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Free the Economy podcast: The business of America with Neil Bradley
In this week’s episode we cover the economic effects of net-zero policies in blue states and Europe, top targets for environmental…
News Release
Fed cuts interest rates in December meeting: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve today cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, a sign the board is wrangling with tradeoffs, say CEI economy experts. Ryan Young,…
Blog
Politics over pensions: An ESG report card for proxy voting
Unleashing Prosperity (UP) recently released a timely report, “Putting Politics Over Pensions: The 2025 Unleash Prosperity Report Card on Investment Fund Managers and Proxy…
Search Posts
News Release
CEI Opposes Broad New Powers for Federal Reserve
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today unveiled a plan for restructuring the federal role in regulating financial institutions. The blueprint contains good recommendations on…
Op-Eds
Bear Fire Sale Leaves Owners Without A Say
Bear Stearns shareholders, the true owners, are being denied a voice in the fate of the firm.
Op-Eds
Freedom and its Digital Discontents
Read John Berlau's closing statement in the Economist.com debate "Proposition: By intervening to regulate business and financial risks, governments have made things worse."…
News Release
Congress’s Online Gambling Ban: Burden Without Benefit, Says Study
Current laws about Internet gambling have had damaging unintended consequences far beyond their intended target.
Study
Time to Fold the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
A bad law that could threaten America’s banking system…
Citation
5 Absurd Product Bans
News Release
Pressure Group Censors Anti-Gore Ad on YouTube
Electric Co-op Group Ignores ‘Fair Use’, Claims Copyright Infringement Over Seven Seconds of Footage (Click Here to View Ad)…
Newsletter
Sarbanes-Oxley, Cancer Drugs and Discrimination Law
The National Law Journal warns that penalties in the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules for public companies can extend to individuals and private entities. Drug maker Cephalon…
Newsletter
Recession, Trade and Home Ownership
White House advisors cite the slowing economy as part of their call for tighter regulation of mortgage lenders. U.S. exports…
Citation
Economic Stimulus
Study
The Community Reinvestment Act’s Harmful Legacy
How the CRA has hurt those it was intended to help, residence of low income neighborhoods with little access to credit.
Op-Eds
Less is More
Wayne Crews tells us that while we need control of the fiscal state–but just as badly we need to rein in the regulatory state.
Newsletter
Interest Rates, Video Games and an Economist Debate
Investors expect the Federal Reserve to enact a rare full percentage point cut in interest rates. A federal appeals court rules that Minnesota cannot fine…
Citation
the Possibility of a Recession
Study
Some Answers about Credit Unions
A recent, widely circulated advertisement from the American Bankers Association asks some questions of the credit union industry. They’re good questions and, in…
Op-Eds
Freedom and its Digital Discontents
John Berlau, director of CEI's Center for Entrepreneurship, debates Sarbanes-Oxley in the Economist…
Op-Eds
The Television Writers Strike: Was It Worth It?
This winter’s strike by television writers interrupted the TV-watching habits of millions of people worldwide. But why did it happen, and did the…
News Release
CEI Launches National Ad Campaign on the Impact of Al Gore’s Global Warming Policies
Developing World Most at Risk from Energy Constraints…
Citation
Dumb Product Bans
Study
First Steps toward Restoring Florida’s Insurance Market
Full Document Available in PDF As Florida’s Legislature proceeds with its…
Op-Eds
Sexual Harassment: A Strange, Vague ‘Tort’
On Wednesday, I discussed how the courts can be downright hostile to employers in sexual harassment cases, playing a game of bait-and-switch regarding whether…
Op-Eds
Sexual Harassment Bait and Switch
In sexual harassment cases, many courts play a game of bait and switch with employers. When they want to hold the employer liable, they…
Newsletter
The Supreme Court, William F. Buckley, Jr. and Bernanke on the Economy
The Supreme Court-- pro business?…
Op-Eds
Prejudice and Double Standards in Sexual Harassment Cases
Earlier, I discussed how judges in the New York area, such as the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, enforce discriminatory double standards in sexual…
Study
The Five Dumbest Product Bans
This paper focuses on five clearly absurd product bans that seem to serve no social good.
Op-Eds
Double Standards at Duke—and in the Courts
Recently, Stuart Taylor wrote about sexual double standards at Duke University. Duke paid $3,500 to finance a performance by strippers and prostitutes…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ECONOMY President Bush’s economic stimulus package gets mixed reviews. CEI Expert Available to Comment:…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) pressures the Environmental Protection Agency to declare carbon dioxide a pollutant. CEI Expert Available…
News Release
Economic “Stimulus” Policies Trapped in the Past
Washington, D.C., February 21, 2008 — The economic stimulus package recently passed by Congress and signed by President Bush will do little to improve…
Study
Still Stimulating Like It’s 1999
Full Document Available in PDF Facing an economic…
News Release
Supreme Court Rulings Good for Investors
Washington, D.C., February 20, 2008—The Supreme Court this session has made two important decisions that will greatly benefit investors. Both today’s ruling in LaRue v.
News Release
Stimulus Package Not the Path to Economic Recovery
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Washington, D.C., February 14, 2008—This week President Bush signed a $168 billion economic stimulus package. Unfortunately for…
News Release
CEI Files Comments on “Net Neutrality”
Washington, D.C., February 13, 2008—Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed public comments with the Federal Communications Commission, urging the commissioners not to regulate the…
News Release
Microsoft Could Go “Hostile” with Yahoo Offer
Washington, D.C., February 12, 2008—Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it “reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps” to present its buyout offer to Yahoo…
News Release
Bush Budget Ignores Hidden Costs
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Washington, D.C., February 4, 2008—The White House has released President Bush’s budget for the federal government,…
Op-Eds
Transforming Korean Peninsula
The Bush administration’s attention is focused on the Middle East, but the Korean Peninsula also requires attention. The impending inauguration of conservative Lee Myung-bak,…
Op-Eds
Keep Virginia market free
Perhaps more than any other state, Virginia has been a cradle for the ideas of economic liberty. From the writings of Founding Fathers such as…
Op-Eds
Comcast in the Crosshairs
Despite Comcast's ascendancy, the cable provider remains vulnerable - yet its greatest threat is not from Baby-Bell competitors but from lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
News Release
State of the Union: Last Chance for Bush
Washington, D.C., January 28, 2008—As President Bush prepares to deliver his last State of the Union address before Congress, both the White House…
National Review
Will the Stimulus Package Stimulate Marital Breakdown?
Op-Eds
Lawmakers, undo some of 2007 reforms
A year has passed since Gov. Charlie Crist and a nearly unanimous Legislature hailed the arrival of a new era for Florida’s property insurance…
Overlawyered
D.C. Circuit Panel: Paper Money Unfair to Blind
Overlawyered cites Hans Bader's Open Market piece. The Washington Post reports, and Hans Bader at CEI’s Open Market discusses the 2-1 panel decision…
Op-Eds
What Race to the Bottom?
Free trade creates new opportunities, jobs, and value for consumers. Now will someone please tell Congress? As it begins its new session, Congress’s agenda…
Overlawyered
Grantor’s Tax Should Be Repealed, Too
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine now wants to repeal the abusive-driver fees contained in Virginia’s 2007 transportation law, even though he signed that law and…
Op-Eds
Follies of the FHA: Another subprime idea
“How could they have been so stupid?” That's the million-dollar question being asked as mortgage defaults have increased on loans that carried much more…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL The American Tort Reform Foundation issues its 2007 “Judicial Hellholes” report, highlighting the most unfair…
Study
Regulatory Competition: A Primer
Full Document Available in PDF Government regulation is often perceived as a good way to…
Op-Eds
Incomprehensible regulatory regime covers subprime loans
Sir, Patti Waldmeir (“How to make the best of a subprime mess”, Legal Counsel December 12) rightly observes that economies thrive when everyone knows…
Overlawyered
An Industry Worth Its Weight in Gold
Originally published in Spanish in the Sunday, December 16, 2007 edition of El Comercio newspaper, Quito, Ecuador. Translated by Ecuador Mining News…
Op-Eds
Smithsonian Owes Debt to Commercialization
Marsha Mercer's “Selling of the Smithsonian” (Commentary, Wednesday) criticized the new “commercialized” Mall because it has to raise money from dreaded corporations. Her criticism…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CONGRESS The Senate passes major energy legislation, including ethanol mandates and stricter fuel economy standards. CEI…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY Antitrust regulators take additional time to review the proposed purchase by Google of Internet advertising firm…
Products
CEI Planet: November – December 2007
Full Document Available in PDF The Tiger at a…
Op-Eds
Subprime Borrowers: Not Innocents
A simple look at the blunt reality reveals that borrowers themselves should assume primary responsibility for the current subprime crisis. Millions of borrowers, all…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CULTURE A “media watchdog group” calls for stricter regulation of video game violence. CEI Expert Available…
Op-Eds
Opposing view: Plan Hurts Future Borrowers
The government sure has a funny prescription for restoring confidence in America's credit markets. It purports to solve the nation's credit crunch — a…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT Delegates to the United Nations’ global warming summit in Bali generate as much carbon dioxide as…
Study
The Credit Union Regulatory Improvement Act
Full Document Available in PDF This paper provides a free market perspective on…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT Senators vote to increase the severity of fuel economy regulations. CEI Expert Available to Comment:…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CULTURE Bars and restaurants across the country celebrate the anniversary of the end of Prohibition with…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> 1. BUSINESS Sen. Hillary Clinton…
News Release
New Video: Cheers to Repeal Day!
