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
Blog
On Added Sugars, Canada Gets Right What the U.S. Got Wrong
Last month, I wrote about how the new nutritional labels might end up making Americans fatter and sicker. Particularly dangerous, in my opinion, is the addition…
Study
Government’s Unfounded War on BPA
During the past decade, the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) has become a target of environmental activists who make a host of unfounded claims about the…
MedPage Today
Do FDA’s Fast-Track Reviews Skimp on Important Data?
MedPage Today talks to CEI's Sam Kazman on FDA approval issues: But Sam Kazman, JD, general counsel at the pro-business Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Has Plain Packaging Reduced Tobacco Consumption?
In 2012, the Australian government instituted a plan tobacco packing requirement—that is, a generic package that removes all stylistic aspects of packaging: colors, imagery, corporate…
Blog
Fantasy Sports Betting Isn’t a Federal Crime, as No Sports Betting Should Be
If you watched football during the open weekend of the NFL season, you probably saw an advertisement for DraftKings or FanDuel. Part of the rapidly…
Blog
Proposed Food Label Change Could Make Us Fatter and Sicker
There’s a new push to finalize the Food and Drug Administration’s new guidelines for nutritional panels. The changes, which include listing “added sugars” and updating…
Blog
Time to Throw out Michelle Obama’s Lunch Program?
As I wrote in The Hill today, Congress this month will decide whether or not to continue funding Michelle Obama’s favorite Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The goal…
Blog
Drinkers Give More than They Take
Public health advocates love to make the case that “sinners,” those folks who drink, smoke, or eat “unhealthy” foods, cost society money and that gives…
Blog
New York City’s Salt Warning: Useless and Potentially Harmful
You may have heard on the news that New York City is, once again, on the cutting edge of interfering with consumers and businesses. This time…
Blog
Study “Wounds” the Carbohydrate-Insulin Theory of Obesity
Last week a very interesting and, by all accounts, very well-done study made waves among the nutritional science community. For many years, the idea that reducing…
Blog
Back to School Lunch Scares
It’s back to school season, which for many parents means spending money on new clothes, shuttling young people from sports games to ballet, and increasingly,…
Blog
Government Nutritionists Wrong… Again
Add it to the list of things that the government got wrong when it comes to nutrition: skipping breakfast may not make you fat. It…
Blog
What Happens an Hour After Drinking Locally Sourced, Sustainable, Organic Kale Juice?
Remember, sugar might rot your teeth, but junk science will rot your brain.
Blog
Green Alarmism about Sunscreen Debunked
Often spoon-fed alarmist hype by green activist groups, reporters rarely get the science right about the risks associated with trace chemicals found in consumer products.
Blog
If You Don’t Eat Your Meat, They Can’t Have Their Taxes
If you think the brainless health nannies in the United States are bad, you should read up on the absurd proposals bursting from the cranial…
The Heartlander
Senators Rubio, Graham Propose Online Poker Ban
The Heartlander cites CEI`s Michelle Minton on the proposed ban of online poker and gambling: Michelle Minton, a consumer policy fellow at the Competitive…
Blog
Slate Exposes Deceitful Heart of the Anti-GMO Movement
Will Saletan has an exhaustively researched and cogently argued piece at Slate on the dishonesty of the anti-biotechnology activists and the harm they have caused.
