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Free the Economy podcast: Educating for liberty with Richard Lorenc
Our guest for this week’s episode is Richard Lorenc, formerly of the Foundation for Economic Education and Iron Light and now President…
Daily Wire
Slaughter Gets Separation
On Monday, the Supreme Court hewed closely to the Constitution’s important organizing principle in a 6-3 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter. The separation of powers…
Blog
The week in regulations: Radiology software and foreign atomic energy assistance
No new regulations were issued on Friday in honor of Juneteenth, the most classically liberal holiday there is. President Trump signed an agreement…
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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…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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)…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform