Consumers get forgotten in all the politics. The best way to protect consumers is to protect an open, competitive market process, in which companies succeed or fail based not on their political connections or ideological correctness, but on how well they serve consumers.
Antitrust regulation’s problems are structural and incurable. The Competitive Enterprise Institutes advocates abolishing antitrust law, removing remaining government monopolies, and preventing the creation of new ones.
Featured Posts
The Wall Street Journal
‘Net Neutrality’ Faces a Stiff Judicial Test
The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday along partisan lines to reclassify broadband internet access service as a common carrier telecommunications service under Title II of…
Blog
FTC tightens grip over its in-house judges
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) possesses one of the most conflicted administrative law court (ALC) systems. The agency recently began hiring new administrative…
News Release
Spirit Announces Furloughs after Biden, Court Scuttle Merger with JetBlue
In the wake of an adverse court ruling and a Biden administration threat to stop a merger between budget airlines Spirit Airlines and JetBlue, the…
Search Posts
Blog
Best Books of 2018: Life after Google
Are Tucker Carlson’s predictions of Google taking over the future keeping you up at night? Sooth yourself with the creative destruction described in “Life after…
Blog
Year in Review 2018: Antitrust
If 2018 was a bad year for antitrust skeptics, 2019 promises to be worse. We must hope that the Federal Trade Commission and Department of…
Blog
CEI Takes on Antitrust
There is a concerted effort from elements on both sides of the political aisle to use antitrust law to regulate and ultimately break apart Big…
Blog
Top Ten Antitrust Targets
Columbia University professor Tim Wu is author of the new book The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age, which calls for a…
Blog
Last-Minute Delay in CVS-Aetna Deal Could Threaten Consumer Benefits
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon surprised many on Monday when he announced he may halt the integration of CVS pharmacy’s assets with the nation’s…
Study
Antitrust FAQ
1. What is antitrust? Today’s body of antitrust laws is the culmination of over one hundred years of unclear objectives, contradictory interpretations, and controversial court decisions.
Blog
Repeal Barriers to Competition: Abolish Antitrust
My colleague Iain Murray has some excellent new content out today in the form of a Web Memo titled “How Antitrust Regulation Hinders Innovation and…
Study
How Antitrust Regulation Hinders Innovation and Competition
Few economic concepts elicit such strong reactions as that of monopoly, and the policy intended to address it—antitrust regulations (called competition policy in the European…
Blog
What Do the Midterms Mean for Big Tech?
For the big technology firms, the midterm elections were never going to change much. Whatever the result, they were going to face more scrutiny over the…
Blog
Food Truck Freedom Marches on in North Carolina
There is good news for fans of the Poor Piggy’s BBQ food truck. The town of Carolina Beach, North Carolina has reversed its anticompetitive…
Blog
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Airline Deregulation
Forty years ago today on October 24, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law. This bipartisan legislation led to the elimination…
Blog
Discard Static Market Analysis, Let Sprint and T-Mobile Merge
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has been making a convincing case for a swift and condition-free approval from regulators of the proposed Sprint and T-Mobile…
Blog
New Study Reminds Regulators to Keep Focus on Consumer Welfare in Antitrust
Yesterday the good folks at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) held an important and timely event on the future of antitrust policy. The splotlight…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Requesting Restraint on Social Media Bias Action
We write to express our concern over your plans to convene a meeting of state attorneys general later this month “to discuss a growing concern…
Blog
Free-Market Groups Urge Congress to Eliminate, Not Expand, Electric Vehicle Tax Credits
In a joint letter released this week, thirty free market groups urged House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) to oppose “any effort to expand…
News Release
CEI Response to FCC Overreach on Charter-Time Warner Merger Decision
On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission denied the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) petition for reconsideration of the conditions the agency imposed when Charter Communications, Inc.
Blog
Ditch Antitrust Regulation in Favor of Competing Bigness
The Federal Trade Commission (born in 1914, fathered by Woodrow Wilson) is hosting a series of hearings and discussions on “Competition and Consumer Protection…
Comment
CEI Comments on the Federal Trade Commission’s Hearings Regarding Competition and Consumer Protection Policy
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) respectfully submits these comments regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s forthcoming hearings to consider whether evolving business models in the new…
Blog
New York City Continues War on Affordable Consumer Travel
Yesterday, the New York City Council voted to impose a one-year cap on the number of ride-hailing vehicles able to operate in the city.
