The Competitive Enterprise Institute believes the proper role for government is to provide consumers with accurate, unbiased guidance that informs consumer choice. But, whether it is the substances we prefer, how we entertain ourselves, what dietary habits we maintain, or how we pursue personal health, consumers ought to have the right to make decisions for themselves.
Consumer Freedom Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
California’s $20 fast food worker minimum wage a regressive tax
California’s new $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food restaurants has turned into a regressive tax on the state’s low-income residents. People who wanted…
Blog
FDA makes lab test power play
The Food and Drug Administration has just released its long anticipated final rule that explicitly asserts its claim of authority to regulate laboratory-developed-tests (LDTs)—tests that are designed, manufactured,…
Blog
Department of Energy is coming after our light bulbs – again
We have already said goodbye to the incandescent light bulb, thanks to federal regulations. Will its replacement be next? Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency regulations…
Search Posts
Blog
California’s $20 fast food worker minimum wage a regressive tax
California’s new $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food restaurants has turned into a regressive tax on the state’s low-income residents. People who wanted…
Blog
FDA makes lab test power play
The Food and Drug Administration has just released its long anticipated final rule that explicitly asserts its claim of authority to regulate laboratory-developed-tests (LDTs)—tests that are designed, manufactured,…
Blog
Department of Energy is coming after our light bulbs – again
We have already said goodbye to the incandescent light bulb, thanks to federal regulations. Will its replacement be next? Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency regulations…
Washington Times
Past the tipping point? Survey finds most Americans say tipping is ‘out of control’
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in an article on the Washington Times about tipping in American businesses: Sean Higgins, an analyst at the libertarian…
Op-Eds
Cutting Corners and Nickel-and-Diming Customers
In macroeconomics, the “circular flow of income” refers to the continuous flow of money between producers and consumers in the economy. Producers provide goods and…
Washington Times
Environmental group pushes retail associates to discourage gas stove purchases
CEI’s Ben Lieberman is cited in the Washington Times about appliances: Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow in environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
News Release
CEI Congratulates Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak on confirmation as FTC commissioners
The United States Senate confirmed Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak to terms as commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by voice vote. Holyoak was an…
Blog
FTC declares mergers to be union-busting
In a classic case of regulatory creep, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently asserted jurisdiction over labor unions and collective bargaining. The agency is…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Space debris and dried prunes
The privately-built Odysseus spacecraft became the first American moon lander since 1972. President Biden announced new Russian sanctions in response to opposition leader Aleksey Navalny’s…
Blog
Congress takes on anti-consumer furnace regulation
CEI suggested five bad appliance regulations Congress should reject with the Congressional Review Act last November. Now, Congress has taken up the first target…
Blog
Federal courts to the rescue on bad appliance regulations?
The US Supreme Court recently heard a case that could impact how much deference judges give to regulatory agencies. To be certain, any relief…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Energy labels and human food guidance
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady. Employment grew by 353,000 workers in January. The Energy Department partially backed off its proposed…
News Release
Biden Energy Department Unveils New Rules Against Residential Cooking Appliances
Today the U.S. Energy Department unveiled its final rule mandating energy efficiency standards for residential cooking appliances such as gas stoves. CEI Senior…
The Washington Examiner
A dishwasher decision that is great news for consumers
A recent court ruling set new limits on the power of federal bureaucrats to impose unwanted mandates on consumer appliances. In a Jan.
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Independent contractors and emergency haddock action
Happy MLK-government snow shutdown days, everyone. There was more shutdown drama last week. The US launched strikes against the Houthis, one of three factions trying…
News Release
Fifth Circuit rules for consumers on dishwasher regulation: CEI statement
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion that creates new possibilities for consumer choice and manufacturer innovation in the…
Blog
FDA power grab would hurt labs, patients, rule of law
The Food and Drug Administration has proposed to amend one of its rules for the purpose of unlawfully expanding its jurisdiction over diagnostic tests.
