Featured Posts
Forbes
Shutdowns Aren’t The Problem, They’re The Solution
Federal shutdowns—along with the debt limit like that the Republicans sought to extend in the American Relief Act (ARA)—may represent the last remaining…
Blog
Time to downsize presidential power
Over at InsideSources, I have a syndicated column arguing that the presidency has grown too powerful. The best parting gift President Biden could give…
The American Spectator
Regulations’ Enormous Costs and DOGE’s Enormous Upside
The American Spectator cited CEI’s Ten Thousand Commandments Wayne Crews, author of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s “Ten Thousand Commandments” study, produced a price tag that…
Search Posts
Blog
Ratios, Not People: The Wrong Approach to Inequality
Thomas Piketty, the best-selling author of Capital in the 21st Century, has a new paper on economic inequality with coauthors Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.
Foundation for Economic Education
San Francisco Turns against Its Own Startup Airbnb
San Francisco is the birthplace of Airbnb. Even so, politicians in this city have created some of the most restrictive home-sharing regulations in the…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Western and Soviet Politics
In this episode, historian Andrew Roberts and Russian émigré Alexander Markovsky compare Western and Soviet politics.
Study
Free to Prosper
The 115th Congress is poised to tackle regulatory reform. Check out CEI's recommendations to move America toward economic growth, prosperity, and liberty.
Foundation for Economic Education
How AirBNB Awakens Dormant Capital
Every day, modern liberal economies create wealth. That wealth translates into better health, better education, art, literature, and the finer things of life. We only…
Independent Journal Review
It’s Time For The New President And Congress To Think Big When It Comes To Cutting Government Waste
Political revolutions don’t come around often: Margaret Thatcher in Britain in 1979, the fall of the Berlin Wall in Eastern Europe in 1990, the Contract…
Blog
Free Market Opportunities for the Trump Administration
This election has given us one more demonstration that knowledge is dispersed and “trusting the experts” to know the future is foolish. The unexpected success…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: The Nanny State Down Under and the Robot Revolution
In this week’s episode, Topher Field discusses lifestyle regulation madness Down Under and Katherine Mangu-Ward ushers in the robot revolution.
Blog
Audience Reactions to “I, Whiskey”
Since releasing the new film I, Whiskey: The Human Spirit last month, we’ve had an excellent response from people around the country.
Foundation for Economic Education
An Existential Threat to the UK’s Sharing Economy
A UK Employment Tribunal has ruled that drivers who use the Uber platform should be regarded as employees. This qualifies them for various statutory…
Blog
Finding the Perfect Quote for “I, Whiskey”
How would the film end? I, Pencil began with a memorable quotation. We would end I, Whiskey with a provocative one. Give the audience something…
Blog
Learning Lessons from Reed’s ‘Real Heroes’
About a dozen years ago, I developed a habit of asking the same question when I interviewed someone for a job. Typically, about two-thirds of…
Blog
Meet the Stars of “I, Whiskey”
CEI’s new film I, Whiskey: The Human Spirit is about freedom and innovation, but also about making human connections in the marketplace.
Blog
Dueling Narratives on the AT&T-Time Warner “Mega Merger”
This weekend AT&T and Time Warner announced a merger deal and it didn't take long for critics on the left to begin making concerned statements…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: The Spirit of 1776 and the Reality of War
In this episode, West Point Professor, Dr. Robert McDonald discusses Thomas Jefferson’s legacy and renowned collector and founder of the Museum of World War II,…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: American Cuisine and Whiskey
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Paul Freedman and Rick Wasmund treat us to delicious courses of American cuisine and whiskey.
Blog
The Inspiration Behind the New Film “I, Whiskey”
I think it can be said all films have an unexpected Genesis, an unlikely, improbable trajectory. I, Whiskey was no exception.
Investor's Business Daily
‘I, Whiskey’: Free Markets And The Human Spirit
In a political season that's seen a lot of skepticism about big business and trade, it can be good to step back and remind…
Blog
New Study Explores the Morality and Virtues of Capitalism
Fred Smith's new study on the morality of capitalism discusses how we think about corporations as economic actors.
Blog
Facebook Makes the Case for “Free Basics” Internet Access
Facebook is lobbying the White House for the government’s blessing to offer its “Free Basics” service in the United States, according to a story reported…
Blog
Early Reviews Are in for “I, Whiskey”
The long wait is over – CEI has released the full version of the new film I, Whiskey: The Human Spirit online.
Blog
The Film That Came before “I, Whiskey”
Next Wednesday, October 12th, CEI will release the new short film I, Whiskey: The Human Spirit.
Blog
Federal Communications Commission Delays Vote on Cable Box Rules
How would the proposed rules change cable set-top boxes?…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Penniless Presidencies and Fashioning America
This week, we discuss two new books covering the national debt crisis and political values with authors Dr. Alan Axelrod and Cathy Lynn Taylor.
Cato Journal
Review of “Markets without Limits”
Are there some things that should be beyond the market, that is, which should not be permitted to be bought and sold? Jason Brennan and Peter Jaworski…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Sensible Science and Authenticity
On this week’s RealClear Radio Hour, Tracey Brown weighs risk, reward, and science, and Glenn Carroll describes authenticity’s paradox.
Blog
New Drug Price Proposal Light on Competition, Heavy on Bureaucracy
Last Friday, Hillary Clinton announced a new plan to “respond to unjustified price hikes” on certain pharmaceutical drugs.
Forbes
Brexit Planners Should Look To The U.S. For Inspiration
In June, British voters voted to leave the European Union, whose bureaucracy had imposed alien laws and regulations on them for decades. The EU system…
Blog
31 Is the Loneliest Number… on the CEI Calendar
We just realized that August 31st is missing from CEI's 2016 Cartoon Calendar.
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Budding CEOs, Women, and Politics
On this week’s episode, Jeff Sandefer tells how children younger than 10 are wowing Shark Tank investors and Sarah Skwire compares the feminism of free…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Taxpayers on the Hook
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Michael Tanner tallies Uncle Sam’s ballooning entitlement debt and Romina Boccia pulls back the cover on the Beltway crony…
Forbes
Capitalism and the Candidates
As a longtime advocate for capitalism, I’ve been considering the prospects for free market ideas in a White House presided over by either of the…
Blog
Celebrating Two Great Economists: Bruce Yandle and Julian Simon
I’d like to second my colleague Fred’s birthday wishes for the distinguished economist Bruce Yandle of Clemson University.
Blog
Happy Birthday to Economist Bruce Yandle
Bruce Yandle – a great economic scholar at Clemson University for many years and recipient of the 2016 Julian Simon Award – reaches his 83rd…
Blog
“Comeback” Documents Real-life Americans Overcoming Adversity
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), and the nonprofit group Opportunity Lives recently hosted a screening of Comeback, a documentary series highlighting the strengths of American…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Social Justice and Overcriminalization
This week on RealClear Radio Hour we look at two sides of criminal justice reform—from encouraging entrepreneurial hustle and productive reentry into society to reining…
Blog
Reason’s Bastiat Journalism Prize Celebrates Writers Who Advance Freedom
Leftist intellectual and media bias can be as disheartening and maddening as it is relentless. So thank goodness for the Reason Foundation and its annual…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Freedom Rising
This week’s RealClear Radio Hour was recorded in Las Vegas at FreedomFest 2016, the trade show for liberty.
Forbes
Antitrust Regulation And The 2016 Party Platform Debates
Having never been a fan of antitrust protectionism, I found it interesting that (according to Bloomberg) while Democrats are highlighting antitrust in their…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: U.S. Constitutionalist and Soviet Dissident
In this episode of RealClear Radio Hour, we contrast constitutionalism and socialism.
Blog
Politics and Economics Collide with Pokémon Go
It seems strange to think it’s been barely a week since Pokémon Go became the dominant pop culture phenomenon of the summer. Publications better known…
Blog
Kim Strassel Offers Prescient Look at Political ‘Intimidation Game’
Prescience is an odd quality to attribute to a book-length treatment of recent history. Nonetheless, The Intimidation Game by Kimberly Strassel adheres closely to Antonio’s…
Blog
Five Freedoms We Defend This Fourth
How are you celebrating Independence Day? Whether your plans involve a fireworks display or a barbecue with friends, we hope that this 4th of July…
Blog
Will the Sharing Economy Give Us Greater Economic Mobility?
Last night the R Street Institute sponsored a fascinating policy panel here in Washington, D.C., “Boost or Barrier? Upward mobility in the on-demand economy.”…
Blog
Bill Frezza Wins Economic Writing Prize
Bill Frezza, host of RealClear Radio Hour and CEI fellow, was awarded the Foundation for Economic Education’s 2016 Beth Hoffman prize for economic writing for…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Innovation Economy & State Fiscal Breakdown
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, guests Garrett Johnson and Eileen Norcross explain the importance of developing a more technologically nimble and fiscally responsible government.
Blog
Religious and Economic Liberty Are Intertwined
The massacre in Orlando was a tragic reminder that we’re at war—against hate, against extremism, and against intolerance. Although there are many contributing factors…
Blog
Coming Soon: International Mayors for Inconvenient Travel
While we wait to see whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo will sign legislation targeting home-share listings in New York, the governmental response to the sharing economy’s…
Blog
Building on the Optimism of “Uber-Positive” Attitudes
There’s a new resource for understanding the state of play between politics and developments in the sharing economy, the pleasantly slim volume by the Manhattan…
Blog
Why Shouldn’t the Energy Department Run the Entire Economy?
New Energy Department standards for dehumidifiers promise massive benefits. Depending on which set of numbers you prefer (the link goes to the Energy Department’s own…
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