There are two main areas in which Congress can enact meaningful reform. The first is to rein in regulatory guidance documents, which we refer to as “regulatory dark matter,” whereby agencies regulate through Federal Register notices, guidance documents, and other means outside standard rulemaking procedure. The second is to enact a series of reforms to increase agency transparency and accountability of all regulation and guidance. These include annual regulatory report cards for rulemaking agencies and regulatory cost estimates from the Office of Management and Budget for more than just a small subset of rules.
In 2019, President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at stopping the practice of agencies using guidance documents to effectively implement policy without going through the legally required notice and comment process.
Featured Posts
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Free the Economy podcast: The Overton Window with James Hohman
In this week’s episode we cover Treasury yields, oil prices, US-China-Taiwan security policy, and Trump’s $5,000 dividend checks. Our…
Blog
How The No Surprises Act worsened the problem of surprise bills
Next week, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will convene a roundtable to discuss adjustments to the 2020 No Surprises Act, which has come under…
Blog
The rules Congress never gets to see
The 1996 Congressional Review Act (CRA) has been used to overturn only a few dozen federal regulatory directives since its enactment, most during the…
Search Posts
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Baptist-Bootlegger Alliance on Tobacco
In today’s Washington Examiner, Tim Carney has an excellent column on how the bill to place tobacco under FDA regulation would reduce competition in…
Op-Eds
Government’s Mistakes Have Deepened This Recession
Steven Gjerstad and Vernon Smith suggest one unexplored aspect of our financial crisis: the role of egalitarian policies. To see this, note…
Blog
Rise of the Luddites
When it comes to things such as environmental policy, the Progressives have been rather successful at promoting their world view. They realized that it would…
Blog
A Bounty on Your 401(K)
The Obama Administration’s mortgage bailout for irresponsible borrowers (including wealthy borrowers with modest mortgage payments) provides a bounty for reckless sub-prime mortgage lenders…
Blog
That G20 Communique
Yesterday’s communiqué from the leaders of the G20 – a motley collection of democracies and dictatorships – has some good points, but in general…
Newsletter
G20 Stimulus, A Plan for Carbon Dioxide and Mark-to-Market Reforms
World leaders pledge to spend an additional $1 trillion to stimulate the global economy. Global warming activists call for policies to lower the concentration of…
Citation
The Five Dumbest Product Bans, 2009
Citation
Lawmakers told to overhaul property insurance: A coalition pushes for reform to help prevent economic disaster.
Citation
Legislature aims to overhaul property insurance system
Blog
The mark-to-market relief rally
The events leading to the Dow’s climbing over 8000 today can be properly called the Mark-to-Market Relief Rally. More than any expected action of the…
Blog
Markets Rally on Hopes of Regulatory Relief
The stock market has gone up by 280 points so far today, fueled by FASB’s vote to relax rigid mark-to-market accounting rules,…
News Release
Statement on the Progress of the London G20 Summit
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News Release
Statement on the Expected Vote to Relax Mark-to-Market, or “Fair Value,” Accounting Mandates
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Obama Follows in Hoover’s Footsteps
During the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover damaged the economy, and impoverished the American people, with costly, artificial attempts to stimulate the economy through…
Blog
Virginia Postrel on Her Own Brush with Cost-Effective Drug Research
One letter writer argues that Herceptin was a poor example because "Multiple cost-effectiveness analyses have shown that, despite its high cost, Herceptin is both effective…
Citation
The five dumbest product bans, 2009 Source: Competitive Enterprise
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Verizon, AT&T See the Regulation Writing On The Wall
AT&T and Verizon are indicating that there is a chance that they will not seek funds from the broadband stimulus portion…
Blog
Capitalist-David rally versus Goliath-protests for Socialism
During the G20 summit something like 40,000 plus protesters slated to descend upon London. Of that number, there is a small but growing and…
Op-Eds
Americorps Plan Will Waste Money on Ideological Causes
Despite exploding deficits, President Obama and congressional leaders are backing a $5.7 billion “national service” boondoggle. Obama’s proposed budgets, which break…
Blog
Organic Pesticides Fail EU Safety Review
Ask people who buy organic food what they like about it, and chances are, most will say "they're grown without pesticides." That's not actually true.
