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Trump executive order establishing a portal for regulatory dark matter
Even at the insistence of Congress in 2018, 46 federal agencies could only uncover only about 13,000 of their guidance documents and policy statements…
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The week in regulations: Nuclear fees and unintentional otter injuries
The possible war with Iran did not escalate. The reconciliation bill debate continued, as did presidential pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower rates. U.S.
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EPA Proposes to Repeal Biden Power Plant Rule
As demand for electricity continues to rise, a pragmatic energy policy wins out. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin just announced the proposed repeal of a Biden…
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The cold wind of socialism
In an episode of the Netflix series The Crown, an aging Winston Churchill refers to the Labour Party’s return to power as the “cold…
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Supreme Court likely to decide fate of federal unions
A matter likely to end up before the Supreme Court soon is the right of federal government employees to form unions. Whether they retain that…
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Free the Economy podcast: Shareholders vs. stakeholders with Jerry Bowyer
In this week’s episode we cover the failure of postal banking, Trump pausing the TikTok ban (again), and the political crack-up…
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New CEI paper: End IRA Subsidies Now
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the flagship climate spending law from the Biden administration. Estimates place its cost between $936 billion and $1.97…
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Trump’s deregulation shines, but tariffs and antitrust cloud the scene
The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) this month released a new report on the Trump administration’s regulatory rollback efforts. Titled “The Economic…
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New York City breadlines
Zohran Mamdani, a candidate for New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary, proposes to address the city’s housing and affordability crisis through rent control (rent freezes…
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Are we losing the subsidized clean energy race to China? Let’s hope so
Do we need to retain the Green New Deal-style subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act or risk losing the clean energy race to China? Many…
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Trump’s ‘Golden Share’ breaches government’s proper role
On June 13, President Trump issued an executive order declaring that the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel…
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EU downsizes and delays its climate disclosure policy
The European Union (EU) is undergoing a major reality check regarding its climate disclosure policy for corporations. Its executive arm, the European Commission, has significantly…
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The week in regulations: FAA ethics and Postal Service justice
Social Security will go bust in 2033. War with Iran is a real possibility. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, as expected. It is…
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‘With you or without you’ – The growing rift between unions and Democrats
A rift is growing between the Democratic Party and the labor movement. It was caused in large part by the party’s inability to move the…
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Free the Economy podcast: The Reagan legacy in the 21st century with Dan Rothschild
In this week’s episode we cover FreedomFest 2025, the FDA’s war on effective sunblock, good news about critical minerals, and Walmart’s…
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FDA can’t stomach fluoride and doesn’t want you to, either
On May 13, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would begin a process intended to exclude ingestible prescription fluoride products for…
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GENIUS Act needs free market fixes before it graduates to law
Yesterday, the US Senate voted to approve a regulatory regime for stablecoins. This vote represents one of the most significant milestones for cryptocurrency since the…
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45Q tax credit could help kill off power plants and reliable electricity
The 45Q tax credit serves as an incentive for power plants and industrial facilities to invest in carbon capture and sequestration/storage.The Inflation Reduction Act…
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The week in regulations: CAFE standards and Christmas tree promotions
Israel launched a military strike against Iran. US Senator Alex Padilla was detained for trying to ask a question at a Department of Homeland Security…
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The CFPB director’s dominance over adjudication must end
On behalf of CEI, I submitted a new comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) calling on the Bureau to rescind one…
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CEI’s The Surge: Clean Power Plan repeal, CRA resolutions 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 and…
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Congress should deregulate if it will not tackle entitlement spending
The Senate is currently reviewing the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill in an effort to have President Trump sign the bill into…
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Trump, Congress overturn California’s gas-car ban
President Trump today signed three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval to overturn Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers greenlighting California’s plans…
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UN report says tree planting can result in more greenhouse gas emissions
It is common knowledge that trees act as carbon sinks. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen that we…
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New nuclear executive orders come at a time when power demand is rising
