Capitalism is the economic system in which a market economy is combined with legal protections for each individual’s rights, including the right to own and dispose of one’s own property as one sees fit. Leaving people free to work, save, and invest, with as little government interference as possible, creates an environment in which wealth grows and society advances.
Defending that system is one of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s primary goals. Regardless of which industry, product, or business model we consider, the same expectations and legal guarantees apply. The role of government officials—whether at the local, state, or federal level—is to create a system of law and policy that allows voluntary contracts to proceed and the gains from them to be enjoyed by their participants.
To the extent that current government policy violates those expectations, it should be reformed or abolished. CEI’s defense of capitalism as an economic and legal system applies to sector-specific law and regulation as well as to economy-wide rules. Our advocacy for regulatory reform of telecommunications, energy, finance, or any other part of the economy rests on the fundamental right of individuals to create, innovate, and build whatever voluntary arrangements they can imagine.
Capitalism Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
America as an act of disobedience
CEI’s annual Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Dinner is on September 23. The theme is American Treasures. This post celebrates one of the…
Blog
The intergenerational John Adams
CEI’s annual Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Dinner is on September 23. The theme is American Treasures. This post celebrates two of the…
Daily Wire
Trump’s $5,000 Down Payment On The Entitlement State
Donald Trump’s $5,000 “dividend” proposal to every U.S. adult should be taken seriously, not because the arithmetic has been worked out, since there isn’t…
Studies
Don’t Panic: A Skeptic’s Guide to the AI Jobs Doomsday
As technology advances it has periodically bred the fear that progress will destroy jobs and livelihoods. History teaches that these fears are usually misplaced.
Giants of the Free Society
Introduction I was invited to deliver remarks to the Philadelphia Society on the subject, “Giants on Whose Shoulders We Stand: What We Owe to…
Zombie Antitrust: Is Robinson-Patman a Dead Law Walking?
Introduction Lawrence O’Brien, well-known confidant and aide to the Kennedys at the height of their 1960s power, entitled his political autobiography No Final Victories.
Blog
The ‘no hire, no fire’ era is starting to crack
Families gathering around the barbeque next Monday to celebrate the national day off from work will probably be grilling more hot dogs and cheap…
The never-ending ferry tale: Why Washington shouldn’t subsidize ferries
The Trump administration recently announced $664.8 million in federal grants for ferry infrastructure, including $28.2 million for North Carolina’s Cherry Branch Ferry Terminal.
Vance wants to break the dollar’s global reserve currency status: Why American consumers would pay
A recently resurfaced video of Vice President J.D. Vance has brought renewed attention to his argument that the US dollar’s status as the…
News
Higher inflation in August as conflict overseas continues to affect domestic prices: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for August shows inflation increased 0.4 percent across all sectors, with one-third of the increase being attributed to…
CEI praises Schumer’s good idea on trade reform
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has introduced a bill, the End Trump’s Tariff Tax Act, to repeal Trump tariffs and duties on Canada…
Consumers will pay the price of a trade war between US & Canada: CEI analysis
Today, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, ranging from 15 percent to 50 percent on approximately $20 billion worth of American imports.
Op-Eds
The Center Square
Don’t panic – Labor Day will still be around in the future
This Labor Day, instead of celebrating work, many Americans may be worrying about how much longer they will even have jobs in the age…
Op-Eds
The Democracy They Warned Us About
The Democratic Socialists of America, an insurgency within the Democratic Party, is having a moment, and it is showing us something worth noticing: This…
Providence
Two Revolutions, Two Constitutions: Constitutionalism in Britain and its Dominions After the American Revolution
A few years ago I attended a convivial lunch with the distinguished British historian David Starkey at the Cato Institute. Prof. Starkey managed to…
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Paige Lambermont
Research Fellow
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
Kent Lassman
President and CEO
- Capitalism
- Deregulation
- Innovation
Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
Richard Morrison
Senior Fellow
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
Alex Reinauer
Research Fellow
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Tech and Telecom
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform