The Open Market Blog

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/17/2010

Samuel Burgos is 8 years old. One day he brought a toy gun to school in his backpack. That got him expelled from his Miami…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/16/2010

Ryan Radia, CEI's Associate Director of Technology Studies, talks about obstacles and opportunities for job creation in the high-tech sector.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/15/2010

Over at RealClearMarkets.c0m, my colleague Ryan Radia offer some ideas for how to create more high-tech jobs. Our main points:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/13/2010

Cash for clunkers didn't change HOW MUCH people spent. It only changed WHEN they spent.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/09/2010

In the latest CEI Podcast, Alex Nowrasteh discusses birthright citizenship.

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 09/08/2010

Attorney Roy Den Hollander think ladies' nights are unconstitutional. So he sued several bars.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/27/2010

Stimulus spending costs $221,428.57 per job saved or created. Startlingly inefficient.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/27/2010

A Virginia man collected 12 years of salary despite never showing up to his government job.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/24/2010

In New York State, sliced bagels cost 8 cents more than unsliced bagels.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/20/2010

For most people, the TSA is merely an annoyance. For Kathy Parker, it was something far more serious.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/19/2010

In the world of regulation, no good deed goes unpunished.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/19/2010

If you're despairing over the state of the world, the data are a wonderful cure for pessimism.

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/18/2010

Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern in Herndon, Virginia has fire-breathing bartenders. Two of them are facing 45 years in prison for fire code violations.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/17/2010

And it's on pace to hit a near-record 80,447 pages.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/13/2010

The NTSB wants to throw away 50 lives to save an estimated 1 or 2 lives.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/11/2010

It wasn't because of spending cuts.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 08/03/2010

King Tut's chariot is now on exhibit in New York, but not without incident. Officials demanded to see its VIN before Allowing it in the…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/27/2010

It was mostly Democrats who favored the DISCLOSE Act. But Republicans are no heroes on this issue. Don't believe their posturing.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/27/2010

Bob Russ is 66 years old. He was denied entry to the Oregon Brewer’s Festival because he lacked a valid photo ID to prove he…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/19/2010

The Federal Register’s page growth has been accelerating as the year has progressed. It is currently on pace for 76,536 pages.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/13/2010

Over at the Daily Caller, I debunk the fear that long-term cell phone use can cause brain tumors.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/08/2010

This letter of mine ran in today's New York Times in response to Paul Krugman's July 4 column.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/02/2010

If you have ever been in a duel, you are ineligible to vote in Mississippi, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/01/2010

A little government can do a lot of good. A lot of government can do little good.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/01/2010

New labeling rules for horse meat intended for human consumption, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/24/2010

In Japan, your bedtime is official government business.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/18/2010

Arizona spends $1,250,000 to save 250 squirrels, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/16/2010

Some people are scared that cell phones cause brain tumors. There are enough of these bedwetters that San Francisco just passed a new law requiring…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/15/2010

Ladies’ night bar specials are illegal in Minnesota. They are unfair gender discrimination, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/14/2010

Politicians love it when housing prices go up. That's why Cumberland, Maryland is mulling requiring all new homes to install fire sprinkler systems. Cost: $3,000-$9,000…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/10/2010

“Plastics are the future,” a pushy relative told a young Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate. Was he giving career advice -- or a warning?…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/08/2010

Watch Tom Palmer explain free trade in under three minutes.

Trade and International

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/04/2010

$300,000 of stimulus money to pay for floating toilets, plus more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/03/2010

In which a new regulation actually makes some sense.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/02/2010

H.L. Mencken defined Puritanism as “The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” He may as well have been talking about regulators.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/28/2010

This year’s Federal Register is on pace for 73,459 pages. Like most of President Obama’s policies, this represents less than a one percent change from…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/25/2010

Last year, angry New Yorkers spit on bus drivers 51 times. The average driver took 64 days of paid leave to recover.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/18/2010

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is proposing a 5 percent pay cut for members of Congress. For every $816,502 the federal government spends, that would save one…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/17/2010

Contrary to popular belief, the Bush administration was the best friend regulators have had in a generation or more.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/16/2010

