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Subsidy-free capitalism may require a constitutional amendment
Automobiles, electrification, ample consumer goods and mass marketing, a construction boom, and access to credit helped fuel the Roaring Twenties of a century ago.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Frontier economics with Kendall Cotton
In this week’s episode we cover the diamond jubilee of the Philadelphia Society, the cost of government regulation in the UK, the…
Blog
Small banks targeted as FDIC cracks down on technology partnerships
Earlier this week, Politico’s “Morning Money” column reported an astonishing finding that almost certainly points to politicization in enforcement by federal bank regulators. The…
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E&E News
Support Builds for Reversing Trump’s Limits on ESG Investing
E&E News cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison’s DOL letter on pension funds and ESG investing: To be sure, there will be detractors. Conservative and industry…
National Review
How ESG Advocates Want to Redefine Your Retirement
Economic policy is changing fast in Washington, and your retirement account may soon experience the whiplash. One of the best policies enacted by the previous administration…
Comment
Comment on Proposed Rule “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights”
Assistant Secretary Khawar: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s recently proposed rule on the Investment Duties regulation under…
Blog
Inflation Increases to 6.8 percent, Misery Index Reaches 11
October’s inflation reading was the highest since the recession of 1991. November’s is the highest since the 1982 recession, at an annualized 6.8 percent.
The Washington Times
Biden Administration Probe of Supply Chain Woes Slammed as ‘Demagoguery’
The Washington Times cites Research Fellow Sean Higgins and Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on the current supply chain crisis: But researchers at the Competitive…
The Washington Times
Inflation, Supply Shortages Drive up Christmas Tree Prices
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on Christmas tree sales: Ryan Young, a senior fellow at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, said…
Blog
Review of Michael Munger, The Sharing Economy: Its Pitfalls and Promises (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2021)
Transaction costs are one of the most overlooked ideas in economics. They are also one of the most important. The lowering of transaction costs is…
Forbes
Stopping Biden’s Build Back Better Act And The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan Is Not Enough
Observing policymakers’ behavior, the only certainties regarding the next crisis to befall the Nation once the pandemic is in the rearview mirror are that Congress…
Blog
Rush to Pass Reconciliation Bill Would Embarrass Sausage Makers
There is an old saying, generally misattributed to Otto von Bismarck, that “Laws are like sausages—it is best not to see them being made.” Today,…
Blog
Only Reconciliation “Emergency” Is the Rush to Spend Trillions
Earlier today, the House Committee on Rules released a revised version of the Build Back Better Act (H.R 5376), now priced at bargain low…
National Review
Can I Speak to a Manager?
Earlier this month, U.S. senators Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) unveiled plans for their American…
Blog
I, Pencil Meets Today’s Political Realignment
Conservatives are different than they were just a few years ago, and it isn’t just because of Trump, who is more a symptom than a…
KEPR TV
IRS monitoring $600 accounts likely to snare small businesses, under-the-table workers
KEPR TV cites Senior Attorney Robert Carter on the proposal for the IRS to monitor accounts over $600: The administration has assured the public…
Blog
Markets Aren’t Perfect; Regulation Is Often Far Worse
A rhetorical tactic commonly employed by both my technocratic and progressive friends is a straw man argument. “If market processes are so great,” they charge,…
Forbes
The Greater Reset: An “Abuse-Of-Crisis Prevention Act” To Restore Limited Government
Coming in the wake of 9/11 and its Patriot Act, and the 2008 financial meltdown, the pandemic marked the third major economic shock of the 21st Century…
The Washington Times
Libertarian Analyst Warns of Socialist Drift in Dems’ Spending Plan
The Washington Times cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on a recent $3.5 trillion social spending bill proposal: A prominent libertarian financial analyst…
National Review
Will the Energy Crisis Be ESG’s Great Reset?
