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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Sixth in a Series)
This week’s civil forfeiture outrage begins with a photograph of a police dog crouching over more than $100,000 in U.S. currency. Earlier this week, CBSDFW.COM…
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Inflation Increases to 6.8 percent, Misery Index Reaches 11
October’s inflation reading was the highest since the recession of 1991. November’s is the highest since the 1982 recession, at an annualized 6.8 percent.
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For Energy Infrastructure Projects, Even Supreme Court Victories Mean Nothing
In the last two years, two different natural gas pipeline projects were the subject of Supreme Court cases, and both times the project developers achieved…
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Can Regional Trade Agreements Replace the WTO?
Trade policy is in a bad place right now, with two consecutive protectionist administrations in the U.S. and the World Trade Organization (WTO) possibly damaged…
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Is It Finally Goodbye for Incandescent Light Bulbs—and Consumer Choice?
President George W. Bush initiated the federal government’s targeting of incandescent light bulbs in energy legislation he signed in 2007. Subsequent Department of Energy…
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Seven Quotes about Communism
Years ago, I pulled together some quotations about Communism that I thought would make good epitaphs for what I believed was a dying ideology. Unfortunately,…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new final regulations this year will pass 3,000 this week, with more than three weeks still to go. The Omicron variant gave…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages (Fifth in a Series)
I just finished watching one of the most gripping, compelling videos I have ever seen. It’s like a dystopian horror movie—except it’s real. It’s…
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Why Both Democrats and Republicans Should Oppose Gigi Sohn’s Nomination as FCC Commissioner
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee held a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). During the…
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CEI’s New Anti-Carbon Tax Study
CEI has a new study out this week titled, “Why Carbon Taxes Are Anti-Growth, Anti-Consumer, and Politically Dangerous for Conservatives.” It develops the following…
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Social Media in Parallel Universes
The chasm between the political discourse at yesterday’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on social media platforms and the legal decision…
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Request to OIRA to Ensure Peer Review of Agency’s Medical Marijuana Claims
For two years, CEI has been trying to get the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to conduct…
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The Bizarre Logic of the NLRB’s Decision in the Amazon Union Case
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) order overturning the workers’ rejection of a union at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, and ordering…
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Another Court Rejects Federal Attempt to Impose a Vaccine Mandate
Shortly following the Fifth Circuit blocking the private employer mandate from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Judge Matthew Schelp of the Eastern…
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Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Cannot Undo Biden Administration’s Anti-Drilling Agenda
The Biden administration seems to know the playbook for pretending to respond to high gasoline prices. First, blame big oil for price gouging and launch…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a short work week because of Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, agencies issued new rules ranging from blood lancets to crash test dummies. On to the…
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The “Public Nuisance” Theory of Pharmaceutical Liability for the Opioids Crisis Is … a Public Nuisance
The jury in a federal court in Ohio has found three major pharmacy chains—CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens—liable for the opioids crisis in two plaintiff…
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Deregulate to Stimulate: 15 Republican Governors Launch ‘Operation Open Roads’ to Unclog Supply Chains
Some cheery holiday news reported in the Epoch Times: Fifteen Republican governors, led by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, have launched “Operation…
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The Invisible Hand, Not Washington, Is Easing the Supply Chain Crisis
The supply chain crisis is showing signs of receding. This is happening not because of any action by the White House or Congress. The market…
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NEPA Is Not a Climate Policy Framework. CEI Submits Comments on Biden Proposal
CEI submitted comments yesterday opposing the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) proposal to repeal regulations adopted by the Trump CEQ in July…
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Another Gasoline Price Increase, Another Useless Federal Trade Commission Investigation
President Biden has officially requested the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate high gasoline prices. Unfortunately, this diversionary tactic has a long history and…
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GOP Cannabis Legalization Bill Could Finally Surmount Partisan Divide
Even with the majority of Americans having supported cannabis legalization for nearly a decade, proposals to decriminalize the substance at the federal level have…
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Biden Administration Seeks to Punish Stablecoin Success
Stablecoin market capitalization has risen by 500 percent in past 12 months. The growth aligns with growing interest in transacting outside heavily regulated banking…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The House passed a $1.85 trillion spending bill, which a 50-50 Senate will now consider. An Alzheimer’s vaccine began human trials. If it…
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Court Strikes Down Trump Tariff: Precedent for Institution-Level Changes?
Pessimism reigns for trade liberalization in the short run, but there is fresh hope for the long run. A new court decision over solar panel…
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New Car Prices Are Soaring Biden’s Policies Would Make Things Worse
New car prices are soaring, according to a report released last week by Kelley Blue Book. From Kelley’s press release: New-vehicle…
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Review of Michael Munger, The Sharing Economy: Its Pitfalls and Promises (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2021)
Transaction costs are one of the most overlooked ideas in economics. They are also one of the most important. The lowering of transaction costs is…
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An Inaccurate Update on OMB’s Inaccurately Reported Costs of Federal Regulation
Here inside the Beltway we are now in fiscal year 2022. In anticipation of the next edition of the chronically late “annual” Report to Congress…
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“America Recycles Day” Should Recognize Markets as the Key to Prosperity and Environmental Protection
Today is “America Recycles Day,” which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains recognizes that recycling contributes to “prosperity and the protection of our…
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