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Chapter 5: Page Counts and Numbers of Rules in the Federal Register
The Federal Register is the daily repository of all proposed and final federal rules and regulations. Although its number of pages is often cited as…
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Chapter 3: Getting Beyond a Federal Regulatory Budget and the Limitations of Administrative Reform
Federal programs are funded either by taxes or by borrowing, with interest, from future tax collections. When Congress spends, no one questions that disclosure…
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Chapter 6: The Expanding Code of Federal Regulations
The page count in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), where the Register’s rules come to rest in small print, is not as dramatic…
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Chapter 9: A Note on Rule Reviews at OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Tracking the effects of rules and regulations, executive orders, memoranda, and regulatory guidance is vital. These alternative regulatory actions have become powerful means of working…
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Chapter 13: Federal Regulations Affecting State and Local Governments
Ten Thousand Commandments primarily emphasizes federal regulations imposed on the private sector. However, state and local officials’ complaints over federal mandates’ overriding their own…
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Chapter 1: Biden’s Regulatory “Modernization” Continues Whole-of-Government Pursuit of Coercive Progressivism
The 2022 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments extensively surveyed the Biden administration’s executive actions, rules, and memoranda that reversed the Trump regulatory policy and attenuated…
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Chapter 10: Analysis of “The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions”
“The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” (the Unified Agenda) is the document in which agencies have outlined regulatory priorities…
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Chapter 8: Another Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Over 22,000 Agency Public Notices Annually
Along with presidential proclamations are those of departments and agencies. These are numerous and sweeping. Through various kinds of guidance documents, notices, and policy statements,…
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Chapter 15: Regulation without Representation: The “Unconstitutionality Index”—13 Rules for Every Law
Administrative agencies, not Congress, do most U.S. lawmaking, despite Article I of the Constitution stipulating otherwise. Congress is to blame here, as it routinely enacts…
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Chapter 4: The Unknowable Costs of Regulation and Intervention and a $1.939 Trillion Estimate
The federal government undertakes little review of federal regulation to ensure that regulations individually do more good than bad each year, and it performs no…
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Executive Summary – Ten Thousand Commandments 2023
The cost of government extends well beyond what Washington taxes. Federal regulations add another $1.939 trillion to Americans’ annual burden. Federal environmental, safety and health,…
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Chapter 2: Competition Policy That Exiles Competitive Enterprise Harms Equity
Biden has repeatedly claimed, “I’m a capitalist.” He also rightly says that capitalism without competition is “exploitation.” However the top-down vision Biden promotes, which is…
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Chapter 11: Notable Rules and Rulemakings by Agency
In recent Unified Agenda editions and in other venues, federal agencies have noted the regulatory initiatives listed below, among many others pending or recently completed.
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Chapter 14: Government Accountability Office Database on Regulations
The federal government’s reports and databases on regulations serve different purposes: The Federal Register details and depicts the aggregate number of proposed and final rules—both…
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Chapter 16: Liberate to Stimulate: Framing an Agenda for Rightsizing Washington
It should be hard to enact bad law and regulation, not to get rid of them. A whole-of-government spending and regulatory agenda like the one…
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Chapter 12: Federal Regulations Affecting Small Business
Given discrepancies seen in the final rule counts, the overall counts of both small business rules and significant small business rules could also be understated.
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Chapter 7: The Presidential Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Executive Orders and Memoranda
Executive orders, presidential memoranda, presidential directives, ersatz fact sheets of recent administrations, and other executive proclamations make up a substantial component of what has replaced…
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Free to Prosper: Infrastructure Permitting Reform
In the midst of an economic crisis that has seen American families squeezed at the pump and in their home electricity bills, America needs to…
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Corporate Governance
Retirement Security Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs private pensions, in 1974, in response to widespread concerns at the time…
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Free to Prosper: Civil Asset Forfeiture
Civil asset forfeiture is a controversial tool used by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to seize cash, vehicles, houses, or other property that…
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Free to Prosper: Antitrust
Efforts to expand the scope and enforcement of antitrust law are playing out on a global scale and, so far, have mostly targeted large technology…
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Free to Prosper: Broadband Connectivity
Improved Internet connectivity is essential to reduce socioeconomic inequality at home and to improve America’s global economic competitiveness abroad. Recent increases in broadband investment and…
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Free to Prosper: Labor and Employment
With employers struggling to fill open positions and supply chains still playing catchup, federal employment policy needs to adapt to new economic realities rather than…
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Free to Prosper: Trade
Trade policy took a turn for the worse during the Trump administration, and the Biden administration has committed largely to the same course. Tariffs have…
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Free to Prosper: Environment, Energy, and Climate
President Biden campaigned on a promise to “end fossil fuel.” Some dismissed it at the time as rhetorical bluster. We now know he was serious.
