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Wealth in Disguise: Why Halloween Costumes Are Better Than Ever
Before we bid farewell to Halloween week 2018 for good, let’s take a chance to glean an economic lesson from the piles of candy, cardboard…
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ACE-ing the Repeal of the Clean Power Plan
The Trump administration is in the midst of moving forward with its proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, a replacement for the Obama-era…
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Can Self-Driving Taxis Reduce Urban Poverty?
In last year’s omnibus spending package, Congress allocated up to $1.5 million to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to conduct a study on the…
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Feds, Telecom Industry, Mayors Pledge Cooperation on Building Smart Cities
Charter Communications here in D.C. held a fascinating policy event this morning, “Partnering with Communities Today to Build the Smart Cities of Tomorrow.” The…
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Q&A on Frank v. Gaos, Class Action Lawsuit Headed to Supreme Court
Q: What is the main question at issue in Frank v. Gaos? A: The Supreme Court will consider whether a class action settlement is fair under…
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How to Rewrite the Payday Loan Rule
Last Friday, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection announced that it will be reconsidering its’ controversial Payday, Vehicle Title, and High-Cost Installment Loan rule.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Lots of contentious issues are in the news, from the midterm election to immigration to a disturbing rash of bombs sent to politicians and media…
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New York State Latest to Sue Over Climate Change
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood launched a lawsuit on October 24th against ExxonMobil Corporation over the company’s treatment of climate change-related risks and costs. The…
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Greens Want to Hide the Truth about Chlorpyrifos
Environmental crusades to ban pesticides often exaggerate chemical risks with little, if any, consideration of how bans undermine food production. And there is a reason…
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Food Truck Freedom Marches on in North Carolina
There is good news for fans of the Poor Piggy’s BBQ food truck. The town of Carolina Beach, North Carolina has reversed its anticompetitive…
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David Friedman Swings and Misses at AV START Act
Axios recently launched a newsletter dedicated to automated vehicles. In the most recent issue, David Friedman attacks bipartisan legislation in Congress aimed at speeding…
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Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Airline Deregulation
Forty years ago today on October 24, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law. This bipartisan legislation led to the elimination…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The fall 2018 edition of the semi-annual Unified Agenda was released on Wednesday. It lists upcoming regulations from every rulemaking agency. This marks the…
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Fewer Regulations, More Energy, Lower Emissions
The Trump administration had cheery news to report this week about deregulation, U.S. energy production, and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Mapping Public Policy Wins at the State Level
The fine folks at the State Policy Network deserve well-earned congratulations on the completion of yet another successful annual meeting, this year co-sponsored by…
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Help the Poor by Making Their Lives Less Expensive
The Cato Institute’s Ryan Bourne has a great new study (and accompanying video) out about social welfare, government spending, and regulatory reform.
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Is Particulate Matter Air Pollution as Dangerous as Cancer?
Yesterday the Competitive Enterprise Institute published Steve Milloy’s new policy brief on the impact of revised federal rules for auto mileage and emissions, “Will the Trump…
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Environmental Protection Agency Considering Backdoor Subsidies for ‘Talking Car’ Tech
During the final days of the Obama administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed its “talking car” mandate. This would have required new…
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A Toast to the Sears Catalog
In retail, as in every industry, eras come and go. Few recent events mark the passing of an era like the announced bankruptcy of…
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Labor Department Listens to Public Input on Overtime Rule
Yesterday, I attended the Department of Labor’s final overtime listening session. It was an opportunity for the DOL to hear from the public on how…
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Discard Static Market Analysis, Let Sprint and T-Mobile Merge
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has been making a convincing case for a swift and condition-free approval from regulators of the proposed Sprint and T-Mobile…
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Frank v. Gaos: Fighting to Protect Consumers from Greedy Attorneys
Our class action legal team here at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Center for Class Action Fairness, has a new video explainer on their…
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U.S. Government Weighs in on ‘Cy Pres’ Abuse in Frank v. Gaos
On October 31, 2018, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Frank v. Gaos. The petitioners are class members challenging a class action…
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What Regulations Has the Trump Administration Eliminated So Far?
The fall 2018 Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions just appeared today. Notably, this is the first time the fall…
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UN Special Report: Turning the World’s Energy Economy upside down Is a Good Idea
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on October 6th released a “Special Report (SR15) on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees C.” The…
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David Henderson (1927-2018), RIP
We are sad to note the death of our good friend and strong ally, David Henderson, on September 30th in London. After a career as…
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How to Articulate a Free-Market Vision for the Future
The Competitive Enterprise Institute views most market failure rationales for government intervention as wrong, overstated, or unproven (or all of the above). The Competitive Enterprise Institute…
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California’s Attempt at Net Neutrality Clearly Unconstitutional
On September 30, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB-822, a set of regulations on Internet service providers that’s slated to go into…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In a Columbus Day-shortened work week, agencies issued more than 50 new regulations from deregulated TVs in TV commercials to POSTNET.
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Dutch Appeals Court, Citing Paris Climate Treaty, Upholds Climate Lawsuit
A Dutch appeals court last week upheld a lower court’s June 2015 decision requiring the government to cut Holland’s carbon dioxide…
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Be a Giver with DonorsTrust and State Policy Network in Salt Lake City
This week the State Policy Network is holding its legendary annual meeting, this time in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah. With hundreds of delegates from…
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Tariffs Won’t Achieve America’s Goals
Over at Morning Consult, Iain Murray and I have an op-ed explaining why tariffs are ill-suited to achieving the Trump administration’s economic and foreign…
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Promise and Pitfalls of Treasury Fintech Report
July 31st, 2018, was one of the most exciting days for financial technology regulation in recent memory. Around 10 a.m. that morning was when the…
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William Nordhaus, Paul Romer Win 2018 Economics Nobel Prize
Both of this year’s economics Nobel laureates have been on the short list for some time. Both are deserving, as David Henderson writes in…
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Bricks and Wood Heaters Also Need Relief from Obama-era Overreach
Several of the Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency’s most expensive and far-reaching Clean Air Act regulations are back in the news now that the Trump administration is…
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Automated Vehicles 3.0 Guidance Continues Green-Lighting Innovation
Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released the third iteration of its guidance for automated vehicles, Preparing for the Future of Transportation:…
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Deregulation Coming from Labor Department
Deregulation is a topline goal of the current administration. Leading the pack in terms of costs savings from reducing red tape is the Department…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In the news last week, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) got a new name (USMCA) that nobody will use, and President Trump…
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Twelve States Ask Court to Dismiss Climate Lawsuit against Big Oil
A dozen states led by Indiana this week filed an amicus brief asking the federal district court in Seattle, Washington to dismiss a climate…
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Booker and Holt Caricature Science Transparency Rule at Senate Hearing
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing this week on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule to strengthen the transparency…
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Free Trade Is Good for Both Havana and East Atlanta
Our musical friend Remy has a new video out this week for ReasonTV that puts a pop spin on trade policy and comparative advantage.
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New Study Reminds Regulators to Keep Focus on Consumer Welfare in Antitrust
Yesterday the good folks at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) held an important and timely event on the future of antitrust policy. The splotlight…
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Coal Plant Developers Still Building, Investing Despite Paris Agreement
“Since the Paris Climate Agreement was negotiated in December 2015, the world’s installed coal-fired capacity grew by 92,000 MW—an increase equal to the combined operating…
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Unfounded Accusations Regarding Bees and Glyphosate
Recent accusations that a popular weed killer harms honeybees have become headline news in a wide range of sources including CBS News, The…
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New NAFTA Could Have Been Much Worse
The new USMC (United States-Mexico-Canada) trade agreement isn’t very different from the old NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), and that’s a good thing. Given…
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U.S. Justice Department Challenges California Net Neutrality Rules
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a busy week in the political world, from the bitter Supreme Court controversy to President Trump’s UN speech, to tariffs on $260…
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Five Western States Will Vote on Energy Questions on November Ballots
Five western states have initiatives or referendums on energy issues. They include increasing renewable energy mandates, instituting a carbon tax, restricting oil and gas production,…
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Trump Auto Rule: Washington Post’s Non-Shocking Non-Discovery
Today in the Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and Chris Mooney bash the Trump Administration’s SAFE Vehicles Rule, a proposal to freeze…
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VIDEO: ‘Gov’ Is Back and He’s Here to Help
Our creative friends at the Independent Institute in California are back with an entertaining new video series that pokes fun at some of the…