Blog
History Lesson in Technological Optimism: Simon, Jevons, and Lardner
Through his publications and scholarly work in the 1980s and 90s, the economist Julian Simon challenged the conventional wisdom and the intellectual position of the…
Blog
Human Achievement: The Shipping Container
One of the most underappreciated drivers of the modern global economy is the humble shipping container. Widely adopted internationally in the second half of the…
The Free Beacon
Coalition Urges Franchise Fix in Omnibus Bill
The Free Beacon talks to Trey Kovacs about CEI’s coalition letter urging for protections for franchises: A coalition of taxpayer and business…
Bloomberg
Trump EPA Plans New Restrictions on Science Used in Rule Making
Bloomberg quotes Myron Ebell on costly EPA regulations: Advocates of the change say that by revisiting the science that underpins a swath…
Blog
Hernando de Soto Wins Julian Simon Memorial Award
It is enormously gratifying that this year’s winner of the Julian Simon Award is Hernando de Soto, whose work around the world to define,…
News Release
CEI to Award Hernando de Soto 2018 Julian L. Simon Memorial Award
“Economist, author, humanitarian, advisor to world leaders, and a serial entrepreneur of ideas, Hernando de Soto has stamped his mark on history through pioneering work…
News Release
CEI Petitions Department of Energy: Stop Washington from Ruining Dishwashers
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) petitioned the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to address the issue of increasingly slow dishwashers—a problem directly caused…
Comment
CEI Petition to Department of Energy on Dishwasher Cycle Times
View Full Document as PDF The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), submits this petition for rulemaking under 5 U.S.C. § 553(e). We request…
Blog
Include ‘Joint Employer’ Fix in Omnibus Budget Bill
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is leading a free-market coalition urging Congress to attach the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 4331) as a policy rider to the…
New Jersey Law Journal
End Excessive Fees in Class Action Litigation
The New Jersey Law Journal Editorial Board praises CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness and their action on the Anthem class action case. …
Blog
CEI Submits Comments to Federal Vehicle Regulator on Automated Driving Systems
The process for modernizing federal motor vehicle safety standards needs to be improved, thereby allowing for more rapid deployment of vehicles equipped with new self-driving technology…
Yahoo News
In blockbuster antitrust trial, Big Tech looms in background
Comment
CEI Comments to NHTSA on Removing Regulatory Barriers for Vehicles with Automated Driving System
View Full Document as PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the…
Blog
Gains from Automation Create Path to Greater Prosperity
Automation has become somewhat of a dirty word recently. Fear of mass unemployment and widening inequality has led to calls for greater regulations of technology…
Blog
Climate Policy: What It Means for Pompeo and Kudlow to Be Replacing Tillerson and Cohn
If people are policy, the Trump administration’s commitment to the President’s pro-growth energy agenda has become clearer and firmer. Last week, Mr. Trump …
Blog
Department of Education Limits Federal Employee Union Subsidy
Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos deserves a round of applause. Most federal agencies, even in Republican administrations, agree to collective bargaining agreements that heavily…
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…
USA Today
Let our airlines compete: Maybe more dogs will reach their destinations
Glenn Harlan Reynolds quotes a recent interview with Marc Scribner in his USA Today column on airline competition and regulation: When you…
Blog
Human Achievement Benefits Nature’s Creatures—Including Pets
Environmental activists want you to “take action for our planet and nature” by sitting in the dark for an hour on March 24th. But…
Blog
Impressive Work on Display by Students for Liberty
Congratulations are in order to our friends at Students for Liberty and their CEO Wolf von Laer on a successfully annual conference recently held here…
News Release
CEI Files Closing Brief in Challenge To FCC’s Delay on Reconsidering Charter Merger Conditions
Blog
Online Sales Tax Bill a Small-Business Killing Tax Hike
The Wall Street Journal editorial board was entirely correct yesterday when they said, “Republicans have spent the last year cutting taxes and regulations, which…
News Release
Court Rules Against Obama Fiduciary Rule in a Victory for Middle Class Investors
On news that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals late Thursday struck down the Obama Labor Department's controversial fiduciary rule, Competitive Enterprise Institute financial policy…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Enact the Global Trade Accountability Act
View Full Document as PDF To Members of Congress: We the undersigned free market organizations, representing millions of hardworking Americans, urge you…
Blog
5G Will Work—If Government Gets out of the Way
To usher in a new era of 5G virtual reality, 4K video, and self-driving cars, a major network upgrade is needed. The greater data demands…
Study
Online Sales Taxes Make Government Bigger and Undermine Federalism
View Full Document as PDF The rapid growth of online retailing has prompted state and local government officials to seek greater authority…
E&E News
Pruitt’s climate clash was declared dead. There’s a Plan B
E&E News talks to Myron Ebell about potential moves on several petitions revisiting endangerment findings. Taking comment on the petitions would be…
U.S. News and World Report
Weathering Trump’s Skepticism, U.S. Officials Still Fighting Global Warming
U.S. News and World Report talks to Myron Ebell about the Trump administration’s work on climate change. “I am concerned that much…
Blog
What Will You Achieve with Your 8,760 Hours?