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Free to Prosper: Online Speech and Section 230
Section 230 of the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996 governs liability online. It clarifies that the creator of speech, not its carrier, bears legal responsibility…
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Free to Prosper: Transportation
Mobility for both people and goods is one of a modern economy’s most important needs. The COVID-19 pandemic changed our transportation patterns considerably and put…
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Free to Prosper: Banking and Finance
Access to safe and reliable financial services is fundamental to Americans’ prosperity. However, since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, regulators have used…
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Free to Prosper: Inflation
In 2022, inflation reached its highest levels in 40 years and became a hot-button economic issue. Confusion surrounding the causes of inflation has resulted in confusing…
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Chapter 7: A Note on Notice and Rule Reviews at OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Tracking the effects of rules and regulations, executive orders, memoranda, and regulatory guidance is vital. These alternative regulatory actions have become powerful means of working…
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Chapter 6: Another Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Over 21,000 Agency Public Notices Annually
Along with presidential proclamations are those of departments and agencies. Without actually passing a law, government can signal expectations, specify parameters for, and influence…
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Chapter 1: Biden’s Regulatory “Modernization” Expanding Government Affirms the Unworkability of Administrative State Rule
Where recent editions of Ten Thousand Commandments began by surveying of approaches the Trump administration took to streamline red tape as well as of Trump’s…
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Chapter 2: Beyond a Federal “Regulatory Budget”
Federal programs get funded either by taxes or by borrowing against a promise to repay with interest from future tax collections. When Congress spends, no…
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Chapter 5: The Presidential Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Executive Orders and Memoranda
Executive orders, presidential memoranda, and other executive actions make up a large component of executive “lawmaking.” They merit attention from lawmakers, since they can have,…
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Chapter 3: What Comes after “Trillion”? The Unknowable Costs of Regulation and Intervention
The cumulative high end for costs in the three recent fiscal years is around $4.6 billion, compared to around $105 billion for the prior 10…
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Chapter 4: Tens of Thousands of Pages and Rules in the Federal Register
The Federal Register is the daily repository of all proposed and final federal rules and regulations. Although its number of pages is…
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Chapter 8: Analysis of “The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations”
“The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” (the Agenda) is the document in which agencies have outlined their priorities since…
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Chapter 10: Liberate to Stimulate
Policy makers frequently propose spending stimulus to grow or strengthen economies. That has certainly been the case during the past two years in response to…
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Executive Summary – Ten Thousand Commandments 2022
Download the Executive Summary as a PDF The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) February 2022 Budget and Economic Outlook, covering 2022 to 2032, shows discretionary,…
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Executive Summary – Ten Thousand Commandments 2022
The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) February 2022 Budget and Economic Outlook, covering 2022 to 2032, shows discretionary, entitlement, and interest spending of $6.822 trillion in…
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Chapter 9: Government Accountability Office Database on Regulations
The various federal reports and databases on regulations serve different purposes: The Federal Register shows the aggregate number of proposed and final rules—both those that…
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Tens of Thousands of Pages and Rules in the Federal Register
Download Chapter 5 as a PDF The Federal Register is the daily repository of all proposed and final federal rules and regulations. Although its…
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Liberate to Stimulate
Download Chapter 10 as a PDF Policy makers frequently propose spending stimulus to grow or strengthen economies. That was certainly the case in the…
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Another Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Over 22,000 Public Notices Annually
Download Chapter 7 as a PDF Without actually passing a law, government can signal expectations and influence various industries—including health care, retirement, education, energy…
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What Comes after “Trillion”? The Unknowable Costs of Regulation and Intervention
Download Chapter 4 as a PDF If real debt levels on the fiscal budget and entitlements can be vastly higher than the public is…
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Swamp Things—Trump’s Discordant Regulatory Impulses Offset His Deregulatory Successes and Expanded the Administrative State
Download Chapter 2 as a PDF President Trump attempted to prune rules and costs and held down regulatory output with more enthusiasm than other…
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The Presidential Dimension of Regulatory Dark Matter: Executive Orders and Memoranda
Download Chapter 6 as a PDF Executive orders, presidential memoranda, and other executive actions make up a large component of executive “lawmaking.” They merit…
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Toward a Federal “Regulatory Budget”
Download Chapter 3 as a PDF When Congress spends, no one questions that disclosure is necessary for voters to hold representatives accountable. Federal expenditure…
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Executive Summary – Ten Thousand Commandments 2021
Download the Executive Summary as a PDF Now a relic, spending control and deficit restraint are indispensable to a nation’s stability and long-term economic…
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Bookending the Trump Era: Seven Efforts to Reduce and Streamline Regulatory Flows
Download Chapter 1 as a PDF This 2021 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments begins with a survey of approaches the Trump administration took during…
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Government Accountability Office Database on Regulations
Download Chapter 9 as a PDF The various federal reports and databases on regulations serve different purposes: The Federal Register shows the aggregate number…
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Analysis of “The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations”
Download Chapter 8 as a PDF One of the goals of regulatory reform should be to improve disclosure and enhance its relevance to rulemaking.
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Free to Prosper: Banking and Finance
View the full chapter on banking and finance here Access to capital, credit, and financial services are fundamental to the operation of a free…
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Free to Prosper: Labor and Employment
View the full chapter on labor and employment here Increases in productivity, not artificial increases in labor prices, are the key to economic growth…
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Free to Prosper: Regulatory Reform
Read the full chapter on regulatory reform here The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of things. One of those things is regulation. People quickly…
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Free to Prosper: Technology and Telecommunications
View the full chapter on technology and telecommunications here Few economic sectors rival the technology and telecommunications industries in how rapidly—and momentously—they have evolved.
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Free to Prosper: Food, Drugs, and Consumer Freedom
View the full chapter on food, drugs, and consumer freedom here Few matters are as important to individuals as the foods they eat, how…
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Free to Prosper: Medical Technology and Health Care
View the full chapter on medical technology and health care here American consumers benefit from a bounty of choice, competition, and innovation in health…
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Free to Prosper: Trade
View the full chapter on trade here The new Congress has two urgent tasks on trade policy. First, it needs to help heal the…
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Free to Prosper: Transportation
View the full chapter on transportation here Mobility is one of our most important needs, one we often take for granted until it is…
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Free to Prosper: Energy and Environment
View the full chapter on energy and environment here REJECT THE GREEN NEW DEAL AND SIMILAR CENTRAL PLANNING SCHEMES The Green New Deal (GND),…
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Repeal #NeverNeeded Antitrust Laws that Hinder COVID-19 Response
View Full Document as PDF Big technology firms have been invaluable in easing the burden of quarantine for millions of consumers…
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Suspend and Eventually Eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has faced many unexpected turns since it was created by Congress in 2005 and expanded in 2007, so the impact…
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Liberate to Stimulate
Download Chapter 10 as PDF Policy makers frequently propose spending stimulus as a way to grow economies. It rarely goes well. A regulatory liberalization…
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Government Accountability Office Database on Regulations
Download Chapter 9 as a PDF The various federal reports and databases on regulations serve different purposes: The Federal Register shows the ag- gregate…
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Analysis of the Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations
View Full Document as PDF The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Agenda) is the document where agencies outline…
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Regulatory Dark Matter: Over 22,000 Public Notices Annually
Download Chapter 7 as a PDF Without actually passing a law, government can signal expectations, specify parameters for and influence various industries—including health care,…
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Regulatory Dark Matter: Presidential Executive Orders and Memoranda
Download Chapter 6 as a PDF Executive orders, presidential memoranda, and other executive actions make up a large component of executive “lawmaking.” They merit…
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Tens of Thousands of Pages and Rules in the Federal Register
Download Chapter 5 as a PDF The Federal Register is the daily repository of all proposed and final federal rules and regulations.427 Although its…
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What Comes after “Trillion”? The Unknowable Costs of Regulation and Intervention
Download Chapter 4 as a PDF If real debt levels on the fiscal budget and entitlements can be vastly higher than the public is…
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Toward a Federal “Regulatory Budge”
Download Chapter 3 as a PDF When Congress spends, no one questions that disclosure is necessary for voters to hold representatives accountable. Federal expenditure…
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Swamp Things – Trump’s Discordant Regulatory Impulses Threaten to Derail His Successes and Expand the Administrative State
Download Chapter 2 as a PDF President Trump has pruned rules and costs and held down regulatory output with more enthusiasm than other presidents.146 Trump…
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9,999 Commandments? Six Ways Rule Flows Have Been Reduced or Streamlined
Download Chapter 1 as a PDF This edition of Ten Thousand Commandments begins with a survey of approaches the Trump administration took in its…
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NeverNeeded Regulation
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CEI Letter to OMB: Petition for Rulemaking on Enforcement of the Information Quality Act
We are writing to you about the problem of the non-compliance by two agencies with OMB’s memorandum of April 24, 2019 on its Information Quality…
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CEI Leads Letter to EPA Requesting Correction on Number 19001 Pertaining to the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment
Dear Administrator Wheeler: On November 14, 2018, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a Request for Correction under the Information Quality Act regarding the Environmental…
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Liberate to Stimulate
Download Chapter 11 as a PDF Policy makers frequently propose spending stimulus as a way to grow economies. It rarely goes well. A regulatory…
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Regulation and the Federal Communications Commission
Download Chapter 10 as a PDF The Federal Communications Commission is by no means the heavyweight among regulators as gauged by the number of…
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Government Accountability Office Database on Regulations
Download Chapter 9 as a PDF The various federal reports and databases on regulations serve different purposes: The Federal Register shows the aggregate number…
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Analysis of the Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations
Download Chapter 8 as a PDF The “Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” (Agenda) is where agencies outline their…
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Regulatory Dark Matter: Over 22,000 Public Notices Annually
Download Chapter 7 as a PDF Without actually passing a law, government can specify parameters for various industries, including health care, retirement, education, energy…
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Regulatory Dark Matter: Presidential Executive Orders and Memoranda
Download Chapter 6 as a PDF Executive orders, presidential memoranda, and other executive actions make up a large component of executive “lawmaking.”…
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Thousands of Pages in the Federal Register
Download Chapter 5 as a PDF The Federal Register is the daily repository of all proposed and final federal rules and regulations.
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The Unknowable Costs of Regulation and Intervention
Download Chapter 4 as a PDF The sole official reckoning citizens get on the scale and scope of regulatory costs is an annual but…
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Toward a Federal “Regulatory Budget”
Download Chapter 3 as a PDF When Congress spends, disclosure is necessary for voters to hold representatives accountable. Federal programs are funded either by…
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On the Other Hand…Trump’s Own Regulatory Impulses Threaten to Derail Successes
Download Chapter 2 as a PDF President Trump has pruned rules and costs and held down regulatory output with more enthusiasm than other presidents.
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9,999 Commandments? Six Ways Rule Flows Have Been Reduced or Streamlined
Download Chapter 1 as a PDF This edition of Ten Thousand Commandments begins with a survey of approaches the Trump administration took in its…
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Ten Thousand Commandments 2019 – Executive Summary
Download the Executive Summary as a PDF Spending control and deficit restraint are indispensable to any nation’s long-term economic health. Alarm among conservatives over…
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Coalition for Future Mobility Letter on Federal AV legislation
Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and Minority Leader Schumer: Roughly two years ago, the Coalition for Future Mobility – a group…
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Freedom and Innovation Through Antitrust Reform
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Free to Prosper: Transportation
View the full chapter on transportation here Mobility is one of our most important needs, one we often take for granted until it is…
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Free to Prosper: Food, Drugs, and Consumer Freedom
View the full chapter on food, drugs, and consumer freedom here Few matters are as important to consumers as the foods they eat, the…
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Free to Prosper: Labor and Employment
View the full chapter on labor and employment here Increases in productivity, not artificial increases in labor prices, are the key to economic growth…
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Free to Prosper: Technology and Telecommunications
View the full chapter on technology and telecommunications here Few economic sectors rival the technology and telecommunications industries in terms of how rapidly—and momentously—they…
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Free to Prosper: Private and Public Lands
View the full chapter on private and public lands here Private property and secure property rights are essential conditions of freedom and prosperity. Contrary…
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Free to Prosper: Energy and Environment
View the full chapter on energy and environment here Energy is the lifeblood of the economy. Thanks to affordable energy, the average person today…
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Free to Prosper: Banking and Finance
View the full chapter on banking and finance here Access to capital is fundamental to the operation of a free society. It allows for…
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Free to Prosper: Trade
View the full chapter on trade here Protectionism, long a byword in politics for economic folly, has recently regained currency under the Trump administration.
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Free to Prosper: Regulatory Reform
View the full chapter on regulatory reform here All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United…
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Letter to USCCR
We are writing to call your attention to the fact that the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (“USCCR”) is currently operating without any legal authority…