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Department of Energy Proposes ending Obama-era Rules on Incandescent Light Bulbs
Energy and Environment News reported Wednesday that the Trump Department of Energy (DOE) is pushing back against two last-minute Obama regulations that would expand…
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Looking Back at the Success of ‘Free Enterprise Fund’
In the last decade there has been a kind of separation of powers renaissance in the courts. Previously, separation-of-powers cases were rare and usually occurred…
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Trump Revision of Obama-era Fuel Economy Rules Is No Climate Disaster
In a recent article in Energy and Environment News, several prominent climate scientists bash the Trump administration’s proposed rollback of the Obama administration’s…
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Protect Home Healthcare Providers: End Dues Skimming
Our friends at the State Policy Network have produced a compelling new video about the plight of men and women who have been forced…
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New York City Continues War on Affordable Consumer Travel
Yesterday, the New York City Council voted to impose a one-year cap on the number of ride-hailing vehicles able to operate in the city.
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Setback in Missouri Won’t Stop Worker Freedom Momentum
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal to beat his chest on Big Labor’s victory in striking down…
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Securities and Exchange Commission Bests Labor Department ‘Fiduciary Rule,’ But Still Adds Red Tape
In March, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals killed the Obama administration’s “fiduciary rule,” a prime example of the “bureaucrats know best” type of…
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Four Reasons the Endangered Species Act Desperately Needs Reform
The Department of Interior recently announced proposed revisions to enforcement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These revisions are designed to lessen the regulatory…
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Real Sin for Social Media Companies Not ‘Censorship,’ but Getting into Bed with Government
Social media outlets have been filled with commentary this week about the decisions by Apple, Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify to remove content created by…
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Right to Work Is Right for Missouri
Private-sector workers in states without right to work laws can still be forced to pay fees to a union they vehemently disagree with, even…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The big regulatory news is a proposed loosening of fuel economy standards for cars. This will likely improve safety; lighter cars don’t hold up…
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Carbon Taxers in Full Retreat in Canada
New Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on August 2nd his government was filing suit in Ontario’s Court of Appeal challenging the Canadian federal government’s…
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Massachusetts Passes Scaled-Down Green Energy Bill
A massive green energy and climate bill passed by the Massachusetts Senate was scaled back considerably in negotiations with the House before being passed…
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Mileage Rule for New Cars Everything Free Marketers Hoped
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on August 2nd proposed to revise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and…
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New Jobs Numbers Suggest There’s More Work to Do on Free-Market Reform
At an unemployment rate of 3.9%, it should be expected that job growth will slow. Employers around the country are reporting that they are unable…
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Federal Charters May Remove Interest Rate Uncertainty for Fintech Firms
The July 31 policy statement by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announcing that it will now grant “special purpose national…
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Debunking the (Plastic) Straw Man Arguments
Of all the consumer products one might have expected to become a flashpoint for political controversy, the humble plastic drinking straw is an unlikely contender.
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Will Trump Auto Rule End California’s Regulation of Fuel Economy?
The Trump administration is expected tomorrow to release its proposed revisions of the Obama administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and motor vehicle greenhouse…
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Finance Regulators Create New National Charter for Innovative ‘Fintech’ Companies
After years of speculation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced Tuesday that it would begin considering applications for special purpose…
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The Platform Economy Can Change the World
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute launches its new video about the platform economy. Platforms are an ancient way of doing business—think of matchmakers, city fairs,…
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Employee Rights Act Strengthens Worker Choice
Public employees are no longer required to pay fees to a union as a condition of employment. This newfound freedom was secured by the United…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The economy grew by 4.1 percent last quarter, which is wonderful news. The president also announced $12 billion of subsides for farmers hurt…
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New York State’s Flawed Online Lending Report
Earlier this month, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) released a study of online lending, including findings and recommendations for changes in…
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Final Repeal of Obama-era Clean Power Plan Expected in 2019
“EPA will not complete a replacement for the Clean Power Plan until at least early next year,” E&E News reported July 27, citing the Environmental…
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Made in Mékhé: An African Entrepreneur Makes the Case for Economic Freedom
When I was in Atlanta last month for the Foundation for Economic Education’s annual conference, FEEcon, I heard a lot of messages of…
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You Don’t Have to Be a Climate Skeptic to Oppose a Carbon Tax
In an op-ed published yesterday by CNS News, I explain why a carbon tax is not a conservative policy. The occasion for the piece…