When it comes to the world of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, we’ve become used to Panglossian headlines about how every new development only …
Blog
Public Interest Groups Challenge Nasdaq Diversity Rule in Federal Court
Back in August, I wrote about the new board diversity requirements on Nasdaq-listed companies that had been approved by the Securities and Exchange…
News Release
Latest Producer Price Index Indicates Inflation Too High
The government’s latest numbers on average changes in prices, as measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI), are up at an annualized rate of 8.3…
National Review
Conservatives Waking Up: ‘Responsible Investing’ Could Mean Left-Wing Control
We may finally be seeing a turning point in the world of “sustainable” and “responsible” investing. For the past two decades, those labels have been informed…
News Release
Consumer Spending, Personal Income Growth Hinge on Combating Covid Delta Variant
The federal government today released July data on consumer spending (slower growth compared to June) and personal income growth (higher than expected). CEI Senior…
Study
Screening Out Innovation
Executive Summary This report addresses the appropriate antitrust standards for vertical mergers. It first provides an overview, and then analyzes a specific application to the Federal Trade Commission’s…
Letters
Congress Must Protect U.S. Employers by Passing the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3185/S. 1636)
Dear Member of Congress, On behalf of the undersigned organizations and the millions of members, supporters and activists across America whom we collectively represent, we…
Real Clear Policy
Don’t Force a One-size-fits-all Framework On Social Investors
Interest in environmental, social, and governance-themed, or ESG, investing has seen significant growth in recent years, but it has been matched by persistent complaints from…
National Review
What Truths Do We Still Hold to Be Self-Evident?
“With all our divisions,” asks George Packer, “what do we have in common? Is there some underlying adhesive that can make us one country again?…
Blog
The Progressive Playbook? Thoughts on a Slippery Slope
Is there a master plan behind the blunders of governments? Or are politicians just making it up as they go along? The cabal model…
News Release
Senate-Passed Infrastructure Bill Is a Gigantic, Counterproductive Spending Bill: CEI Analysis
The Senate today passed a complicated, controversial $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. CEI policy experts criticized the mammoth bill as a plan that will do…
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
The Infrastructure Bill Highlights What is Wrong with Congress
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act: Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule Still a Mistake
On Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a new rule from Nasdaq that will require firms listed on that exchange to comply…
Blog
Do We All Deserve a Share of the World’s Natural Resources?
In early July I wrote an op-ed for Inside Sources, which was subsequently picked up by several newspapers, on why the United States should…
News Release
Numbers Show Economy is Recovering, but Washington Spending Won’t Help
New numbers from the Commerce Department show the economy showed strong growth in the second quarter of the hear, with gross domestic product (GDP) at…
Letters
Coalition Urges Fiscal Restraint on Infrastructure Package
Dear Representative: The undersigned organizations ask you to place common sense parameters on the next legislation to address our nation’s infrastructure. As our economy continues…
National Review
Biden’s Executive Order Moves the U.S. One Step Closer to Rule by Decree
President Biden’s sweeping executive order on competition is a strange beast. It lurches from lofty claims about encouraging competition to niggling complaints about…
National Review
Biden’s Regulatory Pen and Phone Must Be Replaced with an ‘Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act’
For folks who talk about boring topics such as federal regulation, it’s normal to discuss costs and counts. I’m one of those people. I actually enjoy writing…
News Release
CEI Experts React to President Biden’s Wide-Ranging Executive Order on Competition
President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy today, which the White House claims is aimed at enhancing…
Real Clear Policy
Don’t Knock ‘Rainbow Capitalism’ – Business Is an Essential LGBT Ally
During last month’s pride celebrations, there was a lot of debate about corporations and their embrace of Pride Month. As with any popular holiday, corporate…
Blog
Digital Yuan Threatens Global Freedom
“[Bitcoin] is an escape hatch from tyranny and nothing less than freedom money.” – Alex Gladstein, Human Rights Foundation The world is recognizing…
Blog
Reviewing SEC Climate Disclosure Comments
Earlier this week, I wrote a short summary of the comments from myself and my colleague Marlo Lewis to the Securities and…
Blog
Boeing-Airbus Dispute Remains Unsolved: Tariffs Gone, Subsidies Stay
The European Union and the United States eagerly announced today that they had resolved their 17-year dispute over aerospace subsidies. They exaggerate their claims.
