Mr. Murray is Vice President for Strategy and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Murray also directs the Center for Economic Freedom. He is the author of the best-selling books, “The Really Inconvenient Truths,” “Stealing You Blind: How Government Fat Cats Are Getting Rich Off of You,” and “The Socialist Temptation.” He has written extensively on free markets and the environment, labor policy, finance, the EU, and trade. He tweets at @ismurray and is a contributor to The Daily Economy blog.
Before coming to CEI, Iain was Director of Research at the Statistical Assessment Service. A former civil servant in the United Kingdom, Iain immigrated to the U.S. in 1997 and remains a British citizen. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of London and a Master of Arts from the University of Oxford. He is married with two children and lives in Northern Virginia.
Authored by Iain Murray
News
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…
A US/UK trade deal faces barriers: CEI analysis
Amidst the ongoing tariff drama, Vice President J.D. Vance said this week that the United States and the United Kingdom could strike a trade…
Acting FDIC chairman to re-focus regulators on core mission, away from political causes
The acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Travis Hill, today declared his list of priorities and reforms aimed at promoting a safe,…
Blog
Tariff letters go out, with little rhyme or reason
- By: Iain Murray
The table below lists all the countries to which President Donald Trump has so far sent letters informing them of new universal tariff rates. The…
US-UK trade deal: What it should contain
- By: Iain Murray
As I write this, we are awaiting the announcement of the US-UK trade deal from the White House, with reaction from UK Prime Minister Sir…
An economic, constitutional, and geopolitical disaster
- By: Iain Murray
Yesterday’s tariff announcement was long expected, yet its details came as a surprise. In one regard it was less bad than it could have been:…
Op-Eds/Articles
The Daily Economy
The Resurgence of Do It Yourself Economics
- By: Iain Murray
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…
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…
Center Square Opinion
Why do so many countries have tariffs?
If tariffs are so bad, then why does nearly every country have them? It’s a fair question, and many Trump tariff defenders are asking it.
Studies
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…
Adam Smith’s guide to life, loveliness, and the modern economy
- By: Christopher Culp, Fred L. Smith, Jr., Iain Murray, Jeremy Lott, John Berlau, Kent Lassman, Ryan Young, Stone Washington
Introduction: Going strong at 300 Ryan Young This essay collection celebrates Adam Smith’s 300th birthday. He is best known for being the first modern economist,…
Threats Then and Threats Now
Executive summary In 1971 Lewis Powell, a prominent Republican lawyer who would go on to serve on the Supreme Court, wrote a memo warning about…
Citations
The-A-Word
People can be authoritarian about anything. That includes liberals and freelance busting. This Q&A with Luke Conway explains why.
- By: Iain Murray
The-A-Word cited CEI’s expert on the rise of authoritarianism I was thinking about all this when Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian…
RealClear Markets
Global Regulators Want To Hamstring AI Innovation
- By: Iain Murray
RealClear Markets cited CEI on technological innovation Like many efforts at economic planning, subverting market forces — the forces that drive creative destruction — driving…
Daily Caller
Supreme Court Slaps Down Challenge That Could Have Gutted Financial Regulatory Agency
- By: Iain Murray
CEI’s Iain Murray was cited in Daily Caller on the recent Supreme Court CFPB ruling: Iain Murray, the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s …
Regulatory Comments
Comments on Application Of The National Railroad Passenger Corporation Under 49 U.S.C. § 24308(E)
- By: Iain Murray
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit this comment letter for the Board’s consideration in the FD 36496 proceeding. Founded in…
Comments to the CMA in re: Facebook/GIPHY merger
- By: Iain Murray
Submitted to the Inquiry via [email protected], 1 September 2021 Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments in the matter of the Competition and…
CEI Comments on Intermediate Bodies Rule
- By: Iain Murray
Dear Director Rosenfield, On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I respectfully submit the following comments. Founded in 1984, the Competitive Enterprise Institute is a…
Podcast Episodes
Free Markets and the Common Good with Iain Murray
This week we cover fake environmentalism and the need to build, a look at policymaking inside the National People’s Congress in China, the new normal...
Threats to Economic Freedom, Then and Now with Iain Murray
This week we talk about recycled Legos, socially responsible pension funds, pessimistic views about politics, and a special immigration visa for microchip experts. Our interview...