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Declaration of Independence: ringbolt of America’s freedom
Frederick Douglass called the Declaration of Independence the ringbolt to the chain of our national destiny. He argued that its principles are our saving principles.

News Release
June added 147,000 jobs to economy, increase in discouraged workers: CEI analysis
The jobs report for June showed an increase of 147,000 jobs in the economy, exceeding economists’ expectations. An increase in discouraged workers and a…

Blog
New York City breadlines
Zohran Mamdani, a candidate for New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary, proposes to address the city’s housing and affordability crisis through rent control (rent freezes…
Search Posts
Reason
Abolish the Securities and Exchange Commission
Reason cites CEI’s expert on the magnitude of SEC compliance costs Besides, the costs of SEC compliance are staggering. Looking at the climate disclosure rule…
Comment
Student Debt Relief Comment
Re: Student Debt Relief Based on Hardship for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program, the Federal Perkins…
E&E News
Trump win puts endangerment finding in the crosshairs
E&E News cited CEI’s expert on EPA regulations Daren Bakst, a senior fellow and director of the institute’s Center for Energy & Environment, said he…
E&E News
Chris Wright and Sean Duffy hold the keys to Trump’s EV plans. How far will they go?
E&E News quoted CEI’s expert on federal EV support Daren Bakst, an energy and environmental analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, outlined one possible approach…
Law and Liberty
Milton Friedman’s Revenge
It’s rapidly becoming the received wisdom that an important reason President Trump won the 2024 election was because inflation matters. Too many hard-working…
Wall Street Journal
A Thumb on the Scale for Wegovy
The Biden administration announced one more bit of executive overreach on its way out the door. On Nov. 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid…
City Journal
Defying Administrative Tyranny
Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law, by Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze (HarperCollins, 304 pp., $25.60) It’s daunting…
Blog
Republicans shouldn’t do anything lame in the lame duck
Next year is looking good for Republicans at the federal level. Control of the House, Senate, and the White House is a recipe for legislative…
News Release
Trump promises day-one tariffs to the detriment of consumers
President-elect Trump says he will sign an executive order on his first day in office imposing new tariffs on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico.
National Review
Telehealth Is Less Promising Than It First Seemed
A key issue facing Congress in its postelection, “lame duck” session is whether to extend regulatory flexibilities expiring at year end that make telehealth services more…
WSJ Opinion
Recipe for a Regulatory Spring Cleaning
Despite bold promises from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, skeptics doubt that the Department of Government Efficiency can deliver sweeping changes. The scope of federal regulation makes…
CNN
Trump’s Labor secretary pick is surprisingly pro-union. It doesn’t mean his administration will be
CNN’s Chris Isidore relays Sean Higgins’s misgivings about the Trump Labor Dept. nominee “While it is hard to predict what (Chavez-DeRemer) would do as a…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Commentary: Automation could be a problem in retail theft
Headed into the holiday season, the retail industry is wrangling with a surge in shoplifting and possible solutions to prevent theft. The upsurge may be an…
Daily Caller
Trump Could Make Biden’s EV Mandates Obsolete, Revamp Auto Industry With One Move
The Daily Caller cited CEI’s expert on EPA under the Clean Air Act “The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could make a determination that…
Study
Mardi Gras for Permits
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s (LDEQ) Expedited Permit Program, established in 2006, represents an innovative approach to speeding up environmental permit approvals. This report…
Blog
Swamp things: Why DOGE moving Beltway agencies to states isn’t deregulation
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), expected to be established by president-elect Trump and led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, aims to slash regulations,…
Blog
Tariffs are lousy revenue generators
President-elect Donald Trump has proposed cutting income taxes and raising tariffs to replace some of the revenue. Economists of all political stripes have been…
The Daily Economy
Why Fewer Are Trying to Climb the Corporate Ladder
Someone once told me that my career fitted the dictionary definition of the word – a headlong rush, usually downhill. For most people, however, the…
E&E News
EPA in Elon Musk’s crosshairs
E&E News cited CEI’s expert on the EPA’s future under DOGE Wayne Crews, a fellow of regulatory studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Debt and taxes with Jack Salmon
