Blog
Harvard Study Confirms Dodd-Frank’s Harm to Main Street
Literally since the day the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law by President Obama, my Competitive Enterprise Institute colleagues…
Blog
The Empire Strikes Back!
Right-of-center groups have for some time become a bit complacent. Sure the left had the universities, the media, and pop culture—but we had the think…
Blog
Educating Tomorrow’s Business Leaders on Markets and Politics
This weekend I attended a fascinating event at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business on the subject of economic inequality. Prof. …
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Last week’s batch of new rules covered everything from fluorescent lights to postage rates. On to the data: Last week, 59 new final regulations were…
Blog
GOP Divided on Internet Gambling Ban
As expected, members of the GOP reintroduced a measure that would create a de facto prohibition on all Internet gambling. The effort, which was written by GOP mega-donor…
Blog
Treasury Union President: IRS Needs More Money
As budget talks heat-up, union officials are making their presence known and that their agencies need more money.
Blog
Tainted Claims about “Agglomerated” Corks
A recent article in Wine Industry Insight titled “Micro-Agglomerates: 350 Million Illegal Corks Per Year?” reports: “Agglomerated cork manufacturers and importers are facing scrutiny from two major…
Blog
No Sprinkles in Obama’s America: Trans Fat, Hyperbole, and the Threat Nobody Is Talking about
“Say goodbye to your favorite sprinkled doughnuts,” warned Clayton Morris, guest host on Fox & Friends. “The [FDA] is now regulating Americans intake of trans fat…the…
Blog
Congress Should Reject Obama Budget Increase for Education Department Office for Civil Rights
The Obama administration perversely rewards agencies that overstep their authority by giving them budget increases to handle the increased workload that results. A classic example…
Blog
Transportation Roundup: Obama Budget, DOT 2045, and Sad Transcontinental Railroad Nostalgia
The President’s FY 2016 Budget On Monday, the White House released its DOA FY 2016 budget. Like President Obama’s previous budgets, this one has no…
Blog
Greek Government’s Stance Suggests a Confrontation with the EU
The latest statements of the newly elected Greek government show that negotiations between Athens and the so-called “Troika” will not be easy. SYRIZA sent a strong…
Blog
Premature Capitulation?
Over the decades I’ve spent in this Heart of Darkness (a.k.a., the bowels of American politics), I’ve learned two lessons that have encouraged the steady…
Blog
Poll: 75% of Ohioans Disapprove of Using Taxpayer Funds to Collect Union Dues
Jason Hart, Watchdog.org labor reporter, recently published a story that highlights a new poll from the think tank Opportunity Ohio on Ohioans' opinions of labor…
Blog
Obama Administration Learned Nothing from 2008 Financial Crisis, Mortgage Expert Says
Ed Pinto had a depressing and revealing op-ed in The Wall Street Journal Friday about how the Obama administration is artificially creating markets for risky mortgages, using…
Blog
Bet on the Big Game? You Probably Broke the Law
Industry experts expected yesterday’s Super Bowl game to bring in around $100 million in legal sports wagering in Nevada. That’s a lot of moola, but…
Blog
GOP Introduces Labor Reform Bills
As the 114th Congress kicks-off, labor reform seems to be on the minds of the GOP. On January 28, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Lamar…
Blog
Study: Cutting Unemployment Benefits Boosted Hiring
President Obama’s policies reduced employment and slowed America’s economic recovery by discouraging people from working. The Congressional Budget Office says Obamacare will shrink employment by around …
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Regulators stepped up their pace last week, with nearly 80 regulations covering everything from defibrillators to Korean oranges. On to the data: Last week, 77…
Blog
Main Street Fights Dodd-Frank’s Chipping Away at the Constitution
“Wall Street Chips Away at Dodd-Frank,” blared a recent front-page headline in The New York Times about bipartisan measures that have passed the U.S. House of Representatives…
Blog
Invest in Transportation Act of 2015 Violates Fiscally Conservative Transportation Principles
It was just announced that Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) would introduce the Invest in Transportation Act of 2015. The bill aims to offer…
Blog
Don’t Reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank
Here’s a letter I wrote to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that appears in today’s paper: The Post-Gazette’s editorial board calls on Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import…
Blog
FDIC Retreats from Operation Choke Point
In a partial victory for all those campaigning against the abuse of power known as Operation Choke Point (see our comprehensive study here), the Federal…
Blog
Study Shows Health Benefits of Moderate Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is a favorite target for health nannies and politicians looking to boost revenue. Excessive drinkers, they say, cost society millions or billions of dollars!…
Blog
National Labor Policy Increasingly Grants Big Labor Privileges as Union Membership Declines
A recent press release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the percentage of American workers in labor unions dropped again. In 2014, only…
Blog
Gas Tax Mission Creep: From User-Pays to Carbon Tax?
The Niskanen Center is a new libertarian think tank that we at CEI look forward to working with on a number of issues. However, one where…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Even in a shortened work week due to Martin Luther King Day, federal agencies still put out 40 final regulations and more than 50 proposed…
Blog
Did Slanted NPR Story Lead to Hasty, Illegal Education Department Sexual Harassment Rules?
Bad things can happen when an agency (like the Education Department) throws caution to the wind and regulates based on slanted media coverage from National…
Blog
Oregon Blueberry Farmers Prevail over Department of Labor Overreach
A majority of attention paid to federal agency overreach in the labor policy arena during the Obama administration has focused on National Labor Relations Board…
Blog
President Obama Says We’ve “Turned the Page” – Really?
In previewing his 2015 State of the Union Address, President Obama said … "2014 was the fastest year for job growth since the 1990s.
Blog
European Food Safety Authority Confirms BPA Safety—Again
The debate over the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) has raged for years, with environmental activists continually hyping the risks associated with it. Used to…