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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…
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Five Reasons Banning Plastics May Harm the Environment and Consumers
Consumers beware: In response to plastic waste collecting in the oceans, states, businesses, and even the European Union have proposed absurd bans on the use…
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Free Trade Makes Us All Richer (Even If Other Countries Don’t “Play Fair”)
This week my colleague Ryan Young rightly warned that the White House’s newly announced tariffs on Chinese goods will harm Americans consumers and…
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Climate Change, Fossil Fuels, and Human Well Being
Climate campaigners demand ever-greater government control over energy markets, resources, and infrastructure. Many believe the best thing governments can do with fossil energy is “…
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Priorities for DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards
The Trump administration recently installed Arthur Rosenfeld as the head of the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), which administers and enforces the…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
America celebrated its 242nd birthday on Wednesday, and new tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods came into effect on Friday. Meanwhile, during a…
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A Quick Lesson in Antitrust: Netflix and Comcast
Every time a major corporate merger is announced, pundits predictably warn of impending doom if regulators allow it to happen. Yet, pundits and regulators don’t know any…
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VIDEO: Your Next Government? From the Nation State to Stateless Nations
Since the early days of classical civilization, when (a notably imperfect form of) democracy was born, at least some people in the world have…
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Pruitt Leaves EPA Well Positioned to Advance Trump Pro-Growth Agenda
Scott Pruitt resigned as EPA administrator following months of controversy over a growing list of purported administrative improprieties. Ousting Pruitt has been a progressive movement objective from…
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Guidance on How to Curtail Time Federal Employees Spend Performing Union Business
If the Trump administration wants to achieve its stated goal to use tax dollars as effectively as possible, ending the practice known as official time, which…
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Congressional Democrats Seek to Undermine Janus Decision
Despite union hysterics, the Supreme Court's Janus decision does not impede or prohibit public employees’ right to unionize or collectively bargain. Instead, government unions will simply…
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CEI Book Club: Peter Navarro and Greg Autry, Death by China
Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro has a longstanding animus against China. It is important to know Navarro’s thoughts on China. He played a major role…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a newsy week, with Justice Kennedy’s retirement announcement, along with some big Supreme Court decisions, including the Janus decision regarding public sector unions;…
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Environmental Protection Agency to Streamline Permits for Major Projects
In a move that furthers the Trump administration’s goal of reducing unnecessary and duplicative red tape while also helping refocus his agency’s efforts on its…
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Reforming ‘Waters of the United States’ Critical for Economic Growth
The Waters of the United States rule vastly expanded government control over land in America and is one of the prime examples of the…
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Remarks by CEI President Kent Lassman at 2018 Annual Dinner
Remarks by CEI President Kent Lassman at our Annual Dinner and Reception on June 28, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Welcome to the CEI annual dinner. Thank you all for…
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Will The Real Freaks Please Stand Up?
Thanks to everyone who made last night’s annual dinner and reception a great success. Our headliners Mick Mulvaney, Jonah Goldberg, and…
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Federal Judge Dismisses California Cities’ Climate Lawsuit
U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup this week dismissed the climate change lawsuit brought by Oakland and San Francisco against British Petroleum, Chevron,…
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Supreme Court: Compelled Support of Unions Ends Now
Public sector workers who haven’t affirmatively chosen to support labor unions should see a bump in their paychecks, thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in…
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Trump Reorg Plan One Step Forward, Two Steps Back on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
My colleagues Trey Kovacs and Iain Murray and, in Forbes, Wayne Crews, give mixed reviews to President Trump’s long-awaited executive branch reorganization…
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Welcome to the CEI Annual Dinner
We’ve come to one of the most exciting times of the year—the week of the Competitive Enterprise Institute Annual Dinner and Reception. This year’s event,…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Common-Sense Guidance on Regulating Flame Retardants
In “Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress,” CEI recommended that Congress hold oversight hearings regarding the Consumer Product Safety Commission…
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Report Finds All European Union Countries Failing Paris Climate Targets
CANEurope (for Climate Action Network Europe) released a report this month that finds that all 28 member nations of the European Union are failing…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Summer officially began last week, and federal regulators celebrated with new regulations ranging from almond kernel computing to rough diamonds.
