CNS News
Facebook Moves on from ‘Move Fast and Break Things,’ Calls for Regulation
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s motto used to be “Move fast and break things.” Now that his company is under increased political scrutiny—and facing calls for…
Blog
Sharing Economy Is Opposite of Servant Economy
In a bleak take on the sharing economy, Atlantic writer Alexis C. Madrigal says it has created a “servant economy,” where sharing economy platforms provide…
Blog
Move Slowly and Establish Rules: Facebook’s Call for Regulation
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s motto used to be “Move fast and break things.” Now that his company is under increased political scrutiny—and facing calls for…
Blog
America’s Tech Regulators Should Not Follow Europe’s Lead
This week The Economist endorsed European “tech doctrine”—a combination of antitrust, tax, privacy, and regulatory policies that is rapidly being imposed on a mostly American…
Blog
Brexit Brinkmanship
There is plenty of blame to go around for Britain’s current Brexit chaos. In a recent post, I pointed to how the Prime Minister’s handling…
The Washington Times
Antitrust Explained
The Washington Times cited Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on CEI’s video, “Antitrust Explained.” Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren is among those who…
News Release
CEI Releases New Video: How Antitrust Harms Consumers by Stifling Innovation and Competition
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today launched a new video, “Antitrust Explained,” disputing recent calls by politicians and academics to use antitrust laws and regulations…
National Review
Breaking Up Platforms Has Sickening Implications
Hipster antitrust sickens me. Literally. I was under the weather last week. Feeling ill, I spent a good amount of time at local pharmacies, searching…
Blog
Trade, Job Losses, and Comparable Wages
One of the frequent objections posted by those who are concerned about free trade is that it leads to job losses. This is true. However,…
Blog
Administration Looks to Make Household-Level Imports More Expensive
One of the consistent problems with the Trump administration’s trade policy is an obsession with reciprocity—if goods aren’t treated exactly the same way as imports…
The Washington Examiner
On Trade, Conservatives Need to Stick to the Knitting
Successful companies tend to “stick to the knitting,” focusing on things they are good at, note Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their seminal book…
Blog
Economics of Green New Deal: More Red Than Green
My colleagues have written elsewhere about the energy and environmental components of the “Green New Deal” proposals that have been enthusiastically agreed to by most…
Blog
Jobs Numbers Continue Generally Positive Trend
The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that the economy is continuing on a steady course, at least as far as…
Blog
Brexit: The EU’s Gordian Knot Strangles May’s Government
When Rory Broomfield and I were examining the prospects for Britain leaving the European Union in 2014-16, we recognized that there was no easy way…
Blog
Great Jobs Numbers Don’t Assuage Trade War Worries
Today’s jobs numbers were a surprise to everyone—312,000 jobs added in December was almost twice the consensus view of economists of 176,000. Strong wage growth…
Fox Business
The New Congress Must Repeal All of Trump’s New Tariffs ASAP: CEI
In two years, President Trump has doubled tariffs in the United States. Allies and adversaries alike have reciprocated, and the economic effects are already visible,…
Blog
Year in Review 2018: Trade Policy
2018 was the year in which President Trump began to implement his campaign promises of using tariffs to change America’s trade policy. The ostensible reason…
Blog
Year in Review 2018: Antitrust
If 2018 was a bad year for antitrust skeptics, 2019 promises to be worse. We must hope that the Federal Trade Commission and Department of…
The Hill
Congress must restrain power of new consumer financial director
The new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathleen Kraninger, will have a unique opportunity to end past abuses against American financial institutions, a…
Cavuto Coast to Coast
VIDEO: Iain Murray Discusses Google Bias Concerns on Cavuto Coast to Coast
Competitive Enterprise Institute Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray joined Cavuto Coast to Coast to discuss the fallout from concerns of bias at Google.
Fox Business
Conservatives should resist the urge to regulate Big Tech
Nearly every day there seems to be another story that demonstrates that Big Tech is biased against conservatives. Recently, we saw the “lifetime” ban of conservative…
Fox Business
Conservatives Should Resist the Urge to Regulate Big Tech
News Release
Brexit Imperiled by Incompetence
Britain’s Prime Minister has bungled Brexit, which puts significant economic gains at risk, says Iain Murray, CEI senior fellow and co-author of a 2016, award-winning…
Blog
Don’t Blame Google for a Feature Consumers Want
It’s very rare I disagree with the great freedom-loving journalist John Stossel, but his column at Townhall this week made me raise an eyebrow. In…
Blog
Britain’s Treaty of Versailles
“Vote leave, take control” was the slogan of the “leave” campaign during the run-up to the vote on whether the United Kingdom should exit the…
Study
Antitrust FAQ
1. What is antitrust? Today’s body of antitrust laws is the culmination of over one hundred years of unclear objectives, contradictory interpretations, and controversial court decisions.
