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What’s on Tap for Trade in 2019
At noon today, the 116th Congress convened. Over at Fox Business, Iain Murray and I look at what the coming year has in store for…
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The 2019 Unconstitutionality Index
Even in an administration attempting to cut regulation, the number of rules from hundreds of federal agencies (nobody really knows exactly how many) will vastly outstrip the…
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Trump’s 2018 Deregulatory Effort: 3,367 Rules, 68,082 Pages
At year-end 2018, how is President Donald Trump’s regulatory reform project going?…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The shutdown continued all through Christmas week. But because the Federal Register works on a few days lag for many of its publications, it still…
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Year in Review 2018: Climate Policy
The Trump administration this year took additional steps to dismantle key components of President Obama’s climate policy “legacy.” Supporting and guiding those efforts is a…
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VIDEO: What Qualifies as a ‘Water’ of the United States?
Our friends at the Regulatory Transparency Project have created a great new video to help explain the legal impact of the Clean Water Act and…
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An Executive Order to Shine Light on Dark Matter
Over at The Hill, Wayne Crews and I make the case for an executive order that would limit executive power. It’s more plausible than it…
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Best Books of 2018: Clashing over Commerce
Douglas Irwin’s magnum opus, published at the end of 2017, is already a classic. Given the prominent role trade is playing in politics right now, it…
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Year in Review 2018: Internet Sales Tax
On June 21, 2018, in South Dakota v. Wayfair, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed fifty years of precedent by allowing states to collect sales taxes…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In an eventful week that included criminal justice reform, shutdown drama, and cabinet drama, this year’s new regulations exceeded 2017’s total with more than a…
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Year in Review 2018: Trade Policy
2018 was the year in which President Trump began to implement his campaign promises of using tariffs to change America’s trade policy. The ostensible reason…
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Best Books of 2018: Life after Google
Are Tucker Carlson’s predictions of Google taking over the future keeping you up at night? Sooth yourself with the creative destruction described in “Life after…
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Year in Review 2018: Antitrust
If 2018 was a bad year for antitrust skeptics, 2019 promises to be worse. We must hope that the Federal Trade Commission and Department of…
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Best Books of 2018: Suicide of the West & Enlightenment Now
Goldberg’s “Suicide of the West” is a literate, snappily written, and often humorous defense of Enlightenment values and a broadside against populism. Steven Pinker’s “Enlightenment…
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Year in Review 2018: Transportation Policy
CEI had a busy year in the transportation policy trenches. We worked at the federal, state, and local levels on a variety of projects. Below…
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Best Books of 2018: Factfulness
Think Julian Simon, Matt Ridley, and Steven Pinker’s data-driven optimism, mixed with Michael Shermer and Bryan Caplan’s awareness of human cognitive biases, as told by…
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Kent Lassman’s Christmas Wish List
The holiday season is a good time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished and what we can look forward to in the next year. That’s…
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Year in Review 2018: Labor and Employment
There was a mix of good and bad news in the labor and employment policy space in 2018. A tremendous gain was made in the…
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Year in Review 2018: Operation Choke Point
Every Halloween, there exists the temptation for commentators to describe routine events in the news with adjectives like “scary” and “frightening.” Sensitive to sounding clichéd…
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Best Books of 2018: Judicial Fortitude
My pick for one of the best books of this year is “Judicial Fortitude: The Last Chance to Rein in the Administrative State” (Encounter Books,…
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EPA Takes on Costly, Unnecessary Wood Heater Regulations
The Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency cranked out so many bad major rules that it was hard to pay attention to all the also-bad, but relatively…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
A partial federal shutdown looks more likely than it did a week ago, the federal deficit will likely top $1 trillion next year, and Theresa…
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CEI Takes on Antitrust
There is a concerted effort from elements on both sides of the political aisle to use antitrust law to regulate and ultimately break apart Big…
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Attacks on Trump Administration Environmental Federalism Fall Short
Today’s Energy & Environment News (subscription required) has an article titled “Wheeler preaches federalism on water, not cars.” The gist is that various critics claim…
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5 Myths about E-cigarettes and Public Health
My colleague Michelle Minton recently released an excellent new study on the health impact of e-cigarettes and why some people are misrepresenting the risks involved…
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Infrastructure Bill Should Attack Climate Red Tape, Not Increase It
Enacting legislation will be more difficult in next year’s divided Congress, but an infrastructure bill is something that could get done. Democrats and Republicans may be…
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New Joint Employer Rule Means More Jobs, Not Lower Wages
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is in the process of implementing a regulation that would restore the traditional standard for when a worker is…
