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
Can Trump proposed rule pull the plug on bad appliance regulations?
Many Americans dislike federal home appliance regulations, perhaps nobody more so than the current White House occupant, who routinely rails against them at his…
Blog
Hopping the fence: The failures of social media bans
There is growing global momentum toward mandatory age verification and stricter internet safety regulations. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 56…
Blog
Six takeaways from the recent Obamacare announcements
Every year, health insurers participating in the Exchanges (Obamacare) must announce their planned premium increases for the following year well in advance, so federal…
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CEI Podcast for April 9, 2014: A Consumer’s Guide to Chemical Risk
Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini talks about her new Consumer's Guide to Chemical Risk.
Blog
Professional Licensing: A Risk to the Free Markets and Freedom of Speech
From physicians to dentists to lawyers, the licensing requirements of many professions are well known—but for bloggers? A recent case in North Carolina demonstrates the…
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 3, 2014: Clean Air Act Costs and Benefits
Senior Fellow William Yeatman is skeptical of an EPA report claiming the Clean Air Act will have nearly $2 trillion in annual benefits by 2020.
Blog
Is the Stock Market Really Rigged?
Everyone seems to be jumping into the debate about high-frequency trading, now that Michael Lewis is peddling his new book, Flash Boys. Lewis contends…
Blog
Consumer’s Guide to Chemical Risk
Will these chemicals make me fat? That sounds like a weird question, but some consumers may actually have such worries, thanks to a constant barrage…
Study
A Consumer’s Guide to Chemical Risk
A constant barrage of news headlines suggests that synthetic chemicals—even some naturally occurring ones—are responsible for nearly every public health problem imaginable, sowing fear and…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Bionic Eyes
You won’t see the glory of human achievement if you abide by the World Wide Fund for Nature's recommendation that you spend an hour…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day from HumanProgress.org: Organ Replacement Technology
We are only three days away from Human Achievement Hour (March 29, 8:30pm to 9:30pm)! What better way to celebrate than with a post from…
Blog
How Matt Drudge (and Other Obamacare Victims) Can Escape the “Liberty Tax”
Former Competitive Enterprise Institute Research Associate Michael Mayfield provided invaluable assistance with this post. Matt Drudge's widely discussed…
Blog
Beekeeper Speaks Out against Anti-Pesticide Campaigns
Anyone worried about honey bee survival should read the piece by Canadian beekeeper Lee Townsend in the Guelph Mercury newspaper. In recent years, beekeepers have…
Blog
JAMA’s Dangerous Hype: BPA and Cash Register Receipt Research Letter
This month’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) contains a “research letter” on a “study” conducted by researchers at Harvard…
Blog
The Bizarre, Slanted Coverage of Arizona’s SB 1062
Yesterday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would have made clear that the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) applied not…
Baltimore Sun
No One Cards At Starbucks
In Maryland, as in other states, consumers need to show ID when buying alcohol or tobacco products. Energy drinks could be added to that list…
Blog
GW’s Entrepreneurship and Crowdfunding Barriers to Today’s Revolutionary Entrepreneurs
Happy Washington’s birthday, everyone! Although the holiday was on Monday, George Washington’s actual date of birth is tomorrow, February 22, in the year 1732. And…
Blog
West Virginia Chemical Spill and Formaldehyde Hype
In this final post on my series related to the January 9 chemical spill in West Virgina, I address wrongheaded claims that the spill…
Blog
Uncertainty and the West Virginia Chemical Spill
In the aftermath of the January 9 chemical spill in West Virginia, environmental activists claim: "More than two weeks after the spill, the answer…
Blog
TSCA Reform Won’t Reduce Chemical Spill Risks
The January 9 chemical spill in West Virginia, which temporarily contaminated the Charleston drinking water supply, has rekindled a debate related to federal chemical regulation.
Blog
West Virginia Chemical Spill: We Have Enough Information to Manage the Risk
In a prior post, I addressed the background related to the recent chemical spill that contaminated drinking water in West Virginia, and I highlighted…
Blog
Reining in the Executive Branch Bureaucracy, Part 7: Recognize and Reduce Indirect Costs of Regulation
Since the Federalist Papers, America has debated “Energy in the Executive.” But President Obama’s 2014 agenda framed by his…
Wall Street Journal
Non-GMO Cheerios Add No Value
Alisa Gravitz, responding (letters, Feb. 4) to our " General Mills GIS +0.46% Has a Soggy Idea for Cheerios" (op-ed, Jan. 21), is wrong on…
Blog
More Regulation Is Not the Answer to West Virginia Chemical Spill
The recent chemical spill in West Virginia has green groups clamoring for more regulation, including expansion of Environmental Protection Agency power under the…
Blog
New York Alcohol Bill Benefits Big Business at Consumers’ Expense
New York’s consumers and small alcohol retailers could soon be paying more for their tipples, for the benefit of big wholesalers. A bill now making…
Blog
Farm Bill Passes Senate, Goes to President
With the U.S. Senate’s passage February 4 of a farm bill by a vote of 68-32, a nearly $1 trillion (over 10 years) farm…
Blog
USDOT Calls for Connected Vehicle Mandate; Security and Privacy Concerns Remain
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced today it would chart a regulatory path that would require all new automobiles to be equipped with…
Blog
Should States Legalize Sports Gambling? Yes!
