Letters
CEI letter to EPA regarding Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act
Dear Administrator Zeldin: The Competitive Enterprise Institute applauds the Trump administration’s efforts to streamline the federal permitting process for major projects, including those for energy,…
News Release
Inflation increased in June, tariff troubles likely cause: CEI analysis
Inflation rose 0.3 percent across all sectors in June, marking the beginning of Trump’s tariffs’ effect on prices. CEI senior economist Ryan Young…
Comment
CEI Comments on Proposed Social Media Rulemaking
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the social media rules proposed by the Attorney General’s Office:…
Forbes
The Dreck Equation: A Drake Equation For Mapping The Hidden Universe Of Federal Regulation
Joe Biden’s 2024 regulatory big bang—106,109 Federal Register pages—shattered cosmic records. But the 3,000 notice-and-comment rules chronicled there every year and archived in…
News Release
Report advocates responsible investment, rejects crony subsidies
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report on the importance of reinstating responsible investment practices by rejecting corporate welfare strategies and…
Study
Corporate Social Irresponsibility
Executive summary State and municipal governments across America are engaged in a massive transfer of public resources to private corporate interests in the name of…
Blog
The Dreck Equation: Charting the regulatory cosmos
Most people think of federal regulation as the 3,000 or so rules published each year in the Federal Register and archived in the Code of…
Blog
Congress should support the Grizzly Bear State Management Act
Tomorrow, the House Natural Resources Committee will meet to consider 12 pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the 119th Congress. One of…
Blog
The unfinished state AI regulation debate
Following internal party negotiations, the Senate declined to include a multiyear moratorium on state artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”…
Blog
California’s fast-food minimum wage is super-sizing job losses
Minimum wage increases would be a fine idea if they worked the way that their fans assumed that they did: increasing the take-home pay of…
Blog
The week in regulations: Deep seabed mining and recreational gulf gag
A massive flood in Texas killed at least 120 people. President Trump announced new 50 percent copper tariffs which will take effect on August 1.
Blog
Tariff letters go out, with little rhyme or reason
The table below lists all the countries to which President Donald Trump has so far sent letters informing them of new universal tariff rates. The…
Comment
In Defense of Consumer Choice: CEI Supports DOE’s Withdrawal of Overreaching Regulation on Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products
Department of Energy: Energy Conservation Program: Proposed Withdrawal of Determination of Miscellaneous Refrigeration Products as a Covered Consumer Product Notice of Proposed Withdrawal of Determination:…
American Action Forum
“The FTC’s DEI for Conservatives”
Fred Ashton with the American Action Forum highlights the intersection between merger enforcement and the culture wars.
Reason
“The 8th Circuit Court Was Right To Kill the FTC’s ‘Click-to-Cancel’ Rule”
Jack Nicastro with Reason discusses the recent striking down of a Lina Khan era rule.
Blog
Congress should recognize the importance of prescribed burns
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major air pollutants:…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: AI frontiers with Corbin Barthold
This week’s episode features Corbin Barthold, Internet Policy Counsel at TechFreedom and host of the Tech Policy Podcast. This is a…
DC Journal
What the Media Gets Wrong About Medicaid ‘Cuts’
Headlines assert that the reforms Republicans recently passed amount to a trillion-dollar cut to Medicaid. The New York Times calls this the most significant cut to federal…
Daily Economy
“Meta on Trial—But Free Enterprise Is the Real Defendant”
Walter Donway uses the FTC’s case against Meta to argue that antitrust should not be used to punish success.
Blog
The logbook of federal red tape last year came to…
The Federal Register for 2024 closed out Joe Biden’s final year in office with a record 106,109 pages. This count swamps the previous record of…
Blog
Lawmakers continue to embrace incoherent tech policy
As Congress continues its march to “rein in Big Tech,” some lawmakers seem unaware of how their stated goals conflict with each other. Members want…
ITIF
“US Antitrust as an Anti-Competitiveness Weapon”
Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, argues that overzealous antitrust enforcement make US firms less competitive.
Blog
Big business is a myth
Many policy discussions, from antitrust to telecom policy, focus on how large businesses should be. Almost no one asks the big questions. Why are businesses…
Letters
CEI Joins American Consumer Institute in Support for the Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act: A Step Toward Lower Costs and Greater Access
Dear Chairman Cassidy, Chairman Guthrie, Ranking Member Pallone, Ranking Member Sanders: We, the undersigned consumer, free-market, and taxpayer organizations, write to thank you for urging…
Truth on the Market
“First Impressions from the DOJ/FTC Listening Session on Drug-Price Competition”
Kristian Stout with the International Center for Law & Economics provides commentary on the potential use of the FTC to lower drug prices.
