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…
News Release
Senate Parliamentarian Eliminates Medicaid Reform Provisions, Leaving Costs/Problems Intact
The Senate’s parliamentarian has determined that many of the Medicaid provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill cannot be passed with simple majority vote via…
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 the…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Shareholders vs. stakeholders with Jerry Bowyer
In this week’s episode we cover the failure of postal banking, Trump pausing the TikTok ban (again), and the political crack-up…
Blog
New CEI paper: End IRA Subsidies Now
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the flagship climate spending law from the Biden administration. Estimates place its cost between $936 billion and $1.97…
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 lesson…
Study
Universal Service Subsidies Have Failed
Introduction In 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the indeterminacy of Section 254 (§ 254 hereafter) of the…
Blog
Trump’s deregulation shines, but tariffs and antitrust cloud the scene
The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) this month released a new report on the Trump administration’s regulatory rollback efforts. Titled “The Economic…
Reason
“Advertising Companies Cave to the FTC. Media Matters Sues To Defend the First Amendment.”
Reason’s Jack Nicastro talks about the FTC’s antitrust investigations into advertiser boycotts.
News Release
Market-based Reforms Needed to Correct Failures of Universal Service Subsidies, Congress Urged to Act
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) highlights the pervasive failures of the Universal Service Fund (USF) subsidies and calls on Congress…
Products
Universal Service Subsidies Have Failed
Introduction In 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the indeterminacy of Section 254 (§ 254 hereafter) of the…
Blog
New York City breadlines
Zohran Mamdani, a candidate for New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary, proposes to address the city’s housing and affordability crisis through rent control (rent freezes…
Blog
Are we losing the subsidized clean energy race to China? Let’s hope so
Do we need to retain the Green New Deal-style subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act or risk losing the clean energy race to China? Many…
Blog
Trump’s ‘Golden Share’ breaches government’s proper role
On June 13, President Trump issued an executive order declaring that the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel…
Daily Calller
Social Security Now Headed For Insolvency Even Sooner Than Expected
Daily Caller cited CEI’s experts on Social Security spending Congress can’t keep dodging entitlement reform. Social Security’s $28 trillion in unfunded liabilities is about the…
Blog
EU downsizes and delays its climate disclosure policy
The European Union (EU) is undergoing a major reality check regarding its climate disclosure policy for corporations. Its executive arm, the European Commission, has significantly…
Blog
The week in regulations: FAA ethics and Postal Service justice
Social Security will go bust in 2033. War with Iran is a real possibility. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, as expected. It is…
Letters
CEI Joins ATR: Overturn Biden’s Costly and Unlawful Wi-Fi Hotspot Rule with H.J. Res. 33
Dear Representative, We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to support of H.J.Res. 33, the resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to permanently overturn…
Blog
‘With you or without you’ – The growing rift between unions and Democrats
A rift is growing between the Democratic Party and the labor movement. It was caused in large part by the party’s inability to move the…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: The Reagan legacy in the 21st century with Dan Rothschild
In this week’s episode we cover FreedomFest 2025, the FDA’s war on effective sunblock, good news about critical minerals, and Walmart’s…
Blog
FDA can’t stomach fluoride and doesn’t want you to, either
On May 13, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would begin a process intended to exclude ingestible prescription fluoride products for…
News Release
Fed keeps interest rates steady, uncertainty over tariffs still looms: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve has decided to keep interest rates steady in its goal to lower overall inflation. While there have been fewer shakeups in…
Blog
GENIUS Act needs free market fixes before it graduates to law
Yesterday, the US Senate voted to approve a regulatory regime for stablecoins. This vote represents one of the most significant milestones for cryptocurrency since the…
News Release
CEI announces James Otteson as Simon awardee and Hernando de Soto as keynote speaker at this year’s Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Dinner
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is pleased to announce that American philosopher and political economist James Otteson will accept this year’s Julian L. Simon…
Blog
45Q tax credit could help kill off power plants and reliable electricity
The 45Q tax credit serves as an incentive for power plants and industrial facilities to invest in carbon capture and sequestration/storage.The Inflation Reduction Act…
News Release
CEI documentary wins “Best Documentary Feature” award at Anthem Film Festival
Last week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) screened its new documentary, Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand, at FreedomFest’s Anthem Film…
Comment
CEI comments on repealing DOE’s 1605(b) Regulations: Ending the Trojan Horse for Cap-and-Trade
Dear Mr. Taggert: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit these comments on the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) proposed rule to…
Fox News
Trump’s Energy Department is taking back our home appliances from berserk bureaucrats
In quite possibly the sharpest regulatory U-turn thus far in 2025, the Trump Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to roll back home appliance regulations…
Blog
The week in regulations: CAFE standards and Christmas tree promotions
Israel launched a military strike against Iran. US Senator Alex Padilla was detained for trying to ask a question at a Department of Homeland Security…
News Release
Courts should allow CFPB to vacate case against small mortgage firm
U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama on June 12 denied a request by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to vacate a Biden-era settlement against the Chicago-based mortgage…
Blog
The CFPB director’s dominance over adjudication must end
On behalf of CEI, I submitted a new comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) calling on the Bureau to rescind one…
Blog
CEI’s The Surge: Clean Power Plan repeal, CRA resolutions and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication and…
Truth on the Market
“Some Ups and Downs in the Realm of Consumer Protection”
Dan Gilman with the Center for Law & Economics discusses the latest in the FTC’s use of its consumer protection authority.
Comment
CEI comments on CFPB: Rules of Practice for Adjudication Proceedings
News Release
Consumer sentiment rebounds in first reading for June: CEI analysis
University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment report showed a rebound in its first reading for June, likely due to slower-growing inflation and a calmer-than-expected month…
Letters
CEI joins Advancing American Freedom calling on Congress to reassert its control over the the Unconstitutional Tariffs.
Dear Member of Congress: Your constituents are hurting because of President Trump’s tariffs. That harm will only worsen as the economic losses and price increases…
Blog
Congress should deregulate if it will not tackle entitlement spending
The Senate is currently reviewing the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill in an effort to have President Trump sign the bill into…
Blog
Trump, Congress overturn California’s gas-car ban
President Trump today signed three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions of disapproval to overturn Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers greenlighting California’s plans…
News Release
EPA’s decision to allow California to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 reversed after President Trump signs CRA resolution
California’s green light from the Environmental Protection Agency to ban new gas-powered cars by 2035 was revoked after Congress passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA)…
Blog
UN report says tree planting can result in more greenhouse gas emissions
It is common knowledge that trees act as carbon sinks. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen that we…
Blog
New nuclear executive orders come at a time when power demand is rising
On Friday, May 23, President Trump signed four executive orders related to nuclear power. These lay the groundwork for reforming nuclear regulation and enabling nuclear power…
Blog
AI boom power surge: Plants revived, fossil fuels reconsidered
Rising power demand is causing retired power plants to be reopened and repurposed. Power demand in the United States was relatively stagnant for many years,…
The Daily Economy
The Resurgence of Do It Yourself Economics
To listen to some people, you’d think that America had been run by economists — and specifically free-market economists — for the last fifty years…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Drug costs and benefits with Sally Pipes
In this week’s episode we cover reforms to the Endangered Species Act, attacks on US tech firms, nuclear power innovation,…
Blog
The MAHA Report is a missed opportunity
Less than six months into the new administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has produced its Make Our Children Healthy Again…
Blog
Your family’s share of federal red tape last year was…
Most people can see taxes on their pay stubs, but there’s another sort of tax that’s much less visible: the cost of government regulations. These…
News Release
CEI praises EPA Administrator for proposing the repeal of greenhouse gas rule and to amend mercury rule
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin today announced the forthcoming proposed repeal of the Biden era Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions…
Blog
Matt Ridley’s wisdom on trust and trade
In 1834, Charles Darwin encountered a group of natives in Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. Although both parties were unable…
Blog
Africa (and America) need free trade and deregulation, not generosity
Here is a letter I recently wrote to the Wall Street Journal. Africa (and America) need Free Trade and Deregulation, not…
News Release
Inflation increased 0.1 percent in May, less severe than previous months: CEI analysis
