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Free the Economy podcast: Centers of Progress with Chelsea Follett
In this week’s episode we cover the housing abundance agenda, antitrust concerns about corporate climate alliances, the future of global nuclear…
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Free the Economy podcast: The future of energy and environmental policy with Travis Fisher
In this week’s episode we cover the political path toward abundance, the need for permitting reform beyond the National Environmental Policy Act,…
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Free the Economy podcast: Making college pay with Preston Cooper
In this week’s episode we cover Javier Milei’s election as president of Argentina, how much money it takes to be happy,…
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Free the Economy podcast: Getting out of control with Neil Chilson
In this week’s episode we cover the American Nuclear Society’s Winter 2023 conference, the opportunities and pitfalls of online side-hustles, and the…
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Free the Economy podcast: Personal finance and YouTube with Spencer Johnson
In this week’s episode we cover how states can reform higher education, ways that managers can make their employees happier at work,…
The Hill
The rise and fall of ESG investing
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Free the Economy podcast: The trouble with big-government conservatives with André Béliveau
In this week’s episode we talk about which state has the least-bad business taxes, how many Americans really love America, the continuing…
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Free the Economy podcast: Polling capitalism with Karlyn Bowman
In this week’s episode we talk about the surprisingly low demand for free transit, the demographics of higher education in the U.S.,…
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Free the Economy podcast: Creating the future with Jim Pethokoukis
In this week’s episode we talk about income and tax migration, refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the problem with federal crop…
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Free the Economy podcast: Going into labor with Sean Higgins
In this week’s episode we talk about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s legal fate, rising economic might in India, terrible federal…
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Free the Economy podcast: Financial regulation and ESG with Hester Peirce
In this week’s episode we talk about commuting via bicycle, regulatory reform legislation from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the new book…
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Free the Economy podcast: Threats to economic freedom, then and now with Iain Murray
On this week’s podcast we talk about recycled Legos, socially responsible pension funds, pessimistic views about politics, and a special…
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Free the Economy podcast: unemployment that works with Matt Darling
In this week’s episode we talk about banning plastic gift cards in California, the solution to Germany’s energy crisis, the political…
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Will polyester recycling become fashionable?
The Wall Street Journal ran a fascinating article last week on the future of innovation and technology, but it’s not about AI or semiconductors.
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The road to pork product serfdom
There are interesting developments afoot in the world of agriculture and livestock, as recently recounted in the pages of the New York Times. According…
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Free the Economy podcast: Supreme Court preview with Ashley Baker
In this week’s episode we talk about the long history of the Lewis Powell memo of 1971, innovation in textile recycling, how…
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Will COVID-era work-from-home flexibility disappear?
The question of how many Americans are going to continue working remotely, post-COVID, is back in the news again (if, indeed, it ever left).
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The Powell Memo was good, actually
This week the Competitive Enterprise Institute published my study (co-written with my colleague Iain Murray) on the 50-plus year history of the…
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Free the Economy podcast: freedom and conservatism with Avik Roy
In this week’s episode we talk about the future of nuclear power, the possible end of remote work, and the complexities of…
News Release
Leftwing conspiracy theories about 1971 “Powell memo” debunked in new CEI report
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report debunks a leftwing conspiracy theory that free market interests seek a “corporate domination of America” (as Greenpeace put…
Study
Threats Then and Threats Now
Executive summary In 1971 Lewis Powell, a prominent Republican lawyer who would go on to serve on the Supreme Court, wrote a memo warning about…
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Free the Economy podcast: Defend your points and miles with Bryan Bashur
In this week’s episode we talk about where our doctors come from in the US, what current inflation numbers tell us about…
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Free the Economy podcast: The ESG Agenda with Jack McPherrin
In this week’s episode we talk about job recruiters who lie to applicants, post-Covid reforms to the CDC, debunking socialist takes…
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Free the Economy Episode 34: Permitting Prosperity with Daren Bakst
In this weeks episode we talk about labor union history, demands for a 4-day work week, YIMBY policy wins, and Reason’s…
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Free the Economy Episode 33: Federal Trade Commission Failures with Kimberlee Josephson
In this week’s episode we talk about defending financial privacy, new polling on what Republican voters want, reactions to new employment…
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Free the Economy podcast: Government rules behind a paywall with Patrick McLaughlin
In this week’s episode we talk about banning incandescent light bulbs, mission creep at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, new nuclear capacity…