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With or Without You
The Obama administration's ouster of GM CEO Rick Wagoner won't solve the auto giant's problems. It does, however, show the power that government now wields…
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Feds Make Freddie Mac Even Worse, Ripping Off Taxpayers
After federal regulators took over failing mortgage giant Freddie Mac, they didn’t stop its risky lending practices. Instead, they ramped up its risk-taking, making it…
Blog
Utah Gov. Vetoes Bad Gaming Bill, Self-Regulation Triumphs
Last night, the first amendment, self-regulation, consumers, parents, entrepreneurs, gamers, and business won a huge victory in Utah. In early March, I posted about the…
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Obama’s Policies Are “A Road to Hell,” European Leader Says
“The president of the European Union on Wednesday slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of recession as ‘a road to hell.’…
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Post-Modern Food Fetish
There’s very little that’s romantic about keeping a big backyard garden, and less still about the actual practice of producing meaningful amounts of food. But,…
Blog
$2 Trillion Tax from Obama: Hidden Costs of “Cap-and-Trade” Scheme
Obama’s proposed “cap-and-trade” carbon tax on energy use and utility bills is expected to raise up to $2 trillion, more than the $646 billion…
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Toxic-Asset Buy-Up: “Pure Plunder”?
People who have actually read the fine print of the Administration’s trillion-dollar toxic asset buy-up program don’t like it. One calls it “pure plunder.”…
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Toxic Asset Rip-Off
Obama is proposing that the Treasury provide loans up front and insurance against potential losses on the back end. It’s what Paul Krugman called "heads…
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“Heads I win, Tails the Taxpayers Lose”: Toxic Asset Rip-Off
That’s how analysts describe the trillion-dollar toxic-asset buy-up program proposed this weekend by the Obama Administration: “the president is putting forth his idea to…
Blog
Fishing for Rationality in the Beauty Salon
Thinking of getting one of those cool new “fish pedicures”? Well, you’d better act fast. 14 states have already banned the process. But a member…
Newsletter
Obama’s Debt, Wall Street Bonuses and the Economy vs. the Environment
A new congressional report estimates that President Obama’s spending proposals will produce over $9 trillion in debt. Debate continues over the plan to tax some…
Citation
The Breaking up of Money-Pit Behemoths if Necessary
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Postmodern Union-on-Union Fight
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is being denounced by a group of its own employees for doing, well, nothing wrong or illegal, but something…
News Release
Congress Considers New Mandates on Consumers, Appliances
Congress Considers New Mandates on Consumers, Appliances In Midst of Recession, Senate Seeks Costly New Product Restrictions Washington, D.C.,…
Newsletter
Turning Down Stimulus Dollars, Legal Malpractice and a “Socialist” President
A group of governors turn down federal stimulus funding for their states, citing the strings attached by Congress. The Supreme Court rules that drug maker…
Op-Eds
Take the pressure off
Even before counting President Obama’s ambitious “stimulus” agenda, spending by the U.S. government – the largest on planet Earth – is now…
Cafe Hayek
Regulatory Burdens
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An Explosion of Litigation
Already burdened by $8 trillion in new federal spending commitments and the likelihood of higher taxes to pay for bailouts,…
Blog
Economists Give Obama Failing Grade; New Bailouts Demanded As Obama Breaks Promises
Obama gets a failing grade from economists. “U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to…
Blog
Your Interests Are My Interests
As newspapers around the country are closing, Google's interest-based ads may be just the shot in the arm the content industry needs.
Blog
Al Gore Wants .eco Web Domain…
Since Dot Eco TLD announced that they were seeking establishment as a top level domain (TLD) at ICANN’s (Internet Corporation for…
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Utah: Rated R for Ridiculous
Utah is on the verge of using it’s ‘Truth in Advertising’ bill to pass regulated enforcement of video game ratings. The bill which was in…
Blog
Stimulus Subsidizes Corruption, Waste, Racism
The $800 billion stimulus package signed by Obama not only will make the economy shrink over the long-run, it will pay $88.6 million…
Newsletter
Cybersecurity Turf War, Strongarm Union Tactics and a Beer Battle in Colorado
President Obama’s chief of cybersecurity quits, citing overbearing control by the Department of Defense’s National Security Agency. Prominent Democrats come out against changes…
Punditry by the Pint
Beer Wars
Overlawyered
What have they done with the old Rose and Crown?
