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American Institute for Economic Research
Biden Redoubles Effort to Crush Crypto With EIA’s Mining Survey
The Biden administration has launched yet another attack against the cryptocurrency industry–an environmental impact “survey” to bolster a politically motivated attack on the crypto mining…
Reason
Inflation Is So Back
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited on Reason about rising inflation: “If the Federal Reserve was thinking of cutting interest rates at its next meeting…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Trademark fees and threatened sloths
A cargo ship struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman died at age 90.
Search Posts
Letters
Coalition Letter Against Mandatory Implementation of E-Verify
Full Document Available in PDF We, the undersigned free-market advocacy groups and public interest organizations, write to share our concerns…
News Release
Obama Budget Fails On Regulatory Reform
Washington, D.C., February 14, 2011 — President Barack Obama has submitted a $3.73 trillion spending budget blueprint for fiscal 2012, blowing well past President George…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Nanny-State Control of Business Will Crimp Growth
At 11:30 on Monday, in a much-anticipated speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama used analogies from the Super Bowl to urge American…
Citation
Freddie, Fannie May Be Finished, But What Comes Next?
Citation
Bulldog is still fighting
Op-Eds
No, There Was No Public Offering Made (Letter to the Editor)
In attempting to defend Massachusetts’s censorship of hedge-fund speech to the public, Mike Liles Jr. (Letters, Jan. 22) makes a circular argument that mischaracterizes my…
Citation
Rolling Back Red Tape: 20 Regulations to Eliminate
Citation
Life’s Tough for $144,000 Garbage Collectors
Study
Suspend Mark-to-Market Rules and Make Accounting Regulators Accountable
Liberate to Stimulate Index The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was hauled before Congressional hearings and members of both parties expressed concern…
News Release
Repeal Senseless and Job-Destroying Volcker Rule from Dodd-Frank
Contact: Christine Hall, 202-331-2258 Lee Doren, 202-331-2259 Washington, D.C., January 18, 2011 – Today, the Financial Stability Oversight Council is issuing recommendations for implementing…
Op-Eds
Financial Stability Council Violates the Constitution (Letter to the Editor)
C. Boyden Gray’s Dec. 31 Washington Forum commentary, “Wall Street reform that flouts the law,” rightly criticized the secrecy, unchecked bureaucratic power and constitutional…
Citation
Debit Card Restrictions Bad News for Consumers
Citation
Future FSA, HRA charges to fund ObamaCare
News Release
Federal Reserve’s Interchange Price Controls: Gift to Retailers, Lump of Coal for Consumers
Washington, D.C., December 16, 2010 – This afternoon in a public meeting, the Federal Reserve will release draft rules to implement Dodd-Frank’s Durbin Amendment, which…
Study
Roll Back Burdensome Sarbanes-Oxley Accounting Rules
Full Document Available in PDF “How can we have these levels of fictions…
Citation
Feds Use New Tool to Target Ex-CEO
Letters
Coaliton Letter on Credit Union Regulatory Relief
Full Document Available in PDF Along with this letter please find a new advertisement, signed…
Op-Eds
GM Shares Are Artificially Inflated (Letter to the Editor)
The Examiner was right to note that General Motors’ supposed “success story” is actually a money-loser for taxpayers. Not only did GM’s recent sale of…
Citation
What’s Good for New GM Is Bad for the Rest of America
Citation
GM’s Stock Offering Goes Well, But Some See Nothing to Cheer
Citation
Halfway Between Sanity and Bedlam
Citation
What’s Good for GM Is Now Terrible for America
Op-Eds
What’s Good for GM Is Now Terrible for America
In his 1953 confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense in the incoming Eisenhower administration, former General Motors CEO Charles “Engine Charlie” Wilson was asked how…
Citation
Wall Street to GM: Let’s Put Those Bad Days Behind Us
News Release
Small Businesses Not Growing? That’s Because Regulations Are
The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will hold a hearing Thursday, November 18, on “Assessing the Regulatory and Administrative Burdens on…
Op-Eds
Fannie & Freddie Don’t Deserve Any More Tax Dollars (Letters to the Editor)
The Examiner was right to oppose more taxpayer bailouts for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are expected to receive between $73 billion and $215…
Citation
Morning Scan – Free Checking
Op-Eds
The Free Checking Restoration Act
Having largely abandoned attempts to defend ObamaCare in the run-up to next week’s election, President Obama and his allies are now warning that opponents will…
Citation
Free Checking – How ‘Bout Them Democrats
Citation
SEC ‘Proxy Access’ Rule Could Empower Unions, Political Activists
Op-Eds
Obama’s War on Free Checking
“Free checking as we know it is ending,” says the lead paragraph of a widely read and tweeted story from The Associated Press. Noting…
Citation
The Free Checking Restoration Act of 2010
Citation
The GM IPO
Op-Eds
Ms. Warren Should Take Aim at Confusing Federal Laws (Letters to the Editor)
Todd Zywicki is right to criticize President Obama for appointing a consumer-lending czar without submitting the appointment to the Senate for an up-or-down vote…
Citation
SEC “Proxy Access” Rule Could Empower Unions, Political Activists and Undermine Investors
Op-Eds
Washington Ideas Forum
Study
Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB: Narrow Separation-of-Powers Ruling Illustrates That the Supreme Court Is Not ‘‘Pro-Business’’
Full Document Available in PDF Chief Justice John Roberts has often been depicted as an advocate of narrow rulings and a judicial philosophy…
Op-Eds
No Regulation Without Representation
Having excoriated the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress — on this site and elsewhere — for falling short of principles on TARP…
Citation
Galoots!
