Washington Examiner
No excuse for price floors in rare earths dispute
Parents don’t tolerate “But they do it, too” as an excuse from their children. What about when adults in positions of power use it?…
Blog
Rare earths and China: Choose deregulation, not price controls
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to implement price controls on unspecified goods if China continues to restrict rare earth mineral exports. Over at the…
Blog
The week in regulations, shutdown edition: Visa fees and regional haze
President Trump demanded that the Justice Department pay him $230 million. He also cut off all trade negotiations with Canada because of a tv…
News Release
Inflation increased 0.3 percent in September, higher prices still sticking around: CEI analysis
September saw an inflation increase of 0.3 percent across all sectors, in line with economists’ predictions. CEI senior economist Ryan Young says…
The Washington Examiner
Soybean farmers twisting in the wind during US-China talks
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on trade Accordingly, the timeline for the U.S. and China to come to an agreement over…
Blog
The week in regulations, shutdown edition: Mackerel and helicopters
The continuing shutdown made for another slow week in the Federal Register. The four-day week’s total of five proposed regulations, six proposed regulations, and…
Blog
A Nobel for human progress
This year’s economics Nobel Prize went to three students of the two most important questions in economics: Why have living standards in rich countries…
Blog
The week in regulations, shutdown edition: Pot gear and hot air fuel
Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize. The partial federal shutdown meant there were no proposed regulations and five new…
Trib Live
‘We’re stretching’: As grocery prices continue to climb, shoppers redefine their staples
Trib Live cited CEI’s expert on Tariffs “Tomatoes from Mexico are being hit with a 17% tariff,” Ortega said. “In the cold…
Blog
The week in regulations: Poultry improvement and painful scars
The federal government shut down on Wednesday. Thursday’s Federal Register had 60 final regulations; normal is about 10. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew in…
Citation
Unknowns cloud economy’s future despite return to growth and rate cut
The National News Desk cited CEI’s expert on tariffs “Both consumers and businesses in a rush to beat tariffs have been stockpiling as…
Blog
The week in regulations: Airplane seats and Irish potatoes
President Trump signed an executive order to effectively end the H-1B visa category for high-skilled immigrants. He also raised tariffs on pharmaceuticals, argued without…
Blog
New tariffs for pharmaceuticals, furniture, and trucks
On the night of September 25, after markets closed, the Trump administration announced on social media that a new bevy of tariffs will…
Blog
The week in regulations: Sausage colors and patriotic education
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Attorney General Pam Bondi threatened to prosecute hate speech. ABC pulled late night host Jimmy Kimmel off the…
News Release
Fed independence is the real story in Wednesday’s interest rate decision: CEI analysis
Today, the Federal Reserve announced it is cutting interest rates by 25 basis points, the first cut in nine months. CEI senior economist…
Blog
The week in regulations: Date taxes and manifest mailing
Political commentator Charlie Kirk was killed while speaking at an event. While the Producer Price Index went down in August, the Consumer Price Index…
News Release
New downward revision for jobs numbers not surprising: CEI analysis
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that there were 911,000 fewer jobs between March 2024 and March 2025 than previously reported. While…
Blog
The week in regulations: Coachella air quality and yogurt vitamins
The Federal Register, which tracks daily regulatory activity, has become less transparent. Jobs numbers for August were disappointing and actually shrank in June…
News Release
August adds 22,000 jobs, June and July numbers revised downward: CEI analysis
The jobs report for August shows a meager gain of 22,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate remaining…
News Release
Federal court strikes down President Trump’s emergency tariffs: CEI analysis
On Friday, a federal court struck down President Trump’s emergency rationale for enacting worldwide tariffs. CEI senior economist Ryan Young applauds the court’s…
Blog
The week in regulations: Deepwater ports and ASCII relays
A court ruled President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs unconstitutional. The case now moves to the Supreme Court. Countries around the world stopped shipping parcels…
Blog
The week in regulations: Bird hunting and food coloring
The Federal Register’s website became less transparent about rule counts and other data. President Trump threatened to send the military into a third city.
News Release
US/EU trade agreement underwhelms: CEI analysis
As a follow up to last month’s US/EU trade agreement that set 15 percent blanket tariffs on EU exports to the US (among other provisions),…
News Release
Possible US government stakes in chip manufacturers threatens executive overreach: CEI analysis
The Trump administration’s announcement of possible US government stakes in chip manufacturers that receive CHIPS Act funding raises concerns about concentrated executive power. In…
Blog
The week in regulations: Import paperwork and postal possession
The 2025 Federal Register topped 40,000 pages. President Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The Producer Price index rose at its fastest level…
News Release
Latest Producer Price Index numbers show a 0.9 percent increase, tariffs to blame: CEI analysis
July’s Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers show a 0.9 percent increase in final demand prices, up 3.3 percent over the past 12 months.
The Washington Examiner
Biggest immediate change for Fed under new chair likely to be tone shift
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on inflation Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, pointed out that the new…
News Release
Trump’s pick for Bureau of Labor Statistics should update data collection methods, not play politics
CEI labor and economy experts say President Trump’s nominee to head the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics should improve data collection for jobs…
Blog
July CPI: Inflation still above target, politicized clouds on the horizon
Today’s CPI report is not apocalyptic, but still concerning. This is in line with expectations. The CPI rose 0.2 percent during July, and…
Blog
The week in regulations: Blue food coloring and pipeline recordkeeping
The Liberation Day tariffs took effect on August 7. The president continues to announce new tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and more. Republicans are proposing…
Blog
The week in regulations: Nuclear coolant and medical food
President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs are set to take effect on August 7 for countries he did not strike deals with. He is also…
News Release
July adds 73,000 jobs to the economy, major downward revisions for May and June’s numbers: CEI analysis
The economy added a modest 73,000 jobs in July, with major downward revisions for May and June triggering alarms about the state of…
News Release
Interest rates not budging, Fed to focus on inflation not stimulus: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve announced today that they are holding steady on interest rates in a continued effort to combat inflation. CEI senior economist…
The Washington Times
Flurry of huge trade deals bury Trump tariff doubters
The Washington Times cited CEI’s expert on tariffs Mr. Trump says his immediate predecessors didn’t understand the power of tariffs for creating revenue and…
News Release
GDP grew by three percent in the second quarter of 2025: CEI analysis
The GDP grew by three percent in the second quarter of 2025, marking a return to growth after first quarter shrinkage. CEI senior…
Blog
Rail merger does not create monopoly
Union Pacific has proposed buying Norfolk Southern in what would be the largest railroad merger in history. Regulators have not yet approved the merger.
Blog
EU tariff agreement could be worse, still not the final word
In January, Americans paid an average tariff of under 5 percent on European products. Similar to his recent Japan agreement, President Trump’s new…
Blog
The week in regulations: Cable TV and paper straws
Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, and Chuck Mangione passed away. President Trump issued an Executive Order on artificial intelligence and announced a tariff deal with…
News Release
CEI experts react to White House AI Action Plan
Today, the White House released “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan”, a multi-faceted policy document intended to help the United States keep…
News Release
President Trump announces 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods: CEI analysis
Last night, President Trump announced a trade deal with Japan that included a 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods, including cars, entering the US.
Blog
New bill would repeal the Jones Act
Over at the National Interest, Paige Lambermont and I take a look at the Open America’s Waters Act from Sen. Mike…
Blog
The week in regulations: Subsistence fishing and electric borrowers
Regulators focused on cleaning up mining regulations this week, with more than 20 rules revised or rescinded. Inflation crept upward as tariff-related price increases…
The Hill
5 things to know about the latest inflation report
The Hill cited CEI’s expert on Trumps tariffs and inflation Additionally, many of Trump’s tariffs apply to component parts rather than finished consumer…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
News Release
Report Urges Congress to End Boondoggle Green Subsidies Now
Congress has a golden opportunity now, during final negotiations over the budget, to wipe out green subsidies passed back in 2022 as part of…
Study
End IRA Subsidies Now
Introduction “The first lesson of economics is scarcity,” wrote economist Thomas Sowell. By contrast, “The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first…