Blog
It’s not the (government’s) thought that counts
Good intentions are not enough to create an effective regulation. An executive agency, Congress, or the White House can have the best intentions in…
Blog
Let’s end ‘reputational risk’ debanking once and for all
Although this legislative session is near its end, Congress still has the opportunity to take an important step to ensure that financial regulation is…
Blog
The week in regulations: Roadless areas and squid quotas
The national debt topped $40 trillion. Vice President JD Vance argued for ending the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. The Treasury Department…
The Daily Economy
America Can’t Revive Manufacturing by Shunning Robots
A few months ago, I was privileged to tour the Michigan steel mill where my daughter works. A month or so later, I toured…
Comment
CEI Comments on DOE’s Proposed Appliance Standards Process Rule
I. Introduction The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a policy and analysis organization committed to advancing the principles of free markets and limited…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Housing abundance and affordability with Luca Gattoni-Celli
In this week’s episode we cover J.D. Vance and the strength of the US dollar, how to track extreme weather events,…
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…
Washington Examiner
Bond markets shrug off Treasury intervention, with yields rebounding
CEI’s Senior Economist Ryan Young was cited by The Washington Examiner regarding bond markets. Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive…
News Release
New report calls for awareness of regulations’ adverse effects on Americans
Federal regulations claim they exist to protect the public. But what happens when those regulations achieve the opposite by blocking cheaper, safer, and more…
Study
The Protection Paradox
The everyday American expects certain basic services from her government. She expects her roads to be maintained, her mail to be delivered, and her…
The Washington Sun
Economists Warn That Treasury’s Bond Markets Fix Is Short Term
CEI’s Senior Economist Ryan Young was cited by The Washington Sun regarding the Treasury’s plan to buy bonds. The Treasury’s plan to…
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…
Washington Times
Generation Z embraces AI cost-cutting to lead surge in new business starts
CEI’s Sean Higgins was cited by the Washington Times relating to Gen Z’s embrace of AI. Experts disagree on how long the…
News Release
Disney sues FCC over alleged ‘retaliatory campaign’ against ABC: CEI analysis
Today, Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC), seeking declaratory and injunctive relief in response to 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
The Regulatory Plan needs a regulatory plan
As the Trump administration’s early emphasis on the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has tapered off, so too has its emphasis…
Blog
Federal court strikes down another bad appliance regulation – this time for stoves
Last June, the Supreme Court vacated a lower court decision upholding a bad Department of Energy (DOE) efficiency regulation targeting residential furnaces and sent…
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…
Blog
The week in regulations: Fresh produce guidance and naval weapon storage
Inflation remained above target for a 64th consecutive month. President Trump signed an executive order to revise vaccine recommendations. Agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Washington Examiner
Trump administration floats capital gains tax cut on home sales — what to know
CEI’s Ryan Young was cited in the Washington Examiner regarding possible tax cut. Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
One lesson protectionists forgot: Trade interventions backfire
It’s not just tariffs that backfire in trade policy. The government has a long history of similar failures. Between 1934 and 1941, the Treasury…
Fox News
Trump-approved energy projects at risk of sudden death by next hostile president
CEI’s Daren Bakst was cited by Fox News Digital regarding the EPA. Congress is also considering a more permanent solution. Last December,…
Letters
CEI joins coalition commending waiver extension for the Jones Act
Dear Secretary Mullin, Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Wright, and Secretary Rollins: The undersigned individuals write to commend President Donald Trump’s decision to…
National Review
Endangered Species Act reform restores property rights and common sense species conservation
For decades, the federal government’s misinterpretation of a single word (“harm”) in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has had severe effects on…
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…
Traders Magazine
SEC Eyes Direct Control of Consolidated Audit Trail
CEI’s Richard Morrison was cited by Traders Magazine from his comment letter on the Consolidated Audit Trail. In a separate comment letter,…
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…
Letters
CEI joins coalition to support the FIRM Act
We, the undersigned organizations, write in support of Senator Tim Scott’s Financial Integrity and Regulation Management (FIRM) Act.
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…
Letters
CEI joins coalition against FCC interference in affiliation agreements
Dear Chairman Carr: We, the undersigned organizations, write in continued support of your work to reduce government regulation and interference in America’s thriving…
Washington Examiner
Fed rate hikes likely even with weakening jobs outlook
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s Ryan Young regarding the Federal Reserves target on employment and inflation. So as long as the unemployment…
Blog
What Trump’s vaccine executive order actually does
Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal health agencies to revise childhood vaccine recommendations, reducing the number of vaccines recommended for…
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…
Blog
The week in regulations: Professional fireworks and farmer training
The 2026 Federal Register topped 50,000 pages and is on track to exceed 85,000 pages for the year. The economy lost 23,000 jobs, yet…
The Washington Sun
What’s Causing the Financial Industry to Lose So Many Jobs?
