Blog
The missing guardrail in crisis politics: Discipline
Modern American governance has developed a troubling pattern. Economic shocks like the 21st century’s financial panics and pandemic are often met with vast expansions of…
The Daily Signal
A Sneaky Effort to Undermine the Fight Against Carbon Taxes
President Donald Trump has shown bold leadership by rejecting the radical global climate agenda. But now some lawmakers, including a handful of Republicans, have set…
Blog
The week in regulations: Music royalties and avocado maturity
The Iran war continued to raise oil prices. The Trump administration took steps to raise tariffs under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, but…
Blog
Illiberalism: The bipartisan tradition
After experiencing the horrors of World War I and fearing a second World War could be imminent, Ludwig von Mises wrote Liberalism: The Classical…
Human Progress
Olive Oil Prices Are Falling—So Should Olive Oil Climate Hysteria
Summary: Olive oil prices spiked in 2023 amid heat and drought in Spain, prompting widespread claims that climate change was driving the industry into crisis.
Blog
Good and bad trade news: Jones Act suspension, but more tariffs on the way
Two conflicting bits of trade news came out yesterday. The good news is that the Trump administration is considering temporarily suspending the Jones Act,…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Regulating finance with James Copland
In this week’s episode we cover the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, fighting fraud in broadband deployment, and cutting…
The National News Desk
Inflation steady in February, but war risks new price surge
The National News Desk cited CEI’s expert on CPI data “The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the greater the upward pressure on energy…
News Release
Inflation increases in February, predates new soaring energy prices: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for February shows a 0.3 percent increase across all sectors. The increase predates the escalation in the Middle East,…
Blog
The Senate housing bill’s road to socialism
In the last week of February, I expressed hope that members of Congress would “embrace free-market proposals to advance opportunities in the housing sector”…
Blog
Washington should resist the urge to overreact to high gas prices
Unfortunately, there has been a sharp increase in domestic gas prices since the conflict with Iran started.According to the Energy Information Administration, the national…
Blog
Mandates before proven safety: How the Railway Safety Act ignores rail safety
The Washington Post’s recent piece on the Railway Safety Act underscores an essential point: safety legislation must be grounded in evidence, not fear or…
Blog
Pardon me boys, is this the Special Interest Express?
The Washington Post published a smart editorial on Monday on why the proposed Railway Safety Act is a bad idea. The legislation is…
News Release
White House wrong to push Railway Safety Act
The White House is reportedly urging lawmakers to include new restrictions on freight rail operations in upcoming infrastructure or transportation legislation. CEI policy experts…
National Review
President Reagan’s argument that these regulations are unnecessary and harmful to consumers has proven to be prescient.
They’re the regulations that literally hit home, and rarely in a good way. The Department of Energy sets energy efficiency standards for just…
Blog
No free lunch: Price controls won’t make groceries more affordable
When Americans go to the grocery store, they expect to find food and drinks. Lately, many are encountering something else: sticker shock. According to…
Comment
CEI Comments on NIST’s Request for Information Regarding Security Considerations for Artificial Intelligence Agents
RE: Request for Information Regarding Security Considerations for Artificial Intelligence Agents Docket No.: NIST-2025-0035 The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) appreciates the opportunity to comment on…
News Release
CEI celebrates important free market leaders and anniversaries: Our Words
Today, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations and the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s 42nd birthday, CEI is proud to…
Blog
Happy birthday to the Wealth of Nations – and to CEI
Today is the 250th anniversary of the publication of perhaps the seminal work of economics, Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of…
Blog
The week in regulations: Shellfish inclusion and paper manifest sunsets
The labor force shrank by 92,000 jobs in January. Oil prices spiked. Twenty-two state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against President Trump’s Section 122 tariffs.