Blog
Climate Disclosure Comments to the SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Allison Herren Lee solicited comments on climate change from the public back on March 15, and the deadline for…
The FinReg Blog
How Policymakers Can Defuse a Major Esg Threat to Shareholder Rights
Since 2004, when the term “ESG” was first used in a report published by the United Nations Global Compact, there has been an explosion of interest…
News Release
Facebook’s Content Moderation Decisions Preferable to One-Size-Fits-All Government Regulation
Facebook announced today it suspended former President Donald Trump from the platform for two years retroactive to January 7, 2021. Responding to a ruling against…
Blog
What Inflation Is, and What It Isn’t
It looks like we’re in for a bit of inflation. After decades of stable 2 percent inflation, the latest indicators say it’s moving up…
National Review
When ‘Voluntary’ Becomes Obligatory — Regulatory Creep and the SEC
There was a time — not so long ago — when it was widely accepted that the primary purpose of a corporation was to generate return…
Fortune
The SEC May Get Tougher On ESG Claims—Shaking Things Up For Investors
As Gary Gensler takes the helm at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), he’ll face decisions on a raft of high-profile issues—including cryptocurrency, the …
News Release
Report: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Goals Remain Vague but Pose Major Threat
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report takes a close look at environmental, social, and governance (ESG) theory, a trending cause aimed at pressuring for-profit…
Blog
Is the Biden Administration Socialist?
One of the points I make in The Socialist Temptation is that today’s “democratic socialists” don’t really know what they mean by socialism. Nor…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition of 23 in Urging Pro-Growth Business Tax Policy
View Full Document as PDF Dear Chairman Wyden, Chairman Neal, Ranking Member Crapo, and Ranking Member Brady: On behalf of the undersigned taxpayer,…
Fox Business
SEC’s Gary Gensler Eyes Crypto And Climate Change With Confirmation Official
Fox Business cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on ESG: ESG advocates are likely to try to stretch the definition of material as far as…
FEE
Got Woke: A Review of ‘The Dictatorship of Woke Capital’
How did corporate America, long considered one of the most conservative American institutions, become a lead protagonist in a culture war over all manner of…
Blog
Americans Ambivalent about Billionaire Influence, Reject Left-Wing Hostility
New polling, recently written up at Reason, shows that the American public isn’t nearly as hostile to capitalism, and the leaders of big…
Las Vegas Review Journal
EDITORIAL: Infrastructure Package Meets Federal Red Tape
The Las Vegas Review-Journal cites Senior Fellow Mario Loyola on Biden’s infrastructure plan: The projects that might survive the legislative process as part of…
National Review
Corporations Don’t Pay Corporate Taxes. People Do
A mammoth infrastructure bill is on the way from Congress, and policy-makers are touting a corporate-tax-rate hike to help pay for it. Treasury secretary…
The Wall Street Journal
It Takes Lots of Permits to Save the Planet
President Biden’s infrastructure plan proposes to spend trillions of dollars toward achieving zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. It won’t reach that goal, for two reasons.
News Release
CEI Experts Say Biden “Infrastructure” Plan Will Harm Economy, Raise Taxes and Costs for Consumers
President Joe Biden’s proposed legislative package to increase taxes and spend trillions was released today by the White House. The wide-ranging bill included provisions on…
News Release
CEI Commends Sen. Lankford for Introducing Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act
On Thursday, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act. The bill would establish an independent commission to…
Small Business Advocate
AUDIO: How Much Does Private Crypto-Currency Threaten Sovereign States?
