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
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Congress gets into the PBM business
In the recently passed appropriations bill, Congress enacted several Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reforms it has been contemplating for years. On the surface, these…
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NHTSA’s proposed fuel economy reset: Putting consumers in the driver’s seat
On Wednesday, I submitted comments in support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) proposed Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule III.
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A light to live by: Candles or the sun?
Timeless wisdom often comes from stories rather than textbooks. Aesop’s fables, such as The Tortoise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, convey…
Search Posts
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The poor are always with us (and enviros mean to keep it that way)
In Scotland and Australia, two places as far apart on the globe as you can get, people are realizing that rationing carbon is a socially…
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Death by Regulation 2.0
A firefighter in the UK is facing suspension for breaking fire service regulations. His breach? Saving a drowning woman’s life: The brigade’s rules state: “Personnel…
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Modern Prometheus
Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Peace Prize winning agronomist, will turn 93 on Sunday, March 25, 2007. It’s a birthday well worth celebrating. His life’s…
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AP on the Nanny State
The AP has a very good article on the growth of the Nanny State. Best fact I didn’t know: two states have banned smoking…
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Yes, But. . .
Fran, I knew about most of the cases you cite when I wrote the first post. None of those new to me are surprising and…
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I don’t love Consumer Reports
Eli — I’ve enjoyed your postings on a range of topics. But on your most recent one, I’m going to take you on. You…
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They call this privatization?
I argued in my Issue Analysis on the mistakes made during the privatization of Britain’s railroads that it was no longer accurate to call…
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A Typical Government Response
Following a tragic bus accident over the weekend, Georgia has announced it will rework several highway exits to make them “safer.” The new measures, the…
Op-Eds
Land of the Fake Free
Item (a): Officials in Prince George’s County, Maryland, have proposed cracking down on truancy by strapping ankle bracelets on…
Op-Eds
What’s up with Nation’s 10 Worst Attorneys General?
WASHINGTON - In recent years, state attorneys general have become increasingly powerful. Using lawsuits as a weapon, they have transferred billions of dollars from businesses…
Blog
Where’s The Precautionary Principle When We Need It?
Today’s Wall Street Journal (link for subscribers) has a short piece in the B section noting how a new Bush Administration…
Op-Eds
Can Congress Tell a Virtual World from the Real One?
Some say online virtual reality operations like “Second Life” have attained the stage of evolution that blogging and the Internet itself occupied several years…
News Release
How Will Congress Respond to the State of the Union?
Contact: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273…
Blog
FDA Animal Cloning Decision Comes Years Too Late
In an invited post on The Hill’s Congress Blog yesterday, I argued that the…
News Release
District Smoking Ban Threatens Economic Liberty
Contact: Christine Hall, (202) 331-2258 Washington, D.C., January 2, 2007 – The District of Columbia today became the newest city in…
Blog
Bear-baiting
CEI Adjunct Fellow Steve Milloy has more on the polar bear issue in his weekly must-read FoxNews column: “Let’s keep in mind that polar…
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Taste and Trans fats
Nobel laureate Gary Becker has some thoughts on the New York City trans-fats ban (reflecting on comments by his co-blogger, Judge Richard Posner): “Posner…
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Bear-faced Opportunism
With the bald eagle poised to come off the endangered species list (huzzah!), another species of charismatic megafauna is needed to replace it as…
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Subsidies don’t work
A good story in the New York Times about how subsidies to domestic oil and gas producers are a waste of taxpayer dollars: Analysts…
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TSA — Unsafe at Any Altitude
If you’re flying this holiday season, once you’re on board the plane — after getting through with the stripping of belt and shoes, the unfolding…
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The tension between science and alarmism
Early last month, at about the time of the publication of the Stern Review with its inclusion of “catastrophe” in its analysis of the risks…
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What do economists really think about global warming
Robert Whaples of Wake Forest University has the answer. He polled American economists and found: The results show that most economists are not alarmed…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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:…
