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Thirteen Years and Counting: Idaho Case Illustrates How Regulatory Enforcement Can Go Awry
In 2007, Mike and Chantell Sackett broke ground on a lot near scenic Priest Lake, Idaho, where they planned to build their dream home. It…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As Labor Day marked the unofficial end of summer, the unemployment rate went back down to 8.4 percent, and Attorney General Barr announced that the…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
COVID-19 deaths passed 200,000 in the United States, and are roughly 1 million worldwide. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing sparked a fresh Supreme…
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CDC’s Eviction Moratorium is Unlawful, Unconstitutional
On Friday, September 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an emergency order imposing a nationwide moratorium on certain residential evictions…
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Headline: School Closures to Offer a Lesson in Economics
The U.S. got some good news that the employment rate had fallen to 8.4 percent in July, but it is possible that that could jump back…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
COVID-19 deaths passed 200,000 in the United States, and are roughly 1 million worldwide. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing sparked a fresh Supreme…
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Liberal Institutions and the Material and Moral Progress of Humanity
Let me start by once again thanking CEI for the incredible honor of being the 2020 recipient of the Julian L. Simon Memorial Award. I…
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School’s Out Forever? Teachers Unions Flex Muscle on Reopening Policies
What determines whether your child school is open this fall? Apparently, the strength of the teachers local union. That was what analysts found using data…
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California’s AB5 Holding Back Recovery Nationally
There was some modest good news in the Labor Department’s report today on unemployment benefits, the falling numbers indicating that people are finding work despite…
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Demise of ESG Investing Overstated
The Department of Labor’s recent notice of proposed rulemaking on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in pension fund investments has received a…
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Don’t Let Feds Become Investing’s Sheriff of Nottingham
Investing company Robinhood and its signature smartphone app have taken off in popularity in the last several months. According to Bloomberg, Robinhood has “catapulted ahead…
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INFORM Me When It’s Over
Among other depressing developments, 2020 saw the introduction of the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (INFORM) in both houses…
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All Levels of Government Need a Top-to-Bottom Review of Transportation Policy
Evidence is mounting that mass transit played a major role in spreading COVID-19. According to analytics firm TrendMacro, the only factor “that seems to make…
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Retro Review: William H. McNeill – Plagues and Peoples (1976)
William McNeill was one of the 20th century’s leading big-picture world historians. Interconnectedness is a major theme of his work. Plagues and Peoples applies McNeill’s…
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Should Parents Have to Choose between Keeping Federal Benefits or Keeping their Kids Safe from COVID-19?
Should parents have to choose between keeping federal benefits to cope with COVID-19 or keeping their children at home if the local school isn’t doing…
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Retro Reviews: Azar Gat with Alexander Yakobson – Nations: The Long History and Deep Roots of Political Ethnicity and Nationalism (2013)
Nations: The Long History and Deep Roots of Political Ethnicity and Nationalism is the rare book that makes the reader see the world differently, permanently.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The last week saw another political convention, another police shooting, and two hurricanes. There was at least one major positive story, though. Polio has finally…
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This Labor Day, Let’s Celebrate Individual Worker Rights
Labor Day 2020 is definitely an ironic moment: The federal government is having a holiday to celebrate working Americans at a time when record numbers…
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Anti-Nicotine Zealots Only Care about Science When it Says What They Want
Opponents of nicotine vapor products like to claim the scientific high ground. For years, they have asserted there isn’t enough evidence on the long-term risks…
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The Washington Post Plays Fast and Loose in Coverage of CFPB performance During Pandemic
In a recent piece, Washington Post Opinions Contributor Helaine Olen slammed CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger for doing too little to protect consumers during the COVID-19…
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Are Scandinavian Countries Socialist?
Are modern Scandinavian countries actually socialist? This question must be asked because it is a common rhetorical device of “democratic socialist” politicians to wave away…
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Demise of ESG Investing Overstated
The Department of Labor’s recent notice of proposed rulemaking on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in pension fund investments has received a lot of…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The spring 2020 Unified Agenda was published on August 17. Due four months ago, it collects every rulemaking agency’s plans for upcoming regulations. The number…
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Conservative Carbon Tax: Bad Politics, Bad Policy
A recent article in National Review suggests conservative politicians would be smart to advocate a carbon tax, enabling them to show they care about the…
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A Discussion on Saving Bluebirds through Private Conservation, and a Tribute to Andy Thompson
The following interview of CEI Senior Fellow R.J. Smith was inspired with the encouragement of former CEI staff member Andy Thompson, who passed away recently.
