News Release
Report urges upgrades + renewal for US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report urges US trade negotiators to improve and extend the beleaguered free trade agreement with Mexico…
Study
Toward a Renewed and Improved USMCA
Cross-border trade in North America has been an engine of prosperity for the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But the agreement governing…
Blog
Buy Now, Pay Later doesn’t mean pay more, owe more, and panic more
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) has become a familiar way to pay for everything from discretionary purchases to everyday expenses. BNPL lets consumers divide…
Blog
What Mexico City can teach America about the cost of public transit
I recently vacationed in Mexico. While in Mexico City, I tried to take the metro to attend a concert. At five pesos, or…
New America
The ROAD to Housing: Easing the Housing Supply
The biggest housing bill in decades was passed into law in July. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act is a bipartisan, omnibus legislation…
Blog
Pre-approved plans can speed up housing without compromising health and safety
Housing affordability has renewed interest in removing unnecessary barriers to homebuilding. While much of the discussion has centered on land use and zoning regulations…
Washington Times
Prices climbed slightly in August as Fed weighs interest rate increase
CEI’s Monetary Policy Analyst Steve Swedberg was cited by the Washington Times regarding inflation. Forecasters say the Fed could increase rates slightly…
News Release
Higher inflation in August as conflict overseas continues to affect domestic prices: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for August shows inflation increased 0.4 percent across all sectors, with one-third of the increase being attributed to…
Blog
The never-ending ferry tale: Why Washington shouldn’t subsidize ferries
The Trump administration recently announced $664.8 million in federal grants for ferry infrastructure, including $28.2 million for North Carolina’s Cherry Branch Ferry Terminal.
Blog
Sports dominate prediction markets, but don’t bet on that being the whole story
Less than two years ago, the biggest controversy surrounding prediction markets was their enabling of speculation on elections. Then in early 2025, with…
Blog
HHS cutting Head Start red tape shows the cost of regulatory micromanagement
Individual regulations are often defended as necessary on their own terms. But as CEI Senior Fellow Wayne Crews’ Ten Thousand Commandments documents, the…
Blog
Are Trump’s drone tariffs flying blind?
President Trump’s new Section 232 tariffs on drones and drone components are being justified as responses to national security vulnerabilities. In its…
Blog
Vance wants to break the dollar’s global reserve currency status: Why American consumers would pay
A recently resurfaced video of Vice President J.D. Vance has brought renewed attention to his argument that the US dollar’s status as the…
Blog
Why a supersonic cross-country flight could be closer than you think
What if a cross-country flight took less time than your favorite movie? That future may be closer than it sounds. The Federal Aviation Administration…
Blog
Third-party reviewers expand permitting capacity without expanding government
Housing permitting reform has become one of the few housing policies to attract support across the political spectrum. States as politically diverse as…
Comment
CEI comments on enabling supersonic flight
Dear Administrator Bedford and Staff, The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Notice…
Reason
Border Patrol Saves America From Canadian Trucker Delivering Goods in New Mexico
Reason cited CEI’s Steve Swedberg in relation to the Department of Transportation launching the Freedom Haulers Initiative. The Trump administration is well…
News Release
Inflation increases slightly in July, Americans still paying higher prices: CEI analysis
July’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report shows inflation increased 0.1 percent across all sectors, in line with economists’ predictions. With new proposed tariffs…
Blog
The trucker shortage debate: Government recruiting more truckers won’t solve trucking challenges
When I wrote my recent piece on why Trump’s Freedom Haulers initiative won’t fix the issues facing the trucking industry that Trump exacerbated…
News Release
Jobs numbers drop in July, May and June’s numbers revised downward: CEI analysis
The new jobs report brings bad news to the labor market, with a net loss of 23,000 jobs for July and a downward…
Blog
Forecasts, not puppet strings: The myth that prediction markets rig reality (Part II)
Prediction markets have become an increasingly prominent tool for forecasting elections, economic indicators, geopolitical developments, and other uncertain events. Their growing popularity has also…
Blog
Freedom Haulers won’t fix the truck driver shortage that Trump helped worsen
With more than two million truck driving jobs and a growing demand to replace departing workers, the industry requires a steady supply of…
Reason
The Bond Market Is Unhappy With the Federal Reserve’s Unwillingness To Fight Inflation
CEI’s Steve Swedberg was cited by Reason in relation to the Federal Reserve and their response to inflation. But if the Federal…
News Release
Fed decides to maintain interest rates during July FOMC meeting: CEI analysis
Today, the Federal Reserve announced it will maintain interest rates, signaling a continued commitment to the fight against inflation. The Fed is remaining…
Blog
Forecasts, not puppet strings: The myth that prediction markets rig reality (Part I)
Prediction markets have become an increasingly prominent tool for forecasting elections, economic indicators, geopolitical events, and other uncertain outcomes. As their popularity has grown,…
Comment
CEI Comments on Massachusetts act prohibiting card interchange fees
Blog
TSA Gold+ is worth its weight as a major step toward airport security privatization
For more than two decades, debate over airport security has largely centered on whether the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should continue conducting passenger screening…
Blog
Section 338: Trump’s latest tariff tool could send trade policy uncertainty soaring
Just when businesses thought they had enough tariff uncertainty to manage, another chapter emerges. By turning a nearly century-old provision of trade law into…
News Release
Trump pivot to Section 338 for tariffs poses problems for economy, separation of powers
Citing Section 338 of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, President Donald Trump on July 20 announced steep 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods,…
Blog
The exemptions in Trump’s latest Brazil tariffs reveal contradictions at the heart of pro-tariff trade policy
Last week, the Trump administration imposed a new 25 percent Section 301 tariff on many imports from Brazil. The administration argued that the…
Blog
The ROAD to Housing Act’s Moving to Work expansion still misses the bigger housing issue
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is Congress’s most sweeping housing legislation in years. As I previously covered, the legislation deserves…
News Release
Inflation drops some in June, does not yet indicate inflation relief is here to stay: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for June fell 0.4 percent, mostly canceling out May’s 0.5 percent increase. While this may provide some immediate…
Blog
Time’s up: Why housing permits need a shot clock
Governments routinely impose deadlines on businesses and individuals. Miss a tax filing deadline or fail to renew a license on time, and you face…
Blog
How permitting is a hidden tax on housing
Imagine being a housing developer so entangled in permits, legal challenges, and environmental reviews that it takes five decades to have a housing project…
News Release
Trump administration decides to not renew current USMCA, adds to trade policy uncertainty
Today, the Trump administration announced its intent to not renew the US’s trilateral trade pact with Canada and Mexico, known as the USMCA.
Blog
Mamdani’s road to housing hell is paved with rent freezes
As housing affordability becomes increasingly elusive, there are few things more politically alluring than telling voters their rent will not increase. It was a…
Blog
A $25 minimum wage cannot legislate away the high cost of living
Affordability is the political buzzword for 2026. Last week, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) announced plans to introduce the Living Wage for All Act,…
Blog
Before reform comes review: What Warsh’s task forces could mean for the Fed
Major institutional reforms rarely begin with sweeping policy changes. More often, they begin with a willingness to reexamine long-standing assumptions. That is what makes…
Blog
A road to housing: Two green lights and a few wrong turns
Following Senate passage by an overwhelming bipartisan vote and amid efforts to expedite House consideration, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act…
Blog
Three consequences of Illinois’ interchange fee law
In my new CEI paper, I examine the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act and what policymakers can learn from previous efforts to restrict…
Read the Full Study
Report: Government limit on credit card interchange fees undermines consumers, small businesses
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report examines an Illinois law that will limit credit card interchange fees paid by merchants to the banks and credit unions that issue…
Study
The Hidden Costs of Interchange Fee Bans
The state of Illinois risks transforming the Land of Lincoln into the Land of Patchwork Price Controls. The Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA), passed…
News Release
Federal Reserve moves to keep interest rates steady during its June meeting: CEI analysis
The Fed has decided to keep interest rates where they are, signaling the focus is still on economic uncertainty and asserting its independence…
Blog
The house doesn’t always win: Why prediction markets aren’t gambling
“If it talks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.” That phrase is not reserved for ducks. It…
Fortune
A quartz countertop tariff could double your kitchen renovation cost — and kill 13 jobs for every one it creates
Washington Times
Inflation rises again, driven by energy costs amid Iran war
The Washington Times cites Finance and Monetary Policy Analyst Steve Swedberg on inflation and rising costs: “The economic data provide little support for…
News Release
Inflation still stubbornly high in May, future rate increase growing more likely: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for May shows inflation rose 0.5 percent across all sectors, with energy continuing to be a major factor…
Blog
Trump’s Strait of Hormuz insurance plan gambles with taxpayer dollars
As wars and skirmishes escalate, the risks to commerce increase and are reflected in market prices. In past conflicts, shipping firms faced soaring premiums…
Blog
Section 301 and the problem of limitless tariff justifications
Earlier this week, the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced findings from a series of Section 301 tariff investigations concerning imports allegedly made with…
Blog
The Railway Safety Act would shift freight from safer rails to deadlier roads
More than 36,000 Americans died on US roads in 2025. Fewer than 1,000 died on the rail system. Yet while highway fatalities…