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Eleven Lousy Tech Legislation from the 117th Congress: Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act
There is a late entry to the 117th Congress’ list of worst tech legislation, requiring a new title for the blog series. There were already…
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More Staycations This Summer, Thanks to Biden’s Gas Price-Raising Agenda
Memorial Day Weekend kicks off the summer driving season, and vacationers will be paying record-high gasoline prices—and quite a few families may even have to…
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Restating the Case for Free Trade
The case for free trade needs to be restated frequently. Politicians keep pushing the same protectionist policies, as though maybe this time the results will…
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George Washington, George Jarkesy, and the Administrative State’s Lack of Fundamental Justice
The recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Jarkesy v. SEC is a victory for limited constitutional government…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Just before the long Memorial Day weekend, the third version of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, a major antitrust bill, was introduced in…
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Congress Must Decide How to Choose Between Courts and Agency Adjudication
For some time, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has had a choice of prosecutorial forums. It has been able to choose between prosecuting violators…
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EEOC Nominee Kalpana Thinks Transparency Is an Important Value, Less Clear on Need to Abide by It
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may become a lot less accountable in its decision making than it was under the Trump administration should President Biden’s…
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Banning Menthol Cigarettes Will Do Nothing to Promote Racial Justice
Public support for the War on Drugs has never been lower, due in no small part to increased awareness about the devastation drug criminalization…
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Trade, Mission Creep, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
President Biden announced this week a major economic agreement with a dozen countries in the Indo-Pacific region, to be called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework…
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Court Tells NLRB Sometimes a Joke Is In Fact a Joke
In a significant win for common sense, a federal appeals court has found that sometimes a joke is just a joke, even when it…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The government’s Disinformation Board was ended before it began. President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to address the baby formula shortage. The…
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Fifth Circuit Upholds the Right to A Jury Trial Against the SEC
John Thomas Financial CEO Thomas Belesis was riding high, having been awarded the 2011 Businessman of the Year Award from the New York Republicans. While…
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Baby Formula and Regulatory Failure
A lot of people are blaming free markets for the baby formula shortage. As the economist Jagdish Bhagwati might say, the problem with this is…
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Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Banning Surveillance Advertising Act of 2022
DuckDuckGo is a success story. Launched in 2008, the online search engine has centered its product around privacy. In short, they “don’t collect or…
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Let’s Not Allow Davis-Bacon to Further Clog Job Arteries
The Biden administration is proposing to make government contracting even more expensive by revamping the Davis-Bacon Act. This law requires that related workers on…
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Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: ACCESS Act
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), launched in 1997, was arguably the first social media platform, reaching over 36 million users by 2001. The Federal Trade…
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Credit Union Liberalization Bill Clears Away Never-Needed Red Tape
When I testified last July at a high-profile hearing on financial inclusion, I urged members of the House Financial Services Committee to liberalize regulations…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Inflation remained high at 8.3 percent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was confirmed to a second term. A baby formula shortage is exposing the…
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Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Ending Platform Monopolies Act
Imagine shopping for a bicycle. You decide on a Trek bike after evaluating the options, user reviews, and specifications. The bicycle is delivered but without…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages: Do People Facing Forfeiture Get Due Process?
A high-profile reversal of a recent civil forfeiture case makes me wonder: Do those who face civil forfeiture generally receive due process of law? That…
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Terra Troubles Should Not Spur Stablecoin Regulation
The crypto market is suffering a severe correction. One asset feeling the pinch is LUNA, which, along with its related nonprofit the Luna Foundation Guard…
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House Staffers Can Now Unionize
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved, for the first time ever, allowing congressional staff to form unions. This will be an interesting experiment. How…
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Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Filter Bubble Transparency Act
In Book VII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates introduces his allegory of the cave. Prisoners are chained in an underground cavern since birth. Their necks are…
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Act Now! The Bipartisan Innovation Act Is a Reminder of the Urgent Need for a Bold National Elevator Plan
President Biden on numerous occasions of late has complained about the miracle that one can simply drive to a McDonald’s in rural areas and…
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What Is Core Inflation?
The new inflation numbers are out, and they aren’t pretty. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) went up 0.3 percent during April, and is up…
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Biden’s Inflation Speech: Top Domestic Priority
President Biden gave remarks on Tuesday declaring inflation his top domestic priority. Like many people, he seems not to understand that inflation is a…
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A Brief Outline of a Regulatory Report Card Congress Should Enact
Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so. — Quote frequently attributed to Galileo, that, alas, probably was not his.If I…
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Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Platform Competition and Opportunity Act
Tech startups are thriving. The COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding government response created unique problems for facilitating communication, goods, and services. Fortunately, tech innovation helped…
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U.S. to Lift Tariffs against Ukraine for One Year: China Next?
In 2018, President Trump enacted a 25 percent tariff on Ukrainian steel, on what he claimed were national security grounds. They remained in place throughout…
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Countries Move Forward with CBDCs Despite Public Mistrust
New research from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reveals that countries are plowing ahead with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) despite little public…