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Good news about new business starts nationwide
The Economic Innovation Group has a fascinating report out this week on how we’re seeing a boom in new businesses being started – definitely a…
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No, Florida, you can’t sue corporate directors for ‘going woke’
Recently Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called on the Sunshine State’s pension fund manager to consider action against Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev. In a…
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Free the Economy Episode 31: Reforming the States with Carrie Conko
In this week’s episode we talk about the Federal Trade Commission’s takeover of AI policy, shareholder lawsuits against “woke” corporations, an encouraging…
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Free the Economy podcast: Ugh! Capitalism! with Jeremiah Johnson
In this week’s episode we talk about Democrat and Republican myths, corporate welfare in Ohio, scams in the carbon offset market,…
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Free the Economy podcast: School Choice for Everyone with Ed Tarnowski
In this week’s episode we talk about trends in self-employment, how rent control leads to more evictions, empty corporate gestures on…
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Don’t believe the ‘cost-of-thriving’ doom
There has been a lot of discussion in the last several years – and even more so in the last few weeks – about income…
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Free the Economy podcast: teaching capitalism with Allen Mendenhall
In this week’s episode we talk about the cost of thriving in America, the incredible expanding CHIPS Act, and occupational licensing…
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Local zoning boards are not democracy
At the Competitive Enterprise Institute, we have often discussed the need to reform zoning, permitting, and building regulations, so I was intrigued…
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Wall Street doesn’t want to come back to the office
The continuing saga of remote versus in-office work acquired a new data point recently when Bloomberg released its latest Markets Live Pulse survey, which…
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Free the Economy podcast: importing talent with Connor O’Brien
In this week’s episode we talk about the major income tax case going to the Supreme Court, the looming death of ESG…
Real Clear Markets
What Comes After An ESG Craze That’s Not Ready to Die?
Could this year be the end of the beginning for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing? Buzz in the business press suggests …
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Free the Economy podcast: online trust with Taylor Barkley
In this week’s episode we talk about a survey on work trends for finance bros, Delta’s questionable bid to become the first…
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Businesses flocking to states with lower taxes, better regulations
Experts on U.S. economic policy spend a lot of time looking at competition between states and how good tax and regulatory policy can help…
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Younger workers don’t favor full-remote work
Among people who follow the news on workplace (and workforce) satisfaction, the opinions of younger workers are often considered especially relevant, because we assume that…
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Free the Economy podcast: growth and taxes with Alex Muresianu
In this week’s episode we talk about Gen Z and remote work, businesses moving between states, and inspiring evidence of human…
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Free the Economy podcast: Immense economic costs with Scott Lincicome
In this week’s episode we talk about central bank digital currencies, bankers backing off of ESG claims, avoiding the mistakes of…
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Free the Economy podcast: Capitalists of the world unite! with Richard Salsman
In this week’s episode, we talk about conservatives defending the D.C. swamp, Andrew Stuttaford’s warning about green land grabs, a new Heartland Institute report…
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Protecting private property in the Peach State
Institute for Justice communications manager Dan King brings us an infuriating but important story out of the state of Georgia. Property owners in the…
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Free the Economy podcast: Transparency for government, privacy for people with Brian Hawkins
In this week’s episode we talk discuss Tim Carney’s view on why big government is good for big business, Stone Washington on the…
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What happens if governments stop trying to make electric vehicles happen?
I recently spotted an interesting analysis of the market for electric vehicles and the prospect for them eventually replacing ones powered by internal combustion…
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Free the Economy podcast: Letting people prosper with Vance Ginn
In this week’s episode we talk about Warren Buffet’s electric vehicle pessimism, sky-high school funding in New York City, a report…
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Free the Economy podcast: Freedom is intoxicating with Jacob Grier
In this week’s episode we talk about public opinion regarding capitalism, eliminating COVID relief slush funds, rolling back parking mandates, partisan…
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Retirement finance worries increase for Americans
The Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research have published their 33rd Annual Retirement Confidence Survey, and it’s got some interesting results. The survey…
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Americans agree: Politics doesn’t solve most problems
Our friends at the Pew Research Center have some new political survey results out, and the numbers are…not encouraging. The research summary finds:…
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New Jersey fishermen challenge Chevron deference
Big news out of the Supreme Court this week as justices have agreed to hear a lawsuit challenging the so-called Chevron doctrine, a policy requiring…
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Punishing success with higher mortgage rates?