CEI’s Ryan Young was cited regarding the finance industry losing jobs in an article by The Washington Sun. The latest numbers raise the…
Daily Caller
SEN. RAND PAUL: Congress Shouldn’t Tax Americans To Fight Putin
CEI’s Ryan Young was quoted by Senator Rand Paul about Ryan Young, a Senior Economist with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, points out…
Blog
Section 338-tariff uncertainty highlights the knowledge problem
Last month, the Trump administration invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose new 50 percent tariffs against Canada. A…
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…
News Release
FDA succeeds in approving new flu vaccine: CEI comment
The FDA has approved a flu vaccine made with mRNA technology, the same technology used for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, the company announced on…
Letters
CEI joins Coalition in opposition to the Renewable Fuel Standard
Dear Chairman Boozman and Ranking Member Klobuchar: The undersigned organizations write to oppose Section 12501 of the Agricultural Act of 2026. This provision…
Blog
Class is in session: Are educators ready for AI?
From the early internet to modern artificial intelligence (AI), technological change causes panic. News outlets often amplify fears surrounding AI. Teachers and…
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…
Comment
CEI comments on Rescission of Climate-Related Disclosure Rules
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is pleased to comment on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to rescind its climate disclosure rule. Since 1984,…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: The Independence Index with Marc Wheat
In this week’s episode we cover the effect of tariffs on car prices, trends in electricity supply and demand, and the…
Blog
Revenue over reason: A case for home distilling
Want to distill spirits at home? Congress says you can’t. This ban from the Reconstruction era was not instated for health or…
Washington Examiner
Fed’s transparency playbook changing under Warsh
CEI’s Ryan Young was cited by the Washington Examiner relating to the Federal Reserve. Even with the forward guidance under Powell, Ryan…
Washington Examiner
Why the Senate needs to abandon the Kids Online Safety Act
CEI’s Jessica Melugin was cited in the Washington Examiner in response to the Kids Online Safety Act. Blackburn is not alone in…
Blog
FSC v. Paxton after one year: Age verification moves down the stack
This past June marked the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s FSC v. Paxton decision. The Court held that states may require age…
Letters
CEI joins coalition against federal intrusion of bank licensing
Dear Chairman Warsh: Left-wing advocacy groups are urging federal regulators to block the bank license applications of fintech lenders…
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…
Blog
Protectionism in North America? Not again
Well before its ratification in 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was scorned by its critics as a dangerous, unfair deal. CEI,…
Blog
The epistemological mismatch of KOSA’s constructive knowledge standard
The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a markup on Wednesday for several online child safety bills, including the Kids Online Safety Act (…
Blog
The week in regulations: Peach diversion programs and nuclear packages
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates the same, and an increase may be on the way. Economic growth remained below average, and inflation remained…
Blog
Trump administration decision highlights disastrous Part D redesign
The Trump administration recently announced the end of a demonstration project that was pulled together by the Biden administration as the Inflation Reduction…
The National Desk
Resilient economy faces mounting risks from Iran and inflation
CEI’s Senior Economist Ryan Young was cited by The National Desk relating to the economy and its response to Iran and inflation.
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…
RealClear Policy
The Hidden Tariff Trap in the Russia Sanctions Bill
CEI’s Ryan Young was cited by RealClear Policy regarding hidden tariffs in the Russia sanctions bill. Many experts make the point that…
Blog
Fauci’s lasting legacy will be the damage he did to science and government
Anthony Fauci isn’t faring well in the court of public opinion. His recently divulged “diary” and subsequent July 29 appearance before the Senate Homeland…
Blog
When driverless vehicles are attacked, look for the union label
Self-driving cars are coming to major cities, and one group in particular is not happy about this: unions. An effort to bring self-driving vehicles…
Op-Eds
The Democracy They Warned Us About
The Democratic Socialists of America, an insurgency within the Democratic Party, is having a moment, and it is showing us something worth noticing: This…
Market Watch
Do-nothing Fed? Maybe not. Now Wall Street zeros in on rate hike in September.
CEI’s Senior Economist Ryan Young was cited by MarketWatch regarding the Federal Reserves choice to hold interest rates. An economist at the…
Blog
The self-defeating trade policy affecting memory chips
Affordability is a major concern for many Americans. Whether you’re checking out at the grocery store, filling up at the gas station, or paying…
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…
News Release
CEI releases a broad-based permitting reform blueprint to remove unnecessary and unreasonable obstacles for projects across the economy.
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, having worked closely with many outside experts, released a new report, detailing a series of comprehensive recommendations for environmental…
Study
Permitting Reform for a Freer and More Prosperous Nation
Contents Special Advisors The Importance of Permitting Reform Part 1: 11 Principles for Permitting Reform Part 2: Statute-by-Statute Analysis for Permitting…
Washington Examiner
Warsh faces rate hike quandary in this week’s meeting
The Washington Examiner cites Ryan Young regarding federal rate hikes. Investors assessed about a 38% chance the Fed would raise interest rates.
Blog
The AI Jobs apocalypse gets postponed, as CEI predicted
The prophesies of doom that artificial intelligence would destroy jobs have been put on hold recently. Businesses, including the ones that use AI technology,…
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
The forced labor fig leaf
The cardinal rule of President Trump’s trade policy is that he just likes tariffs. Any intellectual justification is just rationalizing his gut feelings.
