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
CFPB breaks its stranglehold over adjudications
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) just announced that it will revise its adjudication rules to ensure greater fairness. Specifically, the CFPB is rescinding…
Blog
Katie Porter’s exchange with CFPB’s Kraninger revisited amid new revelations
A recently surfaced clip of former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) has sparked a firestorm online. In a newly revealed 2021 video revealed published by…
Blog
The week in regulations: Poultry improvement and painful scars
The federal government shut down on Wednesday. Thursday’s Federal Register had 60 final regulations; normal is about 10. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew in hundreds…
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Regulation of the Day 163: Switchblades
Maine state representative Sheryl Briggs would like to end her state’s switchblade ban – but only for people with one arm.
Blog
Parent-in-Chief
Libertarian Paternalism. The very name is oxymoronic and deceptive. Popularized by authors Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their book, Nudge, “libertarian paternalism” is a…
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Free Online Porn Still Legal in California
A three panel judge in California concluded that adult websites that “give it away for free” are not engaging in predatory pricing. According to…
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Ethanol and the Egyptian Riots
Ethanol subsidies helped cause the Egyptian riots, contributing to the “skyrocketing food prices” that triggered “the massive unrest now occurring in Egypt,” argues economist…
Study
Depoliticizing Groundwater
Full Document Available in PDF Groundwater management problems in Jakarta Indonesia, as recently highlighted in the Financial…
Blog
The GOP and the Health Insurance Mandate
With the health insurance individual purchase mandate looking more vulnerable than ever, Democrats are trying desperately to get some mileage out…
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FCIC Report Perhaps Too Communicative
Because I so often write letters — which are not always published — I thought I’d share them here. Here’s one to the WSJ regarding…
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Nanny of the Month (Jan 2011)
Reason.TV has come out with their “Nanny of the Month” for January 2011. Apparently, New York’s problems are fixed because a politician is advocating in…
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Long Island Nanny-State Lawmakers Need to Get Priorities Straight
As Suffolk County residents face serious challenges, county lawmakers continue to waste time and tax dollars considering nonsensical “nanny-state” regulations. Today they are holding hearings…
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Obamacare Struck Down by Florida Judge; Properly Applies Severability Principles to Invalidate Whole Law
A judge in Florida just declared the health care law known as “Obamacare” unconstitutional, ruling it void in its entirety. Judge Vinson rightly…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 162: Breaking Wind
The southeast African country of Malawi is about to make farting illegal. The government there is trying to “mould responsible and disciplined citizens.”…
ACSH
Proposed energy drink ban should make folks jumpy
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TSA Shuts Door on Private Airport Screening Program That Exposed TSA’s Inefficiency
The Transportation Security Administration has shut the door on a private airport screening program that was making the inefficient agency look bad by outperforming it…
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Regulation of the Day 161: Crossing the Street
Three states are proposing to make it illegal to listen to your iPod while crossing the street. Legislators in California, New York, and Oregon are…
ACSH
Empire State or Nanny State: Suffolk should not ban energy drinks
In New York State, 18-year-olds need to show ID to buy cigarettes, get married, and vote. Now one lawmaker wants to make them show ID…
NCPA
Alcohol Tax Could Backfire
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SUGAR Act Would Phase Out U.S. Sugar Program
Sweet news on the sugar front. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and newly elected Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) have introduced a bill to phase out…
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 26, 2010
Texas: Despite the fact the two-thirds of Dallas voters approved a ballot measure last November allowing grocery stores in the…
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Regulations and Small Business
A theme of President Obama’s State of the Union speech tomorrow is the idea that we need to make America more competitive in the global…
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 24, 2011
In national news: The Federal Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is proposing a bill that would require all producers of beer, wine, and spirits…
Blog
South Carolina Attempts to Ban Alcoholic Energy Drinks
We throw around the term “nanny state” a lot, but to put in plain English, nanny-state regulation differ from other types of governance in that…
Blog
Obama Policies Fuel Global Food Crisis Through Ethanol Mandates, While Fostering Obesity in America
Food prices are soaring all over the world. The global food chain is reportedly stretched to the limit, fueled by the fact…
NCPA
Assault on Alcohol
A dime a drink may not sound that bad, but the deceptive name of Maryland’s proposed new beverage tax hides its real impact on local…
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EPA to Re-Brand Mortality Risk Reduction
