Blog
Trump Presents Energy Policy Ideas in Detroit
In a policy speech yesterday in Detroit, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump outlined his program of tax, regulatory, and trade policies to jump-start the economy.
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: #BeTheNext
In this episode of RealClear Radio Hour—from the 2016 YAL National Convention— Cliff Maloney leads a millennial revolution and Glenn Jacobs—aka WWE Wrestler Kane—shows his…
Blog
Olympic Ceremony an Example of Cheap Talk on Global Warming
“Doing something” about global warming is hard and requires economic sacrifice.
Blog
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…
Blog
Volkswagen Deal on Zero Emission Vehicles an End Run around Congress
In his 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama promised to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road. To this end, the President…
Blog
Tepid Economic Performance Argues for Cutting Government Red Tape
How is the economy doing? It’s a mixed picture.
Blog
Joint Employer Liability Stifles Small Business
In Hillary Clinton’s nomination acceptance speech at the DNC convention, she said “Way too many dreams die in the parking lots of banks.” Obtaining financing…
Blog
Elon Musk Angry at Having to Compete for Taxpayer Handouts
“Rent seeking” occurs when companies secure government benefits for actions that do not otherwise create wealth.
Blog
Q&A on the FDA’s New E-Cigarette Rules
After years of waiting and fighting, the new rules put forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on electronic cigarettes and other non-cigarette…
Blog
Financial Transaction Tax Would Hit Main Street, Not Just Wall Street
When progressives were defending the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule governing retirement accounts, they constantly praised the regulation for encouraging investment in low-cost index funds.
Blog
Does EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
A new University of Minnesota study finds that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) program leads to net increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Blog
The Long Term Strategy Behind the Department of Labor’s Overtime Rule
It’s not often that proponents of labor regulation proponents admit to how forceful the rules have become. Yesterday, however, we had the benefit of one…
Blog
Cooperative Agreement on Wage and Hour Rules Could Backfire on Employers
As I discussed earlier this week, Subway came to terms with the Department of Labor (DOL) in what is being considered a cooperative agreement. Its…
Blog
Don’t Fear DEET-Based Insect Repellents
With the Zika virus now reportedly being transmitted by mosquitos here in the United States, consumers—expecting moms, kids, and everyone else--should be sure to use…
Blog
EPA’s Missed Deadlines Causing Widespread Dysfunction
Yesterday I published a study that reviews EPA’s performance for more than 1,000 Clean Air Act deadlines. Here’s the big takeaway: the agency missed 84…
Blog
Corporate Social Responsibility Policies May Suffer under “Joint Employer” Standard
Companies adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies has been in vogue for a while now. According to the Financial Times, in 2014, U.S. and UK…
Blog
New Climate “Guidance” Could Breed Anti-Energy Obstructionism
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) today released its final guidance on how federal agencies should consider climate change effects in National Environmental…
Blog
A Tale of Two Settlements: The Virtue of Being Adversarial in Class Action Lawsuits
Ascena is the corporate owner of the Justice brand clothing franchise, which caters to pre-adolescent girls in 900 stores throughout the country. (If you’ve ever…
Blog
Challenging the Constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Our constitutional challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is once again on hold, but this time the delay may be relatively short.
Blog
Subway Labor Agreement Could Lead to Problematic “Joint Employer” Status
It has been just about one year since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision that rocked the franchise-franchisee world, which dramatically altered…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Social Justice and Overcriminalization
This week on RealClear Radio Hour we look at two sides of criminal justice reform—from encouraging entrepreneurial hustle and productive reentry into society to reining…
Blog
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…
Blog
Federal Register Tops 50,000 Pages, Yet Obama’s Report to Congress Is MIA
The annual Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Unfunded Mandates on State, Local, and Tribal Entities is quite overdue.
