The Open Market Blog

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/19/2011

Tomorrow, parents and children across the country will set up lemonade stands in their neighborhoods. And they’re going to do it without getting licensed, inspected,…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/19/2011

In Delaware, it is a felony to wear a disguise while committing a felony, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/15/2011

California’s state legislature is poised to pass SB 432. It would, of all things, make it a crime for hotels to use non-fitted sheets.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/11/2011

Besides today's CEI Podcast, Iain Murray and I have a column over at Townhall.com about Lemonade Freedom Day:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/11/2011

Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray talks about the rash of children's lemonade stands being shut down by police, and his plans to celebrate Lemonade…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/10/2011

Missouri has a new law that bans teachers from becoming Facebook friends with any current or former student. The goal is to prevent inappropriate…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/09/2011

This is a different broken window fallacy than the kind one usually sees.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/09/2011

Congress and the White House have typically been reluctant to repeal any laws or regulations, regardless of which party is in power. The solution? Change…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/08/2011

Britain has a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. It isn’t quite living up to its name, though. The group is pressing to ban…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/05/2011

They allowed her to take through her needles and syringes. But they confiscated her insulin, claiming it was an explosives risk.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/04/2011

Congress is expected to take up stalled free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea when it returns from its August recess. Adjunct Fellow…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/03/2011

Robert Fernandes, a father of two, has had enough. That's why he has declared August 20, 2011 to be Lemonade Freedom Day.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/03/2011

Abigail Krutsinger, 4, never applied for a permit and a health inspection.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/01/2011

Few regulations are more blatantly anti-competitive than occupational licensing.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/01/2011

New York’s state legislature just passed a bill requiring warning labels to be put on all sippy cups sold in the state.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/29/2011

Usually, "bipartisan" means "twice as stupid." But for real regulatory reform to happen, both parties need to be involved.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/29/2011

Since time immemorial, Cook County, Illinois has had very strict personal conduct regulations for its forests. Among other things, it has been illegal to:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/28/2011

President Obama made a speech on immigration reform this week. Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh dissects several bills already in Congress that would do just that,…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/28/2011

New Zealand’s Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages has a list of names that are verboten for newborn babies.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/27/2011

San Diego's city government is going through tough financial times. But legislators have found a lucrative possible revenue source: the city’s 373,000 cats. The city…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/26/2011

The DC City Council wants to require pedicab passengers to wear seatbelts.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/21/2011

Covington, Kentucky police ordered a grieving grandmother to take down fliers of her missing granddaughter from city property.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/21/2011

Labor Policy Counsel Vinnie Vernuccio, who coauthored a recent op-ed in the New York Daily News, finds that labor unions, by resisting necessary changes and…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/20/2011

Real competition happens in the market. Not in Washington.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/19/2011

More workers die than get fired at many federal agencies.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/19/2011

Collinsville, Illinois officials know that when you look good, you feel good. That’s why they are now regulating the height at which people shall wear…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/18/2011

Vendors inside the car show didn't appreciate the competition. So they talked the city government into passing a new ordinance that put the girls out…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/18/2011

A Vienna, Austria man was recently jailed for not picking up after his Great Danes.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/14/2011

Have a listen here. Earlier this week, General Electric (GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt gave a speech at a conference on free enterprise. Energy Policy…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/11/2011

Apparently British regulators don’t think their subjects are sponge-worthy.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/08/2011

Having solved the state’s fiscal crisis, California’s state legislature has moved on to more important issues, such as the legal definition of “hot dog.”…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/08/2011

The next someone tells you the economy is dangerously unregulated, refer them to this list:…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/07/2011

One federal study says federal regulations cost $1.75 trillion. Another says it's $62 billion. The difference is almost a factor of 30. Vice President for…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/06/2011

A political party in Switzerland is seeking to ban Microsoft PowerPoint presentations in meetings.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/05/2011

Tennessee drivers can be fined $50 if someone else finds their bumper sticker offensive.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/30/2011

One of the major developments in regulation over the last 30 years has been the rise of cost-benefit analysis. At first, agencies squirmed and resisted.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/28/2011

King County's $86 fine for swimming without a life vest, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/22/2011

Most of what people call regulation doesn't have anything to with regular commerce. These kinds of rules are more accurately called interventions.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/22/2011

The TSA has a habit of confiscating security-unrelated items. Over at The American Spectator, I recall just such an experience that I had at O'Hare.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/20/2011

CEI Senior Fellow Greg Conko has an excellent piece in today's Wall Street Journal. Greg doesn't think it's right that the FDA is denying terminally…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/17/2011

Lemonade stands are technically illegal in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/15/2011

In a recent NBC interview, President Obama blamed ATMs for taking away bank tellers' jobs. Communications Coordinator Lee Doren points out that innovation doesn't affect…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/15/2011

Children would be far better served if government were to take a leading role in K-12 education… oh, wait.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/10/2011

A new Senate bill would make lip-synching to other people’s music a jailable offense, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/09/2011

Online poker has been illegal since April 15, now called Black Friday by poker fans. Policy Analyst Michelle Minton goes over the controversy and explains…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/08/2011

Businesses often use regulations as a cudgel to bludgeon their competitors. Occupational licensing is one of the most-abused types of regulation.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/06/2011

Last Wednesday, three people were arrested in Orlando for giving food to homeless people.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/03/2011

Mike Haege, a tree-trimmer in Hastings, Minnesota, was threatened with jail and fined $275 for helping clear damaged trees from tornado victims' yards.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/03/2011

Tennessee makes it illegal to use someone else's Netflix password, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/01/2011

According to Ben Powell, the three most common immigration myths are that immigrants are a drag on the economy, they steal our jobs, and that…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/31/2011

Conko believes this battle boils down to one question: who decides which treatments patients can use? Will it be the FDA, or doctors and patients?…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/31/2011

Over at the Daily Caller, Alex Nowrasteh and I tell the story of Jeffrey Lin. He is a Ph.D student at CalTech who holds three…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/27/2011

Some of the zanier happenings in the world of regulation:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/26/2011

Cass Sunstein, President Obama's regulatory czar, announced today that the administration intends to repeal regulations from 30 different agencies. CEI Vice President for Strategy Iain…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/26/2011

Winston Churchill observed that "Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities." We may finally be…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/25/2011

In Cordova, Alabama single-wide trailer homes are illegal. After years of lax enforcement, regulators are cracking down after tornadoes left many residents homeless.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/23/2011

In North Carolina, it is illegal to cook a burger to an internal temperature under 155 degrees.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/19/2011

TSA officials recently performed a bomb drill at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and didn't tell anyone about it in advance.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/19/2011

The good folks at Reason.tv have released an educational music video about the TSA featuring singer-songwriter-comedian Remy. Worth watching.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/12/2011

If you live in Texas, look over your shoulder before you tell a tall tale about your last fishing trip.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/12/2011

The USDA is spending $2 million to take pictures of what San Antonio school children eat for lunch.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/12/2011

Surprisingly, no explosives were found during extra screening, including what a TSA official describes as a "modified pat-down" of the suspicious infant.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/11/2011

San Francisco is phasing out the distribution of hard-copy Yellow Pages.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/10/2011

Congress might as well pass a law guaranteeing an above-average lifestyle for all Americans.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/06/2011

NBC Miami's Brian Hamacher with the second-best lede I've read this week: "Floridians are going to have to start pulling up their pants and stop…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/06/2011

A new study says that high-salt diets may not be as harmful as once thought. Research Associate Daniel Compton takes a look.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/05/2011

This blog will be paying close attention to the heated legislative battle in Madison to give the delicious cream puff its due.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/04/2011

Over at the Daily Caller, I look at employment data and find out that the labor force has grown by 23 million people since NAFTA…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/03/2011

Regulatory reform is at least as important as spending, taxes, and deficits, but it doesn’t get nearly as much attention. That’s why we are pleased…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/03/2011

Kinder eggs are a type of candy that enjoys worldwide popularity. They are also illegal in the United States.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/02/2011

A British man was arrested for singing the 1970s hit “Kung-Fu Fighting”.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/29/2011

In Hopewell Township, New Jersey, chickens are only allowed to mate on 10 pre-selected days per year.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/28/2011

Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at China's experience with high-speed rail, and finds that it may not be a very good…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/28/2011

Over the last five years, the DC Metro has spent $2.4 million on back pay... for work that was never performed.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/28/2011

In today's Investor's Business Daily, Wayne Crews and I argue that reformers shouldn't forget about regulation:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/25/2011

Wayne Crews and I have a piece in today's Sacramento Bee summarizing the main findings of Wayne's "Ten Thousand Commandments" study.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/21/2011

Carrie Lukas, Managing Director of the Independent Women's Forum, argues that the pay gap between men and women isn't due to discrimination.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/19/2011

Workforce Central Florida, a government agency, is spending $73,000 to give away 6,000 capes and some cardboard cutouts.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/19/2011

Air traffic control is simply too important an issue to leave to the free market. It is time to put the government in charge of…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/18/2011

The 2011 edition of Wayne Crews’ “Ten Thousand Commandments” was released today. The annual study gives a big-picture view of the regulatory state. You can…

Regulatory Reform