News Release
Murray: British People Will Pay the Cost of May Government’s Incompetent Handling of Brexit
United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May recently announced a tentative deal for the UK’s exit from the European Union after a 2016 national referendum ended…
Study
How Antitrust Regulation Hinders Innovation and Competition
Few economic concepts elicit such strong reactions as that of monopoly, and the policy intended to address it—antitrust regulations (called competition policy in the European…
Blog
What Do the Midterms Mean for Big Tech?
For the big technology firms, the midterm elections were never going to change much. Whatever the result, they were going to face more scrutiny over the…
Cayman Financial Review
The Administrative State
King George III, decried Thomas Jefferson in America’s Declaration of Independence, “has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to…
Products
Is Capitalism Destroying Democracy?
When Duke University historian Nancy MacLean released her book “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America” last Summer,…
National Review
USMCA Sets a Worrying Precedent
Economists—and the world—breathed a sigh of relief when the United States, Canada, and Mexico stepped back from the brink of a trade war. That’s good…
Morning Consult
Trump’s Trade War Isn’t Working Because Tariffs Hurt Americans
The Trump administration recently announced a trade agreement that will replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The new…
VOA
US Steel Workers Questioning Value Of Trump’s Tariffs
VOA cited CEI’s Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow Iain Murry on U.S. tariffs. Ian Murry is a labor expert with the…
Voice of America
Are US Labor Unions Souring On Trump’s Tariffs?
Voice of America cited CEI’s Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow Ian Murry on U.S. tariffs. But U.S. steel companies may be…
Fox News
Sessions Urged Not To Go After Social Media Companies By Technology Activists
Fox News cited CEI’s Vice President For Strategy and Senior Fellow Iain Murray on social media letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In a …
National Review
A New Kind of Trade Agreement
America’s old trade alliances are breaking down. NAFTA is being renegotiated, and might even exclude Canada. The successful Korea–U.S. deal has also been redone. We…
Blog
August Brought 201,000 New Jobs, but Future Gains Threatened by Trade Restrictions
The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, the U.S. Labor Department announced today. Good news, but impending trade restrictions could put a damper…
The Hill
If a Conservative Facebook is Such a Good Idea, Why Hasn’t it Happened?
Donald Trump Jr. has joined in his father’s attacks on social media — but with a twist. He told Axios that “if a Trump supporter…
Blog
U.S. Should Re-engage with World Trade Organization for Everyone’s Sake
Last week, President Trump threatened to pull out of the World Trade Organization, which he called “the single worst trade deal ever made.” …
Blog
Will New NAFTA Be More Protectionist or Less?
This week has seen some swift movement in the talks surrounding the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). On Monday, the President held…
Blog
Brexit Britain Provides Opportunity for New Style of U.S. Trade Agreement
Despite its reliance on raising tariff barriers as a weapon in trade negotiation, the U.S. will soon have the opportunity to negotiate a new free…
Politico
A NAFTA Deal in the Making
Politico cited CEI’s paper, Traders of the Lost Ark by Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray and Fellow Ryan Young. The U.S.
Politico
How Infrastructure Went Wrong
Politico cited CEI’s report, Traders of the Lost Ark by Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray and Fellow Ryan Young. The Competitive…
Blog
World Trade: The Special Case of China
While free trade with all nations is the avowed goal of both free traders (as we outline in our paper, Traders of the Lost Ark)…
Blog
Rediscovering a Moral and Economic Case for Free Trade
In our new paper, “Traders of the Lost Ark,” my Competitive Enterprise Institute colleagues and I attempt to articulate a strong moral and economic…
News Release
Trade Cannot Be Fair Unless it is Free
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released a report on the urgent need to return to free trade policies at a time when tariffs and tensions…
Study
Traders of the Lost Ark
View Full Document as PDF With contributions by Fred L. Smith Jr., Marc Scribner, Daniel Press, and Ryan Khurana Profiles in Capitalism August…
Blog
New Jobs Numbers Suggest There’s More Work to Do on Free-Market Reform
At an unemployment rate of 3.9%, it should be expected that job growth will slow. Employers around the country are reporting that they are unable…
Blog
The Platform Economy Can Change the World
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute launches its new video about the platform economy. Platforms are an ancient way of doing business—think of matchmakers, city fairs,…
National Review
The EU Attempts to Become the World’s Antitrust Regulator
The European Union recently announced it would fine Google $5 billion for alleged anti-competitive practices in the licensing of its Android smartphone operating system. There…
Blog
Continue Supply-Side Policies to Maintain Economic Growth
As my colleague Ryan Young says, four percent economic growth is wonderful news. It provides yet more evidence that free-market, supply-side policies work, and…
News Release
CEI: Second Quarter Growth Shows Free Market Policies Work, but Restrictive Trade Policies Could Harm Future Growth
The Department of Commerce announced Friday morning the U.S. economy grew by 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018.
