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Sovereign wealth funds: Should governments invest in private businesses?
President Trump recently signed an executive order to study creating a sovereign wealth fund for the US government. If the proposal comes to pass,…

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Department of Education bails out of student loan bailout
For the second time in the past month, the Biden administration withdrew a proposed rule that CEI had opposed. The Department of Education has…

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Proposed student loan bailout rule makes no sense
As the Federal Register approached its previous record of 95,894 pages in a year (set in 2016), the Biden administration devoted a few more…
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House GOP ‘Rapid Recovery’ plan spurs growth by changing long-term expectations
As soon as the elections are over, Congressional leaders are planning to have a “break the bank” party. On top of the $700 billion bailout…
Citation
Spitzer and Sarbox Were Deregulation?
Newsletter
Taxing the Rich, the Costs of Ethanol and the Fed’s Loose Money Policy
Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher becomes a national campaign personality. The Federal Reserve lowers a key interest rate in hopes of reviving investment. Environmentalists debate the…
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From NRO: GM Wants a Piece of the Bailout
From the Editors at National Review Online: That $700 billion rescue package for the banks is in danger of turning from a safety net into…
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Turning Responsible Citizenship into a Sucker’s Game
Some people are hopelessly boring. They save money, live within their means, don't buy too much house, pay their bills, and contribute to the community. …
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Paying Dividends with Public Money
Normally corporate dividends--or executive salaries--should not be a matter of government concern. But how about when the feds are forking over taxpayer money to encourage…
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Does a Foreclosure Moratorium Make Sense?
Despite some recent good news—like stocks recovering some value—politicians continue to believe they can solve the housing crisis through economic gimmicks. The latest: a proposal…
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And the ride starts all over again…
Thee Federal Reserve lowered its key rate to 1%. Convinced that inflation is no-longer a problem, the Fed believes this is the time to…
Newsletter
Internet Censorship, Reforming Fannie and Freddie and Free Trade with Colombia
American tech companies announce new guidelines for doing business in nations threatened by censorship. Lawmakers urge embattled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to…
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the origins of the mortgage crisis
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online activism and BeyondBailouts.org.
Newsletter
Home Sales Rise, Voter Fraud Accusations and Another Ban on Bottled Water
Existing home sales rise 5.5% in September. Groups around the country preemptively prepare for the possibility of voter fraud. Bottled water faces a ban by…
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the Wall Street bailout in historical perspective
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an economic policy agenda for the next president
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Free Market Groups Launch Website to Move “Beyond Bailouts” Toward Fiscal Solvency
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The More the Government Does, the More Harm it Does
At least, that appears to be the lesson of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's misnamed New Deal. New research by two UCLA economists suggests that it was…
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Atlas Network joins BeyondBailouts.org
CEI is happy to announce that the Atlas Network has joined our efforts to stop future reckless spending on the part of Congress,…
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October surprise — existing home sales up in September
Surprise, surprise. Existing home sales were up in September 2008. According to Reuters, Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose 5.5…
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Russ Roberts on Greenspan’s recanting
Russ Roberts this morning on CafeHayek has two posts on Alan Greenspan’s abject testimony on Capital Hill yesterday. One goes through some of…
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A sunny future for capitalism?
Strangely, Hudson Institute scholar Irwin Stelzer seems to forecast a sunny future for capitalism in a DC Examiner op-ed today. Stelzer writes about the…
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We Should All Change Our Name to Fannie Mae
Arlo Guthrie takes on federal bail-outs in a new song. He plans on heading down to Washington, D.C. After changing his name to Fannie…
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The Road to Serfdom–Illustrated!
Thanks to CEI colleague Gary Howard for sending along The Road to Serfdom in Cartoons; I’d forgotten all about this capsule version of Hayek’s…
Newsletter
Stimulus Redux, Benefits of Bottled Water and the Pro-Poverty Left
Senators consider a second round of taxpayer-financed economic stimulus. Bottled water producers attempt to work constructively with environmental groups that have called for additional taxes…
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Don’t Scapegoat Free Markets
Even the liberal Washington Post (which has endorsed the more liberal candidate in every presidential election since 1952) points out that the “free market” is…
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CEI Partners with NTU to Launch BeyondBailouts.org
Did the free market cause the financial crisis? Was it unbridled capitalism? The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the National Taxpayers Union don’t believe…
Newsletter
More Stimulus, AIG’s Financial Trouble and Tax Promises
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calls for a 2nd economic stimulus package. Troubled insurance giant American International Group Inc. halts its lobbying efforts and cancels…
Blog
That $800 Billion
So what has Paulson done so far with your $800 billion? He’s rewarded his friends, of course. $70 BILLION has gone to executives and…
News Release
Free Market Groups Launch BeyondBailouts.org
As the economy continues to adjust to the credit crunch, CEI and NTU partner to fight for real financial reforms, not reckless spending.
Blog
They’re In The Money
We’re hearing from a variety of sources that Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, has agreed in principle to be Obama’s Treasury Secretary.
Newsletter
Banning Bottled Water, Disaster Insurance and the Mortgage Meltdown
The U.S. Conference of Mayors votes to endorse banning the sale of bottled water across the country. Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund could face a shortfall…
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National Debt Clock Out of Space
In 1989 Manhattan real estate developer erected the national debt clock near Times Square. The total was “only” $2.7 trillion.
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Bernanke testifies on possible fiscal stimulus package
Signals that the government’s not finished with its bailout plans — this time downstream stimulus. In testimony today before the House Budget Committee…
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Understanding the GSEs’ Role in the Mixed Economy
I'm not sure why Matthew Yglesias chose to adopt the unpleasant leftist tactic of beginning an argument with insult ("conservatives don't know anything about…
Op-Eds
The End of American Capitalism? 5 Short Takes on Where the Financial Crisis Might Be Headed
Five prominent economists share their thoughts on what’s happening and how bad the situation really is. The past week has seen the US economy…
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Bailouts Aggravate Economic Crisis
In the Washington Post, Peter Schiff describes how politicians spawned the current financial crisis. "Our leaders irrationally promoted home-buying, discouraged savings, and recklessly encouraged…
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“One of The Great Success Stories of All Time”
While conservatives are angry about a number of things at the moment, they should be at least as angry that the Congressional Democrats who helped…
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Liberals Against Libertarians
That liberals wish libertarians to go away is, perhaps, not surprising. But the issue is much more serious…
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Unstoppable SuperState Stimulus, Part 2
Today’s Wall Street Journal highlighted a new $300 political stimulus campaign. Keynesian demand-management has re-conquered economics as surely as Fall 2008 has cemented…
Newsletter
Bailout Reactions, ACORN’s Shady History and Challenging Medicare Rules
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announces plans to invest in thousands of U.S. banks. Prominent politicians weigh in on the voter fraud controversy linked to activist…
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The New U.S. Economy
How do you find work as a financial wizard today? My friend and former colleague Radley Balko posts a video that captures the…
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It wasn’t bailout that caused Monday’s market surge — 3 other factors
Since the $700 billion bailout was first proposed, whatever the stock markets did, much of the press took that as a sign that the market…
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Pressure builds on AIG as borrowing spree grows
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The international mark-to-market contagion — sending global markets in a downward
Bailouts. Global interest rate cuts. More bailouts. Global government liquidity injections into banks. Direct government buying of commercial paper. And even more types of bailouts.
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Obama denigrates Delaware in debate
Poor little Delaware. In every presidential election since 1992, she has been in the “blue” column voting for the Democratic candidate. She has long had…
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In Goldman Sachs We Trust?
In the current issue of the Capital Research Center’s newsletter Foundation Watch, Fred Lucas looks into the historically cozy relationship that finance giant Goldman…
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More Bailouts on the Way
At last night’s debate, Senator McCain floated a horrible idea: to have the government buy up bad mortgages and then write off part of…
Op-Eds
Government’s “10,000 Commandments” Cost Americans More than $1 Trillion
Federal regulations cost Americans almost as much as the income tax and more than 40 percent of all federal spending, according to “Ten Thousand…
Heartland
Government’s “10,000 Commandments” Cost Americans More than $1 Trillion
Federal regulations cost Americans almost as much as the income tax and more than 40 percent of all federal spending, according to “Ten Thousand Commandments,”…
Blog
Quotes of the Day
Arnold Kling: Instead of thinking of the pending bailouts and financial regulation as a new era of government supervisions of markets, think of it…
Blog
Deregulation Wasn’t to Blame for Financial Crisis
Even the reliably-liberal BBC says that deregulation wasn’t the cause of the financial crisis. Other liberal journalists like Washington Post columnist Sebastian Mallaby have…