Here's an excerpt from an early 1980s Office of Management and Budget report.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/12/2010

The Pentagon's official brownie recipe is 26 pages long.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/07/2010

In Yukon, Oklahoma, it is illegal for a patient to pull a dentist's tooth, plus more.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/07/2010

Today's Daily Caller features an article of mine about CEI's entry in the EPA's YouTube video contest on regulations.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/06/2010

This morning, the 2010 Federal Register passed the 25,000 page mark.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/30/2010

If you work for the Department of Energy's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a regulation in 18 CFR 385.2201 requires you to keep records of off-the-record…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/28/2010

Just like church and state, hair and food are best kept separate. Which brings us to the latest fad in Brooklyn’s trendy Cobble Hill neighborhood:…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/27/2010

Despite its flaws, democracy has worked tolerably well in this country for a long time. Perhaps the best part of our particular democracy is that…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/23/2010

Some of the stranger governmental goings-on I’ve dug up recently.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/16/2010

Tax Freedom Day was April 9. But when you factor in the cost of regulation, it turns out we work nearly half the year just…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/15/2010

Federal regulations cost as much as the income tax plus another quarter-trillion -- $1.24 trillion in all. Read all about it in the freshly-released 2010…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/09/2010

It is illegal in Kentucky for anyone under 18 to play pool without photo ID and written parental consent.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/09/2010

Today, April 9, is Tax Freedom Day. According to the Tax Foundation, that's how long you have to work just to pay off your taxes.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/08/2010

A new ordinance in San Luis Obispo, California makes it illegal to feed ducks.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/07/2010

Cries for tax simplification grow every year. How does Congress respond? By introducing legislation to "amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to classify automatic…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/05/2010

March 31 was Cesar Chavez Day. Cesar Chavez Day has been celebrated in California for some time. But this year, for the first time, it…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/02/2010

Some of the stranger governmental goings-on I dug up over the week.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/01/2010

Laws are supposed to be made by legislative branch, not the executive. What we have here is one more case of regulation without representation, out…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/01/2010

A dying patient in the UK's NHS made the news after nurses refused to bring him a glass of water, despite his repeated begging. Had…

Consumer Well-Being

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/29/2010

In New York City, it is illegal for four or more unrelated people to live together. At least 15,000 New York homes openly flout the…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/26/2010

Government does more wacky things than anyone could possibly write about in any detail. Listed here are just a few that I dug up over…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/19/2010

Washington, DC city law states that “No loose herd or flock shall be driven or conducted in the District, except with a permit issued by…

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/18/2010

You need a license to be a bounty hunter in New Jersey.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/18/2010

Over at the American Spectator, I explain why it won't, but a deregulatory stimulus would.

Labor and Employment

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/17/2010

He was one of only a few sane souls who insisted that regulations be judged by their actual results, not their intended results.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/16/2010

Angelina and Quan Ha, of Orange, CA, ditched their water-hungry grass lawn in 2008 to save money and water. The city promptly sued them.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/15/2010

Cheese-rolling races have been held at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, UK since the 1800s. Until this year, that is. Health and safety regulators shut down…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/11/2010

Assemblyman Ortiz has introduced legislation that would “make it illegal for restaurants to use salt in the preparation of food. Period.” A $1,000 fine would…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/10/2010

How do we know the terrorists are winning? When a man kissing his girlfriend good-bye at Newark Liberty International Airport results in the evacuation of…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/04/2010

If you’re gay, you can’t donate blood. It’s illegal. Rather than screening donors for sexual preference, they should be screened for blood-borne diseases. Straight people…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/04/2010

It only took 4 working days to top 1,000 pages. Now, after 42 working days, the grand total is 10,158. That’s an average of 242…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/03/2010

It is illegal to home-school your children in Germany. One family faced "[F]ines eventually totaling over $11,000, threats that they would lose custody of their…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/02/2010

It’s officially “Cuss Free Week” in California. Last Thursday, the state legislature passed a resolution to make the first week of March swearing-free.

Regulatory Reform

• By: Ryan Young
• 03/01/2010

In Tenneessee, it is illegal for barbershops to have fish tanks. That could change as soon as today, though.

Consumer Freedom