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Maryland Considers Another Anti-Gas Pipeline Measure
The abundant natural gas produced in Pennsylvania and West Virginia could do a lot of good for East Coast states—reducing electric bills, improving reliability, and…
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Defense Establishment Blasts Proposal for Trump Climate Review
In a letter released earlier this week, 58 “former national security leaders” urge President Trump not to approve the formation of a panel to review…
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VIDEO: Deirdre McCloskey on “Bourgeois Dignity”
Given that it is International Women’s Day and almost CEI’s 35th anniversary, today is an excellent day to celebrate the impressive legacy of economist (and…
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Labor Department Issues Proposed Update to Overtime Requirements
Last night, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) long-awaited proposed rule on overtime requirements was unveiled. The DOL intentionally wrote the rule to withstand legal challenge,…
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Federal Labor Ruling Prohibits Unions Charging Non-Members for Lobbying
It has long been the law of the land that labor unions may only collect agency fees, or forced union dues, from non-union members to…
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Higher Taxes, Wasteful Spending Not Solutions to Infrastructure Problems
In recent years, there have been increasing calls to raise federal fuel excise tax rates in order to address what many have called an infrastructure…
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California Supreme Court Upholds Pension Reform, Punts on ‘California Rule’
On Monday, March 4, the California Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, upheld a major provision in the state’s 2012 pension reform legislation, but punted…
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E-Cigarette Puritans Risk Lives
Tobacco companies faced a savage backlash in the 1990s when the public realized they willfully misled the world about the dangers of smoking. Yet when…
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Florida Bill Shines Light on Union Subsidy
Taxpayer dollars should be used to benefit the general public, not special interest groups. Yet, the state of Florida doles out a massive subsidy to…
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The Regulatory Costs of Abandoned Federalism
The deterioration of the principle of separation of powers is a signature feature of the powerful federal Administrative State. This corrosion is accompanied by a…
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Three Reasons Kigali Amendment Favors China over America
Beginning in the 1970s, many policymakers became concerned that the refrigerants used in most air conditioners and refrigerators were leaking into the air and depleting the…
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What Do Economists Think about the Minimum Wage?
The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said that if you laid all the world’s economists end to end, they would not reach a conclusion. President…
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House Democrats Take on Department of Energy over Appliance Efficiency Standards
The Department of Energy (DOE) has been regulating the energy efficiency of home appliances since 1987, ostensibly for the benefit of consumers, but the Obama-era…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Michael Cohen hearing shenanigans gobbled up the headlines, but actual substantive news happened regarding talks with China and North Korea—in particular, a planned tariff…
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EPA Finally Initiates Air Quality Assessment of Renewable Fuel Standard
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it is taking comment on the air quality impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and will complete a study…
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McCarthy Picks Republicans for Select Committee on Climate Crisis
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on February 28th announced the names of the Republicans he has chosen to serve on the Select Committee on the Climate…
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Trade, Job Losses, and Comparable Wages
One of the frequent objections posted by those who are concerned about free trade is that it leads to job losses. This is true. However,…
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VIDEO: Gig Economy Is Here to Stay
Our friends at the Federalist Society are back with a new video on the gig economy, “Here to Stay: The Modern World of Hospitality,” examining…
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Labor Officials Dragging Feet on Union Financial Transparency
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), a division within the Department of Labor (DOL), has been generally inactive during the Trump administration, an unfortunate reality…
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Administration Looks to Make Household-Level Imports More Expensive
One of the consistent problems with the Trump administration’s trade policy is an obsession with reciprocity—if goods aren’t treated exactly the same way as imports…
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Pension Obligation Bonds No Panacea for State Budget Liabilities
Illinois has a new governor and Chicago will soon have a new mayor—and the same old underfunded public pensions. Inheriting a predecessor’s debts is never…
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Warren Buffett Warns about Unfunded Public Pension Liabilities—Again
Would you invest in a state with large unfunded pension liabilities? Warren Buffett likely wouldn’t. In a long interview with CNBC this week, the famed…
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Virginia Legislature Restricts Privately-Funded State Legal Staff
As revealed in detail in “Law Enforcement for Rent: How Special Interests Fund Climate Policy through State Attorneys General,” former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg…
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How Much Will the Green New Deal Cost Your Family?