Blog
Driving Innovation: Timbro Index Charts Scope of Global Sharing Economy
The Swedish think tank Timbro has published the first global index of the sharing economy. The Timbro Sharing Economy Index (TSEI) is the…
News Release
Trump, Juncker Take Surprise Cooler Heads Approach to Trade Brinkmanship
The surprise deal President Trump and EU President Jean-Claude Juncker announced today - to mutually resolve disputes over steel and aluminum tariffs and other industrial…
News Release
Trump Tariffs Will Harm US and EU
President Trump is set to meet with EU President Jean-Claude Juncker today, with trade tensions topic #1, but CEI Senior Fellow Iain Murray warns that…
Marketplace
AUDIO: Iain Murray Discusses EU Regulators Fining Google on Marketplace
Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined Marketplace to discuss the European Commission’s fine of Google.
Blog
Britain’s Brexit Challenge Gets Harder—and It’s Britain’s Fault
Leaving a regional trade bloc is much more difficult than entering it, as the United Kingdom is finding out. The European Union has integrated itself…
Compliance Week
Counterpoint: Chevron Case Creates Imbalance
The famous passage from James Madison in the Federalist Papers, Essay 51—“If men were angels, no government would be necessary”—reveals where the problems lie with…
Forbes
Trump’s Executive Branch Restructuring: What If The Federal Government Is Beyond Streamlining?
Can the federal government shrink? Or is the situation like the waistlines that paradoxically parallel the growth of the diet and fitness industry?…
News Release
CEI on The White House Plan to Reform and Reorganize Regulatory Agencies
Today, the White House released its much-anticipated plan for reorganizing federal government agencies. Competitive Enterprise Institute policy experts praised some of the reforms but pointed…
Blog
It’s Magna Carta Day!
In a peaceful English meadow made riotous by armed camps, King John sealed Magna Carta, the Great Charter of English liberty, 803 years ago…
Blog
It’s Not “Us vs. Them” at the G7 Meeting
Tit-for-tat retaliation for trade tariffs is a losing game for both sides. Exports are the way we pay for imports of the things we want.
The Washington Post
Trump’s Orders Show Unwavering Attack on Federal Unions, Employees
The Washington Post cited Ian Murray on the sweeping reform occurring throughout the federal government since the Trump administration instituted new procedures through which federal…
News Release
Trump Executive Orders on Civil Service Reform Are a Huge Win for Taxpayers, Workplace Equity
On news today that President Trump signed three executive orders aimed at making federal workers more accountable and better-performing, Competitive Enterprise Institute experts praised the…
Blog
A New Bibliography for the Platform Economy
The future has arrived, and it is a radically different economy. Havas Media’s Tom Goodwin pointed out in 2015, “Uber, the world’s largest taxi…
Study
Platform Economy Bibliography
View Full Document as PDF It is hardly news that the growth of the online economy has upended a wide array of…
Blog
How to Encourage Tech Competition: Deregulate Finance
It’s May Day, and in the pages of the New York Times appears a paean to the halcyon days of the 1930s, urging a…
The Hill
When a Bureaucrat Asks for Less Power, Give it to Him
Former Congressman Mick Mulvaney is now a bureaucrat — so he proclaimed at a Congressional hearing on April 18. The acting director of…
Fox Business
Dropbox IPO Shows Tech Upstarts Still Have It
The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) by Dropbox, Inc. was a success, shares soared about 40% in the debut. The pop also tells us a…
The Wall Street Journal
Elizabeth Warren’s Boomerang
The Wall Street Journal quotes Iain Murray’s tweet on Elizabeth Warren’s complaints about the CFPB: Like Donald Trump, Ms. Warren might want…
News Release
Facebook Is Well Within Its Rights to Ban Britain First
Today, Facebook announced it removed the pages of hate group Britain First and its leaders for violating Facebook’s community standards. Vice President for Strategy…
Blog
More Evidence of Growth in February Job Figures
Today’s jobs numbers shattered expectations—313,000 new jobs in February against an expectation of 200,000. The numbers provide yet more support to the…
News Release
CEI Comments on February Jobs Report Numbers, Cautions Against Restrictive Trade Policy
CEI expert examines February's jobs numbers and cautions that the administration's trade policies have the potential to undo the positive growth:…
Blog
Trump’s Recent Trade Decisions Could Spell Doom for the Economy
With President Trump’s announcement on steel and aluminum tariffs and his continued wrong-headed approach to trade policy, there are reasons to be concerned that a…
Newsmax
Mulvaney Must End CFPB’s Big Brother Role
Just after Thanksgiving, when the drama of the dueling directors began at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), I told The Washington Examiner that the new…
The Washington Times
Trump Signs Legislation to Repeal Obama-Era Arbitration Rule
The Washington Times quoted Iain Murray on the need for Congress to disapprove of the CFPB’s egregious rule against small dollar loans. President Trump signed…
The Washington Times
Protecting Consumers from Fraud and Abuse
Following Richard Cordray’s resignation as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the smart money is betting that President Trump will appoint Mick Mulvaney, head…
Investor's Business Daily
Competition In Technology Is More Vibrant Than It Looks
The clamor is rising for Big Tech firms to be broken up. With Amazon and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reporting record profits, voices from both…
National Review
More Antitrust Revisionism Aimed at Big Tech
In a long but surprisingly weak story, the New York Times’ Charles Duhigg is the latest analyst to try to find an argument for why antitrust law…
National Review
Time to Fix the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Trump administration’s proposed budget contains an interesting line item that isn’t mentioned in the summary text. It calls for reductions in spending at the…
New York Post
Banks Remain Quiet On Mulvaney CFPB Appointment
The New York post quoted Iain Murray about the conditions of a legal standoff surrounding the CFPB. While Washington was buzzing on Monday…
Fox Business
Trump’s CFPB won’t be Obama’s: Key ways it could be different
Fox Business cited Iain Murray on the need for focus by the CFPB on upholding existing laws rather than imposing new ones. As the battle…
Blog
Job and GDP Growth Numbers Signal Improving Economy
Today’s jobs numbers, which were modestly above expectations, are yet another sign that the economy is starting to pick up steam as a result of…
Reason
CFPB Is Constitutional, Court Rules, in Victory for Unaccountable Bureaucrats Everywhere
Reason discusses the ruling in PHH Corp. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with Iain Murray. The structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was…
News Release
Court Ruling on Constitutionality of CFPB Keeps Bureaucrats Unaccountable
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a disappointing ruling on the constitutionality of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection…
Blog
Theory and Practice Argue We Should Abolish Antitrust Laws
Laws about competition should be restricted to laws preventing government from playing favorites. Government-erected barriers against competition or innovation need to be torn down. As…
National Review
Misplaced Trust in Antitrust
I was mystified to see Robert VerBruggen’s story in the latest issue calling for “gentle approaches” to solving what he regards as a monopoly…
USA Today
Businesses Already Serve a Social Purpose
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s letter to CEOs demanding that their companies “serve a social purpose” is the latest example of what economist Milton Friedman dubbed…
Fox News Channel
VIDEO: Iain Murray Discusses Shrinking Government Bureaucracy on Fox News Channel
January 15, 2018 – Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined Fox News Channel’s The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton…
Fox Business
Minimum Wage Hikes Sending Restaurants the Way of the Shopping Mall?
Fox Business discusses minimum wage hikes with Iain Murray. Eighteen states raised their minimum wages at the start of 2018, but increasing labor…
Fox Business
Red Robin Eliminates Bus Boys as Restaurants Combat Minimum Wage Hikes
Fox Business discusses minimum wage hikes with Iain Murray. At the beginning of January, minimum wage increases took effect in 18 states and…
Blog
New Evidence on the Effects of Teacher Unions
At a time when minimum wage laws are causing opportunities for unskilled young people to disappear, it is all the more vital that education provides…
Blog
The Top Five Reforms in Financial Regulation Needed in 2018
With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at last pulling back from its regulatory assault on the financial services industry, conditions are right for major…
Blog
A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Slush Fund?
While there are many reasons to criticize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), it being assigned to enforce the nation’s financial consumer protection laws…
Blog
Case of Mortgage Lender PHH Corp. Highlights CFPB’s Unconstitutional Abuses
The facts of PHH Corporation v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stand as a sharp example of the agency's ability to abuse its enormous power.
Fox Business
Trump’s CFPB Won’t Be Obama’s: Key Ways It Could Be Different
Fox Business discusses Mick Mulvaney’s appointment as acting director of the Consumer Financiual Protection Bureau with Iain Murray. As the battle wages on over…
The New York Post
Banks Remain Quiet on Mulvaney CFPB Appointment
The New York Post discusses Mick Mulvaney’s appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with Iain Murray. While Washington was buzzing on Monday over…
The Washington Times
Protecting Consumers from Fraud and Abuse
Following Richard Cordray’s resignation as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the smart money is betting that President Trump will appoint Mick Mulvaney, head…
Blog
Confessions of a Recovering Bureaucrat
Neither clarity nor efficiency in government has improved in the past eight decades.