With Super Bowl XLVIII in the history books, all that remains now is for the losers to lick their wounds and for the victors to…
Blog
Long-Suspected TSA Abuse and Incompetence Confirmed by Former TSA Employee
Politico Magazine has a disturbing article by former transportation security officer Jason Edward Harrington. At least it would be disturbing if it wasn’t largely just a confirmation…
Blog
New Farm Bill Will Deliver the Pork to Farmers
Last night House and Senate conferees agreed on a nearly $1 trillion farm bill that would eliminate long-standing direct payments to farmers but beef…
Biotech Now
Cheerios Labeling “Has Emboldened, Not Appeased, Anti-technology Activists”
There continues to be buzz in the media over General Mills’s January 2 announcement to source its original Cheerios’ tiny amount of sugar and corn…
Blog
Reining in the Executive Branch Bureaucracy, Part 2: Regulatory Benefits? Maybe Not
Since the Federalist Papers, America has debated “Energy in the Executive.” But President Obama’s 2014 agenda framed by his State of…
Blog
Reining in the Executive Branch Bureaucracy, Part 1: Measure Regulatory Costs
Since the Federalist Papers, America has debated "Energy in the Executive." But President Obama's 2014 agenda framed by his State of…
Wall Street Journal
General Mills Has A Soggy Idea For Cheerios
This month General Mills announced that it would begin labeling its flagship product, the breakfast cereal Cheerios, as containing no ingredients from GMOs (genetically modified…
Blog
Obama Announces NSA Reforms Could Undermine U.S. Leadership in the Global Information Economy
President Obama outlined plans to “reform” the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programs in a Friday morning speech at the Justice Department. To his…
Blog
Cataloging Washington’s Hidden Costs, Part 5: When Regulation Tramples Health and Safety
Act surprised...Show concern...Deny...Deny...Deny. —Anonymous What if anybody in power ever actually paid attention to the body count of federal regulation? We just finished another year…
Blog
Volcker Rule Overshoots Wall Street to Hit Utah
You might think after the disastrous debut of HealthCare.gov and thousands of insurance cancellations, those who call themselves progressives might just have a little humility…
Blog
CEI Podcast for December 18, 2013: The FDA Goes after 23andMe
The Food and Drug Administration recently banned 23andMe, a genetic testing service, from marketing its product to consumers. CEI Executive Director and Senior Fellow Gregory…
USA Today
GOP fighting cellphone freedom
Should the federal government outlaw rudeness? Some senior Republican lawmakers seem to think so. Since 1991, the Federal Communications Commission has barred cellphone use on…
Blog
BPA Junk Science Headaches
Could your affection for bottled water be responsible for your bout with migraines? Apparently so, if you believe the latest headlines about the chemical…
Blog
The Volcker Winter Storm — Bad Rule, Worse Implementation
On a snowy day in Washington, several federal agencies packed some mean regulatory snowballs that will most likely overshoot their supposed destination of Wall Street…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Refresh Pa. beer laws
For beer lovers in Pennsylvania, good news may be on the horizon. Laws on the books since the end of Prohibition that make it more…
The Hill
Sheldon Adelson’s futile war on online gambling
Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is not known for modesty. So it was fitting the recent announcement of his plans to push for a federal…
Blog
Busybodies in Congress Prepared to Re-Prohibit Voice Communications During Flight
After two decades with a ban on the books, the Federal Communications Commission is set to consider allowing transmitting mobile devices on aircraft. On…
Blog
Sugar — Congress’ Favorite Sweetener
The sugar lobby’s sweet contributions and their day-in-day-out lobbying means broad bipartisan support for continuing the U.S. sugar program in the 2013 farm bill, as…
Human Events
Don’t let the Nanny State ruin holiday feasts
In the musical “Oliver!” the opening scene features the protagonist and his band of merry miscreants crying, “Food, glorious food!” The orphans then proceed…
News Release
Pennsylvania May Lead the Nation in Liberating Beer (From Prohibition Era “Franchise Laws”)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 – Pennsylvania could lead the nation in reforming anti-competitive, Prohibition-era restrictions on beer distribution, and the benefits would flow to brewers large…
Study
Prohibition Hangover Cure for Keystone State Brewers
Full Document Available in PDF Pennsylvania could lead the nation in reforming anti-competitive,…
Human Events
Beer industry is important — and overtaxed
The Competitive Enterprise Institute points out that the beer industry in America supports more than 1 million jobs and $1 billion in economic activity. Here in…
ABC News
Jessica Alba Leads Mommy War on Synthetic Chemicals
Angela Logomasini of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based Libertarian think-tank, conducts research and analysis on environmental regulatory issues and said she didn't believe…
Blog
COOL Protectionism Still a Hot Issue
A protectionist meat labeling rule requires complicated labeling of beef, pork and poultry to indicate where the animals were born, raised, and slaughtered. Called country-of-origin…
Blog
CEI Podcast for November 27, 2013: Toxic Turkey Day?
Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini debunks scare stories about chemicals in your family's Thanksgiving dinner, from BPA in canned foods to naturally occurring pesticides in potatoes.
Blog
Disregard Toxic Advice on Turkey Day
Toxic chemicals lurk in the "typical" Thanksgiving meal, warns a green activist website. Eat organic, avoid canned food, and you might be okay,…
