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This week in ridiculous regulations: Clothes dryers and nuclear reactors
It was a slow week for the Federal Register and a busy week for everything else. President Trump announced 25 percent blanket tariffs against Canada…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Nursing pillows and mobile driver’s licenses
One more week until election season is finally, mercifully, over. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from space exports to recreational fires. On to the data:…
Blog
Junk science behind federal appliance regs about to get junkier
The Biden-Harris administration has embarked on a wave of anti-consumer home appliance regulations over the last several years. Each was justified in part by overblown…
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Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Clothes dryers and nuclear reactors
It was a slow week for the Federal Register and a busy week for everything else. President Trump announced 25 percent blanket tariffs against Canada…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Nursing pillows and mobile driver’s licenses
One more week until election season is finally, mercifully, over. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from space exports to recreational fires. On to the data:…
Blog
Junk science behind federal appliance regs about to get junkier
The Biden-Harris administration has embarked on a wave of anti-consumer home appliance regulations over the last several years. Each was justified in part by overblown…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: marijuana scheduling and do-not-call fees
Rather than allow more housing to be built to combat rising rents, the Justice Department sued RealPage, a rent-listing service. CEI’s James Broughel released…
Reason
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
Reason cites Jessica Melugin on KOSA safety flaws “KOSA would trigger mandatory uploading of government id’s, face scans or social security numbers of…
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
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
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
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
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,…
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
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
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
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…
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…
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
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…
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
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
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…
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
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…
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 …
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…
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…
Blog
FDA’s Juul Ban Part of Deadly War on Nicotine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that it denied the application of Juul Labs, maker of the Juul e-cigarette, to market its…
Blog
Banning Menthol Cigarettes Will Do Nothing to Promote Racial Justice
Public support for the War on Drugs has never been lower, due in no small part to increased awareness about the devastation drug criminalization…
Letters
36 Organizations Sign Coalition Letter Condemning Menthol Prohibition Proposal
We, the undersigned 36 organizations, representing millions of taxpayers and consumers across the United States, strongly urge you to reject any proposed ban on menthol…
The Vaping Post
The US Vape Industry Grows Discouraged as The FDA Rejects Thousands of PMTAs
The Vaping Post cites CEI on the vapor industry: A recent blog on Competitive Enterprise Institute’s website highlighted that the amount of applications…
Reason
Since the FDA Has Not Approved Any Vaping Products, All of Them Are Now ‘Subject to Enforcement Action’
Reason cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarette regulations: “There is robust evidence that non-tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes help adults quit smoking,” notes Competitive Enterprise…
Reason
Setting the Record Straight on Heated Tobacco Products
Reason cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton e-cigaretts: But as Michelle Minton of the Competitive Enterprise Institute points out, the…
News One
All Cigarettes Matter: Why Ban Just Menthols? Statistics Show 77% Of Black Smokers Prefer Them
News One cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on menthol cigarettes: “The issue of tobacco control is no different, Michelle Minton recently wrote for the…
Inside Sources
Anti-Plastics Would Undermine Our Economy and Environment
Many valuable plastic products and thousands of jobs could disappear nearly overnight if fool-hearted members of Congress have their way. They propose legislation that may…
The Washington Post
FDA Promises to Move to Ban Menthol in Cigarettes, Flavored Cigars Within a Year
The Washington Post cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on menthol cigarettes: The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, warned that “banning…
Tobacco Reporter
Mail Ban Forces Vape Shops Out of Business
Tobacco Reporter cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarettes and a USPS mail ban: Writing in the National Review,…
Marketplace
Spending, Relief Bill Phases Out Planet Warming Refrigerants
Marketplace cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on refrigerants. This measure hits two sweet spots: the environment and jobs. A key reason it…
Op-Eds
Cannabis Legalization Clears One Hurdle, but Political Parties Must Compromise to Succeed
Last week, the House passed an historic bill to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. Despite growing public and political support for such a measure,…
Study
EPA Should Revise Its Assessment of Medical Supply Sterilant
The COVID-19 crisis is a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining critical medical supplies. Not only must policy makers ensure that the market is…
Blog
How Could We Have Known: Prohibiting E-cigarettes Leads to Smuggling and Smoking
Anyone with a passing knowledge of American history is aware of the failures of prohibition. Both the now-repealed ban on alcohol and the ongoing “war…
Blog
How Could We Have Known: Prohibiting E-cigarettes Leads to Smuggling and Smoking
Anyone with a passing knowledge of American history is aware of the failures of prohibition. Both the now-repealed ban on alcohol and the ongoing “war…
Study
The Double Standards of Cannabis and Nicotine
View Full Document as PDF Executive Summary The principal benefit of recreational cannabis, as the name implies, is recreation. Many who enjoy using…
Blog
FDA Rules on E-cigarette Makers Go into Effect Today, to the Detriment of Public Health
The world was simpler in 2009 when Congress enacted a law that gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate tobacco. Back…
Blog
How the U.S. Spreads Fake Vaping Fears, Part II
In a previous post, CEI's Michelle Minton described how, through the use of statistical hocus pocus, anti-vaping interest have exported vape panic around the world.
Blog
Green Activists’ Unwarranted Attacks on CPSC Nominee Nancy Beck
Left-of-center environmental activists are at it again, maligning the reputation of one of President Trump’s nominees—with little regard for the truth. One of their latest…
The Hill
Trump Admin Moves Ahead with Plans to Weaken Efficiency Standards for Quick Dishwashers
The Hill cites General Counsel Sam Kazman on CEI’s dishwasher petition. “The current dishwasher rules are a royal pain for huge numbers of…
NewsMax
Report: Energy Dept. Seeks to Permit Faster Dishwashers
Newsmax cites CEI’s dishwasher petition. The proposal follows a petition by Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a libertarian think tank, per the report.
News Release
Trump’s E-Cigarette Flavor Ban Will Jeopardize Public Health
Today the Trump FDA announced a ban on flavored vape products, except for menthol or tobacco flavors. Manufacturers will have 30 days to cease making…
Blog
Mitt Romney Made Millions off Cigarettes, Now He Wants to Kill its Competition
Though they (probably) aren’t car surfing or eating Tide pods, lawmakers and government bureaucrats are as susceptible to passing fads as bored teenagers. For government…
Blog
Blame Anti-Tobacco Advocates for Youth Vaping “Epidemic”
Like most teenage crazes, youth interest in e-cigarettes once seemed a passing fad. In the early years youth vaping skyrocketed, but by 2016 began to…
News Release
CEI Urges Opposition of S. 2754, the “American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2019”
In response to the introduction of this bill, CEI Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman said: …
Blog
Tobacco 21: Feel-Good Policy Could Backfire
Amid an outbreak of “vaping-linked” lung illnesses, a campaign of fear against vaping has reached a frenzied peak. For years, the Food and Drug Administration…
News Release
CEI Report Disputes Claims Tobacco 21 Laws Reduce Teen Smoking
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report questions whether laws that hike the purchase age for tobacco and e-cigarette products to 21 actually reduce smoking rates…
Blog
Free-Market Groups Support Trump Light Bulb Reform
The Bush and Obama administrations imposed a number of restrictions on light bulbs, but the Trump administration is pushing back on behalf of consumers. Today,…
The Wall Street Journal
Why the U.K. Isn’t Having Problems with Vaping
The Wall Street Journal cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarettes: Michelle Minton of the Competitive Enterprise Institute says: “A ban on flavors,…
Citation
Understanding a “Temporary” Vaping Ban
Vaping Post cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarette bans: “There is every reason to believe that those interested in “temporary” bans will…
Forbes
Don’t Make the Vaping ‘Crisis’ Worse with Hasty New Regulations
Forbes cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarettes:…
Blog
CEI Report: Universities Misuse Federal Children’s Environmental Health Grants to Pursue Political Agenda
For more than two decades the federal government has funded a number of “children’s environmental health centers.” Since they are housed in universities, you might…
Blog
In Praise of Pro-Consumer Tenure of Finance Regulator Kraninger
As she prepares to give her semi-annual testimony to Congress this week—on Wednesday to the House Financial Services Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and on Thursday…
Blog
Killing Us with Kindness: Democrats’ War on Vaping Costs Lives
Liberals are supposed to the ones whose hearts “bleed” with concern for others’ welfare. That’s why modern liberals generally reject an abstinence-only approach to regulation.
