The Open Market Blog

• 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