The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to advancing the principles of free enterprise and limited government. We believe that individuals are best helped not by government intervention, but by making their own choices in a free marketplace. Since its founding in 1984, CEI has grown into a $3,000,000 institution with a team of over 20 policy experts and other staff.

We are nationally recognized as a leading voice on a broad range of regulatory issues-from free market approaches to environmental policy, to antitrust and technology policy, to risk regulation. But CEI is not a traditional "think tank." We frequently produce groundbreaking research on regulatory issues, but our work does not stop there. It is not enough to simply identify and articulate solutions to public policy problems; it is also necessary to defend and promote those solutions at all phases of the public policy debate.

We reach out to the public and the media to ensure that our ideas are heard, work with policymakers to ensure that they are implemented, and, when necessary, take our arguments to court. This "full service approach" to public policy helps make us an effective and powerful force for economic freedom.

Here is what some of the nation's leading news media have to say about us:

"From its start in 1984, [CEI] has thumbed its nose at the traditional think tank model, instead adopting what it terms a 'full service' approach that begins with research, but doesn't end there, stretching instead to dogged issue advocacy." - The Washington Post

"The best environmental think tank in the country" - The Wall Street Journal

"One of Washington's feistiest think tanks" - The Boston Globe

"CEI is...one of the most influential Washington think tanks" - Now with Bill Moyers