News Release
Trump Ban on Flavored E-Cigarettes Will Cost Lives
President Trump today indicated his administration plans to seek a ban on flavored e-cigarettes, citing concerns over teen vaping and the spate of recent, much-reported…
Blog
Heretics in the Church of Tobacco Control
H.P. Lovecraft opined in 1931 that “if religion were true its followers would not try to bludgeon their young into artificial conformity, but would merely…
Washington Examiner
FDA Can Save Lives by Rejecting Scott Gottlieb’s Lies
E-cigarettes have proven effective at helping people quit smoking, a massive potential public health gain, considering nearly half a million people die every year from…
Blog
If You Vape (Illicit Street Drugs), It May Kill You (Duh)
Over the last four weeks, eight Wisconsin teenagers have been hospitalized with severe lung damage. The news that vaping caused these illnesses has swept across…
Blog
Bogus E-cigarette Panic Literally Killing People
Is this a story from The Onion? It’s a question we often ask ourselves these days when we encounter stories online that seem too ridiculous…
Blog
Anti-Plastic Crusade Proves Deadly
News reports this week described the tragic death of a British woman, who died last November while using a metal straw. Apparently, Elena Struthers-Gardner, a…
Blog
Federal Grants to ‘Children’s Health Centers’ Fund Junk Science
Environmental activists threw an ever-predictable tantrum after Environmental Protection Agency officials indicated last month that they may eliminate EPA grants to a number of university-based children’s…
Blog
This Summer, Celebrate Lemonade Freedom
There is good news for young entrepreneurs coming out of the Lone Star State, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) recently signed a bill allowing…
Blog
New York Times Runs Stealth Anti-Vaping Ad as Op-ed
Readers of The New York Times deserve better than advertising masquerading as righteous opinion writing. While reporters at Times get credit for exploring and exposing…
Medium
Where Anti-Vaxxers and Anti-Vapers Meet
You might have more in common with anti-vaxxers than you want to believe. You might feel the need to reject the possibility because you would…
The Lars Larson Show
AUDIO: Michelle Minton Joins the Lars Larson Show
Senior Fellow Michelle Minton discusses vaping and seizures on The Lars Larson Show (1:30:25 mark)…
Blog
FDA Created the Youth Vaping Epidemic, Now It’s Doubling Down
E-cigarettes pose less risk than smoking. The science is clear: while cigarettes kill about half their users, e-cigarettes have perhaps five percent of the risk.
Blog
FDA’s Fake E-cigarette News
Journalists aren’t the only purveyors of “fake news.” Federal agencies also generate misleading headlines. Sometimes, they do it with a purpose. That seems to be…
Blog
Help Wanted: Seeking Commissioner for Food and Drug Administration
In a tidal wave of Washington drama, President Trump’s Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb abruptly and unexpectedly announced in March 2019 that he…
Blog
Maryland’s Nanny State Targets Foam Cups and Containers
Maryland consumers may soon be deprived of one of my favorite products: plastic foam coffee cups. The Maryland House of Delegates has already passed a…
Blog
E-Cigarette Puritans Risk Lives
Tobacco companies faced a savage backlash in the 1990s when the public realized they willfully misled the world about the dangers of smoking. Yet when…
News Release
FDA, Activists Put Smokers’ Lives at Risk with Misleading Claims about E-Cigarettes
The FDA is working on a plan to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes from convenience stores nationwide -- which is precisely the sort of…
Study
Anti-E-Cigarette Puritans Put Lives at Risk
Big tobacco companies were publicly pilloried when they were found to have misled the public about the dangers of their products. To this day, that…
Vaping Post
The Department of Health and Human Services and Vaping: A tale of Bootleggers and Baptists
Vaping Post cited Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarettes. To further understand the concepts that I’m presenting, we need to consider some basic…
Blog
Agenda for the 116th Congress: Consumer Freedom
The second-to-last chapter in the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s agenda for the 116th Congress focuses on consumer freedom. Specifically, the chapter recommends ways Congress can rein…
Inside Sources
Green Movement’s Holiday Shopping Advice is Toxic to Your Pocketbook
As the holiday revelry begins, self-proclaimed “consumer advocates” have sounded the alarm about so-called “toxic toys”—toys that supposedly contain dangerous chemicals. But don’t let them…
Inside Sources
Unfounded E-Cigarette Panic Puts Public Health at Risk
E-cigarettes pose a tiny percent of the risk of cigarette smoking, just 1 percent to 5 percent according to authorities like the United Kingdom government.