Blog
Schadenfreude “Two-Fer”
The New York Times reported this week that the Peanut Corporation of America plants in Texas and Georgia that were shipping salmonella contaminated peanut products…
Overlawyered
Speak out against ‘fishing expedition’
Sir, Kudos to former ambassador Faith Whittlesey for her valid points about the Obama administration exerting “raw Goliath power” and breaching a bilateral tax agreement…
Blog
Yes, “Botch” is the right word.
Alex is right. “This IS one of these questions about what to do in the real world, where first-best solutions just aren’t politically possible†(emphasis…
Blog
Did the Supreme Court “Botch” Wyeth v. Levine?
I was initially going to post this as a comment to Greg Conko’s recent post arguing against the Court’s recent decision in Wyeth…
Blog
Imagine There’s No Agency
Washington spends and regulates, and it’s hard to make it stop doing either. Government agencies and programs attract constituencies that want to keep them around,…
Blog
Supreme Court Botches Preemption Case
Ms. Levine alleged not only that the warning on Phenergan's label wasn't strong enough, but that Phenergan was "not reasonably safe for intravenous administration," and…
Newsletter
Genachowski for FCC, Obama Meets with Gordon Brown and the Threat of a Carbon Tax
President Obama nominates technology advisor Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits the White House to discuss international…
Blog
Parallel Lies
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been talking with President Obama this morning, and high on the agenda was the PM’s call for international banking…
Blog
Your Loss Is My Gain, Sucker!
I am being enriched by a vast expansion of government that will impoverish you and your family, and shrink the size of the economy in…
Blog
DC on the School Reform Front Lines, Again
Today’s Washington Post features an editorial that strongly criticizes Congressional Democrats’ rush to kill the District of Columbia’s school voucher program, which enjoys bipartisan…
Blog
What Does Norway’s Net Neutrality Mean for the U.S.?
Hopefully nothing. But international policy has a way of making waves on our shores; sort of a “Look what they’re doing in Europe, we should…
Overlawyered
Mr. President, End this Farm Subsidy Boondoggle
Before taking office, President Barack Obama pledged to cut government waste: “We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs…
Casino Intensity
A Competitive Enterprise Institute Study May Aid the Online Casino Industry
Blog
Wayne Crews Considers the Cost of Regulation
From RealClearMarkets.com: Removing burdensome regulations on businesses, both large and small, hasn’t figured much into the economic recovery program thus far. But alternatives to “porkulus 
Casino Intensity
It’s Time to Consider the Cost of Regulation
As President Obama took the podium Tuesday night, all minds were fixed on the economy. As expected, the President addressed the economy first, front…
Business Week
The Appointment of Cass Sunstein as OIRA Chief
CNN
The Appointment of Cass Sunstein as OIRA Chief
CNN discusses Obama's pick for the head of the Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs with Iain Murray. The gate was very friendly to business…
Blog
Dambisa Moyo: Zambian Author Takes on Foreign Aid
The celebrity parade calling for more foreign aid to poor countries has become so ubiquitous — and accepted — these days that critiques of it…
Blog
Obama’s Bankruptcy Math Has to be Wrong
President Obama claimed in his speech tonight: “For that same reason, we must also address the crushing cost of health care. “This is a cost…
Blog
Zero-Based Governing and Improving the State of the Union
Removing burdensome regulations on small business hasn’t figured much into the economic recovery program thus far. Too bad. Alternatives to “spendulus” and the “Bailout to…
Blog
SOTU Watch: Card Check
In President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight, one thing to watch for is mention of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) —…
Blog
More Behavorial Advertising Adventures
Back in January I wrote about several advertising industry trade associations coming together to impose self-regulation in an attempt to deter…
Blog
Coming Soon: A Predatory, Anti-Business Federal Trade Commission?