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App-less in Sacramento? Uber and Lyft Allowed to Postpone California Departure
On August 20, an appeals court in California allowed Uber and Lyft to halt their plans to flee the Golden State rather than comply with…
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California’s Rolling Blackouts Cast Further Doubt on Electric Vehicles’ Future
However, California’s rolling blackouts underscore the difficulties that a massive scaling up of electric vehicles would entail. The problem is that EVs don’t really reduce…
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CFPB Shouldn’t Burden Debt Settlement with Regulations that Could Harm Consumers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently published a report that explores the use and proliferation of debt settlement. While its findings identify some important trends…
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The Year of the Weeniecane May Be Ending
Every prediction for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season—and there are many of them—has been forecasting above normal activity, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Kamala Harris was announced as the Democratic dvice-presidential candidate, a massive storm swept through the Midwest, and Congress is out of session until September. The…
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Can You Have Worker Representatives without Unions? Uber Hopes So
Rideshare company Uber is trying to find a way to allow its drivers to collectively express any grievances or concerns they have without having those…
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The Socialist Temptation: Why Don’t People Remember the Horrors of Socialism?
Why are people still attracted to socialism when its history is plain for all to see? One reason is that those who proclaimed the dawn…
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How the U.S. Spreads Fake Vaping Fears, Part II
In a previous post, CEI's Michelle Minton described how, through the use of statistical hocus pocus, anti-vaping interest have exported vape panic around the world.
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Tragedy of Young Investor Shouldn’t Be Exploited to Harm Freedoms
The recent death of Alexander Kearns, the 20-year-old day trader who took his own life, has sparked a conversation about the business practices of an increasingly important…
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Solutions to Locust Plague Are the Same as for COVID: Freedom and Technology
As nations around the world have struggled to address COVID-19, desert locusts have wreaked havoc in Africa this year. For months, billions of these pests…
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Department of Energy Proposes More Water and Less Government Intrusion in Showers
The Department of Energy has proposed a rule loosening existing the federal requirements and allowing more water from showers. This is good news for those…
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Can 15 States Be Wrong? Yes, When They Want More Federal Appliance Regulations!
Fifteen states have threatened to sue the Trump administration unless the Department of Energy sets new energy efficiency standards for 25 appliances. Almost every point…
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America’s “Unconstitutional Slop” Predates Trump’s Executive Actions on Pandemic Economic Relief
The logic of the administrative state dictates the expansion of itself in response to any crisis. Executive actions play a game rigged against limited government.
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Trump Adopts one of Barack Obama’s Better Ideas: The Payroll Tax Cut
Trump’s decision to Institute a payroll tax holiday via an executive order over the weekend is a good idea even if its effectiveness as an…
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New CEI Video: Eliminating Never Needed Regulations to Help with Recovery
In a new CEI video, Kent Lassman talks about three things agencies can do rein in regulations that are hindering the COVID-19 response and making…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
August’s 2020 disaster list so far includes a massive warehouse explosion in Beirut that killed more than 100 people and Hurricane Isaias. In positive news,…
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CEI Submits Comment Letter in Support of EPA’s Benefit-Cost Analysis Rule
The comment period closed this week on the Environmental Protection Agency’s benefit-cost analysis (BCA) rulemaking. Under the proposal, all economically significant Clean Air Act regulations…
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Cautious Optimism on July Jobs Numbers: Prudence, Resilience Will Aid Recovery
In July, 1.8 million new jobs were created, and the unemployment rate dropped to 10.2 percent. That is a welcome follow-up to the second quarter’s…
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Canadian Aluminum Tariff Increase is #NeverNeeded, Should Be Repealed Instead
President Trump on Thursday announced he will reimpose 10 percent aluminum tariffs against Canada. Originally enacted in 2018 on national security grounds, the tax was…
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Californians: Educate Your Children at Your Own Risk
Activist Carl DeMaio caused a stir this week by holding a press conference in which he declared that hiring tutors could be could result in…
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Voodoo Economics—Congress pushes for COVID-19 relief for the deceased
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When Spending Is Regulation: The Grand Unification Theory of Government Growth
Alongside helplessness in the face of a looming $27 trillion debt, debating administrative state policy hasn’t been much help in forestalling federal government growth.
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Donald Trump Jr.’s Opposition to the Pebble Mine Shouldn’t Matter
Well-connected sportsmen, often Republicans, have been known to side with environmental obstructionists on occasion. When they learn that one of their isolated hunting or fishing…
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An Executive Order 13,891 Guidance Document Portal Update: Another Lap to Go
President Donald Trump’s October 9, 2019 Executive Order 13,891 (E.O. 13,891) and a subsequent White House Office of Management directive to amplify and clarify it…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
What a week. COVID-19 deaths passed 150,000. Second-quarter GDP declined 9.5 percent from a year ago and 7 percent from the previous quarter. In more uplifting…