Today, the Consumer Price Index report for May showed inflation increased across all sectors by 0.1 percent, compared to 0.2 percent in April. CEI…
Blog
Good things happen when spectrum is allocated to the marketplace
There has been recent legislative activity on spectrum allocation, so it is a good time to remind ourselves why moving as much spectrum as…
News Release
Trump’s trade negotiations with China put US at disadvantage
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is immersed in trade talks with China in London this week, hoping for a resolution to conflicts over restrictions and…
Blog
Trump’s newborn nest egg accounts
In the face of recurring economic shocks—we’ve suffered 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and COVID-19 in the 21st century alone—the reflex to throw hundreds of…
Blog
The broken window fallacy: America doesn’t know what it pays for
If a kid breaks a shopkeeper’s window and a glazier fixes it, is the economy better off? It has created work for the glazier, so…
Blog
The week in regulations: Paper packaging promotion and bridge conditions
President Trump ordered National Guard troops to deploy against American citizens. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from hot air balloons to authorizing ski areas. On…
Blog
Congress should codify the National Listing Workplan
In the 15 years after the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973, it was repeatedly amended. Congress passed major amendments that updated…
Blog
Chapter and verse: The case against mandatory ESG standards
This week De Gruyter Brill published the book ESG Investing: Current Theory and Practice, edited by John Hill of Fairfield University’s Dolan School…
Blog
CBO likely overestimates effects of Medicaid reforms
Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its estimates of the costs, both financial and in coverage, of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act…
News Release
Economy adds 139,000 jobs in May, labor market growth slows: CEI analysis
May added 139,000 jobs to the economy, with the unemployment rate staying unchanged at 4.2 percent. Trump’s policies, namely his mission to shrink the…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Tariffs and corruption with Justin Callais
In this week’s episode we cover Autumn Billings on donor privacy, Wayne Crews on the DOGE legacy, and Joey Politano on the…
WSJ Opinion
A Day of Defiance—and Donuts
It’s time to double down on National Donut Day. As Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. begins pushing his Make America Healthy Again…
Blog
The total cost of federal red tape last year was…
$2.15 trillion is CEI’s latest estimate of the costs of all federal regulations. It is an intentionally conservative estimate. Think of it as a floor,…
Politico
The lose-lose housing market
Politico cited CEI’s coalition letter addressing prediction markets First in MM: Free market advocates want to free the betting markets — More than a dozen…
Blog
Two courts, one message: Tariffs need congressional backing
Within the last few days, two courts have enjoined President Trump’s tariffs under International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) finding them unlawful. First, the US…
Blog
Don’t socialize health care through private insurance
Four senators have introduced the “Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act,” which would mandate full coverage, no copays, no out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries…
News Release
Coalition urges Commodity Futures Trading Commission cut red tape on prediction markets
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today sent a coalition letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) urging it to adopt a policy of permissionless innovation…
Letters
CEI leads a Coalition Letter to End CFTC Red Tape Prediction Markets
Dear Acting Chair Pham and Commissioner Johnson: As leaders of conservative and free-market groups, we believe that government should not stand in the way of…
Blog
Clearing the tracks: CEI’s three-point blueprint to DOT deregulation
Background The Trump administration has made good on some of its promises of deregulation – namely with two executive orders from the beginning of this…
Blog
Senate should reject lobbyist sales pitches for alternative energy subsidies
Lobbyists for the companies hoping to cash in on the many alternative energy subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are crying foul now…
Blog
CEI’s The Surge: Expert testimony, Spanish blackout, and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication and…
Blog
DOGE after Musk: From meme to momentum
Elon Musk’s short but headline-grabbing stint with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has concluded, but the broader deregulatory agenda remains robust and far from…
Blog
The week in regulations: Low-moisture human foods and grass promotion
Lots of transportation-related regulatory cleanup this week. Friday alone had 47 proposed rules, most of them to repeal obsolete regulations. Two courts struck down Trump’s…
Blog
Medicaid cost explosion
Over the past five years, Medicaid has defied all expectations and projections. It is the third largest program that the government administers, and it has…
Blog
Life is made of trade
If I hadn’t become an economist, I might have found happiness as an evolutionary biologist. The two ways of thinking have a lot in common.
