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Biden overtime rule overruled
A Texas court last week threw out the Biden’s administration’s attempt to rewrite the rules for overtime. The court said that the Department of Labor…
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Swamp things: Why DOGE moving Beltway agencies to states isn’t deregulation
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), expected to be established by president-elect Trump and led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, aims to slash regulations,…
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NLRB moves to silence employers during union drives
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the independent federal agency that oversees union activity, ruled Wednesday in a case involving Amazon…
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Tariffs are lousy revenue generators
President-elect Donald Trump has proposed cutting income taxes and raising tariffs to replace some of the revenue. Economists of all political stripes have been…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Mergers and mail
The 2024 Federal Register topped 90,000 pages and is now the second-longest ever, dating back to 1936, with more than a month still to go.
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The ‘Carbon’ Futures Trading Commission vows to decarbonize futures trading
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently approved one of its most controversial guidance document to date. Under this new policy, the CFTC will…
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Republicans should wait for real permitting reform in the new Congress
The 2024 election has dramatically shifted the political landscape, with Republicans securing control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. As Washington prepares…
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Free the Economy podcast: Debt and taxes with Jack Salmon
In this week’s episode we cover the death of ESG investing, next moves on regulatory reform, Wall Street enthusiasm for a…
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A blueprint for digital censorship in the US?
Internal documents from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), as revealed by digital censorship journalist Matt Taibbi, showed that the group’s primary…
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Consumers benefit from access to Buy Now, Pay Later options
In a rapidly evolving retail landscape, with more and more commerce moving online, there has been a rise of financial technology (or fintech) tools. These…
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New CEI video: The case for big and small business in America
Some questions don’t have a correct answer. For example: What is the right size for a business? A new CEI video and website…
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Congressional lessons learned: Prioritize private risk capital investment
There is always a temptation for Congress to act during a lame duck session to show it is hard at work doing good for the…
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No more taxpayer dollars for environmental treaties until UN ends China’s developing country status
Most environmental treaties are a bad deal for the American people, and some are made worse by the fact that the United Nations (UN) classifies…
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Biden’s regulatory report is in, but key costs remain in the shadows
The election is over and among much else, federal regulations are emerging front and center for the incoming administration. While the federal debt sits…
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Biden’s 2024 Federal Register page count already second highest ever
We’ve not closed the Book of Regulation for 2024, Biden’s final calendar year in office, but we can mark a milestone nonetheless. The Federal Register…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Cable pricing and outer space arms trafficking
Donald Trump won a second term. The change in power might mean a second regulatory midnight rush between now and the inauguration. An initial rush…
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Free the Economy podcast: Nuclear renaissance with Nick Loris
In this week’s episode we cover a new vision for the Securities and Exchange Commission, affordable housing in Hong Kong, and how…
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Voters okay higher minimum wages, balk at more radical ideas
The ironic thing about Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ rhetoric is that it overlaps to a degree with old-school Democratic populism. This can be…
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New nuclear deals are good for technology and the power grid
Headlines over the last month have cropped up about technology companies signing various deals with companies in the nuclear power space. First Constellation Energy and…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Human subjects and food paper
Republicans called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” as a voter outreach tactic. Democrats got upset that a newspaper that generally supports Democrats didn’t endorse…
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Free the Economy podcast: Understanding the national debt with Thomas Savidge
In this week’s episode we cover whether Americans feel better off than they were four years ago, why we have more billion-dollar…
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A 2024 CEI HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: A new inventory unmasking federal agency guidance documents
In my new Halloween-themed article at Forbes, I explore the eerie expanse of federal agency guidance documents. We have to try to have a…
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The next president may face a ‘January Surprise’: Port strikes
The next president might face a test right as they are being inaugurated: a renewal of the International Longshoremen Association’s (ILA) strike against east coast…
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The origins and lessons of the ‘Satanic Panic’ of the 1980s
Moral panics are just one of those things that free societies seem to go through on a regular basis. The “satanic panic” was the big…
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The FCC’s curious curiosity about broadband data caps
With less than three months remaining in the current administration, the FCC has released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on broadband data caps. Data…