Blog
The week in regulations: Carbon nanotubes and colored sausage casings
President Trump enacted new tariffs against more than 60 countries. Some of the Canada tariffs invoke a never-used statute from the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff…
The Free Press
Trump’s Pro-Union Agenda Is Over. Its Former Leader Is Still in the Game.
CEI’s Sean Higgins was quoted in The Free Press relating to Trump’s Agenda. After all, rank-and-file Teamsters warmed to…
Washington Examiner
Upward pressure on gas prices isn’t just Iran, but a mandate closer to home
CEI’s Ben Lieberman was cited by the Washington Examiner relating to renewable fuel standards. Critics have compared the program to Calvinball, the…
Washington Examiner
Academics and CEOs dominate Fed advisory boards
The Washington Examiner cited CEI senior economist Ryan Young regarding Federal Reserve Chairman and his new task force Council of Economic Adviser Thomas Sargent.
Blog
One lesson socialists forgot: Price controls never work
Socialists in both parties may feel they are offering fresh solutions to today’s problems, whether it is government-run grocery stores from Democrats or…
National Review
Won’t Anyone Think of the Parents?
In an effort to address a perceived youth mental health crisis, online kids’ safety regulation is on the march in Congress and around the globe.
Blog
Demystifying the DCC: Where circuit courts draw the line on energy protectionism
The Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC) is a headache for students and professionals alike. The doctrine’s applicability is notoriously nuanced. In recent decades, however, its…
Blog
State Directed Payments redistribute money across states and supercharged growth
Differences in states’ use of SDPs cause an interstate redistribution of taxes as well. Because states are setting different levels of SDPs, spending varies…
Blog
How State Directed Payments turned Medicaid into an interstate transfer scheme
Medicaid’s financing rules have long allowed states to expand spending while shifting much of the cost to federal taxpayers. One of the most important…
Blog
Medicaid financing gimmickry – before and after the One Big Beautiful Bill
Medicaid was created in 1965 as a joint federal-state health insurance program for low-income individuals which targeted families with dependent children, the elderly, and…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Founder’s Fire with Arthur Herman
In this week’s episode we cover Social Security reform, what’s fueling state migration, and whether using prediction markets could impact…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Questioning the AI jobs doomsday with Sean Higgins
In this week’s episode we cover making home appliances great again, fighting price controls on health care, research on AI-fueled…
Blog
Wisconsin threatens to strip the vote from prediction market participants
Many actions today are termed “threats to democracy,” and this is often an exaggeration. But the term fits to a tee the Wisconsin Elections…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter with Taxpayers Protection Alliance to reject the App Store Freedom Act (ASFA)
Dear Chairman Bilirakis, Ranking Member Schakowsky, and Members of the Subcommittee, We, the undersigned coalition of public policy groups, think tanks, and nonprofits,…
Washington Times
GAO report finds surge in gig workers receiving federal poverty assistance
CEI’s Sean Higgins was cited by the Washington Times regarding gig workers relying on federal assistance programs. A May 2023 working paper published…
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…
Daily Wire
Another Major Country Bans Children From Social Media
CEI’s Jessica Melugin was cited by the Daily Wire after Australia banned children under 16 from creating accounts for many social media platforms.
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
Getting in the way: The demise of early termination at the antitrust agencies
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division released their Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Annual Report for…
Blog
Evaluating DOGE nearly halfway through Trump’s second term
One week after his victory in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump announced that he would create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)…
Blog
Don’t expect the administrative state to disarm itself
Last week, I read two articles in the summer 2026 edition of the Cato Institute’s Regulation magazine: “Defanging the FCC” by Paul Matzko…
Blog
The week in regulations: Razorback suckers and conflict of interest requirements
Congress is considering honoring the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) by passing a counterproductive Russia sanctions and tariffs bill. Inflation numbers for June…
Blog
The economic case for third-party litigation financing
The US is often described as overly litigious, and it’s true that there need to be better methods to disincentivize frivolous lawsuits.
Blog
RCP8.5: Dead and buried
On April 29, American Enterprise Institute scholar and Substack author Roger Pielke, Jr. announced that RCP8.5, the high-end emission scenario that dominated…
Master Resource
Reining in U.S. EPA Abuse: A Legislative Opportunity
A Coalition letter led by CEI’s Daren Bakst was listed as a resource in a free-market energy blog called Master Resource. Executive…
News Release
Trump trade threats over Canada wildfires should trigger clawback of trade power by Congress
On social media today, President Trump threatened to impose extra tariffs on Canada, citing the government’s “willful negligence” in quelling massive wildfires currently causing…
Blog
Sanctioning Russia Act: Tariffs won’t change Putin’s mind
When Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) passed away last week, he left behind a bill called the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026. Congress is…
Blog
Moment of truth: Reassessing Obamacare enrollment predictions
In 2025, several organizations predicted Obamacare enrollment in a world without the ACA’s expanded subsidies. That world became reality this year. Some groups’ predictions…