Washington, D.C., December 4, 2007—The Bureaucrash Activist Network is releasing a new video just in time to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT Shrinking deaths from weather disasters contradict predictions of extreme global warming. CEI Expert Available to…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT New technologies may be causing scientists to over count the number of hurricanes and tropical storms.
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH New drug approvals by the Food and Drug Administration decline dramatically. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar…
Op-Eds
A More Competitive Europe
Your article “EU to identify lagging economic sectors” (Nov. 20) discussed a European conference where 23 sectors of the European economy were identified as…
Op-Eds
The Frivolous iSuit
California resident Timothy Smith has sued Apple and AT&T over the iPhone, accusing them of illegal monopolistic behavior. The iPhone…
Op-Eds
Uncertain Antitrust Trajectory
The proposed XM/Sirius satellite merger — awaiting OKs from the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — represents the antitrust establishment’s latest target……
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. BUSINESS The House of Representatives votes on a bill limiting access to home loans. CEI Expert…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY Shareholders approve Sirius Satellite Radio’s acquisition of rival XM Satellite. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for…
News Release
Congress Moves to Restrict Access to Home Loans
Washington, D.C., November 15, 2007—Today the U.S. House of Representatives will likely pass a new law that would limit access to home mortgages in…
Op-Eds
‘Profit motive’ can benefit everyone
If Thomas Robertson, the new dean of Wharton School, really wants his students to be a "force for good’"in the world, he ought to…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT Ethanol stocks suffer setbacks. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on ethanol’s claims…
Study
A Non-Prescription for Confronting the Sub-Prime Crisis
Full Document Available in PDF I am so busy doing nothing…that the…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CONGRESS President Bush threatens to veto the 2007 Farm Bill. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CONGRESS Members of the Senate meet this afternoon to consider the 2007 Farm Bill. CEI Expert…
News Release
Farm Bill Saddles Taxpayers with Billions in Subsidies
Washington, D.C., November 2, 2007—As Congress is poised to approve a new farm bill that further burdens consumers, taxpayers, and the poor while paying…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CONGRESS The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee expresses doubts about the 2007 Farm Bill. CEI…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. INTERNATIONAL The Senate Foreign Relations Committee votes to approve the controversial United Nations-sponsored Law of the Sea Treaty…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. INTERNATIONAL The Senate Foreign Relations Committee considers the controversial United Nations-sponsored Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). …
Study
Let Credit Unions Grow
Full Document Available in PDF When Americans deposit their paychecks, get loans, and make certain types…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. BUSINESS The Federal Communication Commission prepares to overturn contracts between cable companies and apartment building managers. …
Study
The Continuing Value of Privatization
Full Document Available in PDF As mayor of Indianapolis, Stephen Goldsmith applied what he called…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. BUSINESS Residents of southern California survey the damage from recent wildfires. CEI Expert Available to Comment:…
Letters
Open Letter to House Regarding Mortgage Bailouts and Regulation
Dear Representative: The news has been filled of late with stories of heartbreak in the sub-prime mortgage market and calls have grown louder for…
Letters
Open Letter to Senate Regarding Mortgage Bailouts and Regulation
Dear Senator: The news has been filled of late with stories of heartbreak in the sub-prime mortgage market and calls have grown louder for the…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL Several states prepare to sue the federal government over regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. CEI…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee holds a hearing on a bill to restrict greenhouse gas…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. SAFETY Firefighters battle wildfires throughout southern California. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Robert…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH Democrats in Congress vow to keep pushing the children’s health insurance bill known as “SCHIP,” even…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY Greenpeace attacks Apple for what it considers “toxic” components in the iPhone. CEI…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY Greenpeace attacks Apple for what it considers “toxic” components in the iPhone. CEI…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ECONOMICS Taxpayers advocates highlight the amount of public money doled out to the owners of professional sports franchises. …
Op-Eds
The Subprime FHA
After two months of economic jitters over bad lending decisions, it looks as if the credit markets may have turned a corner. The stock…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Global…
News Release
Supreme Court Stoneridge Case: Junk Lawsuits Harm Investors
Contact: Christine Hall, 202.331.2258…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY The purchase of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick by Google raises privacy concerns. CEI…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CONGRESS The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hears testimony on the controversial United Nations “Law of the Sea” treaty. …
News Release
Senate Weighs Plans for Overhauling Morass of State Insurance Regulation
Contact: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Christine Hall, 202.331.2258 Washington, D.C., Oct. 2, 2007— The Senate banking committee this…
News Release
Smoking Prevention Bill May Backfire
Contact: Jody Clarke, 202.331.2252 Washington, DC, October 2, 2007—As the House Committee on Energy and Commerce prepares to hold a hearing tomorrow…
