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New Study: The Case against Antitrust Law
Antitrust regulation is a complex, multifaceted issue. It brings together insights from law, economics, political science, history, philosophy, and other disciplines. Right now both political…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In a remarkable human achievement, scientists took the first-ever image of a black hole. The effort took eight telescopes on five continents, five petabytes of…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The news cycle was more sizzle than steak last week. President Trump threatened to shut down the southern border and backed off almost immediately, so…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Pundits spent the week engaging in mortal combat over the Mueller Report, which none of them have read, and spring officially sprung with baseball’s opening…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As tempers flared over how many “chuggas” to say before “choo-choo,” the 2019 Federal Register topped the 10,000-page mark last week and the number of…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
President Trump has declared passing the new NAFTA/USMCA as his top legislative priority, but congressional ratification will not be automatic. Mexico and Canada are also…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Last week was low-drama by recent standards, but still had some important developments. The U.S. trade deficit set a record for the second year in…
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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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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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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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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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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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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The delayed State of the Union speech happened on Tuesday, but contained no surprises on the policy front. The length of the Federal Register doubled…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Midwest froze, but the Federal Register began to heat up. As I predicted earlier, the first three post-shutdown editions were slow. Then Thursday’s edition…
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The Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act
This week Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced the Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act, which would reduce the president’s authority to unilaterally enact new tariffs by…
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The Shutdown Is Over: How Does that Affect Regulation?
During the partial shutdown, the Federal Register slowed to a crawl. Published every weekday, an average day’s edition consists of about 270 pages and contains…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The partial shutdown ended on Friday, though only on a three-week deal. This likely will not show up in the Federal Register’s page and rule…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Last week, people got worked up over hamburgers and a television commercial about razors. Meanwhile the partial federal shutdown continued, and a bill to introduce…
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Agenda for the 116th Congress: Trade
President Trump’s doubling of tariffs has already cost the economy almost 1.8 percentage points of growth. That means 2018’s 3.4 percent third quarter growth could…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
On Saturday the partial government shutdown became the longest ever. The news cycle was wall-to-wall wall and shutdown coverage, though Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) introduced…
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Reject U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act’s Presidential Power Grab
A forthcoming bill, the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act, written by “Death by China” coauthor Peter Navarro and other presidential advisers, seeks to expand the president’s…
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Agenda for the 116th Congress: Regulatory Reform
The first chapter in the new Competitive Enterprise Institute agenda for Congress, “Free to Prosper,” is on regulatory reform. Most of the Agenda is about reforming…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Right now is a weird time for regulation. The shutdown has lasted for several business days, and the Federal Register has slowed to a trickle.
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What’s on Tap for Trade in 2019
At noon today, the 116th Congress convened. Over at Fox Business, Iain Murray and I look at what the coming year has in store for…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The shutdown continued all through Christmas week. But because the Federal Register works on a few days lag for many of its publications, it still…
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An Executive Order to Shine Light on Dark Matter
Over at The Hill, Wayne Crews and I make the case for an executive order that would limit executive power. It’s more plausible than it…
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Best Books of 2018: Clashing over Commerce
Douglas Irwin’s magnum opus, published at the end of 2017, is already a classic. Given the prominent role trade is playing in politics right now, it…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In an eventful week that included criminal justice reform, shutdown drama, and cabinet drama, this year’s new regulations exceeded 2017’s total with more than a…
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Best Books of 2018: Suicide of the West & Enlightenment Now
Goldberg’s “Suicide of the West” is a literate, snappily written, and often humorous defense of Enlightenment values and a broadside against populism. Steven Pinker’s “Enlightenment…
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Best Books of 2018: Factfulness
Think Julian Simon, Matt Ridley, and Steven Pinker’s data-driven optimism, mixed with Michael Shermer and Bryan Caplan’s awareness of human cognitive biases, as told by…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
A partial federal shutdown looks more likely than it did a week ago, the federal deficit will likely top $1 trillion next year, and Theresa…
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Top Ten Antitrust Targets
Columbia University professor Tim Wu is author of the new book The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age, which calls for a…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Former President George H.W. Bush was laid to rest, and no Federal Register was published on Wednesday. President Trump created a new superhero, Tariff Man,…
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U.S.-China Trade Deal at G20 Small Move in Right Direction
Nobody knew what to expect going into the G20 summit in Argentina, especially from a planned meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In the news, The new NAFTA was signed (but still needs legislative approval in all three countries), General Motors announced major layoffs and plant closures,…
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GM Layoffs, Tariffs, and Subsidies
CEI's Ryan Young explores the lessons policymakers should learn from General Motors’ announcement of layoffs and plant closures.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was another short work week due to Thanksgiving, while Black Friday’s ritual tramplings put a damper on that day’s productivity. Last week agencies published…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a short work week due to Veterans Day, as most Americans took time to reflect on the centenary of the World War I…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The midterm elections finally happened. The good news is no more political ads for a while; the bad news is that a bunch of politicians…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Trade?
Trade was a highly contentious issue during President Trump’s first two years. He has doubled tariffs, other countries have enacted equivalent retaliatory tariffs, and tensions…
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What Do the Midterms Mean for Regulatory Reform?