Senior Fellow John Berlau joins Jim Blasingame to debate the influence private cryptocurrencies could have on the marketplace, our relationship with government, and the viability…
Small Business Advocate
AUDIO: Dealing With the Reality of Digital Payments and Crypto-Currency
Senior Fellow John Berlau joins Jim Blasingame to discuss the difference between the government’s idea of a digital or crypto-currency and that of the private…
Small Business Advocate
AUDIO: What George Washington would think about 2021 America
Senior Fellow John Berlau joins Jim Blasingame to report how America’s father, George Washington, would think about the 2021 marketplace, and why he wouldn’t be…
Marketplace
Next on Democrats’ Agenda, a “Holistic” Infrastructure Bill
Marketplace cites Senior Fellow Mario Loyola on the Biden administration’s infrastructure package: “Once you’re starting to spend, you know, a trillion or $2 trillion…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Opposition to State Mandate for No Tax Cuts
View Full Document as PDF We, the undersigned organizations, representing millions of Americans and thousands of state and local officials, write to express…
News Release
CEI Offers Reform Ideas to Congress Aimed at Fostering Resilience and Promoting Economic Renewal
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) offered a set of policy reform goals for the 117th Congress focused on economic stimulus and regulatory…
Study
Free to Prosper
View Full Document as PDF Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 117th Congress highlights specific steps lawmakers can take to rein in…
Forbes
Republican Surrender To Regulatory Progressivism Is The Wind Beneath Biden’s Wings
Republican senators may have voted in lockstep against Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, but they still played a role. A year ago, Senators…
News Release
Covid ‘Relief’ Bill Spends Billions on Items Unrelated to Crisis Recovery and Risks Inflation
The House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on final passage of the ‘American Rescue Plan Act,’ a $1.9 trillion proposal touted as…
The Washington Times
Biden Overturned Trump Deregulation Rule That Saved U.S. $160 Billion: Analysis
The Washington Times cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on regulations and the Biden administration: “Biden has jettisoned … most of what Trump…
Blog
New President, Same Bad Policies
The Trump administration’s trade war gave economics teachers countless real-world examples of bad policy they can use in the classroom. A new open letter…
Blog
Gensler Agenda at SEC Bears Close Watching
President Biden has chosen former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Gary Gensler as his nominee to be chair of the Securities and Exchange…
Blog
Toward Simplifying Antitrust Regulation
Antitrust regulation is a complex mess. Multiple agencies have overlapping jurisdiction with no set rules for determining who takes which cases. One of the antitrust…
Blog
Best Books of 2020: Joseph Henrich – The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
It’s early, but The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich will likely be…
Blog
Best Books of 2020: Virgil Henry Storr and Ginny Seung Choi – Do Markets Corrupt Our Morals? (Palgrave MacMillan, 2019)
Most people see markets as dens of greed and moral corruption. In their new book, Do Markets Corrupt Our Morals?, Virgil…
Blog
Some Frequently Asked Questions about Socialism
During my virtual “tour” for the release of my book, The Socialist Temptation, certain questions came up regularly. I have already set out my…
News Release
Corporate Transparency Act Threatens Small Businesses, Privacy Rights
The House today is expected to pass a controversial bill impacting a wide swath of American businesses, as part of the must-pass National Defense Authorization…
Blog
Biden Team Expected to Take Hatchet to Pension Protection Rule
The Department of Labor, under the leadership of Secretary Eugene Scalia, implemented an important (though widely misunderstood) rule this year, regarding how federally regulated pension…
Blog
Retro Review: The Communist Manifesto (1848)
The manifesto of the Communist party, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1847 and first published the next year, has a legendary pair…
Watch Rushing In: The John Wood Story
New CEI Documentary Spotlights Entrepreneur Who Kept Diner Open To Feed Thousands during Lockdowns
During this pandemic and time of social unrest, many people wish they could take action and might not think that small, organized steps could positively…
Blog
High CEO Pay Isn’t Making Anyone Poor
While most American are still following the final vote counts in the 2020 presidential election, many lower-profile, but still important, issues have been decided at…
National Review
Free-Market Victories down the Ballot
The top of the ticket got most of the press, but for free-market enthusiasts, much of the real 2020 action was down ballot. As of…
Blog
James Madison on Why Politics Ruins Everything
Politics has a way of ruining everything. Even kind and intelligent people go through an instant metamorphosis when the conversation changes to politics. Their body…
Blog
New CEI Paper: Antitrust Policy in Europe, Lessons for America
Today, CEI is releasing a new paper on antitrust policy in the European Union by Swiss competition commissioner Henrique Schneider. Europe’s approach to competition…
Blog
Not the Strongest Case: DOJ’s Google Antitrust Complaint
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust complaint against Google. It marks the beginning of the first major monopolization case since the…
Blog
New CEI Report: Making Sure a COVID-19 Vaccine Is Used
One or more COVID-19 vaccines will likely be approved in the next few months. But this scientific achievement may prove to be the easy part.
Blog
Forty Years of Freedom: Rail Deregulation Worked
Forty years ago today, President Carter signed the Staggers Act, which deregulated the American freight rail industry. As CEI has long maintained, this…
Blog
Tit-for-Tat Tariffs Don’t Work: Boeing and Airbus Show Why
A 16 year-long aerospace subsidies dispute between the United States and the European Union began another round this week. The U.S. claims that the EU’s…
Blog
Jean-Baptiste Say on Manufacturing Nostalgia and Industrial Policy
In his 1803 A Treatise on Political Economy, Jean-Baptiste Say writes: "Production is the creation, not of matter, but of utility." That captures one of…
Blog
Court-Packing Isn’t the Left’s Only Threat to the Supreme Court
The Left’s threat to the pack the Court by expanding the number of justices seems to be unpopular. But they have proposed other policies that…
National Review
Trump Translation Service: ‘There Won’t Be a Transfer of Power’
I’ve been noodling the idea of launching a Trump Translation Service for the large number of Trumpish phrases that his critics and the media don’t…
Blog
New Paper: Antitrust Regulation is #NeverNeeded
My colleague Jessica Melugin and I, along with our former colleague Patrick Hedger, have a new paper out today, “Repeal #NeverNeeded Antitrust Laws that…
Blog
Climate Cronyism: Big Businesses Tailor Policy to Benefit Themselves
A shorter version of this post was published as an op-ed in the Washington Examiner last week. The Business Roundtable (BRT), an association of…
The Washington Examiner
Climate Change Cronyism: Big Businesses Tailor Policy to Benefit Themselves at Your Cost
An association of CEOs of large, U.S.-based corporations has joined the global warming bandwagon, releasing a new policy document, “Addressing Climate…
Blog
Do We Want Corporations to Be Society’s Moral Referees?
The New York Times is observing the 50th anniversary of Milton Friedman’s famous article “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”…
Blog
Socialism, Nationalism, and Political Control: Iain Murray on The Remnant
My colleague Iain Murray had a fascinating conversation this week with The Remnant’s Jonah Goldberg about his excellent new book, The Socialist Temptation.
AM 790 WNIS
AM 790 WNIS
AM 790 WNIS AM790 NewsTalk WNIS cites CEI on economy and regulation. Competitive Enterprise Institute is a free-market think tank that seeks to reform the administrative…
National Review
Let a Thousand ESG Certifiers Bloom
The business world has recently seen a dramatic increase in the vogue for “socially responsible” rules of behavior. Companies are encouraged to make environmental, social, and…
Blog
Are Scandinavian Countries Socialist?
Are modern Scandinavian countries actually socialist? This question must be asked because it is a common rhetorical device of “democratic socialist” politicians to wave away…
National Review
When George Washington Met Moses
In 1790, the United States of America was a new nation, but Moses Seixas was already living what would come to be called the American Dream.
National Review
Why Are We Even Contemplating Canceling Aristotle?
There is a good piece hidden in philosopher Agnes Callard’s recent article for the New York Times about cancel culture. Unfortunately, that piece is lost in the framing device.
National Review
Socialists on the March
Last week, several self-proclaimed Democratic Socialists defeated long-serving Democratic incumbents in New York State primaries. One of the insurgents, Zohran Mamdani, tweeted out the words, “Socialism won.” His pinned tweet on…
The Capitalist League
Iain Murray: Socialism, Capitalism, and American Values
One of the most important things I learned at the feet of Fred Smith, founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, was that most Americans don’t…
Town Hall
Socialism and the Cultural Revolution
In the 1953 classic film The Wild One, a girl asks Marlon Brando’s smoldering Johnny Strabler what he is rebelling against. He answers, “What’ve you got?”…
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Richard Morrison
Senior Fellow
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Ryan Young
Senior Economist
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform