Featured Posts
Blog
Section 338: Trump’s latest tariff tool could send trade policy uncertainty soaring
Just when businesses thought they had enough tariff uncertainty to manage, another chapter emerges. By turning a nearly century-old provision of trade law into…
Blog
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…
Search Posts
News Release
Tariffs loom over US economy’s disappointing job gains for December 2025
The US economy added a disappointing 50,000 jobs in December 2025, according to government data. CEI experts point to tariffs and economic uncertainty as…
Reason
Federal Red Tape Plunges Under Trump
Reason cited CEI’s expert on regulatory activity “While Biden’s 2024 Federal Register totaled 106,109 pages—the highest in history—the 2025 volume closed the year…
News Release
Report urges yearly sunset for all government regulations following Idaho success
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report urges an annual sunset date for all government regulations, offering a case study on this reform already implemented…
Pacific Legal Foundation
Federalism 240 years after the Constitutional Convention: Federalist 32
Pacific Legal Foundation cited CEI on 10kc Federal regulatory accumulation has swarmed the states and localities with hundreds of requirements. Congress has…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Climate policy endangerment with Marlo Lewis
In this week’s episode we talk about tariff refunds, Affordable Care Act subsidies, Ryan Young’s Books of the Year for…
News Release
Third quarter 2025 GDP growth impressive despite tariff burden: CEI analysis
After a shutdown-related delay, the initial estimate for third quarter GDP is in – a strong 4.3 percent growth. That’s impressive in the midst…
Blog
California and EU’s Climate Disclosure Policies Face Major Setbacks
As we close out 2025, corporate leaders in the US should breathe a sigh of regulatory relief. On top of the deregulatory spree that…
Blog
Deregulation’s year-end illusion
As the year winds down, The Trump administration is congratulating itself on deregulation. In a White House statement and in what it described…
The Daily Economy
Breakneck: Dan Wang Explores the Strange Symmetry of US and China
The title of Dan Wang’s book Breakneck focuses on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) specifically, but it is really about the self-conscious great-power…
The Daily Economy
Keeping the Towers Open When Government Closes
On most days, America’s air traffic control system is invisible. The radar screens flicker, the controllers thread needles as planes approach and depart, and…
News Release
US economy added 64,000 jobs in November but underemployment and stagflation cause concern: CEI analysis
The US Labor Department released its report today on jobs added to the economy in November 2025, a modest gain. But underemployment and…
Blog
Trump’s AI order: Preempting the states without unleashing Washington
A new Trump executive order, “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence,” pushes back on most state law and rulemaking affecting AI.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: The business of America with Neil Bradley
In this week’s episode we cover the economic effects of net-zero policies in blue states and Europe, top targets for…
News Release
Fed cuts interest rates in December meeting: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve today cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, a sign the board is wrangling with tradeoffs, say CEI economy experts.
Legal Brief
Brief of Amici Curiae: Pung v. Isabella
In Pung v. Isabella County: CEI attorneys urged the U.S. Supreme Court to stop tax-foreclosure practices that strip homeowners of their equity, because they…
Blog
Politics over pensions: An ESG report card for proxy voting
Unleashing Prosperity (UP) recently released a timely report, “Putting Politics Over Pensions: The 2025 Unleash Prosperity Report Card on Investment Fund Managers and…
News Release
Consumer price inflation accelerating, recent government report shows: CEI analysis
Today the federal government released inflation data on consumer prices dating back to the month of September (having been delayed due to the weeks-long…
Letters
CEI Letter of Support on the Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act
Members of Congress, We write to reiterate our strong support for Rep. Van Duyne’s (TX-24) Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act…
DC Journal
Public Interest Requires the FCC to Abolish the News Distortion Standard
For decades, the Federal Communications Commission has invoked the public interest to regulate the speech of television and radio stations licensed by the agency.
Law & Liberty
America’s Hidden Judiciary
Unbeknownst to most Americans, federal regulatory agencies have their own court system for adjudicating disputes that businesses and citizens have with regulators. These agencies…
The Daily Signal
The Woman Who Redeemed Chester Arthur
The new Netflix series “Death by Lightning” (based on the fantastic book, “Destiny of the Republic”) tells the true story of President James Garfield’s assassination in 1881…
The Dispatch
Antitrust Law Has Never Been Static
Last week a federal judge ruled that Meta was not an illegal monopoly, citing the changes in the social media landscape since the company…
Blog
The week in regulations: Airport fees and pesticide fragrances
September’s jobs report came out after a shutdown-related delay. The FTC lost its antitrust case against Meta. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from postage…
News Release
New Interior Department plan to increase offshore lease sales will help lower prices, increase supply – CEI experts
Yesterday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a Secretary Order that would replace the Biden administration’s 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and…
The Washington Times
Thanksgiving dinner prices fall for 3rd straight year as inflation cools
The Washington Times cited CEI’s expert on prices Ryan Young, a senior economist at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, said more families are…
RealClear History
Death by Lightning: Fact vs. Fiction
People may think the 2020s in America seem like strange times, but 1881 could give it a run for its money. A corrupt Vice…
Blog
Camelot and misuse of the public interest
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr has used the Communications Act’s public interest obligation to pressure broadcast licensees. This includes threatening ABC…
News Release
Competitive Enterprise Institute documentary releases on YouTube November 19
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is pleased to announce that its award-winning documentary, Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand, will premiere…
DC Journal
Shutdown Lesson: Don’t Depend on D.C.
The federal shutdown is over. Here’s one big takeaway: We need to depend less on Washington. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food aid…
InsideHealthPolicy
Shutdown Stalled Deregulatory Action At HHS, In Congress
“Jeremy Nighohossian, a health policy expert and economist at regulatory reform organization the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), told Inside Health Policy in a statement…
Regulatory Studies Center Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
Exploring the Dynamics of Regulatory Adjudication
In brief… Federal agency adjudication allows certain agencies to oversee and resolve their legal disputes internally. While this process is fairly well documented, what is…
National Review
A Less Perfect Union
Charlie Kirk’s tragic murder has had ramifications across America, but one of its strangest consequences has been to bring a venerable British institution to the…
Study
Freedom, Broadcasting, and the Public Interest
Introduction The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is invoking the public interest to justify regulatory moves that would, in theory, force television and radio station…
The Daily Economy
Digital ID and the Return of Big Brother Britain
Fresh out of university and looking for a career in public policy, I interviewed for a job in the Conservative Research Department of the…
News Release
Interest rates cut again, Fed to stop shrinking balance sheet in December: CEI analysis
Today, the Federal Reserve announced an interest rate cut of 25 basis points, in line with economists’ predictions. CEI senior economist Ryan…
News Release
Frack to the Future with North Dakota’s permitting success
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report highlighting North Dakota’s user-friendly environmental permitting laws. “North Dakota has always been…
Study
Frack to the Future
Introduction North Dakota is typically known for the Badlands, agriculture, Fargo (thanks, Coen brothers), cold weather, and its flat landscape. Yet, due to technological…
Fox Business
Federal Reserve faces dilemma amid expected rate cut decision
FOX Business cited CEI’s expert on inflation data The latest inflation data from September released on Friday showed that the consumer…
Forbes
Washington’s Hidden Rulebook: The 2025 Darklore Depository And The Case For Guidance Document Reform
Agencies also say “BOO” with guidance documents, statements of policy, memoranda, notices, bulletins, advisory opinions, directives, news releases, letters and even blog posts.
Washington Examiner
No excuse for price floors in rare earths dispute
Parents don’t tolerate “But they do it, too” as an excuse from their children. What about when adults in positions of power use it?…
Blog
Rare earths and China: Choose deregulation, not price controls
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to implement price controls on unspecified goods if China continues to restrict rare earth mineral exports. Over at the…
News Release
Inflation increased 0.3 percent in September, higher prices still sticking around: CEI analysis
September saw an inflation increase of 0.3 percent across all sectors, in line with economists’ predictions. CEI senior economist Ryan Young says…
Forbes
$1 Trillion And Counting: Do Federal Grants Sabotage Regulatory Reform?
There’s been much attention to Donald Trump’s streamlining and “deconstruction” of conventional notice-and-comment regulation this year – a campaign that…
Blog
In absence of federal action, states begin challenging the proxy duopoly
The two largest proxy advisors, Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), have dominated the proxy voting market for the past 22 years. Following…
Comment
Comments urging withdrawal of Chopra CFPB open banking mandate
Dear Acting Director Vought: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I appreciate the opportunity to submit comments on RIN 3170-AB39, CFPB’s reconsideration…
Comment
CEI Comments on the FTC’s Draft Strategic Plan for FY 2026–2030: Supporting Balanced Enforcement, Evidence-Based Policymaking, and Regulatory Predictability
[Author’s correction: This comment incorrectly stated that the Federal Trade Commission’s Draft Strategic Plan for FY 2026-2030 failed to comply with the Foundations for…
The Daily Signal
Is a Leftist-Created Corner of the Bureaucracy Defying the Government Shutdown?
The Daily Signal cited CEI’s expert on the CFPB Despite limits, with Vought at the helm, the CFPB has been headed in a…
Forbes
Small Business Regulation Is Cratering – Here’s The Hidden Catch
But during the Biden administration, red tape proliferated. The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council noted, for example, the toll from credit…
Letters
CEI Joins ATR in Urging Commerce to Reject Patent Tax Proposal Undermining OBBBA Success
Dear Secretary Lutnick: The undersigned organizations represent millions of Americans for whom efforts alongside the Trump administration on the One Big Beautiful Bill…
DC Journal
Counterpoint: Single-Use Plastic Bans Make No Sense
Nobody wants plastic pollution. That doesn’t mean poorly considered and heavy-handed governmental actions are the solution. This includes misguided single-use plastic bans (e.g., bans…
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