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Report from United Nations Climate Conference: Heckling the Hecklers
Katowice, Poland—“Le temps est mauvais,” an African delegate told a colleague as they wrapped themselves up against the early evening chill. The weather wasn’t as…
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85 Years after Repeal, Prohibition Lingers in Your Beer
On December 5, 1933 the federal government’s nationwide prohibition against alcohol ended. Eighty-five years later, the beer market seems to have finally recovered. Today, there…
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Top Ten Antitrust Targets
Columbia University professor Tim Wu is author of the new book The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age, which calls for a…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Former President George H.W. Bush was laid to rest, and no Federal Register was published on Wednesday. President Trump created a new superhero, Tariff Man,…
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American Association for Justice Places Trial Lawyer Interests over Saving Lives
The bipartisan AV START Act would create the first national highly automated vehicle regulatory framework in the U.S. This legislation is necessary to speed deployment…
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Five Priorities for New BCFP Director
Kathleen Kraninger was confirmed as director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. She has promised to implement a free market reform agenda, focusing on…
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Fighting for Small Business: Whiskey Edition
This week marks the 85th anniversary of the end of Prohibition, and we still have a lot to learn from that dismal experiment in government overreach.
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How Realistic Is National Climate Assessment’s Worst Case Scenario?
How realistic is the National Climate Assessment’s worst-case emissions scenario? A report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday sheds some interesting…
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Last-Minute Delay in CVS-Aetna Deal Could Threaten Consumer Benefits
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon surprised many on Monday when he announced he may halt the integration of CVS pharmacy’s assets with the nation’s…
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Don’t Blame Google for a Feature Consumers Want
It’s very rare I disagree with the great freedom-loving journalist John Stossel, but his column at Townhall this week made me raise an eyebrow. In…
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Senate Democrats’ Report Misses Mark on Mulvaney
While President Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Kathleen Kraninger, awaits a final confirmation vote in the Senate, Senate Democrats have…
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Conflict of Interest over Vaping Threatens Public Health
Cigarette smoking kills nearly half a million Americans every year, and for every person who dies due to smoking, at least 30 people live with…
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Can You Buy Alcohol on Christmas (and New Year’s Day) in Your State?
The holidays bring parties, feasts, and libations. But some celebrants may find themselves without a cup of cheer if they wait until the day of a…
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U.S.-China Trade Deal at G20 Small Move in Right Direction
Nobody knew what to expect going into the G20 summit in Argentina, especially from a planned meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In the news, The new NAFTA was signed (but still needs legislative approval in all three countries), General Motors announced major layoffs and plant closures,…
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Latest Bipartisan Carbon Tax Folly
On Tuesday, November 27th, Representatives Ted Deutch (D-FL), Francis Rooney (R-FL), John K. Delaney (D-MD), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Charlie Crist (D-FL) introduced H.R. 7173,…
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New Ideas for Addressing Poverty and Inequality
While the political headlines this week are dominated by a public feud between the Secretary of the Interior and the likely incoming chairman of the…
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National Climate Assessment Still Needs a Reset
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released Volume II of its Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report last week on November 23rd. Volume I,…
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Cathy Chase’s AV START Act Flip-Flop
Cathy Chase, now the president of the lobby group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, was previously a strong supporter of the Senate’s bipartisan AV…
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Draft Legislation Proposes Transition from Renewable Fuel Standard to High-Octane Fuel
In a sweeping effort to change the way Washington regulates both fuels and vehicles, Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL) and Bill Flores (R-TX) of the House…
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Air Conditioning—Treating a Public Health Benefit As a Threat
A study by the International Energy Agency predicts that billions more people around the world will own an air conditioner by 2050. This is great…
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Rubberstamping Regulations Is Not Consumer Protection
Earlier this week, Tribune Publishing’s syndicated travel writer Ed Perkins criticized the appointment of CEI’s Fran Smith to the newly reconstituted Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory…
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Supreme Court Ruling Puts Important Limits on Federal Authority under Endangered Species Act
On November 27, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously, in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that there are limits to how far the federal…
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Britain’s Treaty of Versailles
“Vote leave, take control” was the slogan of the “leave” campaign during the run-up to the vote on whether the United Kingdom should exit the…
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GM Layoffs, Tariffs, and Subsidies
CEI's Ryan Young explores the lessons policymakers should learn from General Motors’ announcement of layoffs and plant closures.