Citation
Wayne Crews on the Regulatory State
Vice President for Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute discusses the regulatory state. He advocates removing regulations that cost the taxpayers too much money.
Citation
Sen. Baucus Pushes Small Business Jobs Act
Citation
CEI: Small Business Jobs & Credit Act – another ‘Big Government boondoggle’
Citation
MBL featured in Spectator, Gazette over weekend
Op-Eds
Credit Card Regulation: Big Government vs. Small Business
Op-Eds
Tightening Credit Hurts Small Businesses
The Sept. 1 editorial “On better terms” conceded that overall interest rates have risen on credit cards after the passage of the Credit…
Op-Eds
CBO Says Stimulus Will Increase Deficit (Letter to the Editor)
In his Commentary column, “The Recovery Act Worked,” Michael Cassidy wrongly denies that the $800 billion stimulus package “will make the federal deficit worse.” It…
Citation
John Berlau discusses the General Motors IPO
Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs John Berlau discusses the General Motors IPO. Will investors have any recourse to sue?…
Newsletter
Kagan Confirmed, Ford Motor’s Finances and Critiquing Obama’s Economic Policy
The U.S. Senate confirms Elena Kagan to be the next member of the Supreme Court. President Obama announced a $250 million government loan to Ford…
Op-Eds
Obama Cripples Ford’s Funding, Then Subsidizes It
At the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan offered these famous remarks about politicians’ views on business in the 1970s. Reagan…
Jacob Grier
Markets are for Consumers
Jacob Grier
Recent Developments in Fair Value Accounting
Jacob Grier
Kagan and the Agency-Exhaustion Doctrine: A Response to Media Matters
Well, who’da thunk it? George W. Bush’s Justice Department is now considered a citadel of wisdom by the legal eagles at Media Matters for America.
Jacob Grier
In Defending Kagan, Media Matters Embraces Bush Justice Department
Well, who woulda thunk it?! George W. Bush’s Justice Department is now considered a citadel of wisdom by the legal eagles at the liberal Media…
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Offshore Drilling and the Complexity of Obamacare
The House Financial Services Committee passes the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. Today the House of Representatives will vote on an energy…
Jacob Grier
Elena Kagan’s War on Small Business
Solicitor General Kagan urged against letting a small firm challenge a regulatory agency in court. Would a Justice Kagan do the same? Now that Congress…
Newsletter
Big Labor’s Agenda, the Death of Cap and Trade and the Politics of ‘Mad Men’
Big Labor has been pushing hard to make Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren the new consumer protection czar. Besides the possibility of a lame-duck session, the…
Newsletter
Online Privacy, Food Safety and Unemployment Benefits
The Senate Commerce Committee prepares for a hearing on consumer online privacy. Environmental groups sue to compel the Food and Drug Administration to ban the…
Jacob Grier
Financial Overhaul Just Another Case of Government Overreach
Jacob Grier
Deal for Credit Firm Draws Fire for GM
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, Financial Regulation and Toyotas and the Truth
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) mentions plans to pass a cap-and-trade bill in a post-election “lame duck” session if necessary. President Obama signs the Dodd-Frank financial…
Jacob Grier
GM Agrees to Buy Lender AmeriCredit for $3.5 Billion
Newsletter
Elena Kagan’s Nomination, Obama Signs Financial Regulation Bill and Defending the Right to Work
The Senate Judiciary Committee approves the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. Today President Obama will sign recently-passed financial regulation bill into…
Jacob Grier
Obama’s Latest Monstrosity
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that President Obama will sign today should not be called “financial reform.” Instead the bill, which…
Jacob Grier
Have We Really Been Stimulated
The Lansing State Journal reported last week that the federal stimulus has been working. The White House projects the spending act created or saved between…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, the Gulf Oil Spill, and Privacy on Facebook
Congress passes the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. The New York Times chronicles the economic fallout from the BP oil spill. Pundits argue that Facebook is…
Jacob Grier
Financial Reform Bill: Bureaucratic Absolutism
Jacob Grier
Obama’s New Financial Regulation Bill Strangles America’s Economy with Red Tape
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that passed the Senate 60-39 on Thursday and will be signed by President Obama next week should not…
Jacob Grier
Who Won Big in the Financial Bill – More Muscle for Big Merchants
It’s usually not that easy for big retail chains to win battles on Capitol Hill — particularly if they are trying to secure a benefit…
Jacob Grier
Dodd-Frank is not “Financial Reform,” it’s More Big Government Lunacy
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill should not be called “financial reform.” Instead, it should be called what for what it is: pages and pages of…
News Release
Statement by John Berlau on Passage of Dodd-Frank Financial Regulation Bill
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill should not be called “financial reform.” Instead, it should be called what for what it is: pages…
Letters
Senate Should Reject Dodd-Frank
Full Document Available in PDF The so-called financial “reform” legislation, agreed to by House and Senate Democrats in Conference, and…
Letters
Double Taxation Working Group
Full Document Available in PDF We are writing to express our appreciation for your efforts to protect Americans from tax increases that…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, Immigration and Climate Legislation
The Senate prepares to vote on a financial regulation bill. A Heritage Foundation report finds that deportation of undocumented immigrants has fallen during the Obama…
Commonwealth Foundation
I&R Makes Way for Liquor Store Privatization in WA
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Leadership in Business vs. Politics and Corporate Accounting
The State of California is working to (partially) “legalize” online gambling. Former congressman Mickey Edwards writes on the qualities of…
Commonwealth Foundation
Court Ruling ‘Another Reason to Vote no on Dodd-Frank’
Commonwealth Foundation
Oversight law survives Supreme Court Battle
Commonwealth Foundation
Supreme Court’s SOX Decision May be Non-Event for IT
Commonwealth Foundation
Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill?