A divided Congress probably means the status quo will reign on regulation. This is a mixed bag from a free-market perspective. President Trump made…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Regulators were relatively quiet during the week before the midterm election, though CEI wasn’t, with our colleague Ted Frank arguing a case before the Supreme…
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Trade?
A common argument for free trade is that fewer trade barriers mean more trade. That argument is mostly true—there are a lot of deals people…
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A New Front in the Trade War: Overseas Private Investment
Tariffs get most of the press in today’s trade debate, and for good reason. Tariff rates under Trump have roughly doubled in less than two…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Hurricane Florence, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault allegation, and a ten percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods dominated the news. Meanwhile,…
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Tariffs and Opportunity Costs
Today’s unsubtle trade debate largely ignores a subtle, but vitally important concept: opportunity costs. Direct harms from tariffs are easy enough to point out. Steel…
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Trade Goings-On: U.S.-UK Draft Agreement, New Book, and Peter Navarro’s Conversion
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is not the only group making a principled case for free trade. The UK-based Initiative for Free Trade, headed…
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Common Myths and Facts about Trade
There are a lot of confusions on both sides of the trade debate. A short CEI WebMemo, published today, seeks to clear up three…
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New China Tariffs Coming Soon
Less than a week after signing a bill to reduce some tariffs, the administration is moving to raise others. As soon as today, the…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a slow week for substantive news, aside from President Trump’s surprise signing of the Miscellaneous Tariff Act, which reduces tariffs on about 1,700…
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President Trump Signs Miscellaneous Tariff Act
In a surprise move, President Trump signed the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act into law on Thursday. The bill will reduce tariffs on roughly 1,700 goods…
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Free Trade Challenges: Tariffs, Concentrated Benefits, and Diffused Costs
Tariffs hurt more people than they help. So why do those outnumbered few keep winning so many political victories at the majority’s expense? The answer…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
After a short Labor Day breather, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings and White House intrigue made for a lively four-day week. Meanwhile, agencies issued…
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August Brought 201,000 New Jobs, but Future Gains Threatened by Trade Restrictions
The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, the U.S. Labor Department announced today. Good news, but impending trade restrictions could put a damper…
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Tariffs Invite Corruption
The Commerce Department is offering exemptions to President Trump’s recent steel and aluminum tariffs. More than 2,000 companies have applied. That means that there…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
August ended with a bang, leaving the 2018 Federal Register on the brink of the 45,000-page mark going into the Labor Day holiday. Agencies passed…
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Trade Is as Old as Humanity
Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of long-distance trade going as far back as 200,000 years ago. The artifacts are mainly things such as obsidian tools…
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Trade Restrictions Will Not Improve National Security
One of the most persuasive arguments trade protectionists use is the national security argument. It serves as a “get out of jail free” card with…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Lawyers are having a field day in Washington, and not just in cases involving associates of a certain member of the executive branch. Over at…
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Trade Made Renaissance Art Possible
Trade and specialization make all kinds of life-enriching innovations possible. In fact, Italian Renaissance art was one of them, a gift that continues to inspire…
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‘Infant Industry’ Argument Does Not Justify Trade Barriers
Most startups fail. The conventional wisdom is that about 90 percent of businesses fail within five years of their founding. For companies making new types…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a slow news week on the policy front, though quite busy on the drama/soap opera front. The House was in recess, and while…
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Protectionism Keeps People Poor
Why do people trade with each other at all? Because it makes them better off. As Iain Murray’s and my paper “Traders of the…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new final regulations for the year passed the 2,000 mark, with new rules ranging from cell walls to harpoon fishing.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The week’s big headlines were about the G7 meeting and our allies’ efforts to avoid a trade war, and the meeting with north Korea…
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Here We Go Again: Steel and Aluminum Tariffs and Peter Navarro
A new 25 percent steel tariff and a 10 percent aluminum tariff have come into effect. The levies are aimed at our allies, such as Canada,…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Despite a four-day workweek, federal agencies still exceeded the previous week’s Federal Register page count by nearly a hundred pages, pushing the yearly total past…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Agencies took it comparatively easy in the leadup to the long Memorial Day weekend, though the FAA and Coats Guard were busy with rules for…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a relatively slow week, with 44 proposed regulations and 62 final regulations, though the Supreme Court did rule the federal ban on…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The big news from the last week was the release of the spring edition of the twice-yearly Unified Agenda, which lists all planned agency regulations…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It is now May, and still only one economically significant regulation (costing $100 million or more per year) has been issued this year. With the…
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Regulatory Reform in Congress
While the president’s initial flurry of executive orders enacting some regulatory reforms was a pleasant surprise, the next president can undo them with the stroke…
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Steel and Aluminum Tariffs a Massive Net Loss for U.S. Economy
Following in George W. Bush’s footsteps, President Trump increased tariffs on foreign-made steel and aluminum by 25 percent in March. But he exempted U.S. allies…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new final regulations passed the 1,000 mark last week, with new rules ranging from sending mail to human reliability programs.
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Some Context for the Astronomical Cost of Government Regulation
Since any number with that many zeroes and commas in it is difficult for the human mind to process, let’s put it in a more…