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
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.
The Wall Street Journal
Make Dishwashers That Clean Again
The Wall Street Journal cites CEI’s petition to the DOE on dishwashers: In March 2018 the folks at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a…
Inside Sources
5 Reasons Trump Is Right to Save Incandescent Light Bulbs
Americans will have more freedom of choice now that the Trump administration’s Department of Energy has set about undoing Obama-era regulations targeting incandescent light bulbs in favor…
Inside Sources
Air Conditioning – Saving Lives but Getting No Love
Every summer brings heat waves, but recent summers have also brought waves of criticisms about air conditioning. We are told that it is unnecessary, unhealthy and…
The Orlando Sentinel
CON: E-cigarette Flavor Ban Ineffective and Dangerous
Never let a crisis go to waste. That could be the official motto for the anti-tobacco industry, which has irresponsibly exploited this summer's sudden outbreak…
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
Gene Editing Can Improve Health Outcomes for the Poor
Gene editing, specifically somatic gene therapy, cures maladies with traceable genetic origins. This revolutionary science is rapidly advancing, but not without major setbacks. Regulations designed…
News Release
CDC Putting Lives at Risk with Warning Against E-Cigarettes
Today, the Centers for Disease Control put out a dire warning against use of e-cigarettes in the aftermath of a spate of recent lung illnesses…
Blog
Loco Four Loko Hysteria
It’s only a matter of time before Phusion Projects' new hard seltzer hits shelves, which means that it’s only a matter of time before alarmists…
News Release
New CEI Video Urges Americans to Show Their Support for Faster Dishwashers
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today released a new video making the case for a new Department of Energy (DOE) regulation allowing faster dishwashers and…
Blog
Lung Disease Outbreak Caused by Black Market, not Vaping
News media around the world have picked up on the story of “vaping-linked” hospitalizations. Most have omitted the fact that black market marijuana e-liquid has…
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…
Blog
Debt Collectors Keep Credit Market Flowing
Debt collecting is a profession that gets little love, but given the social good done by debt collectors who operate ethically and follow the rules,…
Blog
VIDEO: Why Beer Sucks in Socialist Countries
The trend of younger voters allegedly becoming more favorable to socialism has alarmed and chagrined many observers recently, from members of the New York Post…
The Washington Examiner
The Truth about Plastic Straws
President Trump’s campaign has raised nearly half a million dollars in a matter of weeks selling plastic straws with “Trump” emblazed on each one. They…
Inside Sources
Consumer Choice Is Not Elitist
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey, thinks it’s fine that your new dishwasher takes more than 2 hours to complete a cycle — we think consumers…
Blog
Evils of ‘Craving Engineering’
America is a decidedly liberal (in the sense of being tolerant) nation comprised of people with different—often competing—worldviews. As a culture, we value the ability to…
Inside Sources
Consumer Choice Is Not Elitist
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey, thinks it’s fine that your new dishwasher takes more than 2 hours to complete a cycle — we think consumers…
Blog
Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Except Those with Eating Disorders)
The goal of the government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans is to provide simple advice that promotes nutritional health, but for millions of Americans it may do…
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…
News Release
EPA Wise to Reject Activists’ Proposed Chlorpyrifos Ban Based on Junk Science
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced it rejected a petition by green activists to ban chlorpyrifos, an important pesticide farmers rely on for assisting…
The Heartland Institute
Time Runs Out For Proposed Louisiana Fantasy Sports Tax
The Heartland Institute cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on a proposed tax on fantasy sports. The proposed tax would undermine Louisiana’s appeal to…
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
Trying the Apolitical Diet
Most people consider selfishness to be a negative quality. When it comes to choosing the diet that promotes our own individual health and well-being, however,…
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…
Consumer Reports
One Month Left to Opt Out of Chase Binding Arbitration
Consumer Reports cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on credit card regulations. According to John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
The Heartland Institute
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Considers Repealing Payday Loan Rule
The Heartland Institute cites former Policy Analyst Daniel Press on CFPB regulations. The costs the payday loan rule imposes on consumers and the…
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…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter Supporting Blumenauer-McClintock Amendment on Legal Marijuana
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, Representative McCarthy, and Chairman Serrano: On behalf of the many of Americans whose views and values our organizations represent, we…
Marijuana Moment
Federal Government Violated the Law in Marijuana Scheduling Evaluation, Group Says
Marijuana Moment cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton’s request for correction on the Department of Health and Human Services’ medical marijuana evaluation. The Competitive…
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
Department of Health and Human Services Needs to Correct Record on Marijuana
Regulators at the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had an opportunity in 2016 to move marijuana into a less restrictive category of controlled substances. This…
The Washington Examiner
Emotions, Not Facts, are Guiding Juries against Roundup
A California jury this week awarded a whopping $2 billion based on a couple's claim that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weed killer known…
News Release
HHS Evaluation of Medical Marijuana Illegally Skipped Peer Review, CEI Argues in Data Quality Petition
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that exposes a major flaw in the…
Comment
CEI Correction Request under Information Quality Act Regarding HHS Scientific Assessment of Medical Marijuana
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) submits this request for correction of this agency’s 2015 scientific evaluation of medical marijuana. We submit this under the Information…
Blog
National Donut Day: Eat One for Yourself and One for Freedom
The Competitive Enterprise Institute first started its two-donut campaign back in 2010. There were some formidable issues back then, from childhood obesity to international tensions to the…
The Hill
Legalized sports betting is paying off
A year ago, New Jersey’s fight to overturn the failed federal ban on sports betting was vindicated by the Supreme Court, with the justices deeming…
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…
News Release
CEI Praises FDA for Approving Lower Risk Cigarette Alternative
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today gave the green light to the marketing of new tobacco products manufactured by Philip Morris. The IQOS “Tobacco…
News Release
McConnell Plan to Raise Nicotine Access to Age 21 Could Backfire
Citing health concerns about youth vaping, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) announced legislation to raise the nationwide minimum age to buy tobacco products from…
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.
Comment
CEI Comments to FDA on Modifications to Compliance Policy for Certain Deemed Tobacco Products
Dear Dr. Gottlieb: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) welcomes the opportunity to offer the following comments on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed modifications…
Real Clear Policy
Federal Pot Prohibition Nears its End
America has made up its mind on marijuana. Most Americans think it should be legal, and all but two states have decriminalized or legalized the drug in…
Blog
VIDEO: Bitter Taste of Big Sugar’s Corporate Welfare
John Stossel and the team at Reason TV have a new video out on the expensive and wasteful federal sugar program, which benefits a tiny…