The Biden administration recently implemented changes to fees on mortgages that are backed by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Our old friend…
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Free the Economy podcast: Grow for tomorrow with Adam Millsap
In this week’s episode we talk about judicial deference at the Supreme Court, Biden’s new mortgage rate policy, how Americans are thinking…
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Free the Economy podcast: Smart urbanism with Max Dubler
In the latest episode, we talk about John Berlau and Stone’s Washington’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed on financial regulation and free speech,…
FIU News
Environmental forum brings together diverse viewpoints, experts on environmental policy
“If you’re serious about climate but you’re also serious about democracy, you’re going to have to figure out how to make them work together.” New…
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Free the Economy Episode 17: Political Fusionism with Stephanie Slade
In this week’s episode we talk about Michael Strain’s and Dominic Pino’s recent arguments for economic optimism, Jessica Melugin’s defense of…
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Free the Economy Episode 16: Tar Heel Activism with Brooke Medina
This week we talk about political pessimism in popular polling, the return of the Malthusian environmentalists, the problem with Buy American…
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Free Enterprise Scholarship in Alabama
Some fans of economic freedom have been worried in recent years that anti-capitalism is rife on U.S. college and university campuses, from Competitive Enterprise Institute…
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Making the Perfect the Enemy of the Good: Everything-Bagel Public Policy
Thanks to Caleb Watney of the Institute for Progress for recommending the great New York Times column by Ezra Klein about the red…
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Blue State Bailouts on the Horizon?
Whenever we see risky and poorly thought-out ventures in the business world, the negative consequences of those ideas will usually be limited to the shareholders…
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Free the Economy Episode 15: Eco-Modernism and Abundance with Alex Trembath
In this week’s episode of the Free the Economy podcast, we talk about the likelihood of blue state bailouts, issues with “…
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Free the Economy Episode 14: Conservative Economics with Dominic Pino
This week we talk corporate mega-mergers that turned out for the best, political meddling with the Federal Reserve’s inflation policy, “woke” language…
Discourse Magazine
The Abundance Agenda: Energy, the Master Resource
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Free the Economy Episode 13: The Future of Online Privacy with Spencer Purnell
This week we talk about Silicon Valley Bank and political favoritism, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate agenda, the relationship of…
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Desperately Seeking Regulatory Restraint
Our friends at the Wall Street Journal editorial board recently published a timely warning about the surge in federal regulation being pushed by the…
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Protecting Pensions from Politics
Congress recently voted to protect pensions from politicized mismanagement and ESG fads, but President Biden has announced that he will be vetoing the measure. I…
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Silicon Valley Bank, ESG, and Political Favoritism
Last weekend we all saw the beginnings of what has now become a major meltdown for Silicon Valley Bank. The bank was quickly closed by…
News Release
Biden Veto Means ESG Investment Rule Means Politicized Investing for Pensions
President Biden today vetoed a resolution passed by Congress that would have stopped a Labor Department rule on ESG investing. Specifically, the rule, “Prudence and…
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Free the Economy Episode 12: Consumer Welfare and Big Government with Patrick Hedger
This week we talk about the drama with Silicon Valley Bank and the proposal from Wayne Crews for an Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act, how…
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Congress, Please Reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
My Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) colleague Devin Watkins recently testified on Capitol Hill before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary…
National Review
Vetoing Financial Security
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Free the Economy Episode 11: True Diversity and Economic Opportunity with Patrice Onwuka
This week we talk about a warning from Wayne Crews and The Wall Street Journal on the burden of over-regulation, the policy…
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Don’t Ban Technology of Tomorrow to Save Jobs of Yesterday
Recently in Episode 10 of the Free the Economy podcast we returned to one of our favorite topics, economic opportunity and jobs in…
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House Financial Services Committee Leans on SEC’s Gensler for More Transparency
House Financial Services Committee Leans on SEC’s Gensler for More Transparency Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee and some allies in the Senate are…
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Free the Economy Episode 10: Legalize Jobs with Shoshana Weissmann
Welcome back to the Free the Economy podcast. In this week’s episode we talk about Mercatus Center’s Michael Farren’s case for the…
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Covid Lockdowns Did Not Improve Outcomes: Lessons from Florida and California
My Competitive Enterprise Institute colleague Dr. Joel Zinberg is the co-author of a new report, published by the Paragon Health Institute titled “Freedom Wins:…
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We Won’t Need More Lithium for EVs if We Just Ban Cars (and the Suburbs) Instead
Seaver Wang of the Breakthrough Institute published a fascinating analysis recently on the need for more mining and resource development in order to fuel…
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College-Educated Women Advance in Workforce
The Pew Research Center recently published some interesting data on women in the workforce. For the first time ever, women with college degrees have…
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Bad Trade Policy Still Bottling up Baby Formula
Scott Lincicome and Gabriella Beaumont-Smith brought us an update last week on the infant formula pipeline problems we’ve been seeing for the last…
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Free the Economy Episode 9: Unconstitutional Taxation with Dan Greenberg
Welcome back to the Free the Economy podcast. In this week’s episode we start by perusing National Review’s series on Adam Smith’s 300th…
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Happy 300th Birthday, Adam Smith
Our friends at National Review have created a fascinating publication series to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Adam Smith, legendary…
Fee.org
The Real Race Revolutionaries: How Minority Entrepreneurship Can Overcome America’s Racial and Economic Divides
Alfredo Ortiz has a message for all of the progressive politicians and activists working to close the economic gap between white and non-white Americans: Please…
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Shrinkflation, Slack-filling, and the Real Effects of Inflation
The Washington Post’s Laura Reiley recently raised an alarm, with a St. Valentine’s Day theme, on a consumer merchandising trend called “slack-filling.” She noted…
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Free the Economy Episode 8: Crypto and ESG with Jennifer Schulp
Welcome back to the Free the Economy podcast. In this week’s episode we talk about the cultural impact of Super Bowl ads,…
Ballotpedia
A look ahead at ESG in 2023
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Are Americans Investing for Retirement or Politics?
Being able to save enough during our working lives to fund a comfortable retirement is a top concern for most American households, especially since…
National Review
House Republicans Can Make 2023 ESG’s Worst Year Yet
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Free the Economy Episode 7: Economics for Everybody with Ryan Young
Welcome back to the Free the Economy podcast. In this week’s episode we talk about Adam Millsap’s proposal to encourage abundance with…
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Busting the Myth of Overpopulation
Recently PragerU released a new video on “The Myth of Overpopulation,” featuring the Cato Institute’s Marian Tupy. Marian (also the editor of HumanProgress.org)…
Real Clear Investigations
The Left’s Little Financial Engine That Could (Change the World Radically)
Richard Morrison, senior fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, said Amalgamated can, at a minimum, “serve as an example for other managers and CEOs…
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Free the Economy Episode 6: The Cultural Impact of YouTube with Javier Hernandez
Welcome back to the Free the Economy podcast. In this week’s episode we talk about the myth of overpopulation, the problem with…
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Avoiding Passive Income Scams
Recently, on episode three of the Free the Economy podcast (about 5:30 in), we discussed the promise and perils of “passive income” investments. On…
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Free the Economy Episode 5: Corporate Purpose and ESG with Russ Greene
Welcome back to the Free the Economy podcast. In this week’s episode we talk about the economic and cultural impact of YouTube,…
Blog
Free the Economy Episode 4: Entrepreneurship and Equality with Alfredo Ortiz
Thanks to everyone for listening to and sharing the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s new podcast, Free the Economy. If you like the show, please leave…
Discourse
A Successful Abundance Agenda Must Address Americans’ Anxieties
f you flip through the pages or click on the website of any policy-minded publication these days, chances are you’ll come upon a discussion of…
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Free the Economy Episode 3: Washington’s 10,000 Commandments
Thanks to everyone for listening to the first two episodes of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s new podcast, Free the Economy. We’ve got more great…
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Free the Economy Episode 2: Defending the American Dream
Thanks to everyone who listened to the inaugural episode of the new Competitive Enterprise Institute podcast Free the Economy in December. We covered stagnating wages,…
Blog
Free the Economy Episode 1: Deregulating Abundance
Free the Economy is a new podcast from the Competitive Enterprise Institute focused on how we all can become happier, healthier, and wealthier in a…
The American Spectator
What Do Americans Really Think of ‘ESG’ Investing?
Investing to promote environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes — rather than to just maximize profit — became the hot topic in finance this year…
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Living in Capitalism: The Fat of the Land
Some of capitalism’s critics like to depict a market economy as a ruthless system in which making a living and paying expenses is inherently (or…