Inside Sources
Vaping and Harm Reduction: A Brief Analysis of Policy, Academic Conclusions, and Hysteria
Inside Sources cited CEI’s study by Senior Fellow Michelle Minton, “Fear Profiteers.” Additionally, in a recent commentary piece written for the Capital Research…
Blog
5 Myths about E-cigarettes and Public Health
My colleague Michelle Minton recently released an excellent new study on the health impact of e-cigarettes and why some people are misrepresenting the risks involved…
Blog
Conflict of Interest over Vaping Threatens Public Health
Cigarette smoking kills nearly half a million Americans every year, and for every person who dies due to smoking, at least 30 people live with…
News Release
Unfounded E-Cigarette Fears Help Health Activist Groups But Harm Public Health
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report reveals how health activist groups and government agencies jeopardize public health by promoting the unfounded notion that e-cigarettes are…
Study
Fear Profiteers
The rise of a vibrant market for e-cigarettes has been a blessing for many smokers. After many failed attempts to quit, e-cigarettes provide an exciting…
Blog
Reason’s John Stossel Interviews Michelle Minton on the E-Cigarette Scare
The FDA recently announced new regulations restricting the sale of e-cigarettes, supposedly to protect young people from harms associated with nicotine. However, as CEI Senior…
Blog
Senate Should Move Forward with Confirmation Votes on Buerkle, Others
With the 2018 election behind us, it’s time to look for opportunities to advance freedom and economic well-being. I don't expect much to happen congressionally given…
News Release
FDA Ban on Flavored E-Cigarette Sales Will Put Lives at Risk
The FDA is expected to impose imminent new restrictions on the sale of e-cigarettes by convenience stores, gas stations, and online, according to news reports.
Blog
Greens Want to Hide the Truth about Chlorpyrifos
Environmental crusades to ban pesticides often exaggerate chemical risks with little, if any, consideration of how bans undermine food production. And there is a reason…
The Washington Times
Judge Tentative Ruling on Roundup is Good News for Farmers, Consumers
It’s good news for consumers that a superior court judge may put the brakes on a case alleging that the popular killer Roundup causes cancer.
Blog
Unfounded Accusations Regarding Bees and Glyphosate
Recent accusations that a popular weed killer harms honeybees have become headline news in a wide range of sources including CBS News, The…
Blog
Health and Human Services Secretary Should Halt Grants to UN Cancer Agency
Yesterday, Congress passed an appropriations bill that kept funding intact for the United Nations body known as the International Agency for Research on Cancer…
News Release
Report: Congress Should Stop Funding International Junk Science Agency
American taxpayers fund an international agency that puts out junk science, scaring consumers and leading to costly jury decisions and unnecessary product bans, a new…
Blog
New York State’s Proposed Plastic Bag Ban: Assaulting an American Dream
I recently wrote a blog post about entrepreneur Eli Amsel, who reached out to me about how nanny state regulators and lawmakers have waged war…
Blog
No, One or Two Alcoholic Drinks a Day Is Not Unsafe or Unhealthy
Here we go again. A new round of news headlines implies any level of alcohol consumption is bad for you, based on the findings…