A recent paper published by the EPA provides up to date governmental thoughts on attempts to put a value on a statistical life (VSL)…
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Stossel and O’Reilly on Sports Betting
Stossel hits the nail on the head in his recent blog post. Apparently, Bill O’Reilly reached out to him for feedback on the issue…
Study
Let Market Forces Regulate Internet Gambling
In June 2010, the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was implemented after years of delays. The law regulates banking and credit processes related…
Study
Counteract Politicization of Federal Science Policy
Liberate to Stimulate Index The federal politicization of science in many areas is harming science itself. Ethics rules and advisory panel guidelines…
Study
Reject the Precautionary Principle, a Threat to Technological Progress
Liberate to Stimulate Index Increasingly, governments and environmental activists are demanding that producers of both new and old technologies prove that their…
Study
Ensure Consumers’ Access to Bottled Water
Liberate to Stimulate Index Bottled water offers many important benefits— including portability, emergency applications, and convenience. The bottled water industry had been…
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Repeal Senseless and Job-Destroying Volcker Rule from Dodd-Frank
On Tuesday, the Financial Stability Oversight Council may issue its recommendations for implementing the Volcker Rule, the provision of the Dodd-Frank financial legislation that bans so-called proprietary trading…
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Smears and Hypocritical Calls for “Civility” Follow Tucson Shooting
Even though the Tucson shooter was mentally unbalanced, did not listen to talk radio or Fox News, and liked The Communist Manifesto, several…
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 14, 2010
Gulf States: Laws in some Gulf States get in the way of charity aimed at helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. This article…
Blog
Secret of Lawmaking: It’s All in the Enforcement
Lawmakers are quick to DEMAND ACTION when circumstances change. But when it comes to encouraging citizens’ good behavior, sometimes the secret is in simply enforcing…
Poker Listings
Washington Post Article Defends Poker as a Game of Skill
Blog
The Political Climate is Too Dull and Conformist Already
There is a lot of cynical and dishonest blather right now about the need to dial down America’s political rhetoric because of the shootings…
Poker Listings
The Online Poker Players Next Door
Ask any professional poker player after a losing night what happened, and very rarely will he attribute the outcome to bad luck. There is an…
Blog
New Jersey Quietly Approves Online Gambling Bill
Yesterday the New Jersey Assembly voted to approve a bill that would allow for residents of New Jersey to participate in some forms of…
Blog
Pub Poker on the Table in Wyoming
There are many bars in Washington, D.C., where one can find a free poker tournament. Such events draw in a diverse crowd of customers and…
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Autism Doctor a Fraud, But Hardly Alone
“A deliberate fraud.” That’s what the British Medical Journal, one of the world’s most prestigious periodicals, has written of the study…
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Dime a Drink Tax in Maryland will Hit Everyone
Though it is touted as a “dime a drink” increase on alcoholic beverages, the proposal in Maryland to raise the excise tax on alcohol…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup and Update on Four Loko: January 7, 2011
Update on Four Loko: After being pulled off of shelves by FDA decree, the wholesalers who purchased of alcoholic energy drinks such as…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 6, 2011: D.C.’s Plastic Bag Tax
Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellow Kathryn Ciano talks about Washington, DC's five-cent tax on plastic bags.
Blog
Junk Scientist’s Autism Research “An Elaborate Fraud,” Reports British Medical Journal
Yesterday the British Medical Journal found that Andrew Wakefield, who authored “studies” linking autism with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, had committed “an elaborate…
Poker Listings
Government Force vs Personal Choice
President and Founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute Fred Smith discusses the ways government limits individual freedoms…
Blog
D.C. Bag Tax Falls Short of Stated Revenue Goals
Last New Year’s saw the beginning of D.C.’s infamous bag tax, a 5-cent tax on each plastic shopping bag consumers take away from stores. In…
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The Market for Responsible Drinking
The alleged reason for many alcohol regulations — such as labeling mandates — is that consumers lack resources or ability to monitor and control…
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Update on D.C. Metro Bag Inspections
Last night, a crowded audience gathered at the WMATA headquarters to discuss the recent decision to begin randomly screening passengers bags for potential explosives. It…
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Freedom of Speech on Alcohol Labeling
After posting my Washington Times op-ed on wine-labeling mandates yesterday, I came across Diageo’s — the premium drinks company — press release that highlights…
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 3, 2011
A brand new year with brand new wacky regulations on alcohol consumption: Alabama: Is there such a thing as too much beer? While I…
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TSA’s High Failure Rate Is the Least of its Problems
If policymakers were rational, they would give twenty times more attention to lightning strike prevention than to terrorism. But they aren't, and they don't.
