Blog
Union Gets Nasty over Natural Gas Pipeline Rejection
Friction between the trade unions that build energy infrastructure and the politicians who routinely block these projects has been growing for the last decade—especially as…
Blog
VIDEO: Free Trade for Economic Development in Developing World
The Cato Institute here in Washington, D.C. recently sponsored a discussion of trade and economic development, emphasizing the role that robust trade has in raising…
Blog
EPA Streamlines Infrastructure Approval Process under Clean Water Act
Making good on its promise in Executive Order 13868 to combat the abuse of section 401 of the Clean Water Act by states seeking to block…
Washington Examiner
Sorry, but YouTube’s new video removal policies are consistent with the First Amendment
It may be called YouTube, but that doesn’t mean it belongs to you. It is the property of Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
Blog
Bjorn Lomborg and John Christy Shred Climate Alarmism
The latest talking point of progressive politicians, pundits, and activists is that America cannot afford not to spend trillions of dollars to “solve the climate…
Blog
National Donut Day: Eat One for Yourself and One for Freedom
The Competitive Enterprise Institute first started its two-donut campaign back in 2010. There were some formidable issues back then, from childhood obesity to international tensions to the…
Blog
Venezuela and Rwanda: A Tale of Two Countries, Different Paths
The 21st century Venezuela is a failure. It failed because it adopted socialism. Paul Larkin, Senior Legal Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, remarked in…
Blog
Corporate ‘Power’ Is Limited and Temporary—Government Power Is the Real Threat
An Axios article today examines for-profit companies taking public positions on controversial political issues, carrying the headline “When companies act like governments.” Reporter Erica Pandey…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Define ‘Abusive’
The Dodd–Frank Act was a mammoth overhaul of financial services regulation. Along with creating an entire new consumer protection agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,…
Yahoo Finance
VIDEO: S&P 500 Companies Tighten their Capital Spending, Rising 3% from a Year Ago
Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray joins Yahoo Finance to discuss capital spending.
The Daily Caller
Supreme Court Asked To Hear Case Involving Leaked ‘Climategate’ Emails
The Daily Caller cites General Counsel Sam Kazman on an ongoing defamation case. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) wants to overturn a lower court…
Fox Business
What Investors Need To Know About SEC’s New Broker Standards
Fox Business cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on new SEC broker standards. “Hopefully, the new rules will protect investors from fraud and deception…
The Washington Times
Kamala Harris Outlines Plan To Penalize Companies That Fail To Close Gender ‘Pay Gaps’
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on a legislative plan to penalize companies for gender pay disparties. Ryan Young, a senior…
Blog
SEC’s ‘Regulation Best Interest’ Respects Investor Choice
Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved final rules that comprise “Regulation Best Interest,” which will govern conduct of broker-dealers in their transactions with retail investors. Any…
Blog
VIDEO: Just Say No to a Carbon Tax
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has a new video out today featuring Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis which explains why adopting a carbon tax in the United…
News Release
Report: Congress Needs a 21st Century Approach to Infrastructure Needs
Raising the federal fuel tax won’t adequately and fairly pay for future roadway infrastructure needs, argues a new Competitive Enterprise Institute report released today.
Study
Transforming Surface Transportation Reauthorization
The United States Interstate Highway System serves as the backbone of American commerce and personal travel. Funded as a pay-as-you-go basis largely through federal excise…
Blog
Prevent Another Mortgage Crisis: Let Qualified Mortgage ‘Patch’ Expire
Last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its rulemaking agenda for Spring 2019. While there weren’t too many surprises in the agenda, which mainly…
News Release
CEI Releases New Video Explaining How a Carbon Tax would Punish American Families
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today launched a new video, “The Carbon Tax Schem,e Explained,” outlining various ways increased costs generated by a carbon tax…
Reason
Will Trump’s Authoritarian Impulses Derail His Deregulatory Successes?
