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Better Ways to Fight Poverty than the Minimum Wage
Every January, states and cities across the country raise their minimum wages. There are also calls to raise the federal minimum wage, which has stayed…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
A major antitrust bill from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is poised to hit the Senate floor without a proper hearing. Considering its contents, one…
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Court Enjoins Enforcement of Federal Workforce Vaccine Mandate
The Biden administration has promulgated four COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Two were issued via administration regulations and were recently reviewed by the Supreme Court. For…
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CFPB’s Dodd-Frank Race and Gender Data Collection Mandates Will Harm Financial Inclusion
In mid-2020, on the 10th anniversary of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul being rammed through Congress and signed by then-President Obama, I catalogued the damage…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Tenth in a Series: Baltimore Edition)
This Baltimore Brew news story describes how the Baltimore Police Department (BPD)—like many police departments around the country—seizes millions of dollars, thousands of weapons,…
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As Numbers Stagnate, Unions Continue to Look to Congress For Salvation
The Department of Labor’s latest statistics confirm that the union movement in the U.S. remains stagnant and slowly declining. Only 10.3 percent of U.S.
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The American Innovation and Choice Online Act Would Regulate Away Consumer Benefits
Perhaps Congress’ enthusiasm for ongoing government oversight of business decisions, embodied in tomorrow’s closed door markup of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act…
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Comments on Department of Labor Pension ESG Rule
At the end of last year, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to rewrite rules on pension fund…
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Six Myths about Bitcoin Energy Use
Newsweek: Bitcoin Mining on Track to Consume All of the World’s Energy by 2020 Bloomberg: What if there were a safe digital currency…
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Larry Fink and BlackRock Pulling Back on “Woke” Investing?
Larry Fink and his team at BlackRock seem to have heard the growing roar of opposition to politicized investing that is emerging in the United…
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In Russia, Government Tells Internet What to Say
As a general rule, if you’re on the same regulatory page as Russia, you should probably turn the page—if not set fire to it. But…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, everyone. Inflation hit a 40-year high last week. Meanwhile, agencies issued new rules ranging from French dressing freedom to…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages (Ninth in a Series: Texas Edition)
There is a big difference between being accused of misconduct and a court finding of misconduct. Nonetheless, the recent accusations leveled against Nathan Johnson, the…
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The Fed Is Not a Climate Regulator
On Tuesday, January 11, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the re-nomination of Jerome Powell to be Federal Reserve chairman. If Powell…
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Equity Crowdfunding Success Should Spur Further Deregulation
Equity Crowdfunding (Reg CF), the innovative tool that allows middle class people to invest in early-stage companies, has now topped $1.1 billion in investment.
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CEI’s Advice to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Steer Clear of Climate Policy
On Friday, January 6, CEI submitted comments on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s November 2021 Technical Conference on Greenhouse Gas Mitigation under Sections…
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Sustainable Aviation Fuel Provisions In Build Back Better – A Slippery Slope?
There are many carrots for low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels in the Build Back Better legislation passed by the House and now being considered…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Teachers’ unions continued to make an eloquent case for school choice by shutting down schools in major cities like Chicago. The country also observed the…
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Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments over Vaccine Mandates
Today the Supreme Court heard over three hours of oral arguments on two of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. In the first case,…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Eighth in a Series)
I wish it were harder to find forfeiture outrages to write about, but they keep popping up. This week, I focus on Massachusetts. Here’s a…
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Retro Book Reviews: A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity by Luigi Zingales (Basic Books, 2012)
University of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales’s book A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity, which celebrates its 10th anniversary…
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An Option Isn’t an Option When It’s Mandatory, Even Online
Later this year, Instagram users will have the option of a chronological feed of the accounts they follow. This option is already available to…
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Which Classic Books Deserve a Retro Review in 2022?
Every year, there’s a tsunami of new books about economics, politics, and public policy that are full of hot takes and policy recommendations. In any…
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America Can Keep Its Cool If Senate Rejects Kigali Amendment
The Biden administration apparently wants to add air conditioning to the long list of items becoming more expensive. This latest threat to consumers comes from…
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Joe Biden and Merrick Garland Promise New Regulation in Agriculture and other Sectors
After stepping off into the snow upon arrival Monday, January 3, President Joe Biden headed back to the White House, where his first action of…
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Tell Us It Ain’t So, Joe
There is at least one news report that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has continued negotiating with the White House on a slimmed down version…
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New York State of Mind Wrong on Social Media Regulation
Recent injunctions, in both Florida and Texas, against state-level social media laws championed by Republicans illustrate the difficulties of regulating content moderation online.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Happy new year, everyone. The Biden administration’s first Federal Register volume is officially complete. While there likely will not be much significant legislation in 2022,…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Register took Christmas Eve off, and here’s hoping everyone had a happy holiday season. One more week to go in 2021. The Food…
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Edmans, Soukup, and Devine: 2021 Book Review Roundup
We saw some great books on economics and politics published over the past year, and some excellent book reviews. Just this week, my colleague Ryan…