The American Action Forum (AAF) yesterday posted a preliminary analysis of the scope, implications, and costs of the Green New Deal (GND). I can’t wait…
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Fintech and the Future of Consumer Finance
Everyone understands the need for access to credit. No matter how well we budget, we occasionally come up short due to an unexpected circumstance or expense—a…
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Costs of Regulatory Takings and Property Value Destruction
Takings issues noted here are just the beginning of government neglect of the institution of private property, notable especially in emergent sectors. But the disdain…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The federal government was on a four-day work week in honor of George Washington’s birthday, but agencies still found time to issue regulations ranging from…
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White House to Create President’s Commission on National Climate Security
The Washington Post obtained leaked Trump administration documents this week that reveal that the White House is preparing an executive order to create a President’s…
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More New England Natural Gas Pipelines Needed, But Unlikely
New England continues to struggle with barely-adequate electric reliability, especially during the region’s winter cold spells. This is due in large part to the retirements of…
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Say No to Trump’s Proposed Auto Tariffs
President Trump is mulling a tariff on automobiles. Joining a long list of people urging him against it is the Japanese auto industry. That opposition…
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VIDEO: You’ve Come a Long Way, Regulatory Reform
Our friends at the American Enterprise Institute are doing a great job leveraging their many decades of experience in Washington, D.C. They've been raiding their…
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Confusing Poll Clouds Public Perception of Trump Emergency Declaration
President Trump’s national emergency declaration is constitutional, as I explained in a recent op-ed in the Washington Examiner. That’s an important fact, because we trust…
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Real-World Effects of Pension Debt
Debates over public pension finance often have an abstract quality, taking place outside most people’s immediate concerns. Yet, the real-world effects can be quite tangible.
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Regulatory Costs and the Loss of Liberty
From classical liberal and individual rights perspectives, the administrative state is an affront to liberty almost by definition.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Congress and President Trump passed a spending bill to avoid another shutdown, but President Trump’s national emergency declaration over a non-emergency provides a troubling precedent…
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California’s Gov. Newsom Slams Brakes on California Bullet Train
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on February 12th unexpectedly slammed the brakes on the state’s high-speed rail project. The project “as currently planned, would cost too…
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Sen. McConnell Calls for Senate Vote on Green New Deal, Markey Calls ‘Sabotage’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on February 12th that he planned to schedule a vote on the Green New Deal Resolution in the near future using Rule…
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House Republican Committee Leaders Begin Caving on Climate Science and Policies
Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Frank Lucas (R-OK), the ranking Republican members of the two committees with the most jurisdiction over climate science and energy-rationing…
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SEC Should Stop Coercing Brokers to Buy Data From Exchanges
There are many types of burdensome government mandates, but of all the Ten Thousand Commandments, regulations that coerce the purchase of a particular product or…
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Tim Carney on ‘Alienated America’
Our old friend (and former CEI Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow) Tim Carney has a new book out, “Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others…
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Appalachian Trail Should Not Block New Energy Development
The Department of Justice is pushing back against a federal court decision that could jeopardize the future availability and affordability of natural gas across America’s…
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Carbon Capture and Storage Not ‘Best System’ to Reduce Emissions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday held an all-day “listening session” at its Washington, D.C. headquarters on its proposal to revise the Obama administration’s new…
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Economics of Green New Deal: More Red Than Green
My colleagues have written elsewhere about the energy and environmental components of the “Green New Deal” proposals that have been enthusiastically agreed to by most…
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Unions Defend Job-Killing Regulation
A holdover Obama regulation is costing businesses billions of dollars and workers millions of job opportunities. A survey conducted by the International Franchise Association found…
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Setting the Record Straight on IRIS Reform Progress
The Competitive Enterprise Institute published my paper this week on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). This is a research program that…
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Unmeasured Meta-Costs of the Administrative State
In my recent Forbes column “Rule of Flaw and the Costs of Coercion: Charting Undisclosed Burdens of the Administrative State,” I discuss some of the…
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Ominous Parallels: Were AOC and LaRouche Secretly Working Together?
It seems like an odd coincidence that legendary American political cult figure Lyndon LaRouche would pass away the same week that the Green New Deal…
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Financial Services ‘Regulatory Sandbox’ Is Win for Consumers
The comment period on a critical new initiative to promote innovation in financial services from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau closed this Monday. My colleague…
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Conservative Criticisms of Passenger Facility Charge Again Miss Mark
Our friends at the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) recently sent a letter to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in advance of a hearing…
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Green New Deal Launched with Support from Democratic Presidential Candidates
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) held a press conference outside the Capitol building on February 7th to introduce their House and Senate resolutions for a…