Even an economy in shambles shall not sway the elevation to Federal Trade Commission chairmanship of Jon Leibowitz, an interventionist-minded commissioner who, like all…
Blog
A Gamer Win For Parenting
If you’ve followed my posts here at OpenMarket.org or at my personal site, you’re well aware of the fact that I…
Blog
Top Ten Federal Rules to Jettison — According to Small Businesses
The Small Business Administration’s Regulatory Review and Reform initiative (r3) has a new compilation of rules that need reform, according to small businesses across…
Blog
More Grand Theft Common Sense
I used to think that the groups and individuals that sat around eagerly anticipating the launch of a new Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game were…
CNN
The Auto Bailout We Need
GM and Chrysler have come back for more taxpayer money, which is exactly what everybody warned would happen when the first bailout was granted…
Blog
The Auto Bailout We Need
The automakers have come back for more taxpayer money, which is exactly what we warned would happen when the first bailout was granted…
Blog
UBS agrees to deal with the devil
I revoke my previous apology to the Swiss, and reiterate my previous disapproval. As evidenced by the…
Blog
To Know Card Check is to Hate it
A recent survey of 1,000 likely voters, conducted in January by the consultancy McLaughlin & Associates, finds an overwhelling majority opposed to the so-called…
Blog
Fraud in More Ways Than One
The news of the federal fraud charges against billionaire Texan financier Sir Allen Stanford (he got the knighthood from his dual citizenship from Antigua)…
Blog
Will Lisa Jackson turn the Clean Air Act into a gigantic de-stimulus package?
Earlier this week, in a letter to Sierra Club climate council David Bookbinder, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the Agency would reconsider, via…
Blog
Michigan Steps Aside for Stimulus
Oregonian brewers looking for a new home may want to consider moving to Michigan where a state authority may just understand the principle…
Blog
Bad McCarty! Bad!
Will regulators never learn? You can’t force businesses to actively pursue a business model that is unprofitable. Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist and Insurance regulator Kevin…
Blog
Null Government
Well, the Spendulus/Stimulus will be signed into law within minutes. We’ll soon learn that even this Leviathan-In-A-Box is only the beginning of the Age…
Blog
“Spendulus” conference report has passed the House
But thought you might be interested in one congressman’s last-minute appeal to sanity. You, dear reader, are a person things are done to.
Blog
Who Cares About the Consumer?
Electricity consumers beware! The so-called-stimulus bill includes provision for something called “decoupling.” E&E Daily reports: Also included in the final version is a requirement that…
Blog
Wyeth v. Levine: Policy Arguments Regarding Preemption
The Wyeth v. Levine case presents a narrow set of facts in which the Food and Drug Administration had, for many years, known about the…
Blog
Preemption in Wyeth v. Levine: Broader Implications
The legal arguments of the parties, and the incremental approach typical of the Supreme Court, strongly suggest that the Court will issue a narrow legal…
Blog
Uber-Attorney Bert Rein to Guest Blog on Federal Preemption Case
Back in November, I wrote about the pending Supreme Court case Wyeth v. Levine, the decision in which will have a huge impact on the…
Blog
What unlimited government means to you.
Ran across this excerpt from a Wall Street Journal piece that I thought I’d pass along. And this was before the Anti-Stimulus added…
Blog
Coming to a Pharmacy Near You: One Size Fits All
Tucked away in the stimulus bill is $1.1 billion to fund a new agency modeled after the UK’s NICE, which has repeatedly denied Brits access…
Blog
“Porkulus” has no relation to economic recovery; But other reforms do.
Today CEI and other free-enterprise analysts and advocates are making one last pitch to stop the anti-stimulus package that President Obama is likely to…
Blog
Iain Murray on the Anti-Stimulus
On behalf of my distinguished colleague Iain Murray, who is busy speaking at a very important press conference this morning, let me present his…
Newsletter
Stimulus Upon Us, Lethal Wildfires Down Under and Satellite Radio Takes a Hit
Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress reach a deal to spend $789 billion in taxpayer money on “economic stimulus.” The death toll from wildfires in…
CNN
Property insurance reform in Florida
Florida Real Estate Journal
Property insurance reform in Florida
TMC Net
There Being Little Chance of OFC Opponents Being Swayed by ‘New-and-Improved’ Bill
TMC Net
Critics Hitting U.S. Insurance Regulator Bill Proposal
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Critics Hitting U.S. Insurance Regulator Bill Proposal
Op-Eds
Don’t Punish the Shareholders, Too
In justifying a change of policy on negotiating corporate penalties, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, stressed the…
Blog
Environmental Policies Kill – Again!
One of the main themes of my book, The Really Inconvenient Truths, is that misguided environmental policies often lead to humanitarian and environmental disaster.
Newsletter
Senate Stimulus, Geithner’s Banking Plan and a Florida Insurance Bailout
The Senate passes an $838 billion economic stimulus package. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announces a new plan to revitalize troubled U.S. banks. Florida officials look…
Study
Let Credit Unions Lend More
Eli Lehrer makes the case for expanding credit union business lending, which would unlock otherwise idle capital and thereby help create jobs.
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment