The Open Market Blog

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/23/2012

In a city as big as Tokyo, there is plenty of room for niche businesses. One niche is the neko café; neko is the Japanese…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/23/2012

84 new rules, 1,675 Federal Register pages, including new regulations for medical exams for commercial drivers, Chilean pomegranates, and springsnail habitats.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/20/2012

Alpaca tax breaks, IRS seeks power to confiscate tax delinquents' passports, and more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/19/2012

Indiana is becoming a right to work state, which means unions will no longer be able to force workers who don't want their representation to…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/17/2012

Stolen iPads, harassing drag queens, and a former TSA chief calls for reform -- three years after his departure.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/16/2012

Street musicians were recently banned from playing bagpipes in Vancouver, British Columbia. Just in time for the city’s Scotland Week celebration, Mayor Gregor Robertson happily…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/16/2012

77 new regulations were published last week, the Federal Register grew by 1,475 pages, and the federal government is liberalizing its golden nematode policy.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/12/2012

Yesterday the Justice Department sued Apple and five major publishers over their e-book pricing model, alleging price fixing. Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/09/2012

The mayor of La Torba, Spain recently issued a 65-point Courtesy Charter making it illegal to burp in public or slurp your soup, among other…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/09/2012

A new Prison Bureau regulation allows inmates to publish under their own name as of May 3, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/06/2012

Public school bans a 3-year old with cerebral palsy from using her walker at school, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/05/2012

The good folks at the London-based Institute for Economic Affairs have just released an excellent book by Eammon Butler, Public Choice: A Primer.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/02/2012

A group of parents in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood want to ban ice cream vendors from parks. One parent wrote, “I should not have to…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/02/2012

2,191 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 19,487 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/29/2012

First, a TSA manager at Dulles airport has been arrested for running a prostitution ring. Second, two Miami TSA employees were arrested for trashing a…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/29/2012

Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh talks about the reasons behind the major historical shifts, and suggests reforms that would make today's immigration system fairer and…

Immigration

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/27/2012

A group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs has found a peaceful use for unmanned attack drones that almost everyone can support: delivering food to hungry people.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/26/2012

The reason it cost $400 was not because of restaurant business practices but because of television labor practices.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/26/2012

75 new final rules were published last week, up from 72 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/20/2012

Steven Pogue, 64, was cited by police for flipping the bird while driving in Ballwin, Missouri. He was exonerated on free speech grounds, and the…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/19/2012

Falciano del Massico, a small town in Italy, has banned its 4,000 residents from dying because the local cemetery is completely full.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/19/2012

The Defense Department is still implementing parts of the Privacy Act of 1974, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/14/2012

There are more regulatory reform ideas out there than you can shake a stick at. Some, of course, are better than others.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/13/2012

A new IRS proposal to require licensing all tax preparers would put a lot of people out of work. So the Institute for Justice is…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/12/2012

64 new final rules were published last week, down from 89 the previous week.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/08/2012

A new IRS regulation hits the trifecta of enriching foreign dictators, helping them crush dissent, and would raise no revenue for the U.S. government. Vice…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/06/2012

In a recent blog post, I describe the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Beef Promotion and Research "checkoff" program as corporate welfare. The agency’s Public…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/05/2012

Just another week in the world of regulation:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/01/2012

Land-Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner explains why almost nobody is happy with how this year's highway bill is turning out.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/24/2012

It may have been a short work week, but it was still a busy one in the world of regulation. Here are the highlights:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/22/2012

New York City requires newsstands to be located at least 9 feet, 6 inches away from buildings. Marilyn Louie's newsstand has sat in the same…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/21/2012

Officials in Calcutta, India definitely have a favorite color: sky blue.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/17/2012

Sounds like writers for ?The Economist? have been reading some of CEI's regulatory research. From this week's magazine:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/16/2012

Patients are suffering from a nationwide shortage of more than 260 different prescription drugs, many of them for different types of cancer. Senior Fellow Greg…

Consumer Well-Being

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/15/2012

Canada is cracking down on the latest terrorist threat to innocent people everywhere: transgendered people. If their appearance doesn't match their ID's listed gender, they're…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/15/2012

Lobbying, politicking, and special favors are part and parcel of the regulatory process. The result is that many regulation-created jobs are not created on the…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/13/2012

A recent Los Angeles County ordinance made it illegal to throw balls and even Frisbees on the city’s beaches.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/09/2012

Alex Nowrasteh proposes scrapping the complex and unfair immigration system and replacing it with a tariff. This is a much more humane approach to immigration,…

Immigration

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/02/2012

Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies Michelle Minton breaks down the FDA's behind-the-scenes push to regulate dietary supplements nearly as strictly as prescription drugs.

Consumer Well-Being

• By: Ryan Young
• 02/02/2012

A new Department of Transportation regulation limiting re-booking fees caused one airline to add a $2 "Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences Fee" on every ticket…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/27/2012

A local ordinance in Suffolk, Virginia prohibits driving motorized vehicles under their own power within city limits, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/26/2012

What the President said on Tuesday is technically correct. But, as with almost all political statements, there is more to the story.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/24/2012

Bryan Caplan argues that antitrust enforcement literally kills people. Bill Gates has given away billions of dollars and saved countless lives. If not for the…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/23/2012

The people of Illinois must present valid ID and be entered into a state database when buying cold medicine. Talk about adding insult to illness.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/18/2012

Wikipedia, Reddit, and other popular websites all went black today to protest SOPA and PIPA, two bills currently before Congress. Critics charge that the bills…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/12/2012

The state of Illinois now requires consumers to show valid ID to buy drain cleaner.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/12/2012

Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh tells Jakadrien Turner's story and what it means for the immigration reform debate.

Immigration

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/10/2012

Indiana state Sen. Vaneta Baker has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to sing the national anthem incorrectly.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/09/2012

The latest goings-on in the world of regulation:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/09/2012

Self-checkout lanes have been popping up in grocery stores across the country over the last several years. Some people worry that without the adult supervision…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/06/2012

Businesses, especially larger ones, aren’t afraid of regulation. They often welcome it. They can use rules to stifle competitors, or can pad their profits by…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/30/2011

Out-of-towners are not allowed to go sledding in Beaver Borough, Pennsylvania.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/29/2011

Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews talks about why 2011 was a record year for both new regulations and their cost, and his ongoing "Ten…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/23/2011

It isn’t often that one sees Nobel-winning economist Ronald Coase’s name and pig farts in the same sentence. Thanks to a recent court decision in…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/22/2011

Just in time for the holiday travel season, Vanity Fair’s Charles C. Mann took a trip through airport security with security expert Bruce Schneier.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/15/2011

Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at House Republicans' "drilling for roads" proposal and finds it wanting.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/12/2011

The TSA has allegedly strip-searched an elderly woman for wearing a back brace. They wrongly suspected it was a money belt. This search was security-unrelated;…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/09/2011

Boy, 7, kicks bully in the groin, school officials threaten sexual harassment charges, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/08/2011

Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews talks about the impact REINS could have on increasing transparency and accountability. He also offers up a few more…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/30/2011

Last year, about 138,000 horses were taken to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico, defeating the very purpose of the ban. Recognizing its failure, the ban…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/28/2011

Quebec officials are starting to listen in on what children are talking about on school playgrounds during recess to make sure they are speaking French.

Regulatory Reform