/2008

I promised, and I shall deliver. As it's my last day as an intern at CEI, this is my last Philosopher's Corner post,…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/15/2008

Who doesn't love a good half-litre? Over at the self-proclaimed “irreverant blog for food outlaws” Crispy on the Outside (which our own…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/15/2008

The Federal Election Commission has held that bloggers are covered by the same rules as journalists, permitting them to write about candidates without their…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/15/2008

In his latest Washington Examiner column, former CEI Brookes Fellow Tim Carney takes on T. Boone Pickens’s call for policies promoting wind and other…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/15/2008

The British government has not been known for its high level of respect for privacy. But this truly surprised me. Vnunet reports: The…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/15/2008

America’s corporate taxes are some of the highest in the world, punishing companies for investing in America, driving “capital overseas,” and encouraging companies to…

• By: Cord Blomquist
• 08/15/2008

Forbes magazine grabs a terrific quote from 10,000 Commandments, an annual report authored by Wayne Crews, CEI’s Vice President for Policy.  The report focuses…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/15/2008

On Tuesday, I reported on overblown concerns that the rate of increase in broadband subscribers is not the same as it used to be,…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/15/2008

It’s Friday again, and also my last day as an intern at CEI. So, I’m posting another Toothpastefordinner comic. Any…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/14/2008

Another update on Congress's continuing investigation into online targeted advertising. Google responded by stating that the company does not engage in Deep Packet…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/14/2008

Thumbing its nose at property rights, the Los Angeles City Council has just passed an ordinance requiring big-box stores like Home Depot to build shelters for the day-laborers…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 08/14/2008

Our very own Myron Ebell, CEI’s Director of Energy Policy, explains how we can drill ourselves out of the energy crisis.

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/14/2008

U.N. Officials were robbed at a Russian check-point in Gori, a town in Georgia that Russian troops continue to occupy in violation of the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/14/2008

A lawsuit filed for defamation against Wikipedia has just been dismissed by a federal judge. The ruling holds that Wikipedia is not liable…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/14/2008

If you’re looking for my discussion of how “college education is a waste of time,” which was excerpted on page 24 of today’s Washington Examiner, you can…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/14/2008

Ars reports on a strange move by British ISP Virgin Media. Facing pressure from the government to cut down on P2P downloading (I guess…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/13/2008

My colleague Courtney Long and I have been posting about a series of contradictory decisions regarding whether eBay should be held…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 08/13/2008

Your hosts Richard Morrison (me) and Cord Blomquist discuss cyberwarfare in Georgia, an enviro backlash, campaign debates on MySpace, the national debt, Sam Kazman…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 08/13/2008

Our friends over at Reason TV has produced a snappy little video on the questionable merits of ethanol, starring former CEI Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 08/13/2008

Bottled water is supposedly so “wasteful” that the U.S. Conference of Mayors had to issue a resolution calling on governments to…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/13/2008

In the Wall Street Journal, Philip Howard explains how kids are getting fat (and thus at risk for obesity-related diseases and death) by staying indoors rather than playing outside.  …

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/13/2008

“Just hours after Russia agreed to a French-brokered ceasefire, Russian troops followed by irregular Ossetian militias pushed deep into Georgia, seizing the strategic city…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/13/2008

AEI Scholar Charles Murray explains that “For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time.”  His commentary, in today’s Wall Street Journal, is exactly…

• By: Gregory Conko
• 08/13/2008

CEI has just published a new OnPoint, which I co-wrote with West Virginia physician Jerry Arnett. The paper, “FDA’s Bad Medicine: How the Dispersed…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Following on the heels of Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, the state of California is considering passing a law harshly punishing “cyberbullies” with expulsion, up to…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

CNET and the Consumer Electronics Association have just released a new index of consumer confidence in the technology sector. Consumer confidence in…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee began an unnecessary investigation into behavioral advertising practices. As I reported yesterday, Yahoo responded by…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/12/2008