Reason cites Vice President of Policy and Senior Fellow Wayne Crews on CEI’s “Ten Thousand Commandments” report. But there are warning signs that…
The Washington Times
Trump ‘Administrative State’ Rollback Fails To Lower $2 Trillion Annual Cost Of Regulation
The Washington Times cites Vice President of Policy and Senior Fellow Wayne Crews on the cost of federal regulations. Federal regulations were costing…
Fox Business
Trump Early Efforts on Deregulation Could Pave Way For Increased Executive Activity: Study
Fox Business cites Vice President of Policy and Senior Fellow Wayne Crews on the Trump Administration’s record on deregulation. While he…
The Tennessee Star
Trump Administration Ends Unions ‘Skimming’ $100 Million A Year From Medicaid
The Tennessee Star cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on Medicaid rule change made by the Trump Administration. “Congress created Medicaid to exclusively fund…
The Washington Examiner
‘Swamp’ Thwarts Trump With $1.9T ‘Hidden Tax’ In Regulations
The Washington Examiner cites Vice President of Policy and Senior Fellow Wayne Crews on CEI’s “Ten Thousand Commandments” report. The Competitive Enterprise Institute said…
E&E News
Wheeler: Trump Admin Might ‘Re-examine’ Climate Science
E&E News cites Director of the Center of Energy and Environment Myron Ebell after a recent meeting with White House officals. Myron Ebell,…
Blog
Regulations Trump Administration Has Eliminated So Far in 2019
The Trump administration promised to roll back red tape. So how goes 2019? The 2019 Spring Unified Agenda of Deregulatory and Regulatory Actions released by the…
The Hill
Co-Founder’s Call to Break Up Facebook Energizes Its Critics
The Hill cites Vice President of Policy and Senior Fellow Wayne Crews on the possible regulation of Facebook. Wayne Crews, the vice president…
The New York Times
Facebook Objects to Chris Hughes Essay Calling For Its Breakup
The New York Times cites President Kent Lassman on industry-specific regulations. But Kent Lassman, the president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said industry-specific regulations…
The Washington Times
Burdensome Federal Regulations Are ‘Hidden Tax’ Which Cost $1.9 Trillion: Study
The Washington Times cites Vice President for Policy and Senior Fellow Wayne Crews on CEI’s “Ten Thousand Commandments” report. The national debt is not the…
Blog
This Month, Take Pride in Abundance and Opportunities of Capitalism
June is Pride Month, when gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and other not-straight people celebrate with a variety of events, including activism, parades, and concerts. As…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing Foreign Reference Pricing Legislation
We write in opposition to proposals that import foreign price controls on medicines into the U.S. through international reference pricing.
The Times Herald
Jerry Shenk: Regulatory Taxation Burdens us All
The Times Herald cites CEI’s 10kc report. In their review of the cost of government regulations for 2018, the Competitive Enterprise Institute estimated…
News Release
Antitrust Action Will Sacrifice 2 Years of Trump Deregulatory Gains, Harm Consumers
Today, House Democrats launched antitrust investigations into prominent technology companies, including Facebook, Google and potentially others.
Blog
Will Antitrust End Trump’s Deregulatory Push?
