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…
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?…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
Comment
CEI Comments on Use of Orally Ingestible Unapproved Prescription Drug Products Containing Fluoride in the Pediatric Population
Dear Commissioner Makary, The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) submits these comments in favor of the private use of fluoride supplements for children. CEI…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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,…
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. …
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…
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,…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Truth on the Market
“RIP RPA?”
Dan Gilman with ICLE discusses the FTC’s decision to drop its Robinson Patman Act (RPA) suit against Pepsi.
Comment
CEI comments on proposed regulation of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry
Re: Proposed regulation of the Department of Labor and Industry, “Local Government Union Requirements and Employee Protections” Dear Ms. Bernhardt: I appreciate…
News Release
MAHA Commission recommendations on improving government-directed research merit consideration
President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again Commission released the “Making Our Children Health Again” report, which seeks to evaluate health trends among America’s…
News Release
Newly announced tariffs on EU and Apple will harm U.S. economy, raise costs for consumers
This morning, President Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on the European Union starting on June 1 and a 25 percent tariff on…
News Release
Senate votes to rescind the Biden EPA’s California waiver on gas-powered cars
Today, the Senate voted to rescind the Biden EPA’s waiver allowing California to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. This follows…
Reason
“A Top Antitrust Enforcer Is Open To Prosecuting People Who Disagree With Him”
Jack Nicastro discusses a recent speech given by FTC Commissioner Mark Meador.
Reason
“Trump’s FTC Chair Is Continuing To Push Lina Khan’s Antitrust Ideology”
Jack Nicastro with Reason shows how the Ferguson FTC is continuing along similar paths as the Khan FTC.
Wall Street Journal
“Antitrust Cops Say BlackRock, Other Fund Giants May Have Hurt Coal Competition”
The Wall Street Journal reports on the FTC’s filing of a statement of interest in a state attorney general’s suit against investor groups.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Next steps for nuclear with Deric Tilson
In this week’s episode we cover Jamie Dimon on tariff jitters, the Tax Foundation on the One Big Beautiful Bill, Jesse…
Blog
Tariffs and the anchor heuristic
It feels like President Trump is cutting tariffs. He has agreed to tariff deals with China and the UK, and he paused his biggest…
National Review
The Tariff Roller Coaster Is Playing Tricks on You
It sure feels like President Trump has reduced tariffs. The recent China deal cut tariff rates from 145 percent to 30 percent, and de minimis…
Testimony
Testimony of Paige Lambermont: Examining the Use of Federal Lands to Power American Technological Innovation
Hearing on “Unleashing a Golden Age: Examining the Use of Federal Lands to Power American Technological Innovation” Written Statement of Paige Lambermont Research Fellow, Center…
Comment
CEI Comments on Technology Platform Censorship
RE: Request for Public Comment Regarding Technology Platform Censorship Docket No.: FTC-2025-0023 Introduction The authors of this submission would like to…