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Continue Supply-Side Policies to Maintain Economic Growth
As my colleague Ryan Young says, four percent economic growth is wonderful news. It provides yet more evidence that free-market, supply-side policies work, and…
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Federal Employees Fight to Keep No-Show Jobs in Union Lawsuit
Federal employee unions and the Trump administration sparred in court over a set of executive orders that make changes to official time and grievance procedures…
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Driving Innovation: Timbro Index Charts Scope of Global Sharing Economy
The Swedish think tank Timbro has published the first global index of the sharing economy. The Timbro Sharing Economy Index (TSEI) is the…
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Trump’s Trade Meeting with European Commissioner Juncker: Better than Nothing
Many trade-watchers are breathing a sigh of relief about President Trump’s meeting yesterday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The result was essentially a…
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White House Budget Director Mulvaney Speaks at CEI Annual Dinner
Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, delivered the keynote address at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Annual Dinner and…
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House Transportation Chairman Proposes Examining Shift to User Fees for Highway Funding
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), the outgoing chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, this week released a legislative discussion draft of a new infrastructure bill,…
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CEI Releases ‘Authorizing Automated Vehicle Platooning, 2018 Edition’
CEI has released my third annual report on state barriers to vehicle platooning, Authorizing Automated Vehicle Platooning: A Guide for State Legislators, 2018 Edition.
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Trump Proposes $12 Billion in Aid to Farmers Hurt by His Tariffs
As we’ve been saying ever since this issue heated up, tariffs hurt the economy. There’s no way around it. Seeing this harm, President Trump…
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Appeals Court Rules Federal Housing Finance Agency Unconstitutional
Big news out of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals—the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is unconstitutionally structured. The FHFA was created in the wake…
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In U.S. and Australia, Payment Card Price Controls Create Many Unhappy Returns
Eight years ago this month, the Democrat-controlled House and Senate passed and President Barack Obama signed into law the so-called Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The European Union fined Google a record $5 billion for antitrust violations, and the president raised foreign policy kerfuffles with Britain and Russia on…
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Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo to Introduce Carbon Tax Bill
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) plans to introduce a bill to tax carbon dioxide emissions next week and will speak at a press conference at 9…
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Federal Judge Dismisses Big Apple Suit against Big Oil
U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan on July 19 dismissed New York City’s climate change lawsuit against British Petroleum, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and…
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House Votes for Scalise Resolution Opposing Carbon Taxes
The House of Representative voted on July 19th for a resolution “expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to American…
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Kent Lassman at the Independence Institute: Deregulation in the Trump Administration
The Competitive Enterprise Institute staff often travel to bring the good news of regulatory reform to friends, allies, and interested audiences all across the country, and…
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European Regulators Wrong on Google Fine, Wrong on Antitrust Policy
Dominance and popularity are not the same as a coercive monopoly. The European Commission is behaving in protectionist fashion, not in a manner benefitting consumers,…
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Five Questions for Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Nominee Kathy Kraninger
Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (formerly known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB), will…
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Justice Department Shouldn’t Second-Guess Shareholders in T-Mobile-Sprint Merger
T-Mobile and Sprint—the third and fourth largest mobile carriers in the United States, respectively—are in the process of merging into a single company…
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For Sake of Public Health, FDA Should Not Ban E-cigarette Flavors
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gotlieb, a medical doctor and cancer survivor, has had a long-term interest in tackling tobacco-related diseases. But unfortunately…
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5 Facts about Vapes that Media and Activists Don’t Want You to Know
The news media and activists like to hype e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco products as a health hazard, but the reality is that e-cigarettes could help…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was an uneventful week at regulatory agencies, with a lower-than-usual 51 new final regulations, ranging from skin disability ratings to garage door openers. For more data,…
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Twenty-Two Free Market and Conservative Groups Tell Trump To Ditch the Kigali Amendment
The U.N. Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Ozone-Depleting Substances would restrict many of the cheapest and most effective refrigerants now used in home…
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Interior Department Announces Region-wide Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale
On July 12, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will offer approximately 78 million acres offshore…
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Britain’s Brexit Challenge Gets Harder—and It’s Britain’s Fault
Leaving a regional trade bloc is much more difficult than entering it, as the United Kingdom is finding out. The European Union has integrated itself…