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Baby formula waivers and phonorecords
The 2023 Federal Register became the second-largest ever, dating back to 1936. A new CEI study makes the case for reforming administrative law…
Blog
House should brake bureaucrats limiting vehicle choice with CARS Act
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is trying to limit the ability of Americans to buy gas-powered cars. That is, the cars that people actually want…
Blog
Wall Street Journal reports consumer frustrations with over-regulated appliances
2023 is turning into the year of bad appliance regulations. Since January, CEI has submitted comments critical of proposed Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency…
Blog
Cold truth about government pushing electric: Natural gas is much cheaper
The Department of Energy (DOE) has repeatedly documented that using natural gas in homes is far cheaper than using electricity.This hasn’t stopped the Biden…
Blog
Slice the regulatory turkey this Thanksgiving
The turkeys Liberty and Bell just received a Thanksgiving pardon from Joe Biden. The official presentation of a turkey for a presidential pardon and rescue…
Blog
Biden admin appliance regulations are bad for small businesses and homeowners
Department of Energy (DOE) bureaucrats are making 2023 a bad year for homeowners with an avalanche of proposed and final appliance regulations impacting stoves, washing…
New York Post
New Yorkers can’t stop complaining about their blocked views
New York City has many fine museums — it isn’t one. Yet. But New York is the home of the nation’s second-dumbest urban political ecosystem…
Blog
5 bad appliance regulations Congress should reject with the Congressional Review Act
This is the third article in CEI’s Special Briefing Series: Defending the Personal Energy Choices of Americans. It isn’t just gas stoves. The Biden administration has…
Blog
Biden administration cites fanciful numbers to support ‘right to repair’
The Biden White House hosted an event on right to repair last Tuesday to provide information “about federal and state efforts to strengthen the…
Blog
It’s time to bring reason to emotional AI debates
Artificial intelligence (AI) promises immense benefits, ranging from revolutionizing healthcare diagnostics and treatment to radically improving transportation safety. However, as this rapidly advancing technology spreads,…
Blog
Federal energy efficiency requirements are outdated and should be repealed
This is the second article in CEI’s Special Briefing Series: Defending the Personal Energy Choices of Americans. Americans have experienced appliance inflation over the past…
Blog
New EPA air conditioner regulation certain to get homeowners heated up
Another Friday news dump, another bad Biden administration appliance regulation slipped in ahead of the weekend. Last Friday it was one targeting air conditioners –…
Blog
House Republicans try defunding the home appliance regulators
This year began with a powerful consumer backlash to the suggestion from a Biden administration official that gas stoves may be banned, followed by…
Blog
Biden administration finalizes costly and unnecessary furnace regulations
There’s a lot of consumer anger over pending federal regulations targeting stoves, but Biden administration bureaucrats are also going after dishwashers, refrigerators,…
Real Clear Markets
Barbie, Hot Wheels, and the Market for Lemons
The Barbie movie is more than a bit of good fun. It also teaches an economics lesson about lemons—the old slang term for defective goods, not the…
Blog
Now the Biden administration is targeting your next water heater
As discussed in recent CEI testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Biden administration Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed an avalanche…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: milk losses and duck vehicles
Google’s antitrust trial started, and the Justice Department cited Russian antitrust actions to back up its case. The latest inflation numbers were a…
Blog
Will polyester recycling become fashionable?
The Wall Street Journal ran a fascinating article last week on the future of innovation and technology, but it’s not about AI or semiconductors.
Blog
22 months after we asked, the Food and Drug Administration answered!
Finally! Nearly two years after we asked, the government has finally told us what it was doing! Here’s what happened: We asked the Food and…
Reason
Environmentalists Are Destroying My Kitchen
Reason Magazine cites CEI’s Devin Watkins and Sam Kazman on environmentalist agendas: “When a new energy standard is adopted by the DOE, the result is…
Blog
The road to pork product serfdom
There are interesting developments afoot in the world of agriculture and livestock, as recently recounted in the pages of the New York Times. According…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: dairy donations and kiosk interpretations
The 2023 Federal Register topped 60,000 pages. Price controls are on the way for 10 common prescription drugs. Hurricane Idalia hit Florida. Culture warriors shouted…
Blog
Climate policy deserves thoughtful discourse, not petty attacks: a response to Paul Krugman
Just because someone doesn’t support an extreme climate policy agenda, like the Inflation Reduction Act, doesn’t mean that they deny climate change is occurring. Science…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: walnut marketing and railroad dispatchers
The number of new final regulations this year topped 2,000, ending the week at 2,007. Economically significant regulations may be a thing of the…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: baby bumpers and AI campaign ads
A wildfire in Hawaii killed more than 100 people. Donald Trump was indicted again. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from magnificent ramshorns to pasteurized…
Blog
How the Inflation Reduction Act takes aim at gas stoves
The American people have reacted very negatively to potential federal regulations targeting natural gas stoves in favor of electric versions. But beyond regulations, there…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: steroids and cyber scholarships
Unemployment remained at 3.5 percent, and Donald Trump got indicted again. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging from cooking products to squid harvests. On to…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: dishwashers and shore leave
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again, and GDP grew at a healthy 2.4 percent annualized rate. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
The Washington Examiner
Carbon tariffs will hurt trade, national interests, and consumers
Carbon tariffs are a bad idea that won’t go away, and now the European Union has launched the first one, the …
Blog
CEI leads coalition opposing crazy regulatory crackdown on dishwashers
The American public remains angry over federal meddling in gas stoves – for good reason, given that not one but two Biden administration regulatory agencies…
Comment
Comment on Energy Conservation Standards for Dishwashers
I. SUMMARY The proposed rule would tighten the energy and water efficiency standards for residential dishwashers, despite the fact that the standards currently in effect…
Human Progress
Three Cheers for Refrigeration—and Four, Once Everyone Has It
It is difficult to overstate the benefits of refrigeration. Even more than its technological sibling air conditioning, refrigeration has dramatically improved public health and the…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: nuclear debt collection and high airports
The FTC lost another major antitrust case, this time its bid to stop the Microsoft-Activision merger. CPI inflation dropped to 3 percent, though…
Blog
Don’t believe the ‘cost-of-thriving’ doom
There has been a lot of discussion in the last several years – and even more so in the last few weeks – about income…
Blog
What I told the EPA about its illegal de facto electric vehicle mandates
Yesterday I submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for model years (MYs) 2027-2032…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: historical captain permits and apricot marketing
The Supreme Court agreed to hear CEI’s Moore v. U.S. tax case in its upcoming term. It also handed down rulings in controversial cases…
Blog
Adam Smith on how trade makes us better people
2023 is the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. This post is part of a series highlighting aspects of Smith’s thought that continue to influence…
Blog
Allergy sufferers to Congress: Please stop trying to help!
