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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Register continues its slow march to the 20,000-page mark, but is still on pace for lowest page total since 1993.
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Archbridge Institute Releases Optimistic New Research on Economic Mobility
The best way to encourage more economic mobility is to foster a cultural and regulatory environment where innovation, openness, and change are encouraged.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2017 Federal Register had another sub-thousand page week, though it is still already more than 18,000 pages long.
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In Wake of United Debacle, Give Airlines – and Travelers – More Flexibility
Most of the time it’s actually government policies that end up ruining a traveler’s day.
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White House Should Drop Support for Cronyism of Export-Import Bank
With the Trump administration’s early emphasis on deregulation, there was hope that cronyist agencies such as the Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and Economic…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Things remain slow on the regulatory front, with a large chunk of new rules being routine safety-zone and drawbridge scheduling regulations from the Coast Guard.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
There were 63 final regulations and 28 proposed regulations last week, but again, few of them amounted to much. We’ll have more to say on…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Trump administration’s 60-day regulatory freeze is now over, but many of this week’s new regulations are simply extensions of previous delays. So despite a…
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Human Achievement of the Day: The Written Word
Writing is a classic example of what the economist F.A. Hayek called spontaneous order.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Starting this week, many late-Obama administration regulations delayed by the Trump administration’s 60-day freeze will come into effect.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was another slow week for new regulations, but busy times are on their way. A slew of delayed regulations will come into effect on…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As the regulatory freeze marches on, most new regulations coming out are garden-variety FAA airworthiness directives and Coast Guard drawbridge and safety zone rules.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
43 new regulations last week, from toddler beds to potato proteins.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As with the previous few weeks, many of this week’s regulations were simply delays of previous rules.
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Deregulate to Grow the Economy Faster
Congress and the new administration have a real chance to make the economy grow faster, and to raise the labor force participation rate above its…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The White House regulatory freeze continues, and a wide range of recent rules, big and small, have been delayed until late March.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
With the new administration’s regulatory freeze now in full effect, there were just 8 proposed new regulations published last week. This was the lowest figure…
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‘One In, Two Out’: Trump’s Executive Order on New Regulations
President Trump's latest executive order on regulatory reform could be an important step in the right direction for reining in government red tape.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
For the next few weeks, the Federal Register will likely have fewer pages and regulations than usual.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The final pre-inauguration Federal Register was 1,464 pages long. A normal day’s edition is roughly 300 pages. Since there is a lag time of a…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In a mere nine working days, the 2017 Federal Register has nearly reached 5,000 pages; the midnight hour approaches.
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New York Times Highlights Minimum Wage Tradeoffs
Minimum wage increases have obvious winners, which is why they are so popular. Their tradeoffs are less obvious.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The midnight regulatory rush continues, with more than 2,100 Federal Register pages, despite a four-day work week, along with 51 proposed regulations and 52 final…
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Regulatory Reform in 2017: How Much Do Existing Regulations Cost?
The Regulatory Responsibility for our Economy Act (RREA), sponsored by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), would help fix basic transparency problems with federal regulations.
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Regulatory Reform in 2017: REINS and the Regulatory Accountability Act
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations: 2016 Wrap-Up
The 2016 Federal Register’s record-setting page count ends at 97,110 pages—more than 15,000 pages above the previous record, set in 2010. The difference is more…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As the Obama administration heads into its home stretch, agencies passed new rules ranging from gloves to canned vegetables.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
On Tuesday the 2016 Federal Register topped 90,000 pages for the first time ever, and continues to extend its page-count record every day.
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Three Regulatory Reforms Congress Can Pass in the First Hundred Days
Here are three they should pursue in the new administration’s first hundred days.
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Ratios, Not People: The Wrong Approach to Inequality
Thomas Piketty, the best-selling author of Capital in the 21st Century, has a new paper on economic inequality with coauthors Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2016 Federal Register will likely top 90,000 pages next week for the first time ever.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As the Federal Register climbed above 87,000 pages for the first time in its 81-year history, agencies issued new rules ranging from landfills to movie…
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O’Hare Airport Strikes: Will Anybody Notice?
If 500 workers are absent for several hours and it hardly affects a thing at the airport, then how essential are they?…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Thanksgiving week was a busy one, with new regulations ranging from potatoes to royalties.
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O’Hare Workers to Strike for $15 Minimum Wage
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
On November 17, the 2016 Federal Register set an all-time record page count—an impressive feat for a document that has been published continuously since 1936.
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Counteracting the Midnight Rush of Regulations
Now that the White House will officially be switching parties, the outgoing Obama administration will likely pass as much of its regulatory agenda as quickly…
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Congress Should Use REINS Act to Reform Regulation
CEI released a new report today about the REINS Act, which would require Congress to vote on all new executive branch regulations costing more than…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Veterans Day made it a short work week, but agencies still filled more than 1,300 Federal Register pages with rules ranging from trailer tires to…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Register continued its record pace last week, with Friday’s edition alone having 1,177 pages.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
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Maine’s Proposed Minimum Wage Increase Has Tradeoffs
Maine is one of several states with a minimum wage increase on the election ballot this year, along with several cities and other smaller jurisdictions.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new federal regulations passed the 3,000 mark last week, and the Federal Register continues its record pace.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Federal regulators enjoyed a short work week due to Columbus Day, but still published more than 1,300 Federal Register pages with new regulations ranging from…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Register will crack the 70,000-page barrier early this week. New rules found in last week’s 2,000-plus pages range from foreign cars to beetles.
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Export-Import Bank Supporters Dealt Setback in Congress
The Export-Import Bank’s supporters and beneficiaries very nearly scored a major victory last week. Ex-Im, as it’s called for short, was shut down for about…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a busy week, with Friday’s Federal Register alone containing 52 final regulations and 809 pages.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Agencies issued more than six dozen new final regulations last week, ranging from minerals to dates.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Agencies issued 78 new regulations last week, ranging from cherries to dairy.
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When It Comes to Trade Our Leaders, Not Other Countries, Are Ripping Americans off
In recent weeks, trade has repeatedly come up in discussions and speeches by presidential candidates. Donald Trump says he would renegotiate NAFTA, while Hillary Clinton’s…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Despite a Labor Day-shortened work week, agencies still found time to issue regulations from soap to whales.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2016 Federal Register broke the 60,000-page mark last week, and became the 25th-largest edition in the Register’s 81-year history before Labor Day.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In one of their busiest weeks to date, agencies passed more than a hundred new regulations covering everything from rubies to frogs.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Friday’s Federal Register was one of the year’s biggest, with 74 agency notices, 4 proposed regulations and 15 final regulations spanning 1,119 pages.
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
88 new regulations last week, from poultry improvement to nuclear philosophy.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Congress is on its August recess, but agencies stayed busy with more than 2,000 Federal Register pages, 51 proposed regulations, and nearly 100 final regulations…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The 2016 Federal Register broke the 50,000-page mark on Friday, and remains on a record pace. New regulations for the week ranged from cement to…
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Can the Ideas in the RNC Platform Help Reform Regulation?
Lord knows. But the Republican Party’s new platform which contains planks on such pressing issues as “Protection Against an Electromagnetic Pulse (p. 54),” also has…
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The DNC Platform and Inequality
As the DNC convention wraps up in Philadelphia, I took some time to look over the party platform’s planks on inequality. Iain Murray and I…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big story of the week was the new proposed payday lending regulation, which ate up 356 pages of Friday’s 625-page Federal Register.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
New regulations from the past week cover everything from Namibian meat to California raisins.
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Collective Bargaining Increases Inequality
I recently pointed out that minimum wage regulations increase inequality. That’s not what the “Fight-for-15” activists intend, but it is the result they would achieve.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week due to the Fourth of July holiday, but agencies still managed to issue new rules covering everything from stormwater…
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Minimum Wage Increases Inequality, Decreases Labor Force Participation
The minimum wage actually increases inequality. It helps some workers, but only at others’ expense.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Maybe the recently-passed Congressional Review Act deadline we wrote about earlier hasn’t had much effect on midnight regulators.
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Toward a Regulatory Budget
How much should the U.S. government spend on defense? How much on health care? Or energy, or technology?…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The 2016 Federal Register surpassed 40,000 pages last week, with new rules ranging from lights on farm equipment to grading raisins.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The 2016 Federal Register will surpass 40,000 pages next week, and is on pace to exceed 85,000 pages for the first time in its 80-year…
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Why Shouldn’t the Energy Department Run the Entire Economy?
