The Open Market Blog

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/23/2011

Millions of Americans are taking to the skies to spend time with their families over Thanksgiving. Many of them will be carrying leftovers on their…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/23/2011

What is the single most expensive regulation of all time? Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman has one candidate: the EPA’s proposal to regulate mercury emissions…

Consumer Well-Being

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/18/2011

In a ruling so dumb that only a panel of intellectuals could have written it, the EU has decided that companies may not claim…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/17/2011

CEI Founder and President Fred Smith talks about why restricting conflict mineral trade can mean more violence, not less. He also discusses why the Gibson…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/16/2011

Over at The American Spectator, I break down the debate over regulation's impact on the job market and propose one regulation that could create countless…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/10/2011

The next time someone complains about America's unregulated cowboy capitalism, you should ask them where such a thing might actually be found.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/09/2011

For some time now, the IRS has been flirting with what's called a return-free system. It's being touted as a time-saver. But it would also…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/04/2011

If you're in Helena, Montana, never tie a horse to a fire hydrant. It's against the law. Plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 11/03/2011

Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini debunks scare stories that chemicals in makeup and other household products cause cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects, and other health problems.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/31/2011

Over at RealClearMarkets, my colleague Wayne Crews and I argue that the law of demand holds. Hard to believe that's actually controversial, but that's Washington…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/28/2011

Yet another batch of regulatory bloopers: Motorists entering Tacoma, Washington, with criminal intent are required to telephone the chief of police. It is illegal to…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/27/2011

Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh debunks a flawed study that exaggerates the costs of undocumented immigration.

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/25/2011

The people of Illinois don’t expect their government to be corrupt; they insist on it. That’s why nary an eyebrow was raised when it recently…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/24/2011

Art Carden has an excellent column about immigration, and not just because the first third is about The Simpsons.

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/21/2011

It is illegal to slurp your soup in New Jersey restaurants, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/20/2011

CEI Adjunct Fellow Fran Smith, coauthor of the new CEI study "Free Trade without Apology," talks about the recently passed free trade agreements with Colombia,…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/14/2011

Here's a letter I recently sent to The Economist:…

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/12/2011

This video is a quick primer on trade from someone who literally wrote the book about it.

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/06/2011

Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews is author of the new CEI study, “The Other National Debt Crisis: How and Why Congress Must Quantify Regulation."…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/05/2011

Lawmakers need to do something about their do-something bias and try a deregulatory stimulus. Besides stimulating the economy, it would likely stimulate approval ratings, too.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/04/2011

First-generational suborbital crafts would reach 2,200 miles per hour, with an eventual goal of hitting 13,750 miles per hour. A trip from London to Sydney…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/30/2011

Massage parlors are illegal in well-named Horneytown, North Carolina, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/29/2011

In this morning's CEI Podcast, my colleague John Berlau predicted that the new price cap on debit card swipe fees would lead to the end…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/29/2011

Every time you use your debit card, the merchant has to pay a fee to the company that issued your card, usually about 1 percent…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/23/2011

In Seattle, Washington, the maximum length allowed for concealed weapons is 6 feet, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/22/2011

E-Verify is a program that checks the immigration status of new hires. The House is expected to vote on legislation that would make E-Verify mandatory…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/21/2011

Threats to freedoms even as trivial as planking should not be taken lying down.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/20/2011

This year's Federal Register is on pace to be 80,190 pages long. That's an average of 220 pages of fresh proposed rules, final rules, notices,…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/16/2011

Flirting is illegal in Haddon, New Jersey, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/09/2011

Here’s another batch of regulatory bloopers: In Little Rock, Arkansas, it is illegal to honk your horn at a restaurant after 9:00 pm. It has…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/06/2011

I’ve argued for a long time that stimulus bills are poorly named; it implies that they stimulate the economy. “Spending bill” is a non-loaded term…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/02/2011

Burping in church is illegal in Nevada unless it's accidental, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/01/2011

The Department of Justice sued this week to stop the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile merger. Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia thinks this is a mistake.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/01/2011

If international trade barriers create wealth, why stop there? Every state should have its own trade barriers against every other state.

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/31/2011

The philosopher Yogi Berra once said that “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Let’s apply his lesson to the proposed $39 billion…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/31/2011

This bill will result in a lot of unhappy nights at home for frustrated parents – and a lot less income for sitters who have…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/29/2011

A few months ago, the FCC said it would hand down a decision on whether to allow AT&T and T-Mobile to merge within 180 days.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/26/2011

Some of the stranger rules I've dug recently:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/23/2011

The repeals will become official upon publication in the Federal Register.

Regulatory Reform

• 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