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Lenny Bruce, Capitalism vs. Communism, and Biden’s Banking Nominee
At the height of the Cold War in the ‘1960s, then-controversial comedian Lenny Bruce offered a surprising boost to the defense of capitalism over communism.
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Facebook Leaks Are Hardly Newsworthy
The frenzied media coverage of Facebook document leaks seems to confuse hosting disagreeable content with the platform being the cause of humanity’s ills. Worries…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved COVID-19 booster shots for adults over 65, or with certain medical conditions, or who have job-related…
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Are Sky High California Gas Prices in Store for the Rest of the U.S.?
Want to know how high gasoline prices can go thanks to administration policies? Just look at where they’re already at in California. At $4.55…
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Climate Change Alarmism: This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages, Part 3
A fascinating story in the Huffington Post hits a CEI trifecta: abuse of government authority, climate change alarmism, and reckless spending of civil forfeiture…
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The Philadelphia Steal Mill: This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages, Part 2
The Institute for Justice has just published an extraordinary report on civil forfeiture. For many years, the City of Philadelphia ran what is best…
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I, Pencil Meets Today’s Political Realignment
Conservatives are different than they were just a few years ago, and it isn’t just because of Trump, who is more a symptom than a…
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The Destruction of a Perfectly Good Corvette Convertible: This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages, Part 1
A colleague suggested that CEI should start up a regular feature: Civil Forfeiture Outrage of the Week. That assignment is more challenging than one might…
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Manchin Zaps De-Facto “Clean” Energy Mandate, Carbon Tax
The Hill reported yesterday that Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and John Tester (D-MT) “poured cold water” on Democratic colleagues’ attempt to include a carbon…
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“Stop Wall Street Looting Act” Would Empower Wall Street, Harm Main Street
Washington policies are often misnamed. Recent legislative proposals labeled “infrastructure” concerned not roads or bridges, but social spending. But sometimes, a bill in Congress…
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Reconciliation Bill Provision Threatens IRA Holders’ Investing Opportunities
A couple of weeks back, I commented, in a Competitive Enterprise Institute blog post, on a provision of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In a four-day week, the economy got mixed news on employment and inflation, a dubious new antitrust bill was announced, and…
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Markets Aren’t Perfect; Regulation Is Often Far Worse
A rhetorical tactic commonly employed by both my technocratic and progressive friends is a straw man argument. “If market processes are so great,” they charge,…
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The United States Should Oppose the EU’s Proposed Common Charger Regulation
The European Union (EU) wants to require all cell phone manufacturers to use a common charging device. According to European policy makers, if everyone…
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The Radicalism of “Build Back Better” Is the Crisis that Classical Liberals Must Not Let Go to Waste
If the mantra of the day is, “Never let crisis go to waste,” then what are we to do when artificial crisis is being created…
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There Is Less to Biden’s Ports Deal than It Appears
President Biden on Wednesday announced that the two main ports on the West Coast will start operating 24 hours a day to help address…
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Sen. Klobuchar’s Half-Baked Antitrust Bill
A famous scene in the 1990s comedy movie Half Baked has a young Jon Stewart musing about how different everyday activities can be while…
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IRS Licensing of Tax Preparers Is Ripe for Abuse
Roughly a quarter of all jobs in America now require some sort of occupational license. Sixty years ago, it was about one job in…
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September Inflation Remains High and Fixable
Inflation remains high, with September’s numbers coming in at a 5.4 percent annualized rate, the highest number in a decade. The Federal Reserve’s target…
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The 2021 Economics Nobels: The Importance of Empiricism, and its Limits
The economics Nobel is given to individuals, but it often really intends to recognize schools of thought or methodological approaches. That is the case with…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Katherine Tai, the new U.S. Trade Representative, gave a major speech affirming President Biden’s commitment to former President Trump’s trade protectionism. Facebook’s website…
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Public Interest Groups Challenge Nasdaq Diversity Rule in Federal Court
Back in August, I wrote about the new board diversity requirements on Nasdaq-listed companies that had been approved by the Securities and Exchange…
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IRS Needlessly Chases Minnows to Catch Whales
As part of its Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has asked Congress to authorize a sweeping new financial reporting…
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EIA Releases International Energy Outlook 2021–What Is the Big Picture?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) yesterday released International Energy Outlook 2021, this year’s iteration of the agency’s annual report projecting world energy market…
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Retro Review: The Social Responsibilities of Business (1970)
The Biblical book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that “there is no new thing under the sun.” Even centuries before the modern era, our ancestors…
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Why Don’t U.S. Ports Operate 24/7? Ask the Unions
There has been a massive backlog for months now of cargo ships waiting to drop their goods at West Coast U.S. ports. As I…
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How Civil Forfeiture Can Enable Public Officials’ Misuse of Funds
A fascinating story at Reason last week—about the misuse of money confiscated through civil forfeiture—illuminates the many kinds of corruption that the practice of…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Congress averted a government shutdown and continued to negotiate over nearly $5 trillion in combined spending. Merck announced an antiviral pill for COVID-19 that…
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Let the Market Make Corrections and Leave the Red Tape out of It
YouTube banned anti-vaccine content on its platform, Instagram is accused of being “toxic” for its teen users, and Facebook’s Oversight Board is routinely…
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CEI Files Legislative Proposals to Rescue Crypto
On Monday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute responded to Sen. Patrick Toomey’s (R-PA) request for proposals to clarify laws around cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.