Blog
The week in regulations: Farmer training and approving fireworks
Tuesday’s Federal Register contained 105 proposed regulations and 86 final regulations. Much of it was regulatory cleanup for railroads, pipelines, and mining. The reconciliation bill…
Washington Examiner
“Trump administration FTC pitches online regulations aimed at protecting minors”
CEI’s Jessica Melugin discusses the FTC’s recent workshop on the “Attention Economy.”…
National Review
Josh Hawley, friend of a friend of the working man
His mistake is thinking that the way to win over working-class voters is by supporting policies favored by union leaders. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is the…
Blog
Declaration of Independence: Ringbolt of America’s freedom
Frederick Douglass called the Declaration of Independence the ringbolt to the chain of our national destiny. He argued that its principles are our saving principles.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Alcohol labels and warnings with David Clement
In this week’s episode we cover housing abundance in California, the meaning of a market economy, union privileges for government workers,…
News Release
June added 147,000 jobs to economy, increase in discouraged workers: CEI analysis
The jobs report for June showed an increase of 147,000 jobs in the economy, exceeding economists’ expectations. An increase in discouraged workers and a…
Letters
CEI Joins ATIF: Stopping Non-Tariff Attacks on U.S. Tech Firms and Industries
RE: Stopping Non-Tariff Attacks on U.S. Tech Firms and Industries Dear Secretary Bessent, Secretary Lutnick, Ambassador Greer, and Mr. Navarro: On behalf of the Information…
RealClear Markets
Book Review: Norbert Michel & Jennifer Schulp’s ‘Financing Opportunity’
America is the wealthiest nation on earth, with financial markets that are the envy of the world. Those markets have contributed to America’s rise for…
News Release
Senate Big Beautiful Bill Contains Needed Medicaid Reforms
The Senate today voted 51 to 50 to pass the Reconciliation package known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” following House passage in May.
Blog
The year the red tape died? Trump’s 2025 rule count hits historic lows
At the halfway point of 2025, the federal regulatory machinery is running at an unprecedented crawl. That’s good news. As tracked annually in my…
Blog
Dispelling the desperate myths on IRA subsidies for wind and solar
The budget reconciliation process continues, as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act just passed the Senate and is headed back to the House. …
Blog
Trump tariffs result in price increases and slashed forecasts
When politicians talk tough on trade, it’s often American businesses and their customers who pay the price. Behind the headlines about economic nationalism and “bringing…
Blog
DOJ’s proposed antitrust remedies against Google are a bridge too far
In early August 2024, Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia found that Google illegally maintained a search…
Blog
Regulatory hurdles could jeopardize growth of nuclear energy
Since the late 1800s, fossil fuels have been the energy source of the highest economic utility in driving innovation and prosperity.
Forbes
Trump’s Deregulation Score: Mid-Year Federal Rules Tally Is The Lowest Ever Recorded
After years of relentless compounding of federal rules and regulations and Federal Register pages–capped by Joe Biden’s self-proclaimed “whole-of-government” executive actions on the likes of DEI, ESG,…
Blog
House should follow Senate in slashing BBB’s remittance tax–or eliminate it entirely
President Trump has made it clear that he wants a budget reconciliation package on his desk by July 4. In its final version of the…
News Release
CEI releases new report detailing how states are improving environmental permitting policies
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report detailing how states across the country are improving their environmental permitting systems to become…
Study
Laboratories of Bureaucracy
Introduction The United States faces significant challenges in modernizing its infrastructure and meeting evolving energy needs. One of the obstacles is the complex and time-consuming…
Letters
CEI and AEA Letter to the Senate on Protecting IRA Subsidy Reform in Reconciliation
Dear Senator:In 2022, Democrats passed a radical plan to change how Americans use and consume energy. This plan was contained in the Inflation Reduction Act…
Blog
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…
Blog
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.
News Release
Senate poised to start undoing green subsidies in Big Beautiful Bill
The U.S. Senate will soon start debate on H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The latest version of this reconciliation bill includes many…
Blog
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…
Blog
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…
Blog
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…