Revelations that antitrust enforcers have conspired to divide jurisdiction and initiate antitrust investigations into Google and Apple (the U.S. Department of Justice) and Amazon and…
The Daily Caller
‘Middle Ground’? Conservatives Wary of Biden’s Hiring of Former Obama Climate Change Advisers
The Daily Caller cites Center for Energy and Environment Director Myron Ebell on Joe Biden and climate change. “With Heather Zichal as his climate…
Boston Globe
Unions are on Frontlines of Fight against Inequality
The Boston Globe cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on labor unions. And even when workers are unionized, they are often forced to bargain…
BNN Bloomberg
Trump Drive to Boost Fossil Fuels Hits a Wall in Federal Courts
BNN Bloomberg cites Center for Energy and Environment Director Myron Ebell on President Trump and the U.S. fossil feul industry. Trump supporters shrug off…
The Center Square
Trump Administration Ends Unions ‘skimming’ $100 Million Per Year from Medicaid
The Center Square cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on labor unions and Medicaid. “Congress created Medicaid to exclusively fund care to the elderly…
Politico
Bernhardt Commits to Hill Hearing
Politico cites CEI led coalition letter in opposition of H.R. 9 A letter to lawmakers signed by conservative groups including…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
President Trump threatened a new tariff on all Mexican goods, potentially scuttling the NAFTA/USMCA agreement. My colleague Wayne Crews went through the new Spring 2019…
The Hill
Legalized sports betting is paying off
A year ago, New Jersey’s fight to overturn the failed federal ban on sports betting was vindicated by the Supreme Court, with the justices…
Daily Caller
Trump May Adopt an Obama-Era Climate Policy
Blog
Study Confirms China Cheating on United Nations Environmental Agreement
A study published in the journal Nature provides further confirmation of illegal production of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) from China.
Blog
California Leads Nation in Gas Prices, Climate Policies a Growing Contributor
The large gasoline price disparity between California and the rest of the country has jumped to nearly $1.20 per gallon. High fuel taxes and stringent clean…
Blog
Addressing the Gender Pay Gap: Culture, Not Legislation
Gender discrimination is a complex problem with a complex solution.
Blog
VIDEO: Ending Police Harassment of Small Business in India
Our friends at the Atlas Network have an excellent new video out about legal reform in India that is helping small businesspeople stand up to…
Blog
Markets, Not Mandates, Best Way to Manage Trash Disposal
Governments around the world often mandate recycling when there’s no market for the materials collected. Oftentimes, markets don’t exist simply because recycling certain materials requires…
Blog
Don’t Let Credit Scoring Kerfuffle Compromise GSE Reform
Just when it seemed that reforming the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was becoming a “third rail” that politicians did not want…
Blog
Trump Threatens up to 25 Percent Tariff on Mexican Goods, Jeopardizes NAFTA/USMCA
Things have been moving quickly on President Trump’s top legislative priority, the NAFTA/USMCA trade agreement. The key was rescinding steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada…
Forbes
Trump’s Regulatory Reform Agenda by the Numbers (Summer 2019 Update)
The Trump administration released the Spring 2019 edition of the twice-yearly Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Support of Confirming Mark Calabria to be Head of FHFA
View Full Document as PDF Dear Majority Leader McConnell, We write to express support of Dr. Mark Calabria’s nomination to be Director…
Blog
Corporate Virtue in Eye of Beholder
The main impression I’ve gotten from much recent reporting on the ethical behavior and social responsibility of business is that its value depends greatly on…
Blog
Trump EPA Crosses Important Threshold on Science Policy Reform; Greens Get Political
News coverage would make most people think that Trump administration officials are doing everything possible to undermine environmental protection and human health. One article even…
News Release
Court: EPA Failed to Let Public Weigh in on Waters of the United States Rule
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has remanded the controversial ‘waters of the United States’ rule back to the Environmental Protection…
Washington Examiner
Daily on Energy: Beto’s Climate Plan Reveals Confusion over ‘Green New Deal’ Timeline
The Washington Examiner cites CEI led coalition letter regarding the Paris climate agreement. The Competitive Enterprise Institute and 15 other conservative and free-market supporters…
Daily Caller
Conservatives Wrestle over How to Wallop Big Tech as Facebook Conducts Major Content Purge
The Daily Caller cites Vice President for Policy and Senior Fellow Wayne Crews on antitrust regulations. “It’s not a civil rights issue at the…
Conservative Commandos Radio Show
“Income Inequality” Needs a Conservative Solution?? Bernie Sanders is Crazy to Say Criminals Should Be Allowed to Vote!! Case against the Use of Antitrust Law!!
