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
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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…
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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…