The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a public interest group dedicated to free enterprise and limited government. We believe that the best solutions come from people making their own choices in a free marketplace, rather than government intervention. Since it was founded by Fred L. Smith, Jr. in 1984, CEI has grown to a team of over 40 policy experts and staff.
CEI has become a widely recognized voice on a broad range of national issues – from the environment and technology to finance and public health. If the government has written rules to regulate it, we have an opinion how it could be done better.
Our staff of public policy experts frequently produces groundbreaking research, but our work does not stop there. It is not enough to simply identify and articulate solutions to problems; it is also necessary to defend and promote those solutions, both to prominent decision makers and people around the world.
That's why CEI reaches out to the public and the news 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” helps make us an effective and powerful force for freedom.
A timeline of the milestones and achievements that CEI has made in the past 25 years can be viewed in this synopsis.
What the media is saying about CEI:
"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
"The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a think tank that champions free enterprise" -The Sacramento Bee
Government leaders recognize the impact of our work:
"The Competitive Enterprise Institute is a critically important advocate for liberty" -Rep. Tom Price, RSC Chairman
