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Free the Economy podcast: Understanding the national debt with Thomas Savidge
In this week’s episode we cover whether Americans feel better off than they were four years ago, why we have more billion-dollar…
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Can moderators ask debate questions that don’t presume a progressive policy agenda?
Numerous policy issues are shaping this year’s first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as well as the entire campaign atmosphere. These include…
Blog
Freddie Mac second mortgage funding could foment financial crisis
The 2008 mortgage meltdown and financial crisis never fails to be invoked whenever there is any pushback to excessive financial regulation. Progressives regularly bring up…
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Blog
Increase small biz lending not gov spending
President Obama seems to genuinely want to help people and improve the economy. However, he also seems to genuinely believe that the best and most…
Newsletter
The Lessons of the Meltdown, Attacking the Tea Parties and Texting Safety
Former Wall Street Journal editor George Melloan takes on the recent economic meltdown in a new book. A new online campaign aims to fight the…
Blog
Better than Nothing or another Feint?
Seeking to recast himself as a fiscal conservative, Obama is projected to propose a freeze on discretionary spending – NPR, NEA, “green” jobs, “disaster” relief,…
Letters
Audit the Fed First
Dear Members of the U.S. Senate: In the last two years, the Federal Reserve Board has lent several trillion dollars to banks…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Bank-Busting Regulation Full of Bugs
President Obama’s proposal on Thursday to bring back 1930s-era separation of commercial and investment banking would do little to prevent the problem of financial…
Newsletter
Myths of the Recession, Challenging the EPA and a Victory for Free Speech
Wall Street Journal editor George Melloan challenges popular misconceptions about the recent mortgage crisis and recession in a new book. Four members of Congress challenge…
Blog
“Big, bad banks” — a “faux-populist” response
Uh-oh. It was speculation yesterday, but reality today – President Obama and the Democrats have the banking industry in their sights with their trigger…
Blog
Obama’s Glass-Steagall 2.0 could crash financial system
President Obama’s proposal today to bring back…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 102: The Size of Banks
The White House is expected to propose today a maximum allowable size for banks.
Op-Eds
Obama Plan to Split Banks Could Crash Economy
President Obama’s proposal today to bring back 1930s-like separation of commercial and investment banks, dubbed Glass-Steagall II or Glass-Steagall 2.0, would do…
News Release
Report Card for the Obama Administration
One year ago today, Barack Obama took the oath of office as President of the United States. Since then, he and his appointees have had…
Op-Eds
The Bank Tax and the Bay State
As the race for the late Ted Kennedy’s seat goes into the home stretch, financial-services policy has suddenly emerged as a top issue in…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Penalty Tax Could Hit Banks that Refused TARP Funds
President Obama’s so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the president declared, “We want our…
Blog
Obama Bank “Responsibility Fee” Is Destructive, Hypocritical and Likely Unconstitutional
The so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the President declared, “We want our money back.” Yet his…
Newsletter
CIA Climate Data, Fannie and Freddie Absent and Health Insurance and Antitrust
The Central Intelligence Agency shares classified satellite data with climate researchers. Executives from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are conspicuously absent from the first hearing…
Blog
Financial Crisis Hearing is Partisan Sham that Skips Over Fannie and Freddie’s Role
John Berlau, director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, offers the following thoughts on what’s missing from the first hearing of the Financial Crisis…
Op-Eds
Financial Crisis Hearing Is Partisan Sham
Today marks the first-ever meeting of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which is charged with investigating the causes of the mortgage meltdown.
Blog
New Federal Program Kills Jobs, While Costing Taxpayers Half a Billion Dollars
A federal biofuels program enacted in the name of fighting global warming and reducing dependence on foreign oil is instead killing jobs while perhaps…
Blog
More Enron-like Behavior by Administration Officials Comes to Light
Earlier, the Washington Post reported on how the Obama administration pressured Freddie Mac not to disclose to investors and the SEC the $30…
Op-Eds
More Enron-Like Behavior by Obama Administration
Earlier, The Washington Post reported on how the Obama administration pressured Freddie Mac not to disclose to investors and the SEC the $30 billion…
Blog
Government Uses Takeover of Mortgage Giants to Deliberately Increase Their Massive Losses at Taxpayer Expense
The Wall Street Journal notes that the Obama administration has used the federal government’s bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and…
Blog
Obama’s Recent $75 Billion Mortgage Bailout Fails: Harmful to Economy, Housing, and Construction, Say Economists and Real Estate Experts
Economists and real estate experts are saying that a $75 billion mortgage bailout program designed by the Obama administration has backfired and harmed the housing market,…
Op-Eds
Stimulus Package Forces States to Raise Taxes
The federal government’s $800 billion stimulus package, which failed to cut unemployment, is now forcing states and local governments to raise taxes.
Newsletter
China in Copenhagen, Cash for Fannie and Freddie and the Pandemic that Wasn’t There
Officials debate the role of China as a “spoiler” in recent UN climate change negotiations. The Treasury Department announces the availability of “an unlimited amount…
Blog
Michigan’s population leak
In a preview to the 2010 census, Michigan learned this week that it was one of only three states to lose members of its…
Blog
Government Expands Fannie and Freddie Bailout and Lavishes Money on their CEOs
Under the Bush administration, federal regulators took over Fannie and Freddie in the name of stopping their risky practices. But the Obama administration has increased…
Blog
The Financial Crisis Made Easy, Radio Edition
Some of OpenMarket.org’s readers may know that I’m in the middle of earning a Master’s of Journalism here in D.C. I’m concentrating in Broadcast and…
Blog
FDIC Prepares for “an even-larger number of bank failures” in 2010
[T]he increase is intended to “ensure that [they] are prepared to handle an even-larger number of bank failures” in 2010.
Newsletter
Wall Street Meets the White House, EPA Rules on Greenhouse Gases and Health Care Divided
President Obama hosts a White House summit with Wall Street banking leaders The Environmental Protection Agency publishes its final rule designating greenhouse gases as a…
Blog
Obama Summit: President’s goals of more loans and more heavy-handed regulation in conflict
Statement of John Berlau, director, Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, Competitive Enterprise Institute: President Obama’s twin goals of more bank loans and more heavy-handed regulation…
Newsletter
Re-importing Drugs, TARP for Small Business and Palin on ClimateGate
The Senate health care debate stalls on the question of whether to permit the re-importation of drugs from countries with price controls. President Obama announces…
Blog
Did Deregulation Cause the Great Recession?
Over at RealClearMarkets, I explain why the answer is a resounding no. Over 30,000 total new rules passed during the Bush years. Hardly any were…
Op-Eds
Did Deregulation Cause the Great Recession?
In a December 3 article in Politico ("J-O-Bs should come before GDP"), Rep. Phil Hare argues that "reckless deregulation" is one of the causes…
Letters
Federal Reserve Transparency Working Group Sends Letter to the Senate
Dear Members of the U.S. Senate: In the last two years, the Federal Reserve Board has lent several trillion dollars to banks…
Heartland
Stimulus Funding for In-Flight Broadband
Heartland
Effort To Curb Financial Giants May Worry Markets Even More
Blog
Healthcare Bill Advances in Senate, Despite Receiving Failing Grade from Health Experts; Democrats Block Filibuster in Party-Line Vote
The healthcare bill is on the verge of passing the Senate, despite the fact that it has received a failing grade from healthcare experts like…
Blog
“Obama Warns on Dangers of US Debt”
This morning I read with interest – and amazement – the above headline. Does our president live in the same world that I inhabit? He’s…
Newsletter
VAT, Health Care and Imaginary Stimulus Jobs
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggests adopting a European-style “value added tax” or VAT. Critics question why the Senate leadership isn’t moving faster on health care…
Newsletter
Bailout Transparency, Climate Politics and Mortgage Foreclosures
Rep. Carolyn Maloney introduces a bill to make public details of the bank bailout. Critics accuse President Obama of failing the world on climate change.