Blog
Real Sin for Social Media Companies Not ‘Censorship,’ but Getting into Bed with Government
Social media outlets have been filled with commentary this week about the decisions by Apple, Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify to remove content created by…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Opposition of Fair Fees Amendment in FAA
View Full Document as PDF The Honorable John Thune Chairman Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Dear Chairman Thune:…
Blog
The Platform Economy Can Change the World
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute launches its new video about the platform economy. Platforms are an ancient way of doing business—think of matchmakers, city fairs,…
National Review
The EU Attempts to Become the World’s Antitrust Regulator
The European Union recently announced it would fine Google $5 billion for alleged anti-competitive practices in the licensing of its Android smartphone operating system. There…
News Release
CEI Criticizes European Union’s Antitrust Decision Against Google
The European Union announced its decision today to fine Google $5 billion in an antitrust case involving the tech giant’s Android operating system. Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
European Regulators Wrong on Google Fine, Wrong on Antitrust Policy
Dominance and popularity are not the same as a coercive monopoly. The European Commission is behaving in protectionist fashion, not in a manner benefitting consumers,…
Blog
Justice Department Shouldn’t Second-Guess Shareholders in T-Mobile-Sprint Merger
T-Mobile and Sprint—the third and fourth largest mobile carriers in the United States, respectively—are in the process of merging into a single company…
News Release
CEI: Consumers Will Suffer if AT&T-Time Warner Merger is Delayed or Scuttled
Yesterday, the Department of Justice appealed a courts’ decision to approve the AT&T-Time Warner merger in a filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Blog
A Quick Lesson in Antitrust: Netflix and Comcast
Every time a major corporate merger is announced, pundits predictably warn of impending doom if regulators allow it to happen. Yet, pundits and regulators don’t know any…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Support of T-Mobile Sprint Merger
We understand that the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on June 27…
Saudi Gazette
High-Stakes Ruling Awaited On AT&T-Time Warner Merger
Saudi Gazette cited Clyde Wayne Crews on the inadequacy of government for responding to growing competition against traditional media outlets, which has been exacerbated by…
News Release
CEI Commends Judge’s Approval of AT&T-Time Warner Deal in Antitrust Lawsuit
Today, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon approved the AT&T-Time Warner merger. Judge Leon rejected the Justice Department’s argument in its antitrust lawsuit aimed at blocking…
Forbes
What the AT&T-Time Warner Merger Decision Means for U.S. Regulation
President Donald Trump's moves to streamline federal regulation and unleash infrastructure have in some ways been unprecedented. But some developments could undermine or swamp the…
Blog
Congress Should Reform Antitrust Law with SMARTER Act
When an American company wishes to merge with or acquire another company, reaching an agreement that satisfies both firms’ owners and managers is not always…
Blog
A New Bibliography for the Platform Economy
The future has arrived, and it is a radically different economy. Havas Media’s Tom Goodwin pointed out in 2015, “Uber, the world’s largest taxi…
Blog
Zuckerberg Testimony Hints at Devil’s Bargain with Big Government
Much of the political class in Washington, D.C. is currently holding its breath for the big event of the week: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s long-awaited…
Blog
Consumers Lose in European Union’s Struggle against Google
Anti-technology hysteria continues to build in the European Union. Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, confirmed today that she is still considering breaking…
Fox Business
Dropbox IPO Shows Tech Upstarts Still Have It
The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) by Dropbox, Inc. was a success, shares soared about 40% in the debut. The pop also tells us a…
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
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…
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…
Variety
AT&T-Time Warner Merger: Does the DOJ Have a Case?
Variety quoted Ted Frank and Frank Bednarz on the impact that fear of large business firms has on the Department of Justice and the results…
The New York Times
Justice Department Sues to Block AT&T-Time Warner Merger
The New York Times cited Ryan Radia on lack of impact which the AT&T-Time Warner merger would pose to any distinct market. The…
Investor's Business Daily
A Tale Of Two Decisions: Trump Administration Got Antitrust Wrong, But Net Neutrality Right
Investor’s Business Daily quoted Frank Bednarz on emerging sentiments held by lawyers recently emerging from Law School which consider the centralization of industrialization to be…
CNN
Some Politicians and Advocacy Groups Cautiously Praise DOJ’s AT&T Lawsuit
CNN cited Ryan Radia on the lack of impact a merger between the merger of AT&T-Time Warner and the merger being a vertical transaction which…
Blog
Theory and Practice Argue We Should Abolish Antitrust Laws
Laws about competition should be restricted to laws preventing government from playing favorites. Government-erected barriers against competition or innovation need to be torn down. As…
National Review
Misplaced Trust in Antitrust
I was mystified to see Robert VerBruggen’s story in the latest issue calling for “gentle approaches” to solving what he regards as a monopoly…
The Washington Times
Conservatives Fear More Left-Leaning Media With AT&T, Time Warner Merger
The Washington Times quotes Wayne Crews on the traditional importance of deregulation in communications for conservative policy and how traditional media conglomerates are losing influence…
Blog
Antitrust Resurgence Could Transform Tech Innovators into Lumbering Public Utilities
Regulation in the technology sector is worse than government merely picking winners and losers.
Blog
Who Will Regulate Tom Wheeler?
When free competition suffers, it is government intervention that is the problem, not the companies doing the competing.
Blog
Disney and Fox Merger Will Boost Competition; That’s Good for Everyone
The Walt Disney Company has come to an agreement to buy most of 21st Century Fox’s assets for $52.4 billion, but before the deal…
Staff & Scholars
Richard Morrison
Senior Fellow
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Trade and International
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Ryan Young
Senior Economist
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform
Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
Alex Reinauer
Research Fellow
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Tech and Telecom