In this week’s episode we cover the death of ESG investing, next moves on regulatory reform, Wall Street enthusiasm for a…
Washington Examiner
Biden’s swamp record: $1.8 trillion in regulations, 800x Trump
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s experts on tracking regulation Besides breaking the cost burden on America with his regulations, Biden is on a path…
Blog
New CEI video: The case for big and small business in America
Some questions don’t have a correct answer. For example: What is the right size for a business? A new CEI video and website…
The Hill
Federal Court takes aim at White House’s environment authority
The Hill cited CEI’s expert on the White House’s environment authority While some expressed concern that the ruling could cause confusion, Devin Watkins, an attorney…
News Release
Court ruling against regulator power in environmental assessments wins praise from CEI
Today the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on an important case concerning the authority of federal regulators to prescribe the content of environmental impact…
NPR
With Trump coming into power, the NIH is in the crosshairs
NPR cited CEI’s expert on changes in NIH “I do think you probably will see changes in NIH, as well as other public health agencies…
Business Insider
The future of betting markets
Business Insider cited CEI’s expert on the future of election betting markets Prediction markets are “going to attract people who want to influencepublic perception,” Broughel…
Washington Examiner
Berlin Wall anniversary offers lessons for today
The Berlin Wall toppled 35 years ago. First, the world looked on with awe, and then the disbelief gave way to jubilation. From…
Bloomberg Tax
Trump’s Push to Deregulate Faces Challenges in Post-Chevron Era
Bloomberg Tax cited CEI’s CEO on Deregulation challenges post-chevron era Kent Lassman, president and CEO of Competitive Enterprise Institute, which favors deregulation, said he expects…
Capitol Matters
Now, About Deregulation . . .
Capitol Matters cited CEI’s expert on regulatory disciplines Wayne Crews, writing in Forbes in September:…
Blog
Voters okay higher minimum wages, balk at more radical ideas
The ironic thing about Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ rhetoric is that it overlaps to a degree with old-school Democratic populism. This can be…
Legal Brief
Brief of Amici Curiae in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado
Summary of the argument This case is not about what constitutes sound energy, infrastructure, environmental, or social policy. The question presented has nothing…
Forbes
Next SEC Must Restore Capital Formation Mission
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rightly garnered criticism from both political parties over the last few years for its…
Washington Examiner
Biden’s best efforts could not keep unions from declining or defecting to GOP
Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on Biden’s efforts on unionization Sean Higgins, a labor researcher at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, attributed the…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Understanding the national debt with Thomas Savidge
In this week’s episode we cover whether Americans feel better off than they were four years ago, why we have more billion-dollar…
News Release
October adds 12,000 jobs to economy, far fewer than usual: CEI analysis
According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, only 12,000 jobs were added to the economy in October, largely due to job losses…
City Journal
Thumb on the Scale
Americans’ trust in the scientific establishment took another hit last week with the revelation that a prominent advocate of adolescent transgender treatments had …
Washington Examiner
Biden poised to crash through regulations records
Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on Biden’s record number of regulations “We could potentially see ourselves crossing the threshold of a 100,000 page Federal…
Forbes
Darklore Depository 2024: A Halloween Inventory Of Federal Agency Guidance Documents
The U.S. Code archives federal laws. The 186,000-page Code of Federal Regulations is where rules from the daily Federal Register are embalmed. As spirits would have it,…
Citation
2024 minimum wage ballot measures: What to know
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert who commented on minimum wage mandates. But critics think that wages shouldn’t be completely set by the government…
Study
Permanently in Recovery
Washington state has made some significant strides in reforming its environmental permitting processes through its Permit Timelinesss initiative. The Governor’s Office for Regulatory Innovation and…
Inman
Redlining settlement wouldn’t resolve 1st Amendment questions
Inman cited CEI’s experts on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau In an April 2023 Wall Street Journal op-ed, CEI fellows John Berlau and Stone…
Testimony
A Menu of Options for Oklahoma Regulatory Reform
Testimony before the Oklahoma interim study committee on administrative rules reform Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I apologize for not…
Forbes
Exposing Loopholes: How Federal Regulatory Oversight Laws Are Being Ignored
Passing new laws to reform and streamline the administrative state is important, and reformers consistently call for such oversight. But just as critical is ensuring that…
Washington Examiner
Black voters warned that Harris vote-‘buying’ plan makes them dependent on government
CEI’s expert was cited by the Washington Examiner on ‘buying votes’ Deregulation expert Clyde Wayne Crews with the Competitive Enterprise Institute said her…
The Dispatch
Regulatory Policy Experts: Both Harris and Trump Threaten Constraints on Innovation
CEI expert contributed to this The Dispatch piece The outlook for America’s tech industry is no more certain under another Trump administration. Vice presidential nominee…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Freedom to farm with Bill Wirtz
In this week’s episode we cover a new ranking of state governors, reforms to emergency powers, new research on working from…
Forbes
Emergency Powers Can Reduce Rather Than Expand Government
With back-to-back natural weather disasters dominating headlines, the use of federal emergency powers has become a focal point. It’s important to recognize that these powers,…
The Epoch Times
Supreme Court Overturns ‘Chevron Doctrine,’ Curtailing Federal Government Power
The Epoch Times cited CEI’s expert on Chevron doctrine The APA, passed in 1946 after the New Deal era, was critical to one of the…
News Release
Union Members Right to Know Act would protect union-worker rights and promote transparency
Three and a half decades after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Communications Workers of America v. Beck, the rights afforded by that decision are understood…
DC Journal
Point: The Supreme Court Is Empowering Voters
The Supreme Court’s recent term signaled a monumental shift toward liberty as it rolled back the unchecked power of federal agencies and reaffirmed the constitutional…
Daily Caller
‘Sleeping Giant’: US Could Be Inches Away From Another Economic Crisis As Massive Port Strike Looms
Daily Caller cited CEI’s expert on the border economy “The Biden administration has a record of stepping in and forcing a deal if they…
Rumble
Rumble- Mike Ferguson in the Morning 10-02-24
NewsTalksSTL cited CEI’s expert on deregulation…
Washington Examiner
Trump and GOP urged to follow model deregulator, Jimmy Carter
Washington Examiner cited CEI’s experts on deregulatory legacy Read more at the Washington Examiner…
The Daily Caller
Kamala’s New Plan For The Economy Is Basically A Bidenomics Redux
Daily Caller cited CEI’s senior economist on Bidenomics Redux Harris isn’t going to stray very far from current Biden policies,” Ryan Young, a senior economist…
Washington Examiner
What a looming disastrous dock strike would mean for the nation
Read more at the Washington Examiner…
The New York Times
Inside Harris’s Big Economic Pitch
The New York Times quoted CEI’s expert on Harris’s Economic Pitch While a similar argument didn’t sway regulators in JetBlue’s attempted acquisition of Spirit, financial industry…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Pedestrians’ heads and avocado maturity
CEI celebrated its 40th anniversary at its annual Julian Simon Memorial Award Dinner. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Agencies issued new regulations…
Reason
Julian L. Simon Award Dinner mentioned in Reason Magazine
Scenes from Washington, D.C.: I trekked into the nation’s capital yesterday to attend the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s annual dinner, where Magatte Wade was honored with the think…
American Institute For Economic Research
The Supreme Court Reshuffles the Regulatory Deck
We sometimes forget that the Constitution of the United States is intended both to direct the nation’s governance and to advance the nation’s economy. But…
Blog
Magatte Wade to accept Julian L. Simon Memorial Award and share her story at the CEI dinner
According to demographers, about one-quarter of the world’s population is expected to be African at the middle of this century. Many are currently quite poor. …
The American Thinker
Labor unions are turning into roach motels for generations of workers
The American Thinker quoted CEI’s expert on unionized workers Sean Higgins, a former colleague at Investor’s Business Daily, now at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Economic mobility in the 50 states with Gonzalo Schwarz
In this week’s episode we cover poll results on corporate social responsibility, the plight of California landlords, hard times for cable…
National Review
‘Free Enterprise Is My Birthright as an African’
National Review quoted CEI’s award winner Today Wade is being awarded the Julian L. Simon Memorial Award from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a free-market…
Nonprofit Quarterly
Project 2025: What Does It Mean for Racial and Economic Justice?