Blog
More Unintelligible Gibberish on GMO Risks from Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A few months ago, statistician and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb, known mostly for his intriguing 2007 book The Black Swan, teamed up with a handful…
The Washington Examiner
Junk science = garbage policy
The Washington Examiner cites CEI`s Greg Conko on junk science and food regulations: Greg Conko is from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market…
The Heartlander
FDA Bans Trans Fats
The Heartlanderquotes CEI`s Michelle Minton on the FDA ban on trans fats: Michelle Minton, a Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Federal Witch Hunt Successfully Bans Trans Fats
Ding dong the witch is dead; killed by the federal government…well, that’s if the witch was a recluse people hardly ever saw, probably hasn’t hurt…
The Daily Caller
INVESTIGATION: The Inside Story Of The Money, The Activists, And The Cure For Hepatitis C
The Daily Caller cites CEI`s Greg Conko on Gilead Sciences` new Hepatitis C pill: Instead of enduring up to a year of weekly injections,…
Fox News
National Doughnut Day: Have a doughnut (or two) for freedom
Friday is national Doughnut Day (or “donut” if you’re a Dunkin’ loyalist). Celebrated the first Friday of June, it might seem like a simple promotion…
Blog
Raise a Glass to Lower Taxes
You might not know it, but about half the cost of your preferred alcoholic beverage is made up of taxes and fees. One man in…
Blog
Not So Fast: Fatally Flawed Research Asserts Alcohol Taxes Save Lives
Last month, researchers at the University of Florida published a study in the American Journal of Public Health that concluded, “Increases in alcohol excise taxes, such…
Heartland Institute
Government Spinning Up New Rules for Clothes Driers
The Heartland Institute quotes CEI's Sam Kazman on potential new efficiency rules for clothes dryers: Competitive Enterprise Institute general counsel Sam Kazman says…
Blog
Who Dares Question the Mighty Oz?
Yesterday, Dr. Mehmet Oz launched his “counter attack” on several doctors who sent a letter last week to the dean of Columbia University’s medical department complaining…
Blog
Presidential Candidate, Poker Celebs Oppose Internet Gambling Ban
What do two-time world poker champ Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, presidential-hopeful Rand Paul, and Fraternal Order of Police President Chuck Canterbury have in common? They’ve…
Blog
Could Alcohol Taxes Reduce Fatal Car Crashes?
A new study from the University of Florida asserts that because Illinois instituted an alcohol tax increase in 2009 and the rate of alcohol-related traffic…
Blog
TSCA Reform Debate Is Not about Public Safety
At recent hearings on the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697), senators, environmental activists, and local government officials claimed…
Heartland Daily Podcast
Michelle Minton: How Will RAWA Bill Impact Online Gaming/Gambling?
In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, Managing Editor of Budget & Tax News Jesse Hathaway speaks with Michelle Minton. Minton is a fellow at the…
Blog
Arsenic in Wine: Dangerous or Beneficial?
Dan Nosowitz in Modern Farmer offers some insights on the recent class action lawsuit filed against California winemakers. The plaintiffs found that some inexpensive wines contained arsenic at levels…
Blog
Data Torturing at the CPSC
James Mills of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development lamented in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine back in 1993: “‘If…
Blog
CPSC’s Scientific Shenanigans on Phthalates
Many “stakeholders” have complained about the process through which the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) developed its proposed rule related to a class of chemicals…
Comment
Public Comment to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Summary: Since the release of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) report in July, many stakeholders have raised serious concerns about the process and report methodologies.
Blog
CPSC Proposal on Phthalates Likely to Do More Harm than Good
On Monday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will close the comment period for a proposed rule related to chemicals used to make soft and pliable…
Blog
Chaffetz Tells States and Lotteries: If You Don’t Want an Online Gambling Ban, Introduce Your Own
According to a Gambling Compliance story (paywall) posted today, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) participated in a conference call last week with about 20 state and lottery…
Blog
6 Ridiculous Myths about Legal Internet Gambling Busted
Should the United States government ban online poker? One billionaire casino owner thinks so. In the quest to convince Americans that they shouldn't be able…
Blog
Victory for “Caveman” Blogger and Free Speech in North Carolina
Many people associate professional licensing with consumer safety. For example, we wouldn’t want any schlub doing surgery. But where occupational licensing laws may have started…
CNN
Don’t Ban E-Cigarettes on Airplanes
These are good times for anti-smoking campaigners. But you wouldn't know it from listening to their rhetoric. At the urging of anti-tobacco activists, the Department…
Blog
New U.S. Dietary Recommendations to Correct Misunderstanding about Cholesterol, Not Fat
Thomas Jefferson once said, “If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in…
News Release
Casino Mogul Again Seeks Internet Gambling Ban With New Congress
A handful of GOP lawmakers have revived an effort to effectively ban internet gambling, re-introducing the so-called Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA). The bill,…
Blog
GOP Divided on Internet Gambling Ban
As expected, members of the GOP reintroduced a measure that would create a de facto prohibition on all Internet gambling. The effort, which was written by GOP mega-donor…
Blog
Tainted Claims about “Agglomerated” Corks
A recent article in Wine Industry Insight titled “Micro-Agglomerates: 350 Million Illegal Corks Per Year?” reports: “Agglomerated cork manufacturers and importers are facing scrutiny from two major…
Blog
No Sprinkles in Obama’s America: Trans Fat, Hyperbole, and the Threat Nobody Is Talking about
“Say goodbye to your favorite sprinkled doughnuts,” warned Clayton Morris, guest host on Fox & Friends. “The [FDA] is now regulating Americans intake of trans fat…the…
Blog
Bet on the Big Game? You Probably Broke the Law
Industry experts expected yesterday’s Super Bowl game to bring in around $100 million in legal sports wagering in Nevada. That’s a lot of moola, but…
Blog
Study Shows Health Benefits of Moderate Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is a favorite target for health nannies and politicians looking to boost revenue. Excessive drinkers, they say, cost society millions or billions of dollars!…
Study
Free to Prosper
With the start of the 114th Congress comes a fresh opportunity to address the challenges created by a broken government. To kick off this new…
Blog
European Food Safety Authority Confirms BPA Safety—Again
The debate over the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) has raged for years, with environmental activists continually hyping the risks associated with it. Used to…
Independent Women's Forum
Policy Focus: The Science of the “Endocrine Disrupter” Debate
Download from IWF here Americans are increasingly being told by the media and environmental activists that common consumer goods—from plastics to cosmetics to flame…
Blog
Free to Prosper: Top Priorities for the 114th Congress
With the start of the 114th Congress comes a fresh opportunity to address the challenges created by a broken government. To kick off this new congressional…
Blog
Could the FDA’s New Calorie-Count Mandate Harm Winemakers?
The trade association, WineAmerica, which represents 600 wineries in the U.S., seems to think so. The group has hired a lobbyists to push the…
CNS News
Consumers to Pay the Price for State Environmental Regulations
Consumers could soon face higher prices, reduced choices and lower-quality products, thanks to a slew of chemical regulations that are advancing in various states. These…
Blog
Besting a Billionaire: How a Grassroots Campaign Stopped a Ban on Internet Gambling
This week we get to say goodbye to the 113th Congress. For those who believe in free markets and individual liberty, it was a doozy.
Letters
Coalition Letter with American Conservative Union Opposing Restoration of America’s Wire Act
Read the full coalition letter here "The clear intent of the legislation is to overturn the decisions of nearly a dozen states…
Letters
Coalition Letter with Americans for Tax Return Opposing the Restoration of America’s Wire Act
View the full coalition letter here "While RAWA supporters contend that this legislation is a simple fix to 53 year old Wire…
Blog
TTIP: Another Step in the (Lack of) Evolution in EU Trade Agreements
As the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) approaches an eighth round of negotiations between the United States and the European Union, the debate regarding…
The Washington Post
John Berlau Reviews “Consumer Credit and the American Economy”
The Washington Post cites CEI`s John Berlau on Consumer Credit and American Economy: John Berlau of the Competitive…
Statesman
John Berlau Reviews “Consumer Credit and the American Economy”
The Statesman cites CEI`s John Berlau on Consumer Credit and American Economy: John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Fraternal Order of Police Once Again Opposes Internet Gambling Ban
Once again, the Fraternal Order of Police expressed their staunch opposition to a federal prohibition on Internet gambling. In a letter sent to Sens. Harry Reid…
Blog
New Field Study Confirms Neonicotinoids Have Little Impact on Honeybees
As the Ontario provincial government in Canada considers policies that may force farmers to stop using, or drastically reduce use of, a class of pesticides called…
Blog
Adelson’s Online Gambling Ban Losing Political Steam
It was a bad week for Sheldon Adelson. The billionaire casino owner has said he’ll spend whatever it takes to stop the spread of legal…
Blog
How the “Stupid” American Public Pays for Gruber’s Deception
The Washington Times points out that Jonathan Gruber, our nation’s most famous sufferer of foot-in-mouth-disease, has profited greatly from the “stupid” American public to whom he…
Blog
Soda Makes You Old and Other “Data Mined” Myths
“‘If you torture your data long enough, they will tell you whatever you want to hear.’ Dr. James Mills noted in a 1993 New England Journal…
The New Republic
Let Chris Christie Legalize Sports Gambling. It Won’t Ruin the Game.
Last Friday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill legalizing sports gambling in his state. Casinos and racetracks began preparing to…
Pittsburgh Courier
Online Gambling Ban Does Nothing to Protect Consumers
Wellington Webb says gambling ensnares “naïve and foolish” people who think they can strike it rich. But how is legal online gambling any more of…
Blog
BPA Research Funding Linked to Researcher Bias?
The number of studies that have appeared in the news during recent years on the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is staggering. Few substances undergo such scrutiny.
News Release
Fight Over Online Gambling Pits Consumer Freedom, States Rights Against Federal Regulation
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 – Members of Congress are attempting to use a 1960s-era law governing organized crime and sports betting to regulate one of the…
Study
The Wire Act and Implications for State-Based Legalization of Internet Gambling
More than 30 years after the original Federal Wire Act, members of Congress seek to use it to stop the rise of casino-style gambling on…
Blog
Must Every Product in the World Be Safe Enough for Children?
The New York Times reported Friday on the David-and-Goliath battle of businessman Shihan Qu, the last of the rare earth magnet renegades. Mr. Qu’s…
Blog
Journalists Called Out for Bad Reporting on Consumption Data
Being a journalist is not an easy job; it demands fast paced and high volume production. For those “wonk” journalists tasked with analyzing data-heavy reports…
Blog
Cyanide, Tylenol and How Free Markets Make You Safer
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant food and drug related events in recent memory. Often discussed in college business classes these…
Blog
Study on Artificial Sweeteners Interesting But Flawed
A new study out of Israel on the possible effects of artificial sweeteners is making a lot of headlines this week. Unfortunately (and as usual)…
The Hill
Black Markets Do Not Protect Minorities
Originally published at The Hill Former Denver mayor Wellington Webb argues in a Sept. 14 op-ed in The Hill that legalized online gambling would…
Blog
In Memoriam: Elizabeth Whelan
I was very sad to hear last week that Elizabeth Whelan, founder and president of the American Council on Science and Health, had passed…
Blog
CDC Study: Kids Eat Same Amount of Sodium as Worldwide Average
It’s not exactly a blood-pressure raising headline, which is probably why the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actually…
Blog
Cops to Destroy Rare Wine Collection in Pennsylvania
In the fifth century BCE, famous Greek tragedian Euripides supposedly said, “where this no wine there is no love.” This certainly holds true in present day…
DC Beer
Could Prohibition Still Be Slowing the Craft Beer Boom?
Originally published on DC Beer This week marks the sixth year bars, brewers, distributors and other beer enthusiasts will come together to celebrate the…
Blog
Newsweek’s Cover Story on Internet Gambling Plays Fast and Loose with Facts
Newsweek’s recent cover article on online gambling, “How Washington Opened the Floodgates to Online Poker, Dealing Parents a Bad Hand,” by Leah McGrath Goodman,…
Town Hall
Republicans Seek to “Restore” an Online Gambling Ban that Never Existed
Republicans generally oppose federal encroachment on policy matters traditionally left to the states. SO why is Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex) alone among his GOP House…
Blog
Honeybee Population in Decline—Or Not?
If you read the news about honeybee survival, it’s all very confusing. Some sources sound the alarm by pointing out that the number of honeybee…
Study
Food and You: Feeding The World With Modern Agricultural Biotechnology
This study was originally published at the American Council on Science and Health, coauthored with Martina Newell-McGloughlin and Bruce Chassy. Read…
Baltimore Sun
Are Tax Dollars Paying for Anti-Alcohol Advocacy?
This month, Maryland banned high-proof liquors like Everclear and other inexpensive tipples. Self-proclaimed public health activists claimed such "high octane" liquors increased the likelihood of…
The Freeman
A Petition from the Booksellers
To the Parliament of France, Gentlemen, you are on the right track. Time and again you have shown your willingness to defend the humble French…
Forbes
Greens’ Attempt To Ban Bisphenol A Will Endanger Public Health
Thanks to green alarmism, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) recently introduced the “Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2014,” which would eliminate the chemical Bisphenol A from…
Blog
Happy There’s-No-Such-Thing-as-Junk-Food Day!
Whomever it is that decides the dates for the ever multiplying obscure holidays apparently designated today, July 21, as “Junk Food Day.” While the origin and…
Blog
FDA’s Trans Fat “Ban” a First Foray into Controlling Americans’ Diets
Last November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its plan to revoke the “Generally Recognized As Safe” designation for partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs),…
Blog
CEI Podcast for July 10, 2014: The Wire Act and Online Gambling
Michelle Minton argues that the Wire Act applies only to interstate sports gambling, not online gambling as a whole. The Wire Act's 50-year history…
Blog
Celebrate Food Freedom this 4th of July
“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a…
Blog
FDA’s Salt Phobia a Waste of Money
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week plans to phase in “voluntary” reduction in the level of sodium in foods produced by manufacturers and…
The Hill
Green Group’s Unscientific Attack on Soap
NRDC claims that triclosan, the active ingredient in antibacterial soaps, disrupts human thyroid functioning, but that assertion is based on a shoddy study in which…
Blog
One Year Later: TSA Still Flouting the Law on Body Scanners
CEI Research Associate Matthew La Corte contributed to this article. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) uses more than 700 full-body imaging scanners in 160 airports nationwide.
Blog
Distracted by Paranoia, Obama Administration to Regulate Map Apps?
A story in The New York Times is making the rounds about an Obama administration proposal to clarify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) authority to…
Blog
Good News and Bad News about Honeybees
News stories related to honeybee health the past few weeks are all over the map. Some headlines claim that new research proves that honeybees are…
Blog
Friday June 6th: Have a Doughnut for Freedom
Do you know what today is? If you said D-Day, you’d be right. But this year, June 6 also marks another, less well known occasion.
Blog
House Intel Committee Chair Ignores Report Calling NSA Surveillance Illegal
At a recent event titled “A Statesman Forum on Cybersecurity Policy and Diplomacy” at George Washington University, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.)…
Blog
Are My Ten Thousand Command “Mints” to Be Regulated?
The Food and Drug Administration FDA wants to regulate serving size of breath mints. That's right. This rule was issued March 2014:…
Washington Times
Inflamed Debate Over A Soda Additive
A recent announcement by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo that these companies are pulling the ingredient brominated vegetable oil (BVO) out of their soft drinks is no big…
Blog
Reihan Salam’s Argument for Alcohol “Prohibition Lite” Doesn’t Hold Water
In Slate recently, Reihan Salam argued that as America eases up on the criminalization of marijuana use it ought to consider ramping up the war…
Blog
CEI Podcast for May 29, 2014: Rachel Was Wrong
Seeing as Carson's book set malaria prevention back decades, CEI Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini thinks there are other figures more deserving of such tributes.