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Should FERC Consider Potential Climate Impacts of Proposed Interstate Gas Pipelines?
As CEI's Marlo Lewis notes in comments submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, neither the National Energy Policy Conservation Act nor the Natural Gas Act…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Protect Lifesaving Vaping Products
Congress must act before anti-tobacco zealots in and outside of government eliminate life-saving vaping products. Anything that makes e-cigarettes less attractive to smokers will result in…
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Relearning Old Lessons about the Minimum Wage
The question of the minimum wage is a hot topic this week, as the voters of the District of Columbia just approved Initiative 77, …
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Supreme Court Devastates Small Online Businesses and Consumers in South Dakota v. Wayfair
Today’s Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair is extremely disappointing and will likely cost online sellers and consumers dearly. Stopping state regulatory…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard
It has now been more than decade since the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was last revised, and the program is not getting any better with…
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Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Must Define New Rulemaking Powers
When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, there was an unprecedented allocation of power to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP—previously known as…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Keeping the Internet Sales Tax at Bay
Bad Internet sales tax legislation (mercifully) continues to stall in Congress. Pro-tax expansionists like Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) made a big political push to tie…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Options for Regulatory Reform
With a possible party change in play this November in one or both chambers of Congress, the time might be now or never to pass…
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Minimum Wage Proposal Divides D.C. Workers, Voters
Washington, D.C. has a $12.50 per hour minimum wage. But for tip-earning workers, such as servers and bartenders, the minimum is $3.33 per hour—tips are…
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‘I, Whiskey’ Nominated for 2018 Reason Video Prize
Thanks to the great Nick Gillespie of Reason for Friday’s exciting announcement that the Competitive Enterprise Institute short film “I, Whiskey: The Human…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Unshackle Middle-Class Investors and Entrepreneurs
Congress and President Trump recently gave Main Street banks and credit unions some much-need but still modest relief from the mountains of red tape stemming…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Angry allies, North Korea, and Chinese tariffs dominated the news last week. Under the radar, regulatory agencies closed in on their 1,500th new regulation of…
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Trump Nominates Mary Neumayr and Dan Simmons
The White House has announced that President Donald J. Trump will nominate two individuals for positions of considerable importance to energy and environmental issues.
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Solar ‘Incentives’ Are Busting Out All Over
Ever wonder why installations of household solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and utility-scale solar power have surged since 2014? The declining cost of solar technology is…
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Massachusetts Senate Unanimously Passes Carbon Tax Bill
The Massachusetts Senate on June 14th unanimously passed a mammoth climate bill that contains instructions to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions. S. 2545,…
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Full Court Press on Kigali Amendment Begins
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which would restrict production of many commonly-used refrigerants on the grounds that they contribute to global warming,…
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Messages of Freedom and Hope from FEEcon
Last week I was in Atlanta enjoying the excitement and intellectual ferment of FEEcon, the annual conference held by the Foundation for Economic Education.
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It’s Magna Carta Day!
In a peaceful English meadow made riotous by armed camps, King John sealed Magna Carta, the Great Charter of English liberty, 803 years ago…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Legislative Action on Labor and Employment
Lawmakers have made little to no progress during the 115th Congress to improve labor and employment policy. U.S. labor law is outdated and in…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Stop the President from Unilaterally Raising Tariffs
Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power of the purse. Under no circumstances may the president unilaterally raise taxes.
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Last Chance for the 115th: Bring Accountability to the Financial Regulators
In CEI’s “Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress,” my colleagues John Berlau and Iain Murray made the enduring recommendation…
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Keep Entrepreneurs Free from Internet Sales Taxes
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute released a new video on Internet sales taxes in which Center for Technology and Innovation Associate Director Jessica Melugin…
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Good News for Young Lemonade Stand Entrepreneurs
Every summer there are news stories about local authorities shutting down children’s lemonade stands over lack of licenses, permits, a lack of restaurant-grade kitchen or…
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Last Chance for the 115th: Senate Should Pass AV START Act
Back when CEI published “Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress” at the end of 2016, we wrote that “[t]o…
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Will Trump’s Tariffs Spell the End of Free Markets?
The president’s threats must be fought, but the good news is America’s fundamental institutions will withstand Trumpian bluster. For one thing, our economy remains a…