Nonprofit Quarterly cited CEI’s CEO about Project 2025 The document has been widely described as a “blueprint” for a possible incoming Donald…
Blog
Turning point on interest rates
The Federal Reserve went for the big cut at its interest rate meeting this week. There was uncertainty on whether the federal funds rate…
News Release
Updated REINS Act introduced in Senate and House
Today, Senator Rand Paul (R–KY) and Representative Kat Cammack (R, FL-03) introduced an updated version of the REINS (Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny)…
Blog
DOJ’s flawed case against AI’s incredible rent machine
In Tom Smith and The Incredible Bread Machine, the famous political poem about an inventor at first hailed for his machine that slashes the…
GWU Regulatory Studies Center
Political Review of Agency Adjudication and Recommendations for Reform
Formal agency adjudication reserves the final decision-making authority to the political leadership of the agency. Many organizations and watchdogs have taken issue with how political…
Blog
Some thoughts on Constitution Day
As I drove into work today, it occurred to me: we so often take for granted the extraordinary power that the automobile gives us. Once…
The Federalist Society
Federal Court Recognizes Limits to Federal Power Over At-Home Distilling
What are the limits of the federal government’s powers? That critical question has been debated since the nation’s Founding, and a recent federal court decision…
Blog
Hey Fed! Don’t worsen devastating Durbin debit card price controls
Consumers using their debit and credit cards just can’t catch a break these days from politicians, bureaucrats, and big retailers pushing Big Government ripoffs. In…
Washington Examiner
Trump’s ‘no taxes on overtime’ proposal: What to know
Washington Examiner quoted CEI’s expert on no-tax-on-overtime proposal Sean Higgins was quoted in the Washington Examiner concerning Trump’s dubious no-tax-on-overtime proposal. “It’s not clear how many people…
Blog
Removing taxes on overtime would have only marginal impact
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s proposal to remove the taxes on overtime would likely have little effect on the workers and the economy. It…
Washington Examiner
FTC lawsuit over Kroger-Albertsons merger is a political tightrope for Harris and Trump
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on antitrust matters Alex Reinauer is a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in antitrust…
The-A-Word
People can be authoritarian about anything. That includes liberals and freelance busting. This Q&A with Luke Conway explains why.