Several years ago CEI launched Human Achievement Hour, an annual celebration of innovation and progress. During this hour—this year, Saturday, March 24th from 8:30pm to…
Blog
How States Can Win Big from Legal Sports Betting
Every March, millions of Americans join friends, relatives, and coworkers in “March Madness” betting pools, centered on the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Men’s Basketball…
News Release
CEI Commends Senate for Passing Bipartisan Dodd-Frank Reform Bill
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) commends the U.S. Senate on passage of Sen. Crapo's S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act.
Blog
National Labor Relations Board Recusal Saga Continues
Democrats and union allies have been transparent in their goal to block or delay any decisions by the Trump National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as…
News Release
CEI Commends Trump’s Choice of Larry Kudlow for Top Economic Post
President Trump is expected to name Larry Kudlow as director of the National Economic Council this week. CEI experts commend Trump for selecting an adviser with…
Blog
‘Fair Shot’ by Chris Hughes: Facebook Co-Founder’s Book Rich in Anecdote and Emotion
Chris Hughes, the co-founder of Facebook, has a new book out with a dramatic suggestion for changing the distribution of wealth in the United States.
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…
News Release
Report: States Should Bet on Sports Gambling Laws that Work
Despite the popularity of March Madness brackets, all sports betting remains illegal in the United States. States that hope to legalize sports betting should start…
Study
Legalizing Sports Betting in the United States
Every March, millions of Americans join friends, relatives, and coworkers in “March Madness” betting pools, centered on the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Men’s Basketball…
Daily Caller
Tillerson’s Exit Signals Rise Of Global Warming Skeptics In Trump’s Admin
The Daily Caller quotes Myron Ebell on what Rex Tillerson’s departure at Secretary of State means for the Paris Climate Treaty. Competitive…
Blog
Melugin: Keep Online Sales Taxes out of Omnibus Budget Bill
Today Jessica Melugin, associate director of CEI’s Center for Technology & Innovation, joined U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and a number of other free-market…
Blog
3 Reasons the Senate Should Pass Financial Reform
The Senate is expected to vote on its first major piece of financial reform this week since the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. A bipartisan bill…
Blog
Trump Ousts Tillerson: What’s Next for the Paris Climate Treaty?
President Trump this morning ousted Rex Tillerson from his post as Secretary of State and plans to replace him with CIA director Mike Pompeo.
Reason Magazine
Trump Is ‘Destroying’ Regulations
Reason Magazine talks to Wayne Crews about the Trump administration’s commitment to regulatory reform: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a D.C.-based free-market think…
The Hill
Congress, Bring the FCC’s Authority up to Speed
On Tuesday, March 6, the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass a bill to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an agency with…
News Release
CEI Argues Against Adding Internet Sales Tax to Omnibus Spending Bill
Today, Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Jessica Melugin joined U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) at a press conference to…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Urging House Leadership to Include the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441) in the 2018 Spending Bill
View Full Document as PDF Dear Senators and Representatives, The undersigned organizations urge House leadership to include the House-passed Save Local Business…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Opposing Remote Transactions Parity Act (RTPA), H.R. 2193
View Full Document as PDF On behalf of the millions of citizens represented by the undersigned organizations, we write in strong opposition…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition in Opposition to Taxpayer Bailouts for Private Health Insurance Companies
View Full Document as PDF Dear Members of Congress: On behalf of our organizations and the millions of American taxpayers we represent,…
Blog
Growing Scandal at National Labor Relations Board
This has the look of a coordinated attack to hinder the current National Labor Relations Board’s ability to reform Obama-era policies. The Inspector General stirred…
Blog
Judge in California Suit against Oil Companies Orders Climate Tutorial
A federal judge in California last week ruled that a suit brought by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco seeking climate damages from major…
Blog
Everything You Need to Know about the Clean Power Plan
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, nineteen other state attorneys general, and the head of the Mississippi department of environmental quality recently filed a superb …
Blog
European Food Safety Assessment Proves Nothing about Risks to Bees
As European Union risk assessments purportedly “confirm” that pesticides threaten honeybees and lawmakers quickly clamor for pesticide bans, the stark reality is that so far…
Blog
The Supreme Court Case That Would Catch the Law Up to Economic Reality
As more and more services move into platform business models as the lower transaction costs they facilitate increase consumer welfare, platform firms need assurance…
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…
Blog
Happy Birthday to Adam Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’
Being able to make voluntary transactions with others while having redress in the case of fraud sets the stage for larger, more complex, and longer-term market…
Inside Sources
Freedom of Speech Should Protect All Opinion
President Trump has called this country’s libel laws a sham and a disgrace and said he wants to change libel laws to allow liability for…
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…
Blog
Tracking Public Opinion on Trump, Tariffs, and Trade
A Pew study noted that Republicans’ views on free trade shifted in a more negative way during the 2016 presidential campaign, while Democrats’ views…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Urging Incorporation of Intermediary Immunity into NAFTA’s Digital Trade Chapter
View Full Document as PDF Dear Ambassador Lighthizer, Secretary Guajardo, and Minister Freeland, We are American, Canadian, and Mexican scholars and advocates…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to Markup the Freedom from Government Competition Act of 2017.
View Full Document as PDF Dear Representative, On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our millions of members from across the country,…
McClatchy
These Communities Sued Big Oil Over Climate Change; Then The Backlash Began
McClatchy cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute and its litigation efforts in response to infringement on the organization’s free-speech rights as well as peititioning against cities…
Blog
Don’t Bring Net Neutrality Regulations Back from the Dead
Republicans on Capitol Hill are looking to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with their recently introduced net neutrality legislation, Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-LA) Open Internet…
Yahoo Finance!
New House Bill Would Kill Consumer Watchdog Payday Loan Rule
Yahoo! Finance cited Daniel Press on the necessity of access for consumers to receive a payday loan. A congressional resolution introduced in the House…
Watchdog
More Briefs Filed with SCOTUS in Forced Union Dues Case
Watchdog cited Trey Kovacs on the longstanding circumstance of union workers being forced to pay for controversial political activities for unions by the government. …
Washington City Paper
Why Do So Many People Here Assume That Riding a Bike Means You’re a Liberal?
The Daily Caller News Foundation
EPA Responded to The DCNF’s FOIA Request Two-And-A-Half Years Late
TheDCNF quoted Chris Horner on the difficulty which conservatives face when submitting FOIA requests to the EPA compared to environmentalists. The Environmental Protection…
PGRI
Supreme Court Decision Could Open Door for Sports Betting in Pennsylvania
PGRI cited Michelle Minton on the liklihood that judges will overturn the federal sports betting ban on behalf of the state of New Jersey. …
Law.com
Critical Mass: Is This the Cy Pres Case SCOTUS Is Looking For?
Critical Mass, Law.com’s briefing on mass torts and class actions, profiles CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness on the cy pres case the Supreme Court may…
PRWeb
Take Off the Veneer of Certainty On Climate Change Science Says Friends of Science Society
PRWeb cited Rupert Darwall on the need for reanalyzing climate ideology based on scientific uncertainty and the politicization of scientific evidence surrounding the climate debate.
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…
FEE
Blockchain Technology Requires Permissionless Innovation to Flourish
Blockchain has been hitting the headlines recently. Once regarded as a niche interest for technologically experienced libertarians and other computer nerds, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are…
Communications Daily
FCC Argues Against Mandamus in Charter Broadband Overbuild Review
Communications Daily profiles CEI’s petition representing individuals taking the Federal Communications Commission to court over the 2016 Charter/Brighthouse/Time Warner cable merger. FCC inaction…
Blog
The Government Killed Free Checking—Can Amazon Save It?
Amazon's move into banking services spells good news for currently under-served consumers, who often rely on relatively expensive financial services such as payday lending or…
Forbes
Trump Administration Releases Updated Regulatory Cost-Benefit Report
Benefits of federal regulation are supposed to exceed costs. How much review of federal regulation happens to assure that’s the case? The annual (sort of) Report…
News Release
Sen. Crapo’s Dodd-Frank Reform Bill: Important, Commonsense Step Toward Relief for Small Banks
This week, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on Senator Mike Crapo’s bipartisan Dodd-Frank reform bill, “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act”…
Techdirt
Slowing Down Driverless Cars Would Be A Fatal Mistake
This article was cowritten with Caleb Watney, technology policy associate at the R Street Institute Unsubstantiated driverless car hype may be annoying, but that shouldn’t blind…
Blog
If the Payday Lending Rule Stays, Ability-to-Repay Does, Too
Many in the financial services industry seem to believe the CFPB's ability to replay rule doesn’t impact them and it’s not worth fighting. That is…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter to President Trump Urging Reconsideration of Aluminum and Steel Tariffs
View Full Document as PDF Dear Mr. President: On behalf of the undersigned groups representing millions of taxpayers and consumers across the…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Rein in FDA Overreach as Part of FY18 Spending Bill
Without modernization of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the Deeming Rule will kill tens of thousands of jobs and put many Americans'…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Supporting the AV START Act (S. 1885)
Speeding up the AV START act could potentially save thousands of lives.
Comment
CEI Comments in Response to the Federal Highway Administration’s Request for Information on Automated Driving Systems
View Full Document as PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the…
Blog
Millennials Love Entrepreneurship But Skeptical of ‘Capitalism’
If we want Millennials to have a greater appreciation for the virtues of capitalism, we need to convey how their entrepreneurial aspirations can only be made possible…
The Hill
There’s Nothing to Fear About Modest Banking Reform
The United States financial system is in desperate need of reform. The hundreds of new rules and regulations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act have devastated…
The National Law Journal
Justice Department, With Regret, Backs $380M ‘Cy Pres’ Settlement at Supreme Court
The National Law Journal at Law.com talks to Ted Frank about Frank v. Gaos, the cy pres challenge before the Supreme Court: Ted Frank,…
Blog
Government Not Only Source of Regulation for Finance
One of the most misunderstood and underappreciated aspects of free market economics is the idea of private or “self” regulation. Up until recently, private enterprises…
Blog
Don’t Let an Online Sales Tax Hike Creep into Omnibus Spending Bill
With the siren song of the omnibus spending bill calling, legislators would be wise to resist pressures to include increases in online sales…
Blog
Seeing How People Really Live around the World
A recent TED Talk by Anna Rosling Rönnlund features images collected by photographers dispatched to 264 different homes in 50 countries around the world. They document the stoves, bed,…
Blog
Chuck Schumer’s Unconstitutional Money-Wasting Machine
If you wanted a counterterrorism technology that could match Amtrak in terms of derailments, you couldn’t do much better than to use “stand-off explosive detection…
Blog
Implement AEI-Heritage-R Street GSE Plan AND Honor Shareholder Contracts
It is welcome news that our friends from the American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and the R Street Institute put forth a plan this week…
Blog
Some Critical Points Often Overlooked in the Climate Policy Debate
To date, the political process has determined that the potential risks of carbon dioxide regulation outweigh the benefits. That’s why despite more than 20 years…
Investor's Business Daily
Trump’s Deregulation Binge Is Lightening The Economy’s Load
Investor’s Business Daily cited Clyde Wayne Crews on the extent of the impact which the Trump adminstration’s deregulatory stance is having on the nation’s economy. …
The Hill
Conservatives Packed 2017 With Victories — Push 2018 Even Further
The Hill cited Wayne Crews on the financial impact of overregulation by the Obama administration upon the United States economy. With a wild…
CNBC
Trump Disappoints Fossil Fuel Proponents and Corn Belt Base as EPA Leaves Biofuels Program Mostly Unchanged
Marlo Lewis was cited by CNBC for the negative impact which not scaling back on the renewable fuel program will have on taxpayers and those…
Bloomberg Law
House Bid to Ax Payday Rule Kicks Off With Bipartisan Support
Bloomberg Law cited Daniel Press on the leadership expressed by House lawmakers for blocking a law that would impede upon the loan-granting process that would…
U.S. News and World Report
Don’t Fear Worker Freedom
PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS have some dire warnings about a U.S. Supreme Court case that could end forced union dues for government employees, like teachers, police officers…
Watchdog.org
Labor policy analyst: Unions using overblown rhetoric to defend forced union fees for government workers
Watchdog.org cites Trey Kovacs’ on the upcoming Supreme Court decision in the Janus v. AFSCME forced union dues case: Competitive Enterprise Institute’s…
Blog
Job-Killing Joint Employer Standard Returns
In an abrupt and unexpected move, on February 26th, the National Labor Relations Board vacated its December 2017 decision in Hy-Brand, which restored longstanding Board…
Blog
Clean Power Plan: Just Repeal, Don’t Replace
The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of repealing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, the principal regulatory component of his Paris Climate Treaty emission-reduction…
Blog
Could Janus Ruling Open the Door to Pension Reform?
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in case Janus v. AFSCME, which could significantly impact unions representing government employees. A ruling in…
Newsmax
Year Two: 10 Things Trump Must Do to Finish Draining the Swamp
President Trump has not drained the swamp yet – but at least it is getting smaller.