On Friday, May 23, President Trump signed four executive orders related to nuclear power. These lay the groundwork for reforming nuclear regulation and enabling nuclear power…
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AI boom power surge: Plants revived, fossil fuels reconsidered
Rising power demand is causing retired power plants to be reopened and repurposed. Power demand in the United States was relatively stagnant for many years,…
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Free the Economy podcast: Drug costs and benefits with Sally Pipes
In this week’s episode we cover reforms to the Endangered Species Act, attacks on US tech firms, nuclear power innovation,…
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The MAHA Report is a missed opportunity
Less than six months into the new administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has produced its Make Our Children Healthy Again…
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Your family’s share of federal red tape last year was…
Most people can see taxes on their pay stubs, but there’s another sort of tax that’s much less visible: the cost of government regulations. These…
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Matt Ridley’s wisdom on trust and trade
In 1834, Charles Darwin encountered a group of natives in Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. Although both parties were unable…
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Africa (and America) need free trade and deregulation, not generosity
Here is a letter I recently wrote to the Wall Street Journal. Africa (and America) need Free Trade and Deregulation, not…
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Good things happen when spectrum is allocated to the marketplace
There has been recent legislative activity on spectrum allocation, so it is a good time to remind ourselves why moving as much spectrum as…
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Trump’s newborn nest egg accounts
In the face of recurring economic shocks—we’ve suffered 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and COVID-19 in the 21st century alone—the reflex to throw hundreds of…
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The broken window fallacy: America doesn’t know what it pays for
If a kid breaks a shopkeeper’s window and a glazier fixes it, is the economy better off? It has created work for the glazier, so…
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The week in regulations: Paper packaging promotion and bridge conditions
President Trump ordered National Guard troops to deploy against American citizens. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from hot air balloons to authorizing ski areas. On…
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Congress should codify the National Listing Workplan
In the 15 years after the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973, it was repeatedly amended. Congress passed major amendments that updated…
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Chapter and verse: The case against mandatory ESG standards
This week De Gruyter Brill published the book ESG Investing: Current Theory and Practice, edited by John Hill of Fairfield University’s Dolan School…
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CBO likely overestimates effects of Medicaid reforms
Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its estimates of the costs, both financial and in coverage, of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act…
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Free the Economy podcast: Tariffs and corruption with Justin Callais
In this week’s episode we cover Autumn Billings on donor privacy, Wayne Crews on the DOGE legacy, and Joey Politano on the…
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The total cost of federal red tape last year was…
$2.15 trillion is CEI’s latest estimate of the costs of all federal regulations. It is an intentionally conservative estimate. Think of it as a floor,…
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Two courts, one message: Tariffs need congressional backing
Within the last few days, two courts have enjoined President Trump’s tariffs under International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) finding them unlawful. First, the US…
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Don’t socialize health care through private insurance
Four senators have introduced the “Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act,” which would mandate full coverage, no copays, no out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries…
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Clearing the tracks: CEI’s three-point blueprint to DOT deregulation
Background The Trump administration has made good on some of its promises of deregulation – namely with two executive orders from the beginning of this…
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Senate should reject lobbyist sales pitches for alternative energy subsidies
Lobbyists for the companies hoping to cash in on the many alternative energy subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are crying foul now…
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CEI’s The Surge: Expert testimony, Spanish blackout, 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 and…
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DOGE after Musk: From meme to momentum
Elon Musk’s short but headline-grabbing stint with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has concluded, but the broader deregulatory agenda remains robust and far from…
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The week in regulations: Low-moisture human foods and grass promotion
Lots of transportation-related regulatory cleanup this week. Friday alone had 47 proposed rules, most of them to repeal obsolete regulations. Two courts struck down Trump’s…
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Medicaid cost explosion
Over the past five years, Medicaid has defied all expectations and projections. It is the third largest program that the government administers, and it has…
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Life is made of trade
If I hadn’t become an economist, I might have found happiness as an evolutionary biologist. The two ways of thinking have a lot in common.