The Law of Unintended Consequences gained another data point recently. A bipartisan bill requiring products with sesame to be specially labeled has resulted in…
Blog
European Union says phones and tablets must be easier to break by 2027
The European Parliament agreed on new rules last week that would require smartphone and tablet manufacturers to make it easier for users to remove…
National Review
Protectionism without Sugarcoating
National Review cites CEI’s Iain Murray about protectionism: Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute describes the U.S. sugar quotas as the “platonic form of…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: tart cherry assessments and big cat safety
The House passed two regulatory reform bills, the REINS Act and the Separation of Powers Restoration Act. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. Meanwhile,…
Bob Harden
U.S. House Passes Legislation to Preserve Consumer Choice in Kitchen Appliances
We visit with Ben Lieberman, Senior Policy Analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, about the Biden administrations war on gas home appliances. Bob…
Blog
War over gas stoves heats up with two House votes today
President Biden’s administration has declared war on gas stoves, but today the House of Representatives is fighting back Two Biden administration agencies, the Consumer Product…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Supporting Efforts to Stop Tobacco Prohibitions in Ag Approps Bill
Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member DeLauro, The undersigned organizations representing millions of consumers and taxpayers support Sections 768 and 769 of the Fiscal Year 2024…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: electric motors and small business loans
Congress and President Biden reached a debt ceiling deal. Texas attorney general and antitrust hawk Ken Paxton was impeached. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Blog
Why is the debt ceiling deal helping to ban gas stoves?
When Biden-appointed Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr. announced last January that his agency was investigating gas stoves and that a…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: baby formula labels and room air conditioners
Happy Memorial Day, everyone. The Supreme Court upheld property rights in a 9-0 decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County, in which CEI joined…
Blog
Let’s get this huge ‘hidden tax’ of regulation out into the open
Smack dab in the middle of contentious debt limit negotiations, the House Budget Committee held another in its series of hearings on American economic growth,…
Testimony
Testimony of Ben Lieberman : Examining the Biden Administration’s Regulatory Assault on Americans’ Gas Stoves
Introduction Chair Fallon, Ranking Member Bush, and members of this Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on an issue few if any…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: lowfat yogurt and halibut sharing
Debt ceiling negotiations remain stalled, and will likely remain that way until the deadline draws nearer. The Supreme Court left Section 230 intact. A…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Letting people prosper with Vance Ginn
In this week’s episode we talk about Warren Buffet’s electric vehicle pessimism, sky-high school funding in New York City, a report…
Blog
Biden administration wants to make bad clothes washers even worse
The Biden administration started the year by targeting gas stoves and has followed it up with a flood of additional appliance regulations. This…
Comment
Comments of CEI and Michael Mannino on Dept. of Energy’s Conservation Standards for Residential Clothes Washers
I. SUMMARY The proposed rule would tighten the energy and water efficiency standards for residential clothes washers, despite the fact that the standards currently in…
Fox News
Joe Manchin abruptly tanks Biden nominee picked to oversee admin’s crackdown on gas stoves
It’s just spreading to more and more appliances. It seems that almost everything that plugs in or fires up around the house is…
Blog
Robert Lucas, economist of possibilities, 1937-2023
Robert Lucas, 85, passed away this week. He was a prominent macroeconomist who won the 1995 economics Nobel. Others have remembered Lucas’s contributions to rationality…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: toy guns and trophy fisheries
The 2023 Federal Register topped 30,000 pages on May 8. New inflation numbers looked better on the surface, but actually got worse. A new…
Blog
New credit card late fee rule hurts folks who pay their bills on time
There has rightly been an outcry after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which sets policy for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) Fannie Mae and Freddie…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Freedom is intoxicating with Jacob Grier
In this week’s episode we talk about public opinion regarding capitalism, eliminating COVID relief slush funds, rolling back parking mandates, partisan…
Wall Street Journal
Biden Cracks Down on Gas Stoves—and Much More
Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. fired a shot heard ’round America in January when he informed the public of his agency’s plans for natural-gas…
Blog
Don’t drink the ‘right to repair’ Kool-Aid
“What’s in a name?” William Shakespeare posed the question in Romeo & Juliet to illustrate that a rose, even if called by a different name,…
Blog
Screw up the dishwashers, save the planet?