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CEI Comments on Possible Federal Automated Vehicle Pilot Program
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute submitted comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in response to its advance notice of proposed rulemaking on…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was another short work week due to Thanksgiving, while Black Friday’s ritual tramplings put a damper on that day’s productivity. Last week agencies published…
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New Federal Railroad Administration Rule Can Help Reduce Passenger Train Costs
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published its long-awaited final rule to modernize passenger railcar crashworthiness standards. When it takes effect on January 22,…
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Reason’s John Stossel Interviews Michelle Minton on the E-Cigarette Scare
The FDA recently announced new regulations restricting the sale of e-cigarettes, supposedly to protect young people from harms associated with nicotine. However, as CEI Senior…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a short work week due to Veterans Day, as most Americans took time to reflect on the centenary of the World War I…
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Freedom and Whiskey Go Together
Recently Dave Sussman of the show Whiskey Politics featured myself and my old pals Drew Tidwell and Helen Straight of Passing Lane Films on his…
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CEI Challenges Federal Rejection of Alaska’s Pebble Mine
Most job-creating projects don’t require government subsidies―the only thing private sector builders need is less federal red tape getting in their way. A good case…
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Massachusetts Teachers Union Dues Do Not ‘Stay Local’
Labor unions like to promote the narrative that dues payments stay local. If you peruse union websites, a consistent message appears that reads something like this:…
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Repeal Barriers to Competition: Abolish Antitrust
My colleague Iain Murray has some excellent new content out today in the form of a Web Memo titled “How Antitrust Regulation Hinders Innovation and…
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Senate Should Move Forward with Confirmation Votes on Buerkle, Others
With the 2018 election behind us, it’s time to look for opportunities to advance freedom and economic well-being. I don't expect much to happen congressionally given…
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Dockless Bikes, E-Scooters, and Urban Transportation Policy Hypocrisy
In August 2017, I wrote about the municipal government cronyism and monopoly franchise agreements driving the controversy over unsubsidized dockless bikesharing companies. In the rapidly…
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National Labor Relations Board Member Cleared of Ethics Conflict
Republican appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have become the target of an ongoing campaign by Democrats to silence their voices and ability…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The midterm elections finally happened. The good news is no more political ads for a while; the bad news is that a bunch of politicians…
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The Montreal Protocol—Did it Really Make a Difference?
An executive summary of the latest scientific compendium on ozone depletion, the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2018 is now out. The report was released in…
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Judge Blocks Keystone XL Pipeline
Montana federal judge Brian Morris ruled on November 8th that the State Department and TransCanada Corporation must discontinue all efforts to construct or operate the Keystone XL…
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Happy 50th Anniversary to Reason
Congratulations to our friends at Reason magazine (and the Reason Foundation) on their golden anniversary. Some members of the Competitive Enterprise Institute team were recently…
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Lame Duck Session Should Undo Crippling Rules on Middle-Class Investors and Entrepreneurs
Next year, with Congress divided once again, bipartisan legislation will be the order of the day. Indeed for passage of both chambers, it will be…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Carbon Taxes?
Washington State’s Initiative 1631 to establish a “carbon emissions fee” went down in flames Tuesday with opponents outvoting supporters by 56 to 44 percent.
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Big Tech?
For the big technology firms, the midterm elections were never going to change much. Whatever the result, they were going to face more scrutiny over the…
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Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Needs to Rewrite Payday Loan Rule
Last week, I wrote a blog post on how the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection could go about narrowly rewriting the payday loan rule. This would…
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U.S. Officials Wary of United Nations Ozone Treaty Negotiations in Ecuador
The 30th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) is being held in Quito…
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Infrastructure in Divided Congress Must Include Regulatory, Permitting Reforms
Even before the results were in, the election-night talking heads were speculating on what, if anything, congressional Democrats and Republicans can agree on and get…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Financial Services?
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Will New Congress Seek Reforms to Highway Taxation?
Could the 116th Congress be the perfect storm for mileage-based user fees? With a divided Congress and with the current surface transportation law expiring at…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Labor and Employment?
The primary labor and employment statutes—National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act—have not been substantially amended for decades. A divided government is not…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Trade?
Trade was a highly contentious issue during President Trump’s first two years. He has doubled tariffs, other countries have enacted equivalent retaliatory tariffs, and tensions…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Regulatory Reform?
A divided Congress probably means the status quo will reign on regulation. This is a mixed bag from a free-market perspective. President Trump made…
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AFL-CIO’s Own Workers Threaten a Strike
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka frequently lambasts companies for not “sharing the wealth” with employees. Joining a union is a surefire way to see an increase…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Regulators were relatively quiet during the week before the midterm election, though CEI wasn’t, with our colleague Ted Frank arguing a case before the Supreme…
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Environmental Groups Petition EPA to Prevent Damage from Renewable Fuel Standard
EarthJustice, the National Wildlife Federation, and other environmental pressure groups have petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to better police the land use requirements in…
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China Caught Cheating on Montreal Protocol Ahead of Major Meeting
A recent study has found that emissions of carbon tetrachloride from East Asia are on the rise, even though production of this chemical has…
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Hole in the ACE: Legal Flaws in EPA’s Proposed ‘Clean Power Plan’ Replacement
The comment period closed this week (October 31st) for the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed replacement for the so-called…
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RegData Tracks Extent of Federal and State Regulation
This week our old friend Chad Reese of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University hosts a new podcast about Mercatus’ RegData…
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Wealth in Disguise: Why Halloween Costumes Are Better Than Ever
Before we bid farewell to Halloween week 2018 for good, let’s take a chance to glean an economic lesson from the piles of candy, cardboard…
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ACE-ing the Repeal of the Clean Power Plan
The Trump administration is in the midst of moving forward with its proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, a replacement for the Obama-era…
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Can Self-Driving Taxis Reduce Urban Poverty?
In last year’s omnibus spending package, Congress allocated up to $1.5 million to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to conduct a study on the…
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Feds, Telecom Industry, Mayors Pledge Cooperation on Building Smart Cities
Charter Communications here in D.C. held a fascinating policy event this morning, “Partnering with Communities Today to Build the Smart Cities of Tomorrow.” The…
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Q&A on Frank v. Gaos, Class Action Lawsuit Headed to Supreme Court
Q: What is the main question at issue in Frank v. Gaos? A: The Supreme Court will consider whether a class action settlement is fair under…
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How to Rewrite the Payday Loan Rule
Last Friday, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection announced that it will be reconsidering its’ controversial Payday, Vehicle Title, and High-Cost Installment Loan rule.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Lots of contentious issues are in the news, from the midterm election to immigration to a disturbing rash of bombs sent to politicians and media…
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New York State Latest to Sue Over Climate Change
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood launched a lawsuit on October 24th against ExxonMobil Corporation over the company’s treatment of climate change-related risks and costs. The…
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Greens Want to Hide the Truth about Chlorpyrifos
Environmental crusades to ban pesticides often exaggerate chemical risks with little, if any, consideration of how bans undermine food production. And there is a reason…
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Food Truck Freedom Marches on in North Carolina
There is good news for fans of the Poor Piggy’s BBQ food truck. The town of Carolina Beach, North Carolina has reversed its anticompetitive…
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David Friedman Swings and Misses at AV START Act
Axios recently launched a newsletter dedicated to automated vehicles. In the most recent issue, David Friedman attacks bipartisan legislation in Congress aimed at speeding…
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Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Airline Deregulation
Forty years ago today on October 24, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law. This bipartisan legislation led to the elimination…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The fall 2018 edition of the semi-annual Unified Agenda was released on Wednesday. It lists upcoming regulations from every rulemaking agency. This marks the…
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Fewer Regulations, More Energy, Lower Emissions
The Trump administration had cheery news to report this week about deregulation, U.S. energy production, and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Mapping Public Policy Wins at the State Level
The fine folks at the State Policy Network deserve well-earned congratulations on the completion of yet another successful annual meeting, this year co-sponsored by…