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How IAIS advances DEI policies
As explained in an earlier blog post, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has drifted away from its mission and is actively working…
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Big Beautiful Bill threatens the Costco of health care
You’ve probably never wondered why you buy peanut butter from the grocery store instead of directly from the J.M. Smucker Company or your TV from…
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Eight energy policies that reduce competition and increase energy prices
The US Department of Justice’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force was accepting comments from the public in part “seeking information about laws and regulations that…
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Congress needs to do more to address the IRA energy tax credits
Many of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit reforms that exist in the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act comes…
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For the sake of user privacy, keep Google search remedies narrow and germane
The movement in the Biden and Trump administrations of antitrust officials away from consumer welfare and towards a federal judiciary of active regulation is on…
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Free the Economy podcast: Protecting consumer credit with Caroline Melear
In this week’s episode we cover new research on trade and tariffs, how to understand market forces, and good news for…
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Deregulation deferred—not defeated—by the Big Beautiful Bill
In my latest Forbes column, I detail how the House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) had the potential to revolutionize federal regulatory policy. But…
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Spanish blackout should serve as a warning
If policymakers don’t want Americans to find themselves in the dark, then they should pay attention to the harmful electricity policies in Spain. Spain experienced…
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New CEI paper: How to break the trade blockade
Today is release day for a new CEI paper by Kent Lassman, Iain Murray, and me, Trade Under Blockade: Navigating a Global Trade War.
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The week in regulations: Postage prices and outdoor burning
Former President Joe Biden announced a cancer diagnosis. The House passed a big spending bill. A political activist murdered a young Jewish couple. Agencies issued…
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Senate pulls plug on California’s gas car ban
The US Senate on Thursday voted 51-46 for H.J. Res.88, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to repeal the Environmental Protection…
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The flaw in Justice Kagan’s defense of the NLRB
Justice Elana Kagan authored a lengthy dissent to the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday granting the Trump administration’s request to keep the Gwynne Wilcox,…
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Free the Economy podcast: Next steps for nuclear with Deric Tilson
In this week’s episode we cover Jamie Dimon on tariff jitters, the Tax Foundation on the One Big Beautiful Bill, Jesse Walker…
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Tariffs and the anchor heuristic
It feels like President Trump is cutting tariffs. He has agreed to tariff deals with China and the UK, and he paused his biggest Liberation…
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CEI’s The Surge: CRA resolutions, IRA reform, 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 and…
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The week in regulations: Flight safety and organic pet food
Qatar’s government gave Trump a $400 million jumbo jet that he can use after leaving office. The US and China agreed to lower their tariffs…
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States can keep Medicaid whole if they want
Congress is considering slowing Medicaid growth over the next 10 years enough to reduce federal spending by $625 billion. Many Republicans argue that the…
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CEI sends letter to Senate regarding California waiver CRA resolutions
The US Senate has a unique opportunity to overturn what may well be the most egregious case of unlawful bureaucratic overreach of the past 50…
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Free the Economy podcast: Reforming Medicaid with Brian Blase
In a recent episode we cover biofuels and farm tariffs, the decline in green investing, and the effort to stop state governments…
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Record tariff revenue is no match for record spending
Tariffs raised a record $16.3 billion of tax revenue in April, according to the Wall Street Journal. Averaged out over a whole year, this…
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A light in the darkness: Federal preemption for AI regulation
The joy of federal preemption may soon be upon us. The House Energy and Commerce Committee included a ten-year moratorium on state AI regulation…
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GOP proposal includes reductions in health care expenditures
Over the weekend the House Committee on Energy and Commerce released a proposal describing how it would achieve the expenditure goals for the Reconciliation…
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Regulatory reform takes all three branches
Over at The Hill, Wayne Crews and I argue that regulatory reform requires all three branches of government. Not only is a healthy separation…
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What the DOGE debates really reveal
Last week I took part in a point/counterpoint on the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), making a brief case for its mission and…
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Under Biden or Trump, taxing carried interest is stupid and destructive policy
No matter who’s in charge of the presidency or Congress, flawed proposals to close the so-called carried interest loophole just keep coming back. News outlets…
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Why IRA energy subsidies should be dismantled: A guide
This article is intended to be a useful resource about the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) energy subsidies and is broken into three sections: The first…
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The numbers don’t add up in new Medicaid paper
In a recently released working paper, authors Angela Wyse and Bruce D. Meyer purport to show that the ACA Medicaid expansion saved 27,400 lives…
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US-China tariff pause is good news, needs context
The Trump administration and the Chinese government announced a 90-day tariff reduction. While this is good news, it deserves context. The risk of recession…
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The week in regulations: Medical devices and tuna
President Trump proposed a 100 percent tariff on foreign movies, and reopening Alcatraz. The US and UK announced a trade deal. The Vatican named a new…
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Initiative 82 will hopefully get 86’d
The city of Washington, DC has belatedly realized that passing a law whose purpose is to make a product or service more expensive will cause…
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Congress should overturn harmful anti-bank merger regulation
Yesterday, the Senate approved a resolution pursuant to the Congressional Review Act to overturn a regulation from the Biden administration that would sharply restrict…
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Free the Economy podcast: Dear Mr. President with Destry Edwards
In this week’s episode we cover the economic slowdown from tariffs, more accountability for independent agencies in the federal government, and…
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US-UK trade deal: What it should contain
As I write this, we are awaiting the announcement of the US-UK trade deal from the White House, with reaction from UK Prime Minister Sir…
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SEC commissioners regain subpoena power, potentially curtailing record-level fines
After 16 years, commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally adopted a rule to regain the authority to launch investigations from the…
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Time’s up for the equal time rule
Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines “anachronism” as a person or thing that is chronologically out of place, “especially: one from a former age that is…
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America last? How the antitrust agencies could jeopardize both big and small business
At a time when trade deficits, particularly with China, are a major economic and political concern for the Trump administration, the antitrust authorities are actively…
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Farm subsidies, car interest deduction show tariffs’ triple harms
Tariffs are a three-in-one tool for economic self-harm. The first harm comes from the tariffs themselves, which raise producer costs and consumer prices in the…
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Let prediction markets predict – elections, sports, and other topics
In the 2024 presidential election, one of the big winners was prediction markets. During the weeks leading up to election day, venues such as Kalshi,…
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House Republican letter urges an end to all IRA handouts via the reconciliation bill
Congressional Republicans were unanimous in their opposition to the Green New Deal when it was introduced in 2019, and for very good reason given that…
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Why do so many countries have tariffs?
Over at the Center Square, Iain Murray and I ask an overlooked question: If tariffs are so bad, then why does nearly every country…
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The week in regulations: Steel tariff inclusions and policies for arresting journalists
The 2025 edition of Wayne Crews’s Ten Thousand Commandments is out now. The economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025…
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CEI primer on agency adjudication
Agency adjudication is the process by which administrative agencies resolve legal disputes that implicate regulatory policies. Agencies render decisions through in-house tribunals commonly known as…
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CEI’s The Surge: California waivers, IRIS, 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 and…
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CEI suggests DOT put the brakes on train two-person crew rule
The Transportation Department recently asked the public for comments on how to reduce the regulatory burden. One thought that the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)…
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Free the Economy podcast: Waste, fraud, and tax hikes with Emily Ekins
In this week’s episode we cover workplace injuries, MAGA antitrust in theory and practice, portable benefits for gig workers, and the…
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Congress can end California’s EV mandates
This week, the House is expected to vote on three important Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval that would repeal California waivers granted…
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That didn’t take long: Tariffs shrink economy in just two months
The US is halfway to a self-imposed recession, and tariffs are to blame. A healthy economy started shrinking even before President Trump’s Rose Garden…
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Time to shut down IRIS—for good
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly preparing to eliminate its Office of Research and Development, which houses the controversial Integrated Risk Information System…
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Commencing deconstruction of the administrative state – Trump’s next 100 days
Federal regulation costs trillions of dollars each year. Call it the “costberg”—a vast, submerged amalgam of rules, guidance, and paperwork reshaping the economy without a…
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The week in regulations: Taconite plans and ante-mortem horse inspections
Markets went down when President Trump threatened to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell and went up when he backed off. Agencies issued new regulations ranging…
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Ten Thousand Commandments 2025 is out now
The 2025 edition of CEI’s flagship report, Ten Thousand Commandments, is out today. For more than 30 years, my colleague Wayne Crews has been…