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
Consumers benefit from access to Buy Now, Pay Later options
In a rapidly evolving retail landscape, with more and more commerce moving online, there has been a rise of financial technology (or fintech) tools. These…
Blog
Congressional lessons learned: Prioritize private risk capital investment
There is always a temptation for Congress to act during a lame duck session to show it is hard at work doing good for the…
News Release
GDP report for third quarter indicates strengthened economy: CEI analysis
The GDP report for the third quarter of 2024 shows 2.8 percent growth, indicating a rapidly growing and healthy economy. While there is still…
Search Posts
Blog
This, however, is not satire
Last year, a British MP calculated that Santa Claus’ annual trip round the world was environmentally damaging: It has been calculated that Santa’s team…
Blog
Government leavin’ the yout’ on the shelf
When I was a young lad in northern England, there was much distress as the Thatcher government swallowed the bitter pill and proceeded to shut…
Blog
Model article
Excellent article from Ryan Meyer of the Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes at the University of Arizona on the inadequacies of models that…
Blog
DDT and Malaria: The Misanthropes Strike Back!
The recent decision by the World Health Organization to recommend selective indoor spraying to control malaria seemed to signal a recognition on the part of…
Blog
They Call It Conservation
You know all of those enviro activists who are constantly hectoring us about the amount of energy we use (and allegedly waste) here in the…
Blog
Oversize clothes need warning labels?
Here’s a contender for the Nanny-State story of the day: A British academic says that plus-size clothes should carry labels with obesity helpline numbers…
Blog
CEI makes Weather Channel’s “Top Ten” – greatest impact on climate change discussion
The Weather Channel today announced its “Top Ten” list — those people or organizations that have had the greatest impact on climate change discussions.
Blog
Incoming Judiciary chairman to defend privacy rights
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), perhaps more famous for his defense of the Vermont dairy industry and the Northeast Dairy Compact, is incoming chairman of…
Blog
REACH and the Perils of Precaution
Today, the European Parliament voted a final time on the new regulation of Europe’s chemical industry. With this vote the proposal is almost certain to…
Op-Eds
Top Ten Junk Science Moments for 2006
It’s time again for JunkScience.com’s review of the most notable junk science events of the year – a “top 10” list that may sometimes…
Op-Eds
Proposed trans fat ban based on a lot of junk science
Dear Chicago Restaurantgoer: Ald. Ed Burke (14th) proposed last July that the Chicago City Council ban restaurants from serving foods made with vegetable oils…
Blog
Affordable air travel? How dare you!
The UK government, which this week doubled air passenger duty to about $20 a flight in a sop to global warming alarmism, wants to go…
Blog
Eco-censorship continued
Two interesting posts on Roger Pielke Jr’s excellent and open-minded Prometheus blog today speak to the subject of my recent…
Blog
Miliband’s disingenuity
I should have drawn attention to this interesting phrasing in David Miliband’s enthusiasm for carbon rationing: “He said: ‘It is a way of pricing carbon…
Blog
Black marketeers rejoice at UK government plan
The UK government is seriously thinking of introducing individual carbon rationing: Every citizen would be issued with a carbon “credit…
Blog
Thanks, UN, for Shrinking My Carbon Footprint by 25%
The latest iteration on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report on global warming it being eagerly awaited. While we bide our time,…
Blog
Do global warming fears justify protectionism?