The-A-Word cited CEI’s expert on the rise of authoritarianism I was thinking about all this when Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian…
Epoch Times
Congress’ Post-Chevron Dilemma: Take Back Power From Agencies or Concede It for Good
Epoch Times cited CEI’s expert on excessive government regulation When federal regulatory expert Wayne Crews was asked recently what Congress should do about excessive government…
Blog
Government efficiency commission: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Donald Trump is proposing a new government efficiency commission and he wants Elon Musk to lead it. Like most campaign proposals, it does not…
News Release
Unemployment rate edged down in August, all eyes on Fed’s next move: CEI analysis
August’s jobs numbers show an addition of 142,000 jobs to the economy, edging the unemployment rate down to 4.2 percent compared to July’s 4.3…
Washington Examiner
Red Dawn is a misunderstood masterpiece
If ever a film has been ripe for rediscovery and reevaluation, it is Red Dawn, John Milius’s 1984 movie about a group of Colorado…
Blog
Price controls: right problem, wrong solution
In an op-ed being syndicated by Inside Sources, I take a look at Kamala Harris’s price control proposals for groceries and housing:…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: The future of streaming with Geoff Manne
In this week’s episode we cover social media censorship, automation at US ports, and the property market crash in China. Our…
DC Journal
Counterpoint: Harris’ Price Controls Won’t Tame Inflation
Right problem, wrong solution. It’s one of the most familiar stories in politics. Thanks to inflation, every American is paying higher prices for groceries and…
Testimony
Responses to Questions for the Record House Committee on Administration
The hearing topic and questions for the record raise foundational issues concerning the legitimacy of lawmaking and the entities responsible for crafting those laws.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Searching for digital privacy with Jen Huddleston
In this week’s episode we cover the new book What Went Wrong with Capitalism, the problem with price controls (via Brian…
Acton Institute
Invisible Logic: Boy, Do I Have a Conspiracy Theory for You
At page 99 of their substance-free investigation into the effects of the doctrine they call “neoliberalism,” George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison start talking about “conspiracy…
Blog
The power of proceduralism: Lessons from New York’s Uniform Procedures Act
Within the labyrinth of environmental regulation, good intentions often pave the way to bureaucratic nightmares. But amidst the tangle of red tape, there occasionally emerges…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: energy labeling and FCC rules for homework
There are now more than 2,000 new final regulations on the year. The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago. A labor market statistic caused…
Washington Examiner
Most ‘swamp’ managers say voters don’t matter
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s experts on regulation decisions Clyde Wayne Crews, the regulation expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Secrets,…
Freedom Works Radio Show
Freedom Works Radio Show
Freedom Works Radio Show interviewed one of CEI’s experts on corporate shareholder representation Listen to Freedom Works Radio Show for more…
The Western Journal
Mark Levin Uses 6th Grad Econ Test to Show Harris Why Her Inflation Plan Won’t Work
Mark Levin featured CEI’s short film I, pencil to show how Harris Inflation plan won’t work Levin then proceeded to show a video put…
The Power Hour
What’s Going On in Energy and Environmental Policy with Daren Bakst
The Power Hour discusses some important court decisions with CEI’s Daren Bakst Listen to more at The power Hour…
Blog
Scrapping tipping taxes is now a bipartisan issue. Good.
Never let it be said that Democrats think that Donald Trump is always wrong. Vice President Kamala Harris recently endorsed an…
Blog
Consumers can see a net benefit from FCC’s net neutrality rule stall
The saga of broadband regulation is finally taking a positive turn. On August 1st, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of…
Blog
CEI’s recent victory and principled history
My colleague Devin Watkins wrote about an important court decision last month, and we like to think that an amicus brief CEI provided to that…
Blog
The politics of proxy voting and the importance of shareholder representation
As the 2024 election quickly approaches, many Americans consider how their vote will affect political races. While our focus tends to be on the voting…
TheLarsLarsonShow
Daren Bakst How Can Congress Ensure A Truly Representative Government
Daren Bakst spoke on TheLasLarsonShow the Chevron doctrine Listen in on the whole episode TheLarsLarsonShow…
Blog
EPA: From environmental champion to bureaucratic goliath?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established as a symbol of hope for a cleaner, healthier America. Today, however, it faces critical scrutiny due to…
National Review
Does Capitalism Really Need ‘Changing’?
In her influential book Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, economist Mariana Mazzucato argues that capitalism is in crisis…
Blog
Harris’s rent control support clashes with even progressive economists
As one of his last policy initiatives before officially dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, President Joe Biden unveiled a housing plan that included…
Blog
Top-down economic ‘moonshot’ incompatible with bottom-up ideals
In her book Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, economist Mariana Mazzucato proposes rebranding the United States’s economy. An advocate behind Biden’s Build…