New Energy Department standards for dehumidifiers promise massive benefits. Depending on which set of numbers you prefer (the link goes to the Energy Department’s own…
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Export-Import Bank Drama Continues
The Senate’s main business right now is the annual Defense Appropriations bill. The Export-Import Bank, or Ex-Im for short, might become part of that bill.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The number of new regulations for the year exceeded the 1,500 mark last week, with new rules covering everything from seatbelts to suckerfish. On to the…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Last week’s Federal Register fell short of 2,000 pages, mainly because it was a four-day work week due the Memorial Day holiday. While the Federal…
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Inequality: Policies That Work, and Policies That Don’t
CEI recently released a pair of papers by Iain Murray and me about economic inequality. The first encourages activists to ask the right questions: think…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The Congressional Review Act deadline for the possible midnight regulation rush has now likely passed, though the Federal Register once again topped 2,000 pages last week. That…
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Raise, Don’t Level: New CEI Papers on Inequality and Poverty Relief
Economic inequality is one of today’s defining issues. How to address it? Iain Murray and I offer an unconventional approach in a new two-part CEI…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
As mentioned earlier, something of a regulatory midnight rush is happening right now. The Federal Register topped 2,000 pages for the third time in four weeks—a rare…
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How the Overtime Rule Hopes to Design Higher Salaries, But Can’t
The Labor Department has just issued a new regulation for overtime pay for salaried employees. Under the new rule, all salaried workers earning less than…
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Deadline for Major New Regulations This Week?
An early midnight rush of controversial new regulations might be on the way over the next week or so. Why now instead of the very…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The Federal Register broke the 30,000-page barrier last week, with new regulations covering everything from baked beans to e-cigarettes. On to the data: Last week, 58 new…
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Ten Thousand Commandments
The brand new 2016 edition of Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr.’s Ten Thousand Commandments report is out now. You can read it here. If you…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
After a slow start, 2016 is back to a normal regulatory pace. The Federal Register is on a nearly 80,000-page pace, and the number of new rules…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
As the Federal Register passed the 25,000-page mark, new rules for the week ranged from fluorescent lamps to disaffected youth. On to the data: Last week, 65…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The number of new final regulations in 2016 passed the 1,000 mark on Friday. Last week’s new rules cover everything from semipostal stamps to vapor…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
As the number of new regulations in 2016 threatens the 1,000 mark, new rules cover everything from rural broadband to flatfish. On to the data:…
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How to Address Income Inequality
Over at the Foundation for Economic Education, Iain Murray and I give a short preview of our two forthcoming CEI papers on income inequality…
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Minimum Wages Tradeoffs: Are They Worth It?
Minimum wages help some workers, but only at other workers’ expense. Whether or not these tradeoffs are worth it is for each individual to decide.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Another Friday meant another 699-page Federal Register, which now exceeds 20,000 pages on the year. The big news is a fiduciary rule for retirement planning, but…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The week ended with precisely 800 new final regulations on the year, with new rules covering everything from chairs to obesity. On to the data:…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Friday’s Federal Register, the last before the Easter holiday, contained 1,005 pages, 14 final regulations, nine proposed regulations, and an impressive 119 agency notices. New rules…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Along with nearly four dozen proposed regulations, new final regulations from the last week cover everything from cable boxes to Texas grapefruit. On to the…
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Human Achievement of the Day: Polio Eradication
Polio used to be a parent’s worst nightmare. The virus mostly affects children, and hampers the brain’s ability to communicate with muscles. While its…
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USA Act Increases Accountability, Restores Congress’ Power of the Purse
Separation of powers is one of the United States government’s most basic principles. But for several decades, presidents from both parties have gradually concentrated more…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was just another week in the world of federal regulation, with new rules covering everything from Nixon’s archives to black bears. On to the…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
After several years and multiple lawsuits, the TSA deigned to issue a formal rule for its use of full-body scanners. CEI’s Marc Scribner finds that the…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
As the 2016 Federal Register passed the 10,000-page mark, new regulations cover everything from salmon to wine. On to the data: Last week, 67 new final regulations…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week in Washington due to George Washington’s Birthday, also known as President’s Day. Even so, federal agencies still published new…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big regulatory news this week is the Supreme Court’s decision to delay the EPA’s big power plant emission regulation. Other than that, agencies issued…
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The Improvisational Fed, and Unpredictable Regulations
Improvisation can be a wonderful thing when performed by talented hands—Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and the like. The Federal Reserve, especially for the past several…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Back to business as usual this week, with new regulations covering everything from Taiwanese orchids to student pilots. On to the data: Last week, 58…
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How to Get Rid of Obsolete Regulations
The House this week is considering H.R. 1675, the Encouraging Employee Ownership Act, sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.). I’ll leave it to my colleague…