Study
Giants of the Free Society
Introduction I was invited to deliver remarks to the Philadelphia Society on the subject, “Giants on Whose Shoulders We Stand: What We Owe to Adam…
News Release
21st Century Worker Act Aims to End Worker Classification Confusion
Today, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the 21st Century Worker Act, a much needed practical step to clear up persistent confusion surrounding worker classification under…
News Release
92,000 jobs were lost in February, turbulent labor market continues: CEI analysis
The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report shows 92,000 jobs were lost in February, indicating a turbulent labor market. Given today’s report, attention will…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Mississippi renaissance with Douglas Carswell
In this week’s episode we cover housing abundance, capitalism’s approval rating, audits of state finances, and the consumer nostalgia of…
Blog
The problem with the EU’s deforestation regulation
The European Union’s (EU) Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was adopted in 2023. The stated objective of the EUDR is “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions…
Blog
The Railway Safety Act would derail progress one provision at a time
On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment spilled hazardous chemicals and prompted a massive, controlled burn that sent plumes…
Issues and Insights
Who’s The Biggest Monopolist Of All? (Hint: It’s Not A Corporation)
Policymakers often argue over whether capitalism works and how aggressively it should be restrained. But they rarely ask the more pertinent question: where, exactly, does…
Blog
Tariffs and inflation: Response to latest CPI release
On February 13th, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent CPI release showed a 0.2 percent month-to-month increase for January and a 2.4 percent…
Blog
The major questions doctrine at a crossroads
In Learning Resources v. Trump, the Supreme Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize President Trump’s tariffs. This…
The Daily Economy
‘Violent Saviors’: William Easterly’s Book on Imperialism and Conquest
While framed as a book about economic development theory and the history of colonialism, William Easterly’s latest tome is actually something grander and more ambitious:…
Blog
The most powerful monopoly isn’t a corporation: Introducing the Capitol Control Quotient
Policymakers often argue over whether capitalism works and how aggressively it should be restrained. But they rarely ask the more pertinent question: where, exactly, does…
Blog
The week in regulations: Fusion machines and suspicious health care
President Trump launched a preemptive war with Iran, leading many to question the true worth of the FIFA Peace Prize. The 2026 Federal Register topped…
Blog
Minimum lot sizes, maximum costs
When Americans think about the housing affordability debate, they tend to picture cranes, lumber prices, or mortgage interest rates. It is certainly important to focus…
National Review
Freedom from the Robinson-Patman Act Is Never More Than One Generation Away from Extinction
The National Review cited CEI’s new report on the Robinson- Patman law As I detail in a new report for the Competitive Enterprise…
Reason
Fight Government Corruption With Deregulation
Reason cited CEI’s expert on regulatory budgets “When regulatory systems become dense, opaque, and discretionary, they create perverse incentives for corruption,” Steve Swedberg, a regulatory…
Blog
The market has spoken: Consumers define the relevant video market
Washington loves drama, and recent debates over video industry consolidation have delivered plenty – billions of dollars at stake, congressional theatrics, and political posturing. But…
The Washington Examiner
Despite its reluctance, tariff setting is the job of Congress — not Trump
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling against the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariffs was fundamentally about the rule…
Blog
Déjà vu all over again as Trump administration move to protect freelancing
The Department of Labor has proposed a new worker classification rule to replace the previous administration’s 2024 rewrite. This new version would…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Big Tech, Europe, and free speech with Spence Purnell
In this week’s episode we cover the Supreme Court’s recent decision on tariff powers, myths of the Great Recession, and fiduciary duty…
Blog
Politicians should push deregulatory initiatives – not investor limits – to boost housing affordability
Both President Trump and Democrats in Congress seem to blame the high costs of housing on certain groups of real estate investors and to restrict…
News Release
Environmental problems deserve free market solutions: Our Words
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute is pleased to publish CEI President Kent Lassman’s lecture entitled The Environment, the Law, Markets, and the Path…
Study
The Environment, the Law, Markets, and the Path Forward
Introduction The Pharos Foundation at Jesus College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, invited me to speak at an on-campus forum in May.
The Daily Economy
The Old World’s Last Export
It used to be said that the sun never set on the British Empire, so far-flung were its possessions. Britain has long since retreated from…
Roll Call
Trump touts push to contain AI energy costs
Roll Call mentions CEI’s expert testimony on AI innovation. Earlier Tuesday, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s oversight panel held a hearing on data…
Blog
Trump’s State of the Union: A closer look at the claims
Last night, President Trump delivered a State of the Union address filled with optimism, applause lines, and bold claims about the country’s direction. There…
Blog
Abolish, shuffle, repeat: The SOTU’s ill omen for federal retrenchment
Shrinking the federal government and abolishing agencies sounds simple — decisive, even. In practice, however, it appears neither can be done under modern administrative-…
Blog
Yes, Trump has shrunk the government
President Trump’s big jobs boast in his State of the Union address Tuesday was that under his watch every job created in the US…
Blog
Freelancers want to be free
The labor movement has been trying for years to organize gig economy workers, claiming that they are traditional employees being exploited by their bosses. The problem is that gig employees don’t view themselves that way…
Newsweek
Expert Warns Tariff Refunds Could Hurt US Wallets as FedEx Launches Lawsuit
Blog
Red tape, green bribes: Deregulation as an anti-corruption strategy
Corruption in politics is often thought of in narrower terms, such as bribes, kickbacks, or high-profile scandals with millions of dollars of fraud. However, political…