Featured Posts
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
Newsletter
Liquor Licensing, Off-label Drugs and Fannie & Freddie
A new proposal in New York to set up a “medallion” system of liquor-licensing will serve as a compromise between wine retailers and grocery store…
Newsletter
State Pensions, Cesar Chavez, and Wine Deliveries
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is trying to boost the state economy by reforming state employee pension plans. President Obama declares March 31th “Cesar Chavez Day”…
Citation
Consumer Use and Government Regulation of Title Pledge Lending
Op-Eds
Aussie Securities Case May Make U.S. Litigation Magnet
Headquartered in Melbourne, the second largest city of the land down under, National Australia Bank is firmly attached to its home country. The primary…
Newsletter
Australian Investors, New York Roommates and David Frum
Australian investors bring a lawsuit against a Melbourne-based bank to the U.S. Supreme Court. New York City maintains an infrequently-enforced law against four or more…
Op-Eds
ObamaCare could make you think twice about saying ‘I do’
The new tax on investors in the health care bill has been increased from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent, but only a few…
Op-Eds
The ‘Hidden Lies’ in Obama’s Health Care Plan
Even the Associated Press admits that President Obama is not telling the truth about his health care plan and how it would affect health…
Newsletter
Finance, Trade and Toyota
Sen. Chris Dodd has introduced a new financial reform bill. U.S. Sugar is lobbying to keep government restrictions on sugar imports. The Washington Post’s coverage…
Op-Eds
Dodd’s Main Street Punishment Bill
With the focus this week on health care’s “home stretch” and concerns about government limiting the ability of ordinary Americans to make choices about…
Op-Eds
ObamaCare’s Enormous Cost is Hidden by Dishonest Gimmicks, Admits pro-Obama New York Times Columnist David Brooks
New York Times columnist David Brooks, like other columnists at that staunchly liberal newspaper, supported Obama in the 2008 election. But even he can…
News Release
Dodd Bill Punishes Main Street Entrepreneurs, Rewards Fannie and other High Rollers
With the focus this week on health care’s “home stretch” and concerns about government limiting the ability of ordinary Americans to make choices about medical…
Newsletter
Pensions, Immigration, and Airport Kisses
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) is trying to prop up failed banks by encouraging public pension funds to invest in them. Sens. Schumer (D-NY)…
Op-Eds
Obama Runs Up Largest Budget Deficit in U.S. History
“The Obama Administration has run up the largest budget deficit in American history in February of 2010, a whopping total of $220.9…
Op-Eds
Obama Wants to Tax Good Banks, Protect Bad Ones
The Obama administration wants to increase taxes on productive banks that are self-supporting, while exempting the mortgage giants and other companies that got massive…
Op-Eds
Looking Out for the Big Guys
Big is bad, many on the Left believe, but only in business, not in government. Many on the Left rail against mass discounters…
Citation
Credit Card Bill of Rights
Op-Eds
Obama Policies Will Increase National Debt by $9.7 Trillion
“President Obama’s policies would add more than $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, congressional budget analysts said Friday.
Newsletter
The Fed, Homeschooling, and Sport Gambling
After many congressional attempts to limit the power of the Federal Reserve, some senators are now moving to give more power to the Fed. A…
Newsletter
Bank Loans, NASA, and Fish Tanks
Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Sheila Bair chastises large banks for tightening their qualification standards for loans. The emails released by NASA’s Goddard…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: January – February 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the January-February 2010 issue: …
Newsletter
Credit Cards, Organized Labor, and the Stimulus Anniversary
New credit card regulations go into effect this week. The Washington Post has a front-page story on the difficulty of…
Op-Eds
Credit Card Act Hits Cardholders, Entrepreneurs
Today, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 goes into effect and is being hailed as a boon for consumers.
News Release
Credit CARD Act Penalizes Thrift And Entrepreneurship
Today, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 goes into effect. While the law, passed last May, is being hailed as…
News Release
Statement by John Berlau on Credit CARD Act
Statement by John Berlau on Credit CARD Act Today, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 goes into effect…
Op-Eds
Obama can Aid Small Businesses by Providing Regulatory Reform
In news accounts about fights over new regulation, the story is almost always the same. The media portray the drama as that of well-intentioned…
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…
Newsletter
Obama’s Spending Freeze, the UN’s Lack of Peer Review and FDA’s Chemical Worries
President Obama proposes a freeze on discretionary spending. A UN scientist confirms that dramatic claims of Himalayan glaciers melting due to global warming were not…
Op-Eds
Did Ben Fold?
Looking back at the Federal Reserve Board’s attempts at self-justification after the Great Depression in Free to Choose, Milton and Rose Friedman concluded that…
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…
Citation
Bank Tax “Strictly Political”, but Popular
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…
Citation
Obama’s Glass-Steagal 2.0 Could Crash Financial System
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…
Newsletter
The Popularity of Al Gore’s Books, Obama’s First Year and Scott Brown’s Impact
NPR reports that people in the UK have resorted to burning used books in their stoves and fireplaces to keep warm amid record-cold temperatures. The…
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…
Op-Eds
Crisis Management
One of the more confusing aspects of the great economic meltdown of 2008-09—even more confusing than collateralized debt obligations—has been the tortured…
News Release
Obama’s Glass-Steagall 2.0 Could Crash Financial System
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 little to prevent…
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…
Newsletter
Net Neutrality, the War on Salt and Beach House Insurance
The Federal Communications Commission receives thousands of comments on its proposed “net neutrality” regulations. New York City public health officials launch a campaign to reduce…
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
SarBox Might be Coming to an End
Prospects for substantial relief from or repeal of one of the most burdensome corporate regulations in recent memory have suddenly grown in Congress and…
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…
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…
Citation
House Panel Approves Ban On Retail Price-Fixing Deals
Citation
Sarbanes-Oxley: Albatross to Growth
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.
Op-Eds
Sarbanes-Oxley: Albatross to Growth
Many economists, policy makers, and members of Congress of both parties are questioning whether what is good for the Big Four accounting firms is…
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…
Citation
Reforms Bode Ill for Tax-Free Health Accounts
Op-Eds
Change We Can Really Believe In
Over the last century, America has lurched down a path toward statism. And Presidents Bush and Obama accelerated the expansion of government power by…