Blog
Reason’s Bastiat Journalism Prize Celebrates Writers Who Advance Freedom
Leftist intellectual and media bias can be as disheartening and maddening as it is relentless. So thank goodness for the Reason Foundation and its annual…
Blog
World Nature Conservation Day: a Reason to Celebrate Fossil Fuels
Today is World Nature Conservation Day (WNCD), “observed on 28th July all over the world with the objective of increasing awareness about and protecting the…
Blog
Celebrate World Conservation Day with Real Solutions
Today is World Nature Conservation Day, which brings to mind last Wednesday’s episode of The Diane Rehm Show in which guest host Frank Sesno presented…
Blog
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…
Blog
Authorizing Automated Vehicle Platooning: A Proactive Approach for the States
I recently attended the annual Automated Vehicle Symposium in San Francisco. More than 1,000 attendees from around the world from industry, academia, government, and NGOs…
Blog
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…
Blog
Democrats’ Platform: Surmount Climate Challenge with Good-Paying Jobs, Low-Cost Clean Energy
The Democratic Party officially adopted their 2016 platform at their national convention in Philadelphia on 25th July. The energy and environment section is titled, “Combat…
Blog
DNC Email Leak Shows Cozy Relationship between Democrats and Unions
The Democratic Party and labor unions are consistently accused of having a quid pro quo relationship, and for good reason. Emails from the DNC email…
Blog
A Disappointing Bipartisan Agreement on Banking Regulation
Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gave a speech covering a number of controversial campaign issues, focusing in particular on…
Blog
Democratic Party Platform Seeks to Curb Worker Choice and Opportunity
The policies set forth in the Democrat platform are misguided – in order to help American workers really succeed in the 21st century, we should roll…
Blog
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.
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Freedom Rising
This week’s RealClear Radio Hour was recorded in Las Vegas at FreedomFest 2016, the trade show for liberty.
Blog
GOP Platform Calls for Fewer Regulations and More Energy Production
The Republican National Convention on 18th July officially adopted their 2016 party platform. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) chaired the platform committee; and the co-chairs were…
Blog
Does Global Warming Policy Increase Summer Swelter?
Supporters of EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) claim the program “mitigates” anthropogenic global warming by substituting biofuels for petroleum products in the nation’s motor fuel…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Net Neutrality
Under the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA), before an agency may issue a new rule, it must usually publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Secret Rules
Since Obama took office, the EPA’s grossest procedural violation was so outrageous that the agency voluntarily reversed course after it came to light. In the…
Blog
Happy “No Food Is Junk Food” Day 2016!
I can’t stand candy corn. Yes, I’m that person in the office at Halloween.
Blog
Washington Post “Fact Checker” Column Still in Denial over Regulatory Costs
The Washington Post “Fact Checker” column is running its critiques of the Republican convention, and in the process is trying again to rebuff a $15,000…
Blog
Labor Regulators Set Sights on Microsoft
It has almost been one year since the National Labor Relations Board dramatically changed the definition of “joint employer” in Browning-Ferris.
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Regulation by Guidance
Federal agencies are to publish a notice of rulemaking and allow the public time to comment on the rule before it becomes final, or legally…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Good Cause, Bad Faith
For the past seven decades, most federal agency actions must comport with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA lays out the basic processes required…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: The Series
Inspired by our friends at RegBlog, Open Market is publishing a new blog series this week on pressing issues in administrative law and regulatory policy.
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: U.S. Constitutionalist and Soviet Dissident
In this episode of RealClear Radio Hour, we contrast constitutionalism and socialism.
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
New regulations from the past week cover everything from Namibian meat to California raisins.
Blog
The Next President Should Learn from Reagan’s Legacy on Government Reform
My colleague Wayne Crews has a fascinating policy brief out this week, “Channeling Reagan by Executive Order: How the Next President Can Begin Rolling Back…
Blog
House Science Chairman Lamar Smith Subpoenas NY AG Schneiderman, Mass. AG Healey, and Eight Organizations
House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) on 13th July made good on his threat to subpoena state attorneys general and private organizations that appear to…
Blog
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.