Blog
How IAIS advances DEI policies
As explained in an earlier blog post, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has drifted away from its mission and is actively working…
Blog
Big Beautiful Bill threatens the Costco of health care
You’ve probably never wondered why you buy peanut butter from the grocery store instead of directly from the J.M. Smucker Company or your TV from…
Blog
Eight energy policies that reduce competition and increase energy prices
The US Department of Justice’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force was accepting comments from the public in part “seeking information about laws and regulations that…
Real Clear Markets
“Andrew Ferguson’s Crucial Disdain For the Digital Markets Act”
Charles Sauer with the Market Institute writes about FTC Chair Ferguson’s recent speech criticizing the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
Blog
Congress needs to do more to address the IRA energy tax credits
Many of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit reforms that exist in the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act comes…
Citation
Impact Of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act – ‘Clean Energy Ghost Towns’
MRCTV cited CEI’s expert on Inflation Reduction Act Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute recently testified before the House Oversight Committee on the impacts of…
Blog
For the sake of user privacy, keep Google search remedies narrow and germane
The movement in the Biden and Trump administrations of antitrust officials away from consumer welfare and towards a federal judiciary of active regulation is on…
News Release
Trump’s IEEPA tariffs overturned by international court, setting up Congress to reclaim taxing powers: CEI analysis
Last night, the Court of International Trade overturned the tariffs that President Trump implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). CEI senior economist…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Protecting consumer credit with Caroline Melear
In this week’s episode we cover new research on trade and tariffs, how to understand market forces, and good news for…
Blog
Deregulation deferred—not defeated—by the Big Beautiful Bill
In my latest Forbes column, I detail how the House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) had the potential to revolutionize federal regulatory policy. But…
Truth on the Market
“Could the DOJ and FTC Reform Regulations that Harm Competition?”
Eric Fruits with ICLE discusses the DOJ and FTC comment period on reducing anti-competitive regulatory barriers.
Forbes
How The Big Beautiful Budget Bill Can Deliver Decisive Deregulation
Media coverage of the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill (BBB; see committee report) naturally focuses on the spending. And that…
News Release
Restoring Gold Standard Science executive order directly confronts the reproducibility crisis in scientific research
On May 23, 2025, President Trump issued Restoring Gold Standard Science, an executive order (EO) that requires federal agencies to prioritize transparency, reproducibility, objectivity,…
Blog
Spanish blackout should serve as a warning
If policymakers don’t want Americans to find themselves in the dark, then they should pay attention to the harmful electricity policies in Spain. Spain experienced…
Comment
CEI Comments on Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory Barriers
RE: Request for Public Comment Regarding Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory Barriers Docket No.: FTC-2025-0028 On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we submit comments to…
Reason
“More Government Intervention Won’t Make Concert Tickets Cheaper”
Jack Nicastro with Reason talks about the DOJ and FTC request for comment on “Unfair and Anticompetitive Practices in Live Ticketing.”…
News Release
Report offers trade reform blueprint for Congress
President Trump’s Liberation Day trade tariff policies are failing, just as economists predicted. What can stop the tariff-imposed pain of higher prices, fewer choices, and…
Comment
CEI Comments to Department of Justice Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force
Dear Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force Members: We appreciate this opportunity to provide comments to the task force regarding anticompetitive laws and regulations. There is often…
Blog
New CEI paper: How to break the trade blockade
Today is release day for a new CEI paper by Kent Lassman, Iain Murray, and me, Trade Under Blockade: Navigating a Global Trade War.
Blog
The week in regulations: Postage prices and outdoor burning
Former President Joe Biden announced a cancer diagnosis. The House passed a big spending bill. A political activist murdered a young Jewish couple. Agencies issued…
Study
Trade Under Blockade
Introduction President Donald Trump threw the world trading system into disarray with his “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, 2025. The principles behind the General…
Blog
Senate pulls plug on California’s gas car ban
The US Senate on Thursday voted 51-46 for H.J. Res.88, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to repeal the Environmental Protection…
Blog
The flaw in Justice Kagan’s defense of the NLRB
Justice Elana Kagan authored a lengthy dissent to the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday granting the Trump administration’s request to keep the Gwynne Wilcox,…