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This week in ridiculous regulations: Trademark fees and threatened sloths
A cargo ship struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman died at age 90.
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California laggin’: As Golden State minimum wage rises, so does unemployment
California has been a pioneer in raising the minimum wage for decades, consistently putting its state-wide minimum well above the federal rate. Over that same…
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Questions about EPA’s electric vehicle rule—some answered, some not
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week posted the pre-Federal Register version of its de facto electric vehicle (EV) sales mandate rule. The rule…
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Free the Economy podcast: Gig work with Liya Palagashvili
In this week’s episode we cover how to rebuild after the Baltimore bridge collapse, legal challenges to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new…
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Climate change doesn’t cause inflation.
A new study in Nature from two scientists and two European Central Bank officials argues that climate change could cause inflation. A Daily Caller…
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Two cheers for the gas stove protections in FY 2024 spending bill
There is a provision in the recently-passed appropriations bill prohibiting any federal funds from being used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: NASA penalties and emergency alerts
The 2024 Federal Register topped 20,000 pages. The Justice Department sued Apple for having an iPhone monopoly. Russia held an election-themed event where Vladimir Putin…
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Lina Khan’s tenure as FTC Chair highlights need for reform of the agency
Three years ago, today, President Biden nominated Lina Khan to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Senate confirmed Khan as a commissioner later in…
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Free the Economy podcast: Paying for organs with Pete Jaworski
In this week’s episode we cover the future of AI and employment, why we shouldn’t trust Chinese economic statistics, and how the…
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EPA’s latest unlawful assault on vehicle affordability and choice
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced final emission standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032…
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Energy Week: Legislators have a chance to support important bills
This week is “Energy Week” in the US House of Representatives.House Republicans are going to vote on important legislation to help unleash American energy and…
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Diversity, equity, and exclusion: How the NLRB’s double standard on job-related speech hurts workers
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is supposed to protect workers who publicly raise questions about the policies in their workplace. A few recent cases…
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The Fifth Circuit blocks the SEC’s climate disclosure rule in the first legal challenge to the rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently voted to approve its highly-awaited climate disclosure rule. However, fewer than 10 days after its finalization, the…
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Classifying regulations is now more confusing thanks to Biden administration
Joe Biden’s Modernizing Regulatory Review executive order (E.O. 14094) raised the threshold for a “significant regulatory action” from $100 million to $200 million in…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Space innovation and mariner credentials
The House passed a bill to ban TikTok that could easily be repurposed for other companies. It now moves to the Senate. Agencies issued new…
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Right to repair will not save households over $300 a year
You may have heard that so-called “right to repair” laws will provide big savings to consumers. Last week, Forbes published an article claiming that…
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Fueling discontent: Minnesota’s costly push for a low carbon fuel standard
Lawmakers in Minnesota are considering a Clean Transportation Standard (CTS) that would impose increasingly stringent carbon-intensity reduction targets on all motor fuels used in the…
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CEI briefs the public on the need for administrative law court reform
The Competitive Enterprise Institute recently hosted our first Capitol Hill event of the year, urging Congress to propose administrative law court (ALC) reform. Our…
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Biden’s budget: A continued attack on reliable energy and freedom
President Joe Biden’s FY 2025 budget request of $7.3 trillion is exactly what Americans should have expected: increased spending and taxes. A budget…
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The bait and switch of Government Owned Networks
We are all familiar with bait and switch, the deceptive practice where a customer is enticed by one offer and then forced into a higher…
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Free the Economy podcast: Defending election integrity with Walter Olson
In this week’s episode we cover the Securities and Exchange Commission’s controversial new rule on climate change, federal science policy and indigenous…
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ACLU said NLRB’s general counsel Abruzzo ‘lacks authority’
Here’s some news that slipped through the cracks last year: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the legitimacy of Jennifer Abruzzo’s appointment…
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The FTC, the Kroger-Albertsons merger, and the relevant market fallacy
Over at National Review’s Capital Matters site, Alex Reinauer and I look at the FTC’s word games in its case against the proposed Kroger-Albertsons…
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Gov. Youngkin vetoes two-crew minimum bill in defiance of railroad unions
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently vetoed a slew of bills by the commonwealth legislature. One rejection in particular was well-deserved: nixing an ill-advised…
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40th Anniversary Commemorative: How CEI killed credit for early action
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) turned 40 this month. I’m proud to have been a CEI scholar for more than a quarter century. Our friends,…
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February inflation stays high, fiscal credibility remains a problem
Headline CPI inflation numbers sped up in February. Monthly inflation increased 0.3 percent in January, and 0.4 percent in February. Year-to-year inflation is 3.2…
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One great moment in the budget battles: GOP’s ‘Policy Statement on Deregulation’
Today marks the release of the White House’s $7.3 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2025, even as policymakers continue their wrangling over the…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Taconite and lab fees
President Biden delivered his State of the Union address. Super Tuesday primaries all but settled this year’s presidential combatants. The FTC has a full slate…
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Beware the labor regs of March!
A new rule from the federal government meant to protect workers is set to take effect today, March 11. It will instead leave most workers…
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Will EPA empower California to ban gasoline-powered cars?
Did Congress authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to outlaw the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles? Did it authorize the EPA to…
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One way for government to improve air quality: Remove obstacles to prescribed fires
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule on particulate matter prematurely makes the primary annual standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) much…
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SEC’s new climate disclosure rule a slow-motion train wreck
The day that many observers of financial regulation have long been awaiting (and dreading) has come; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted…
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Free the Economy podcast: Free markets and the common good with Iain Murray
In this week’s episode we cover fake environmentalism and the need to build, a look at policymaking inside the National People’s Congress…
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CEI sues to end federal at-home distilling ban
The Competitive Enterprise Institute, which regularly litigates against federal overreach, represents the Hobby Distillers Association and its members in a lawsuit seeking an end…
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SOTU 2024: Unparalleled spending, regulation, and dependency
In bumper-sticker fashion, we have fondly summed up Joe Biden’s recent State of the Union Addresses (SOTU) as appeals for more spending, regulation and…
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The Surge: New EPA rulemaking, Biden’s LNG ‘pause,’ and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication…
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Spending bills fail to provide checks on Biden’s energy and environmental abuses
Over the weekend, House and Senate appropriations released the text of six final fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending bills: Energy and Water, Agriculture, Military…
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Crickets: Congressional silence on a new communications act
In what seems to be news to legislators and regulators, the communications marketplace is innovative and dynamic. The platforms used to consume increasingly varied types…
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The Stop Woke Investing Act and ‘ESG fatigue’
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made it far too easy for activist shareholders to overturn the traditional proxy review process. The SEC’s…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Seabird mitigation and nuclear locations
CEI is hosting a hill event on March 5 about reforming administrative law courts. Politicians got upset about Wendy’s menus. GDP growth was…
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FTC declares mergers to be union-busting
In a classic case of regulatory creep, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently asserted jurisdiction over labor unions and collective bargaining. The agency is…
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Where do regulations go when Congress shutters an agency?
The way the federal government spends money rarely changes until a crisis comes along. Arguably, we’re already there with federal debt service (interest) payments…
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An exemplary climate debate on campus
I recently returned from Miami and the campus of Florida International University (FIU), where I was pleased to take part in the FIU Environment…
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Free the Economy podcast: Politically homeless with John Tillman
In this week’s episode we cover an environmental conference in Miami, allegedly underfunded government schools, Google’s AI diversity debacle, and new…
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Senate should pass bill to stop Biden’s liquified natural gas export ‘pause’
The Biden administration announced a pause last month on new approvals for liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to non-Free Trade Agreement (non-FTA) countries. The…
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EPA’s Scientific Integrity Policy is unscientific, lacks integrity
The Environmental Protection Agency recently released a draft update to its “Scientific Integrity Policy,” which aims to ensure the agency’s science-based decisions and…
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What ails the working class?
Late last month I was privileged to be asked to speak at a Heritage Foundation event on the subject of the continuing travails of…
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NLRB ruling on college athletes may foul foreign players
Nothing produces untended consequences like government action, and no one can say that the National Labor Relation Board’s (NLRB) isn’t producing its fare share. The…
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Worried about massive federal debt? Time to right-size the regulators
In the annals of federal bloat, a milestone is looming as noted in another post last week: 2024 interest payments on America’s $34 trillion…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Space debris and dried prunes
The privately-built Odysseus spacecraft became the first American moon lander since 1972. President Biden announced new Russian sanctions in response to opposition leader Aleksey Navalny’s…
