Whether it is exposing legislation and regulations that benefit unions, lawyers or management at the expense of workers, detailing the folly of occupational licensing laws; supporting the expansion of state right-to-work laws; or highlighting the overreach of lawmakers, bureaucrats, and courts; CEI advances reforms in this crucial, often overlooked policy area. Our op-eds, policy papers, media appearances, coalition work, and innovative research serve as crucial counterweights to the aggressive efforts by unions and their allies to frame the policy debate.
Labor and Employment Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Questioning the AI jobs doomsday with Sean Higgins
In this week’s episode we cover making home appliances great again, fighting price controls on health care, research on AI-fueled…
Blog
Why Big Tech is postponing the AI jobs doomsday
The heads of big tech have recently changed their tune regarding artificial intelligence’s effect on jobs. The emerging technology will bolster the workforce,…
Study
Don’t Panic: A Skeptic’s Guide to the AI Jobs Doomsday
As technology advances it has periodically bred the fear that progress will destroy jobs and livelihoods. History teaches that these fears are usually misplaced.
Search Posts
Blog
Yes, Pensions Did Help Push American Airlines into Bankruptcy
I generally hold John Tamny’s analysis of economic matters in high regard, so I was surprised to find his take on the American Airlines bankruptcy…
News Release
Free Market Policy Organizations Push Back Against Stealth Unionization Campaign
Washington, DC, February 6, 2012 – The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is trying to unionize home health care workers in Connecticut by stealth—and Governor Dannel…
Op-Eds
Alinksy Disciple Obama Does the Master Proud
Polls show that, even as his job approval ratings have struggled against continued grim economic news, majorities nonetheless find President Obama personally likable.
Op-Eds
Could Indiana’s Right to Work Law Mean Trouble for Neighboring States?
Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois soon may need to construct a wall—not to keep people out but to keep business in. While such a drastic move…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 208: Re-Booking Flights
A new Department of Transportation regulation limiting re-booking fees caused one airline to add a $2 "Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences Fee" on every ticket…
Blog
Oklahoma Moves to Keep Big Labor in Check
Openmarket.org Oklahoma taxpayers might be able to breathe a little bit easier this year thanks to two important pieces of legislation making their way through…
Blog
12 More Law Schools Sued for Defrauding Their Students; Many More Class-Action Lawsuits Expected
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a team of eight law firms have just “sued a dozen more law schools across the country,…
Blog
Oklahoma Moves to Keep Big Labor in Check
Oklahoma taxpayers might be able to breathe a little bit easier this year thanks to two important pieces of legislation making their way through the…
Citation
NY’s Still Too Business-Unfriendly
News Release
Competitive Enterprise Institute Applauds Indiana Enactment of Right to Work
Washington, DC, February 1, 2012 – Indiana today enacted a crucial, hard-fought right-to-work law prohibiting labor contracts that force workers to pay for union representation.
Blog
Michigan SEIU Scam the Product of Government Collective Bargaining
Openmarket.org Proponents of government collective bargaining view it as a fundamental human right. The shameful actions of SEIU in Michigan, however, undermine this claim.
Blog
Michigan SEIU Scam the Product of Government Collective Bargaining
Proponents of government collective bargaining view it as a fundamental human right. The shameful actions of SEIU in Michigan, however, undermine this claim. In…
Blog
More Bailouts for Speculators and Delinquent Mortgage Borrowers from Obama Administration; More Taxpayer Money for Certain Banks
In his State of the Union address, President Obama, a consistent supporter of bailouts and crony capitalism, hypocritically railed against them, proclaiming, “no…
Blog
Buffett’s Secretary, Romney’s Return, and the Crushing Double Taxation on Investment Income
There has been much waxing in the last few days about how unfair it supposedly is that Mitt Romney was taxed at around 15 percent.
Blog
Enr1 Goes Belly Up; Yet Another Solyndra
"After spending $55 million of a $118.5 million grant from" the U.S. "Department of Energy, Ener1, an Indianapolis-based maker of batteries," has just "declared…
Huffington Post
Could Our Immigration Laws Prevent the Next Google?
While President Obama’s State of the Union address did not focus on immigration, his few statements on that issue sent out…
Huffington Post
It’s Politics: Linda Sanchez Wins Key Step Toward Democratic Party Endorsement
Blog
The Silver Platypus
Openmarket.org Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced it was considering scrapping the Silver Line stop at Dulles Airport. Though the Silver line was…
Blog
The Silver Platypus
Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced it was considering scrapping the Silver Line stop at Dulles Airport. Though the Silver line was designed…
Blog
Obama’s False Claims about Outsourcing and Corporate Taxes in the State of the Union Address
President Obama has spent billions of dollars in taxpayer money on subsidizing foreign firms through his failed "green energy" programs, so it was…
Huffington Post
Employers Skeptical of Obama’s SOTU Promises
Blog
Obama’s State of the Union Address: More Failed Jobs Proposals?
My take on President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address is at this link. It discusses one of the jobs…
Blog
Stimulus was Designed to Provide Pork and Payoffs, Not to Revive the Economy
Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron argued that the $800 billion stimulus package wasn't even designed to stimulate the economy, but rather to benefit…
Blog
Law Schools Teach Junk, Exaggerate Their Students’ Job Prospects
Propped up by government subsidies and regulations requiring students to attend law school before taking the bar exam, law schools waste their students' time teaching…
Blog
Celebrate National School Choice Week
Openmarket.org This week, a collaboration of over 200 organizations will hold the second annual National School Choice Week. National School Choice Week highlights the need…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Claims 4,300 More Jobs, Reduces Consumer Choice in Mortgage Market
The Dodd-Frank law passed in 2010 in the name of “financial reform” has wiped out another 4,300 jobs: MetLife is closing down its growing…
Blog
Court Ruling Broadening Americans with Disabilities Act Will Harm Taxicab Safety and Cost Hundreds of Millions
A federal judge last month barred New York City's “Taxi and Limousine Commission from issuing permits for taxicabs unless they're accessible to people who…
Huffington Post
Immigrants Help Fuel Tech Growth
People are the most valuable resource. We see this most clearly among entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and innovators. Creating wealth and new ways of doing things…
Blog
Media: If You Wear Headphones while Walking, You’re as Good as Dead
Various media outlets are trying to scare the bejesus out of us by reporting on a new study published in this month's issue of Injury Prevention,…
Blog
Judge Criticizes American Law Schools
A prominent federal judge has added to the growing chorus of criticism for American law schools and their failure to provide practical training for…
Blog
Wisconsin union holding federal funds hostage
The Washington Examiner Federal health care funds are being held hostage by the Wisconsin Education Association Trust, a not-for-profit health insurance company created by…
Huffington Post
Wisconsin Union Holding Federal Funds Hostage
Federal health care funds are being held hostage by the Wisconsin Education Association Trust, a not-for-profit health insurance company created by the state’s largest…
Blog
Eleven More Solyndras in Obama Clean-Energy Program
There are 11 more Solyndras in the Obama administration’s clean-energy program, reports CBS News. These companies are in financial trouble — five have already…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 12, 2012: Mistaken Deportations
Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh tells Jakadrien Turner's story and what it means for the immigration reform debate.
Blog
EEOC Says High-School Diploma is Discriminatory Requirement, Stretches Employment Laws to Harm Small Employers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently posted a letter on its website claiming that it is illegal for employers to have a high-school diploma requirement…
Blog
Big Labor Political Influence Does Not Make Union Bosses Labor Experts
Openmarket.org A well-known fact is Big Labor’s powerful political influence. According to Opensecrets.org, five of the top 10 all-time federal campaign political donors are unions.
Blog
Supreme Court Rejects Obama Administration Power Grab Over Churches in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC
The Supreme Court has rejected the Obama administration's argument that it can dictate who churches hire as ministers or clergy in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical…
Huffington Post
The Non-Union for Restaurant Workers
When is a union not a union? When it decides that organizing a majority of workers is too much trouble and that it can win…
Blog
New York MTA Contract Negotiations Show Dangers of Binding Arbitration
In most jurisdictions, government employees responsible for public safety and other essential government services are not allowed to strike. In exchange for unions giving up…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 204: How to Buy Liquor
Self-checkout lanes have been popping up in grocery stores across the country over the last several years. Some people worry that without the adult supervision…
Huffington Post
Mistaken Deportation of Texas Teen Highlights the Rigid, Incompetent Immigration Bureaucracy
The unintended consequences of government regulations on the U.S. economy are disastrous. Among the most harmful are regulations that restrict immigration—the movement of laborers and…
Huffington Post
Obama’s Abuse of Power Threatens to Shut Down Senate
Huffington Post
No Time for Advice and Consent
On Wednesday, President Obama infuriated Republicans and threatened to spark a constitutional crisis when he announced he would make four recess appointments during a…
Blog
Judge Upholds Michigan Union Power Grab
A federal judge in Michigan has denied class action status to a lawsuit brought by a group of independent child care workers who objected to…
Blog
Rhode Island’s Bold Pension Reforms Point the Way Forward
To describe pension reform, Utah State Senator Dan Liljenquist put it best: "This is not a conservative-versus-liberal issue, this is a reality issue." Liljenquist…
Blog
Congressional Democrats Join Republicans’ Call for GAO Investigation into California High-Speed Rail Boondoggle
In a letter sent Tuesday to the Government Accountability Office, 11 House Democrats called on the watchdog agency to investigate California's high-speed rail program. The…
Politico
Left Bloggers Hail “New Obama”
Politico
F. Vincent Vernuccio: NLRB and Union Bosses
Vincent Vernuccio: NLRB and Union Bosses…
Blog
Public Pensions Fuel Government Growth
The straitened finances afflicting state and local governments across the nation have brought unprecedented scrutiny to government employees’ compensation, particularly pensions. As pro-market critics have…
Hot Air
Obama Follows Cordray Recess Appointment With Three More to NLRB
Staff & Scholars
Sean Higgins
Research Fellow
- Deregulation
- Labor and Employment
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform
Ivan Osorio
Editorial Director
- Labor and Employment
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Trade and International