There are trade-offs every where, we all know, including for health care.  How much do you spend to provide how much treatment to which payments? …

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

It's that time again. Time for another (and perhaps the last!) Philosopher's Corner, the recurring feature where I explore questions of justice that pose…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

CNET reports on the increasing number of states that are taxing internet downloads. This comes just months after the controversy surrounding New…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Back in June, I reported on a bandwidth scare – a report suggesting that the US is lagging in broadband deployment. In the…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/12/2008

The Washington Post today has an editorial debunking arguments against allowing offshore oil drilling.  Texas Governor Rick Perry criticizes ethanol mandates and subsidies, which…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Last month, I wrote a post entitled “Congressmen Oppose Boneheaded National Wireless Plan.” The post detailed how Republican Congressmen who were initially in favor…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

I reported last week on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s superfluous investigation into behavioral advertising. It looks like Yahoo is a little scared…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

It’s not just their looser drug and prostitution laws. The Dutch are also ahead of the US in some free speech areas. Last month, I…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

The California Supreme Court just upheld an 1872 law banning non-compete clauses – agreements that after a manager leaves a company, she won’t…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

The 9th Circuit is hearing a Wiretap Act case that could have broad implications for online privacy. The MPAA hired a hacker who intercepted…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

We’ve previously reported on government-coerced censorship of websites in France, New York, and California. Now Italy is doing it too. This…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

Last month, I reported that the Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union had submitted a Freedom of Information Act request…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

Doug Bandow's post on the weak economy hurting the environmental movement got me thinking. Specifically, it got me thinking about Stuff White People…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/10/2008

Russia has invaded the neighboring country of Georgia, seeking to overthrow its government.  Initially, it claimed its troops were merely seeking to occupy an enclave in…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/08/2008

There are drugs to treat the disease, and they are available in America.  But the National Health Service won’t pay for them.  Writes Jonathan…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/08/2008

The California  Court of Appeal has reversed its earlier decision that home-schooling is generally illegal in California.  I criticized the decision banning home-schooling…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/08/2008

Yesterday, I reported on the conclusion of the XM-Sirius merger and what it says about the fate of the potential Dish-DirecTV merger. Now, there…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

The always hilarious online comic Toothpastefordinner does a send-off of tax policy.

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/07/2008

Why is it that when a second-rate televangelist you’ve never heard of cheats on his wife, the media give it tons of coverage — but the media…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

Several weeks ago, I reported on Bell Canada’s attempt to resolve congestion issues on its network by throttling heavy P2P users. Some doubted…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

Apparently, positive portrayals of marital sex are just not super-interesting to TV viewers. So finds a study by the Parents Television Council. The PTC…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/07/2008

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial explaining how the Financial Accounting Standards Board “wants to require companies to account for the potential…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

It looks like Dish Network and DirecTV are once again considering a merger. The companies must believe the deal would be greatly mutually-beneficial, if…

• By: John Berlau
• 08/07/2008

Ain’t it something! Congress just got through with passing a multi-billion dollar bailout to the government-sponsored housing enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 08/07/2008

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/06/2008

The House of Representatives recently passed a bill called the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is being sold to the public on false pretenses.  Its supporters claim they…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/06/2008

In his current column, The Wall Street Journal‘s Thomas Frank blames “conservatism” for horrid conditions at an Iowa meatpacking plant, specifically the Labor Department…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/06/2008

For the first time ever, the Committee on Presidential Debates has partnered with a website. MySpace, the social networking site that has come under…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/05/2008

Explains Peter Pitts of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest: Experimental cures are often the last hope for dying patients in the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/05/2008

Yesterday, I posted on a new technology, called Selectable Output Control, that will allow customers to get movies on their TVs only a…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/05/2008

Banks and mortgage companies have long been under pressure from lawmakers and regulators to give loans to people with bad credit, in order to provide “affordable…