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New poll shows Pennsylvanians are concerned about energy affordability
A recent Commonwealth Foundation poll shows Pennsylvania residents are concerned about high energy costs and reliability. The poll, conducted in September, used a sample of 800…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Nursing pillows and mobile driver’s licenses
One more week until election season is finally, mercifully, over. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from space exports to recreational fires. On to the data:…
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In honor of Free Speech Week, end all regulatory gag orders
Free Speech Week is an annual, nonpartisan celebration of the indispensable right to speak one’s mind. While every level of government is expected…
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The compliance crisis: Unveiling the regulatory loopholes agencies love
While federal regulatory reform is critical, it’s equally important that existing oversight laws be followed. Unfortunately, many of these laws are routinely disregarded, with little…
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Principles for the new administration: Leave old rules with old technologies
There will be a new administration in January regardless which party wins the election, making this a good moment to recall President Reagan’s advice…
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Kamala’s Opportunity Agenda for Black Men: Regulatory frameworks masquerading as economic help
Recent developments signal a troubling trend for America’s small businesses, one that could alter the nation’s entrepreneurial landscape in a big and detrimental way. The…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Nuclear fuel and eagles’ nests
It was a four-day week due to Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The terrorist group Hamas’s leader was killed by the Israeli military. The economics…
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House advances anti-ESG legislation on investments, pensions
The US House of Representatives recently passed a major ESG reform package that is on its way to the Senate. In a vote of…
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Free the Economy podcast: Freedom to farm with Bill Wirtz
In this week’s episode we cover a new ranking of state governors, reforms to emergency powers, new research on working from…
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AJR’s economics Nobel is a partial victory for institutions
This year’s economics Nobel Prize winners are Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. They are frequent collaborators, often collectively called AJR. Much of their…
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Next time, let’s try emergency powers that shrink government
As the nation deals with the aftermath of successive natural disasters, the need for a renewed debate on federal emergency powers is increasingly clear. While…
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Searching for a remedy that makes sense
The Department of Justice recently sent its proposed remedies to the federal judge who found Google guilty of illegally monopolizing web search. Specifically,…
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Free the Economy podcast: Removing barriers to abundance with Chris Koopman
In this week’s episode we cover our record-high budget deficit, green trade wars, and what US adults are watching on TikTok.
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CEI’s The Surge: Nuclear Supreme Court case, the ADVANCE Act, and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication and special…
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Nuclear sites ripe for development
A new study commissioned by the Department of Energy shows the potential for siting new nuclear reactors at existing and recently retired nuclear power plant sites across…
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Germany is smug about its energy errors
A tweet last week from the German Foreign Office doubled down on the country’s failing approach to energy. Germany decided to shut down its 17 nuclear…
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#NeverNeeded regulations hindering hurricane recovery
It may be time to revive the #NeverNeeded campaign to assist the Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton recovery efforts. The idea behind #NeverNeeded…
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UK closes last coal plant
For the first time in 142 years, Britain has no coal power plants. But what are they doing instead? Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, Britain’s lone…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Refrigeration products and off-road vehicle debris
Iran fired 180 missiles at Israel. Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina. Longshoremen went on strike. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent. The…
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Longshoremen stood down when they realized wrecking the economy wasn’t popular
Thursday’s announcement that the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) was ending its strike at east coast and Gulf of Mexico ports after…
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White House has several options in dockworkers strike, none of them good
President Biden likes to call himself “Blue Collar Joe” and declare his support for union workers, but his administration has been…
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Free the Economy podcast: Reforming red tape in the states with James Broughel
In this week’s episode we cover striking dock workers at US ports, free-market innovation in healthcare, and the changing pattern of federal…
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Adam Smith on health policy
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute published my OnPoint essay, “The Innovation Imperative: What Adam Smith Can Tell Us About Health.” This was adapted from…
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The real issue in the port strike: Automation
Most news reports on the east coast dockworker’s strike are focused on the issue of wages, which obscures the real reason for the strike:…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Bent coins and Irish potato taxes
The leader of the Hezbollah terrorist group died in an Israeli military strike. The 2024 Federal Register is poised to reach 80,000 pages this week.