Blog
“How ACORN Destroyed the Housing Market”
Federal affordable-housing mandates were a major factor in the mortgage crisis, fueling the housing bubble and the subsequent collapse of the housing and…
Blog
Fixing TARP: Is Transparency Enough?
Transparency is a good start. But the goal should be to not have government bailing out politically favored companies in the first place.
Blog
Poor Ford – They Thought They Were Operating in the Market
The Washington Times, “Greedy Autoworkers,” editorializes the overwhelming rejection of the UAW’s proposed labor agreement. Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford elected to reject the…
Blog
Washington and Wall Street: Best Kept Separate
Russ Roberts' recent Congressional testimony is superb: "I’m mad at Wall Street. But I’m a lot madder at the people who gave them the keys…
Blog
Obama Administration’s Pay Caps Reward Failure and Political Connections
The federal government has no problem paying exorbitant sums of money to people who head failed government agencies like Freddie Mac. Its CEO will receive…
Blog
New CEI Release: One Nation, Ungovernable?
Question: What do you get when you combine a $700 billion “stimulus” package, $1.1 trillion in wealth-destroying regulatory compliance costs, a mountainous non-discretionary entitlement obligation,…
Blog
The Solution to the Government-Caused Housing Crisis? More Government!
The mortgage meltdown was caused partly by the government, which created an artificial market for bad mortgages. The Washington Examiner cites a recent study…
Blog
Mortgage Meltdown Was Caused by Government Mandates
The mortgage meltdown was caused partly by the government, which created an artificial market for bad mortgages. The Washington Examiner cites a recent study…
Blog
Bank of America to Impose Annual Fees on Some Credit Cardholders, Thanks to New Credit Card Law
Bank of America recently announced that it will impose annual fees on some of its cardholders. This is in response to the CARD Act…
Blog
Congress Moves to Reinflate the Housing Bubble That Caused the Financial Crisis
Veteran political commentator Michael Barone reports that liberal congressional leaders are pushing policies to “inflate the housing bubble again.”…
Blog
Obama administration promotes junky, risky mortgages at taxpayer expense, ignoring history’s lessons
George Mason University Professor Ilya Somin explains how the Obama administration is expanding the awful policies that caused the mortgage crisis, like having taxpayers…
Blog
Markets vs. Special Interests
"It is precisely the fact that the market does not respect vested interests that makes the people concerned ask for government interference."…
Newsletter
Billions for Health Care, Failing Detroit and a Supreme Court Review
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a leading Democratic health care proposal would cost $829 billion over ten years. Residents and observers debate the reputation…
Blog
Unemployment Rises to 26-Year High of 9.8%; Obama’s Policies Worsen Unemployment and Credit Crunch
Unemployment has risen to 9.8 percent, a 26-year high. That’s much higher than the Obama administration predicted unemployment would rise, if Congress had refused…
Newsletter
A Swine Flu Vaccine, Rising Unemployment and Limits on Executive Pay
The federal government launches a swine flu vaccine campaign. Alan Greenspan predicts increased economic growth, but also rising unemployment. The White House moves to limit…
Newsletter
Questionable Stimulus, EPA on CO2 and Underfunded Union Pensions
Experts question the economic wisdom of government stimulus spending. Critics of the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions point out the cost…
Blog
7-Eleven serves up Big Gulp of Big Government to credit card consumers
Tomorrow, 7-Eleven Inc. and other big retail chains will hit Capitol Hill to offer Congress members and their staffs a supersize serving of hypocrisy. Retailers,…
Blog
It’s Complicated
Journalists have a tendency to present overly-simple explanations of current events that often turn out to be false. Part of it is due to the…
Blog
Obama Slaps Unconstitutional Gag Order on Critic of His Health Care Plan
While Obama ally ACORN attempts to gag whistleblowers who exposed its role in a recent scandal, the Obama administration is trying to gag…
Blog
Hard-Left Obama Policies Draw Criticism for Undermining Democracy, Security, and the Rule of Law
In his 2008 campaign, Barack Obama talked a lot about “bipartisanship,” but in office, he has governed from the far left, on both domestic and…
Opposing Views
Obama Wants to Extend Patriot Act – Just Like Bush
People are often surprised to hear how similar President Obama’s policies are to President Bush’s. They shouldn’t be. One may be a Republican and the…
Blog
Obama Wants to Extend PATRIOT Act
One may be a Republican and the other a Democrat, but make no mistake. Bush and Obama are two peas in a pod.