Senior Fellow Ryan Young joined Conservative Commandos Radio Show to discuss the case against antitrust law. Ryan Young, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Drop Flawed Enforcement Actions
While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s role in enforcing consumer protection laws is important, there are times when it oversteps the mark and brings frivolous…
Blog
Liberate Local TV Programming from Price Controls
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold a hearing on the state of the media marketplace on June 5 and the debate around reauthorizing The…
Blog
Narrowly Address Fair Lending Requirements to Spare Impact on Small Business
Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require financial institutions to collect, report, and make public certain information concerning…
Fox News
Models of Misinformation — Climate Reports Melt under Scrutiny
A last-ditch effort to refute climate “skeptics”—people unconvinced that we need to spend trillions to reshape our economies to halt or slow “climate change”-- has…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new final regulations this year topped 1,000 last Tuesday, and President Trump and Congress entered Memorial Day weekend at odds on issues…
Blog
Climate Issues Decide Australian Election
Australian voters stunned the pollsters and the experts in the general election on May 18th by returning the ruling coalition of conservative parties to office. Votes are…
Blog
ConEd Expanding Existing Pipeline Capacity Amid Ban on New Construction
We have previously reported on Consolidated Edison’s recent restrictions on new natural gas hookups in the greater New York metropolitan area as a consequence of…
Blog
VIDEO: What Is the ‘Social Responsibility’ of Business?
Recently I was in the audience for an interesting panel discussion, hosted by the Federalist Society, on corporate social responsibility. Should corporate managers only work…
Blog
Federal Railroad Administration Withdraws Proposed ‘Featherbedding’ Train Crew Rule
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released a draft notice indicating that it will be withdrawing a 2016 proposed rule that would have required trains…
Fox News
Ben Lieberman: There’s a new addition to the list of enemies of the planet — buildings (yes, buildings!)
Environmentalists and their friends in Congress dislike an ever-expanding list of materials and industries American families rely on, from fossil fuels to vehicles to…
Comment
CEI Comments to DOL on Overtime Rule
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we are pleased to submit the following comments on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule on…
News Release
CEI Asks Supreme Court to Hear Michael Mann Defamation Case
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal of CEI v. Michael Mann. At issue is criticism of Mann’s…
Comment
CEI Letter for the Record to Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Auto Safety Hearing
Blog
Regulatory Costs of Anti-Property Approaches to Environmental Concerns
Environmental regulations transfer substantial wealth and can be subject to the same political failure and regulatory pork-barreling that characterize economic regulation—perhaps more so, given the…
Blog
Reform Fair Lending Laws to Uphold Rule of Law
The CFPB’s new director, Kathleen Kraninger, assured the Senate Banking Committee in her confirmation hearing that she was committed to upholding the rule of law.
Fox Business
Big Tech vs. Free Speech? It’s Not that Simple
After Facebook and other social media companies’ recent moves to ban Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos and other extremists some pundits are calling for the end of the safe harbor that…
Blog
Chain Stores Are Part of Civil Society Too
I recently reviewed the book “Alienated America” by Washington Examiner editor Timothy Carney, and I’d like to return to one of the observations he made…
Blog
Costs of Loss of Anonymity in Administrative Surveillance State
The ability of citizens to communicate privately and to retain anonymity if desired are foundational rights slipping away in the regulatory panopticon of the administrative…
Blog
Tariffs Slow Investment, Threaten Retail Industry
Large U.S. companies slowed their investment in the first quarter of 2019, largely because of ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. This is…
Blog
Regulators Should Rescind ‘Small-Dollar’ Loan Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is one of the most controversial regulators in Washington, D.C. Since its founding in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street…
Study
A Policy Maker’s Guide to Climate Change
Thanks to the ingenuity of U.S. businesses, but also to the Republican rollback of the prior administration’s anti-energy policies, America is positioned to be a…
News Release
CEI Applauds EPA Directive to Improve Cost-Benefit Analysis of Environmental Regulations
According to a report by Bloomberg News, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler directed EPA leadership to write new rules for how it weighs…
Blog
Regulatory Costs of Blurring Corporate and Government Roles
In keeping with the tradition of ignoring political failure in service of the administrative state, the economic and social effects of GSEs, or government-sponsored enterprises,…
Blog
Focus Ride-Hailing Policy on Consumer Benefits, Not Protecting Competitors
As we pointed out last year when New York City attacked Uber, Lyft, and other ride-hailing firms by imposing an interim supply cap, politicians fighting…
News Release
CEI Applauds FCC Support for Sprint-T-Mobile Merger
Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Chairman Ajit Pai will circulate a draft order urging fellow commissioners vote to approve the merger between Sprint…
Blog
Federal Communications Commission Wisely Steps out of Way of Sprint/T-Mobile Merger
Today the Federal Communications Commission signaled it will likely vote to approve the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile.
Blog
Costs of Antitrust Regulation and Institutionalization of Raising Competitors’ Costs
Antitrust policy is corporate welfare, a prominent illustration of how regulation, not just spending, enables and encourages transfers of wealth by force.
Blog
REVIEW: ‘Honorable Business’ by Prof. James Otteson
I wrote up some initial impressions about the new book on business ethics, “Honorable Business: A Framework for Business in a Just and Humane Society,”…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Game of Thrones finale aired last night, though the show’s less-plausible Washington spinoff appears set to continue indefinitely, and with a rather larger budget.
Blog
CEI Petitions EPA to Correct 2009 Endangerment Finding
The Competitive Enterprise Institute on May 13th filed a request for correction under the Information Quality Act (IQA) that asks the Environmental Protection Agency to stop using or…
Blog
Another Day, Another Blocked Pipeline into New York
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on May 15th rejected a natural gas pipeline that would have brought supplies into the state via New York…
Daily Caller
LIEBERMAN: Trump May Adopt An Obama-Era Climate Policy
Believe it or not, the Trump administration is seriously considering entering into a global environmental treaty that was a key part of the Obama…
News Release
US Trade Deal with Canada and Mexico on Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Praised by CEI Expert
Competitive Enterprise Institute Vice President Iain Murray praised news of today's deal to lift US tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico:…
Blog
Trump Mostly Removes Steel, Aluminum Tariffs against Mexico, Canada: Barriers Still Higher than in 2017
The Trump administration is mostly lifting its steel aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, effective 48 hours from today’s announcement. But metal tariffs will remain higher…
Blog
VIDEO: Cheers to Food Truck Freedom
Congratulations to mobile food vendors Benny Diaz and Brian Peffer—and their attorneys at the Institute for Justice—for scoring a victory for freedom of food commerce…
Blog
Credit Card Interest Cap Would Create Consumer Credit Bread Lines
Last Thursday Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) teamed up to introduce a bill that only two democratic socialists could have dreamed up.
Blog
Alice Rivlin, 1931-2019
Some economists do more than teach classes and write books. Alice Rivlin, who passed away this week, was proof. She was the first director of…
Blog
New York Times Runs Stealth Anti-Vaping Ad as Op-ed
Readers of The New York Times deserve better than advertising masquerading as righteous opinion writing. While reporters at Times get credit for exploring and exposing…
Blog
Good and Bad of Government’s Debt Collection Proposal
Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a much-anticipated proposal to revamp the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), a forty-two year old…
Blog
White House Uses Discredited Complaints Tactic against Social Media Companies
My colleague Wayne Crews has already slammed the White House for a first step towards government regulation of online speech in its “tech bias” complaints…
Citation
Government Regulation of Speech Will Not Protect Conservatives
Yesterday, the White House launched a landing page (http://wh.gov/techbias) claiming social media platforms “should advance freedom of speech” and asking Americans who believe that their…
Comment
CEI Comments on CFPB Payday Loan Rule
View Full Document as PDF Introduction On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I am pleased to provide the following comment…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing Revival of Expired Tax Extenders
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader McCarthy, and Leader Schumer, Over 16 months ago, a package of temporary business tax breaks known as “tax extenders”…