Ever since the United States decided to push for “sustainable development” concepts to limiit free trade under the Shrimp-Turtle decision (for internal political reason –…
Op-Eds
New York City Bans Science
The New York City Board of Health this week banned the use of trans fats by restaurants. The decision is directly traceable back to…
Blog
Congress votes highest civilian honor to Dr. Norman Borlaug
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to award a Congressional Gold Medal — the nation’s highest honor — to Dr. Norman Borlaug, credited…
Blog
When in the course of human events…
Seemingly forgetting about a little thing called the Declaration of Independence, Albert Gore Jr., former Vice President of the United States of America has joined…
Blog
Saudis to Sue Tobacco Companies
The Saudi government is threatening to sue American tobacco companies such as Philip Morris to force them to pay the healthcare costs of Saudi…
Blog
For Best Results, Drink Like a Sardinian
There’s more scientific evidence that moderate consumption of red wine is good for you: New research from the William Harvey Research Institute and…
Blog
Usual suspects make the list — environmentalists of all time
Dr. C.S. Prakash alerted me to yesterday’s list in The Guardian of the top environmental campaigners of all time. Not surprisingly, Rachel Carson tops…
Blog
Breast-Related Assurances from the First Lady of Illinois
Some Illinois political observers are raising their eyebrows about a stack of greeting cards that Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office sent out before the…
Blog
Zimbabwe military wants “to listen” to make people safe
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, with 25-plus years of dictatorship under his belt, is now cracking down on cell phones in the name of national…
Blog
Tony Bourdain: Recovering socialist
I’m a big fan of Tony Bourdain, but he describes himself as a socialist. At the same time, he clearly hates what the nanny state…
Blog
The Media Filter
Dr. Crippen, a doctor who has the misfortune to work in the British National Health Service, has an interesting story about the critical…
Blog
Freedom Fighting from the Kitchen
In the current issue of Doublethink, Baylen Linnekin, founder of the libertarian blog “To the People,” asks the burning question:…
Blog
The Green Revolution South of the Border
In his latest column, The Miami Herald‘s Andres Oppenheimer gives reason for hope for Latin America’s water supply challenges, and offers policy…
Blog
Why Check ‘n Go Is Not the Great Satan
Hot on the heels of John’s op-ed on credit cards fees (and the retailers who want price controls on them) comes a piece by…
Blog
Lake Woebegone Takes over Britain!
The classic motto of Garrison Keillor’s bucolic world — “where all the children are above average” — has now been adopted by David Cameron, leader…
Blog
They Know It When They Smell It
Here at Open Market, we’re big fans of Penn & Teller, particularly their emmy-nominated Showtime program, Bullshit! Our own Angela Logomasini was even a…
Blog
Keeping a Stiff Upper Lip on Climate Science
The global warming debate this week features a furious back-and-forth between our pal Al Gore and Christopher Monckton (a/k/a Viscount Mockton of Brenchley), a former…
Blog
Court Ensures Painful Death for Terminally Ill
Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to vacate and rehear its Abigail Alliance v. Von Eschenbach decision, which would have required the…
Blog
Stern’s Critical Flaws
The Stern Review on the economics of climate change has come in for more criticism from experts in the field. Following Richard Tol, we…
Blog
Keeping an Eye on the CBS Legal Department
CBS is appealing new FCC indecency regulations (and fines) in court, arguing that the new rules run afoul of the First Amendment. Which, of…
Blog
Weighty Problem
As Brooke notes below, obesity has been tied to global warming. One of the lessons obesity campaigners drew from that study was that losing weight…
Blog
Fake Boobs and Phony Science
To follow up on a thread from yesterday, FDA’s decision to let silicon gel filled breast implants back on the market is noteworthy for two…
Blog
Terminal Shortage
When government controls everything, it necessarily has to ration it, which leads to shortages. It’s probably a toss-up at the moment as to which is…
Blog
God is Dead… Legally speaking, that is
Sir Simon Jenkins has a must-read column today on how the UK’s Health and Safety Executive has decided to abolish the…
Blog
Junk Food Blogging
Sandy Szwarc, a registered nurse, certified culinary professional, CEI friend, and all around good person, recently started a blog on the science of food —…
Blog
The Logic of Smoking Regulation: Your Apartment Is Now a Public Place
Dana Yates of the San Mateo, California Daily Journal brings us a bracing look at the future of tobacco regulation – a total ban…
Op-Eds
Trans Fat Hysteria Could Be Lawsuit Bonanza
The takeover of Congress by Democrats could result in a big payday for trial lawyers at the expense of the feckless food industry.
Op-Eds
Gambling with freedom
Your after-tax income belongs to you. You are free to spend it, invest it, waste it, burn it, or tithe it away—and none of…
Blog
Trans-Fatty Criminals
Elizabeth Whelan of ACSH has a great article on National Review Online today about the stupidity of banning trans-fats, as New York City and…
Blog
So the Government Dictating Broadcast Content is ‘Fair’?
Fans of free expression should hit up a piece in Human Events, by our very own John Berlau, on those misguided souls who…
Blog
Taking Tobacco to Court
In case you missed it, the Supremes are tackling a major tobacco/tort reform liability case this week. AP’s Mark Sherman has the story: The…
Blog
Turning Free Speech Upside Down
Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and…
Blog
The Sweetest Urban Legend of All
Keeping the holiday theme going, we now turn to the perennial Halloween boogieman, the anonymous candy poisoner. For decades, parents have been warned to…
Blog
Kazman vs. Cupcake
CEI’s Sam Kazman had the quote of the day. It happened during a debate on CNBC’s Morning Call over whether NYC should ban restaurants from…