Blog
Beer for my Horses
The global-warming industry would probably still be solely owned by assoted cranks and romantics (and the odd vice president) if it weren’t for a…
Blog
Obama scolds Wall Street, but targets Main Street with regs
One year after the Wall Street meltdown, President Obama…
News Release
One Year After Wall Street Meltdown, Obama Targets Main Street
One Year After Wall Street Meltdown, Obama Targets Main Street Statement by John Berlau of CEI Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs Washington, D.C., September…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: July – August 2009
The July-August 2009 issue of the CEI Planet features coverage of CEI’s 25th Anniversary Gala, and articles on federal catastrophe insurance and TARP transparency.
Opposing Views
Obama’s Own Economic Advisor Criticizes Budget Plans
Martin Feldstein, an economic advisor to Obama, criticized “ObamaCare’s Crippling Deficits” in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, noting that “the higher taxes, debt payments and…
Opposing Views
Stimulus Package Forces States to Raise Taxes
The federal government’s $800 billion stimulus package, which failed to cut unemployment, is now forcing states and local governments to raise taxes. The Wall…
Blog
Happy Labor Day!
In a new poll, Gallup finds public support for organized labor at its lowest level since it began taking the survey. Gallup finds organized…
Newsletter
A Doctor Shortage, Cap and Trade in the Senate and TARP Transparency
The American Medical Association lobbies Congress to restrict the number of new doctors in the U.S. Senate sponsors of “cap and trade” global warming legislation…
Blog
Ted Kennedy’s Deregulatory Legacy on Airlines and Trucking
Tributes are pouring in for Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, who lost his battle with brain cancer late Tuesday evening at the age of 77.
Newsletter
EPA’s Economists, Healthcare Rallies and the Cash for Clunkers Crash
Environmental Protection Agency officials consider scrapping the agency’s economics office after receiving a report critical of current global warming policy. Democrats plan public rallies to…
News Release
Special Event: “Intellectual Ammunition” – A Tea Party Strategy Workshop
Washington, D.C., August 26, 2009—The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Ayn Rand Center invite you to a pre-Tea Party event in Washington, D.C., an “Intellectual…
Opposing Views
Don’t Ban but Expand Them
In proposing his new financial regulations this summer, President Obama pledged to get tough on the big Wall Street banks whose risky practices are…
Blog
New Schumpeter Book
In the tradition of the Reader’s Digest condensation of F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, Joseph Schumpeter’s Can Capitalism Survive? is coming out on September…
Blog
Cash for Clunkers Sputters to an End
The Transportation Department announced today that it will wind down the Cash for Clunkers program, which the Obama administration promoted as a way to both…
Blog
A Not-So-Surprising “Clunklusion”
CEI Editorial Director Ivan Osorio discussed the true economic costs of the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program, calling it “a costly boondoggle that…
Blog
Federal Budget Deficit Hits $1,270,000,000,000
Federal spending is going up. Tax receipts are going down. 2009's federal budget deficit is now up to $1.27 trillion as a result. That's about…
Newsletter
TARP Transparency, Stimulating Recession and Union Arrogance
Congress cites a lack of financial transparency in a report sharply critical of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout. The economies of Germany and…
Blog
TARP Transparency: A Good Start, but Not Enough
More transparency would alleviate some of TARP’s symptoms. But TARP itself is a disease. The sooner Congress gains the political will to recover from its…
Products
CEI Planet: May – June 2009
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles…
Newsletter
Unseen Stimulus, E-waste Abroad and Pelosi’s Private Jet
CNN.com profiles Americans receiving benefits from the economic stimulus package. International agencies weigh in on the issue of “e-waste” – trash generated…