The Department of Energy (DOE) proposed more stringent energy and water efficiency standards for dishwashers Friday, despite the fact that the regulations currently on…
Issues & Insights
Biden Unleashes The Regulatory Kraken — And There’s No Land In Sight
As the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Clyde Wayne Crews put it recently, “President Biden is leading an unprecedented expansion of the administrative state. In two…
Blog
Retirement finance worries increase for Americans
The Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research have published their 33rd Annual Retirement Confidence Survey, and it’s got some interesting results. The survey…
Blog
Americans agree: Politics doesn’t solve most problems
Our friends at the Pew Research Center have some new political survey results out, and the numbers are…not encouraging. The research summary finds:…
Washington Examiner
Effort to limit children’s social media access draws bipartisan support in the Senate
Congressional efforts to regulate the internet to shield minors from harm online is an old story, going back to the internet’s…
National Review
The Crusade against Things That Work Is Coming for Your AC
CEI’s Ben Liberman is cited on National Review about the home appliance debate: In an op-ed for Fox News, the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Smart urbanism with Max Dubler
In the latest episode, we talk about John Berlau and Stone’s Washington’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed on financial regulation and free speech,…
Fox News
Biden’s Cold War: Anti-Air Conditioner Regulations Keep Piling Up
Think Biden administration regulators have it in for gas stoves? Just wait until you learn what they have in store for air conditioners.
Blog
The week in ridiculous regulations: Oklahoma emissions and Big Creek crayfish
GDP grew by 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023. Cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were both fired. Meanwhile, agencies…
Blog
Texas v. EPA could save the day for cars that go vroom
The Competitive Enterprise Institute this week filed its reply brief for private petitioners in State of Texas et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency.
Blog
Competitive Enterprise Institute Leads Coalition Comment Opposing Department of Energy Stove Regulation
On April 17, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and 30 free-market organizations filed a comment with the Department of Energy (DOE) critical of its proposed…
Comment
CEI Comments to Department of Energy on Proposed Stove Regulation
INTRODUCTION The undersigned free market and consumer organizations have a longstanding interest in bringing to light the deleterious consequences of federal regulations, which are often…
Fox News
Biden admin receives backlash from nearly two dozen groups for move cracking down on gas stoves
Fox News cites CEI’s comments to the DOE on gas stoves: Led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the groups …
Fox News
5 ways Biden is still coming for your gas stove
Who knew President Joe Biden hated gas stoves so much? Not only does he have multiple federal agencies targeting them, but he is also going…
Blog
New CEI Paper Outlines Problems with “Right to Repair” Legislation
At least 20 states have filed or refiled “right to repair” legislation since the start of the new year. Two states passed right to…
E&E News
DOE Rule May Block 50% Of Current Gas Stove Models
“This proposed rule comes with a somewhat controversial background regarding another agency. I think it’s still very, very concerning for natural gas stoves,”…
Comment
CEI Comments on the Proposed Regulation on Digital Discrimination of Access
Introduction. On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) notice of…
Fox News
DeSantis’s Florida beats Newsom’s California, again. Here’s the comparison
The COVID-19 pandemic elicited unprecedented government interventions into American life. Yet, the stringency and duration of government measures varied considerably across the U.S. …
Washington Examiner
Republicans can use the debt ceiling fight to better prepare Americans for the next economic crisis
On the outside chance that House Republicans are able to wrangle President Joe Biden into cutting federal spending to set a new debt…
Regulatory Transparency Project
AUDIO: Explainer Episode 48 – The FDA & the Practice of Medicine: Possible Regulation of Off-Label Prescriptions
Senior Fellow Joel Zinberg joins the Regulatory Transparency Project to discuss possibly regulation of off-label prescriptions: On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations…
Real Clear Energy
Joe Biden’s Opposition to Natural Gas Hits Home
There’s no doubt that the Biden Administration is fully on board with the climate activist community’s war on the natural gas industry. From slow walking…
The Dispatch
Of Course Your House Is Killing You
There’s nothing as bad for you as living well. Here’s a nice memory: My wife and I are in Aspen, sitting by a fire that…
Op-Eds
Restrictions on Natural-Gas Stoves Are Climate Policy by Another Name
It has been heartening to see the strong backlash to the recent announcement that the Biden administration’s Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was considering restrictions and…