A Yogi-ism for Congress: “It ain’t over until both houses of Congress vote for an identical bill and send it to the president’s desk —…
Wall Street Journal
How I (Almost) Killed Sarbox
Wall Street Journal
Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill?
A Yogi-ism for Congress: “It ain’t over until both houses of Congress vote for an identical bill and send it to the president’s desk…
Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court Sarbanes-Oxley Decision
Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court SOX Ruling Has IT Implications
News Release
Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Sarbanes-Oxley Provisions
Nearly five years ago, CEI and accountant Brad Beckstead began to discuss mounting a constitutional challenge to Sarbanes-Oxley’s Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The…
CEI On Demand
Sam Kazman on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB
General Counsel Sam Kazman discusses the far reaching implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Newsletter
Official Bedtimes, Stimulus Creep and Free Trade Agreements
Japan’s Environment Ministry is encouraging its citizens to go to bed an hour earlier at night, and get up an hour earlier in the morning.
CEI On Demand
USA Today Cheers Proposed Financial Protection Agency
News Release
Supreme Court Decision Spares America From Becoming International Magnet for Lawsuits
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2010 – The U.S. Supreme Court today saved this country from becoming a target-rich environment for international litigation, ruling against…
CEI On Demand
The Walgreen Amendment
In passing the financial regulation bill, U.S. Senators made a point of how they were going after the “fat cats” on Wall Street.
CEI On Demand
Stimulus Spending Has Done Little to Promote Growth (Letter to the Editor)
The stimulus package destroyed private-sector jobs, since it was financed by borrowing money from private citizens that would otherwise have been spent on private…
Newsletter
Oil Spill Assistance, Immigration Crackdown and Money for Nothing
The White House refused to allow foreign ships to assist with cleanup of the BP oil spill. Arizona’s immigration crack-down inspires a public referendum on…
News Release
Memo: Upcoming Supreme Court decision in Sarbanes-Oxley case
MEMO TO: Friends of CEI FROM: John Berlau, Director of CEI’s Center for Entrepreneurs and Investors DATE: June 21, 2010 SUBJECT: …
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Orcs on Wall Street and the Chimera of Green Jobs
Congress continues to discuss a plan that would legalize online gambling in all fifty states. The government is on the prowl…
Newsletter
Financial Reform, Hurricane Season and Bank Fees
Congress continues negotiations on a major financial reform bill. Florida Governor Charlie Christ vetoes a bill that would have allowed Florida insurance companies to build…
CEI On Demand
Bad Idea: Congress Blocks Checking Overdraft Fees
Banks can afford to offer free checking accounts with no minimum balance, to responsible people, only because they can charge overdraft fees to irresponsible…
News Release
Center-Right Groups Protest Durbin ‘Interchange Fee’ Amendment Pushing Through Price Controls and Benefitting Big Retailers
Washington, D.C., June 17, 2010 – A coalition of 15 free-market and conservative groups are calling on Congress to reject credit and debit card…
Letters
No Place for Corporate Welfare in Financial Regulation
Full Document Available in PDF As leaders of groups representing millions of Americans that comprise a Center-Right Coalition, we oppose price controls in…
Letters
Coalition Letter Against Durbin Interchange Fee Price Control Amendment to Financial Reform Bill
Full Document Available in PDF As leaders of groups representing millions of Americans that comprise a Center-Right Coalition, we oppose price controls in…
Comment
Upcoming Supreme Court Decisions in Sarbanes-Oxley Case
Full Document Available in PDF The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision soon in a major case involving…
CEI On Demand