Blog
Carney on Cash for Clunkers
Former CEI Warren Brookes Fellow Tim Carney, highlights the high cost of the Cash for Clunkers program, which I wrote about here…
Blog
Cash for Clunkers’ Real Cost
As Frederic Bastiat succinctly noted long ago, when determining the effects of a specific action, it is necessary to consider not only “what is…
Blog
Billions More for Wasteful Auto Bailouts
The auto bailouts keep expanding. Billions more are going to be spent on wealthy auto-dealers, cash-for-clunkers, politically-correct cars few people will buy, and excessive benefits…
Blog
Bonus pay bill: CBO predicts huge costs to private sector, broad swaths of employees affected
After the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculated the enormous costs of an all-encompassing health care scheme with a bloated public option, members of Congress…
News Release
Hurricanes, Dan Rather’s Media Plan and New Insurance Taxes
Global hurricane activity reaches a 30 year low, confounding predictions of more hurricanes caused by global warming. Retired CBS newsreader Dan…
News Release
Bonus Pay Bill: CBO Predicts Huge Costs to Private Sector, Broad Swaths of Employees Affected
Bonus Pay Bill: CBO Predicts Huge Costs to Private Sector, Broad Swaths of Employees Affected Statement of John Berlau, Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs Washington,…
Blog
A Bailout for the First Amendment?
Dan Rather actually made the following two contradictory statements in the same speech: I personally encourage the president to establish a White House…
Newsletter
Heat Waves, UAW Arrogance and the Costs of Obesity
Locations across the nation see record-cold summer temperatures, confounding global warming predictions. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) chastises United Auto Workers chief Ron Gettelfinger for refusing…
Blog
The Wall Street Journal on the Union Pension Debacle
Two weekend Wall Street Journal editorials sum up well the ticking time-bomb of underfunded union pension funds. First, the dire state of many union…
Blog
UAW Gives Taxpayers the (Gettel)finger
Considering the enormous amounts of cash that the federal government has hurled at the auto industry since the start of the financial crisis, recipients…
News Release
CEI Praises California Oil Drilling and No-New-Tax Budget Compromise
CEI Praises California Oil Drilling and No-New-Tax Budget Compromise But State Still In Trouble With Global Warming Law WASHINGTON, July 21, 2009 – Top…
Blog
Union Pension Fund Bailout Taking on a New Form
Senate Democrats and organized labor leaders are reportedly near a deal on removing the card-check provision from the s0-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). That…
Blog
Keynes Remains Popular with Politicians
"‘What are you talking about, Joe? You're telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’ The answer is yes.” -…
Newsletter
Paulson’s Testimony, Ken Burns on National Parks and Obama’s Surgeon General Nominee
Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson testifies before the House Government Reform Committee on his handling of the banking crisis. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns announces his…
Blog
George Will on the UPS/Teamsters Campaign against FedEx
Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” describes a world in which the utopian dream of equality has been achieved beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings: “Nobody was…
Letters
Coalition Letter on TARP Transparency
Full Document Avalible in PDF On behalf of the millions of taxpayers represented by our respective organizations, we write to urge your support…
Newsletter
White House Science Czar, Catfish Imports and Gingrich’s “Real” Stimulus
Critics question the controversial beliefs of White House science adviser John Holdren. U.S. catfish producers try to block inexpensive fish imports from Vietnam. Former House…
Opposing Views
Holding Paulson Accountable For This Mess
As much as conservatives criticize President Obama, legitimately in my view, for federal meddling in business and dictating who should serve on the auto…