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The Daily Economy
Why the Old Left–Right Divide No Longer Works
A century ago, Michael Oakeshott, Britain’s great skeptic of politics, a grand project, diagnosed a sickness that now afflicts every Western democracy: the confusion between…
News Release
Fed independence is the real story in Wednesday’s interest rate decision: CEI analysis
Today, the Federal Reserve announced it is cutting interest rates by 25 basis points, the first cut in nine months. CEI senior economist…
The Washington Post
The wine industry doesn’t work the way Washington thinks it does
Owning a vineyard in Napa Valley sounds fancy, but the wine business is, in reality, pretty gritty: It is a low-margin agricultural and food-processing business…
Search Posts
Forbes
Biden’s Regulatory Big Bang: A Parting Gift Trump Is Set To Return
Just as the incoming Trump administration promised to repeal “foolish” and “radical” Biden executive actions—and issue so many executive orders on day one…
National Review
Time to End the ESG Shakedown
When the debate over environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing and regulation started heating up around five years ago, most commenters had to describe what it…
Op-Eds
Point: The Electoral College Protects Minority Views and Discourages Fraud
The Framers of the U.S. Constitution designed a unique system to choose our president in 1787: the Electoral College. More than two centuries later, it…
The Daily Caller
EXCLUSIVE: Texas Republicans Attempt To Nix Biden’s Massive Last-Minute Offshore Drilling Ban
The Daily Caller quoted CEI’s expert on legislation to the offshore drilling ban. Trump has promised to scrap the Biden action himself upon taking office…
News Release
FTC lawsuit against John Deere will break more than it fixes: CEI analysis
The Federal Trade Commission today filed a lawsuit accusing John Deere, the tractor company, of forcing farmers to use authorized dealers for equipment repairs. CEI…
News Release
Inflation increases in December, signals a tough fight against higher prices remains: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for the last month of 2024 shows a higher-than-usual inflation increase of 0.4 percent, indicating the Fed’s decision to…
News Release
CEI Releases Pro-Growth Regulatory Reform Agenda for the 119th Congress
This year will see a new political trifecta take power in Washington D.C., presenting a historic opportunity to dismantle the corrosive federal bureaucracy that has…
Forbes
Practical Policy Options To Address Wildfire Risk
As wildfires rage across Los Angeles, shrouding neighborhoods in smoke and threatening homes and lives, the urgency of addressing wildfire risks has never been clearer.
Washington Examiner
Unelected ‘swamp’ takes control, imposes 19 rules for every law passed
The Washington Examiner quoted CEI’s expert on the amount of laws passed in the Federal Register “While many laws address routine matters like post office…
News Release
Economy adds 256,000 jobs in December, uncertainty remains with upcoming tariff policies: CEI analysis
The job numbers released today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show 256,000 jobs were added to the economy in the last month of…
Forbes
The 2025 Unconstitutionality Index: Exposing Congress’s Abdication Of Power
One of the themes of the incoming Trump administration is that federal administrative agencies, rather than the elected Congress, write most laws. This contradicts the…
Op-Eds
American Manufacturing Does Well Without Washington
The purported decline and fall of American manufacturing is a bipartisan obsession. Despite all their differences, Republican and Democratic politicians favor similar policies to restore…
The Daily Economy
Debunking the Three Best Arguments for Tariffs
With President Trump’s return to office after the Biden interregnum, we can be sure of one thing: tariffs are going to be a major part…
Forbes
Biden’s Offshore Drilling Ban Sets Stage For Showdown With Trump
President Joe Biden took a shot at the incoming Trump administration this week by issuing a sweeping ban on new oil and gas leasing across…
News Release
Biden’s last-minute oil drilling ban should be undone by Congress
Just days before the end of his administration, President Biden on January 6 announced a ban on new drilling and further oil and natural…
Op-Eds
What the ATF Does—and What It Doesn’t Do
Editor’s note: In addition to his work at The Dispatch, Kevin D. Williamson is a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in which capacity he…
News Release
Biden blocks Nippon Steel purchase of U.S. Steel in baseless protectionist maneuver
With just days left in office, President Biden decided to block Nippon Steel from purchasing U.S. Steel, alleging it might “impair the national security of…
Citation
Could Nippon still buy U.S. Steel after Biden blocked the deal?
NPR’s Marketplace interviewed CEI’s expert on Biden blocking Nippon Steel’s purchase of U.S. Steel Listen to more at Marketplace…
National Review
The Teamsters’ Imaginary Strike against Amazon
There was a historic strike by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters workers at Amazon facilities over the Christmas holiday, yet it didn’t appear to slow Amazon’s…
National Review
Regulators Unleash a Climate-Disclosure Triple Threat to Businesses
U.S. businesses are bracing for a new wave of mandatory climate-disclosure policies in 2025 and beyond. The Securities and Exchange Commission, European Union, and California have…
WSJ
‘Taxpocalypse’ Now
Joe Biden, Undisputed Champion Of course this item’s headline isn’t about presidential ethics, cognitive strength or fiscal management. But there is at least one category…
RealClear
Trump’s Going Places With Energy, but Biden’s the Backseat Driver
RealClear cited CEI’s experts on the Inflation Reduction Act “The (Inflation Reduction Act) subsidies help to create constituencies that are going to fight hard to…
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…
Legal Brief
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS AMARILLO DIVISION
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO ALTER ORAMEND THE JUDGMENT UNDER F.R.C.P 59(E) Plaintiffs respectfully move under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) forthis Court to alter…
Legal Brief
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CERCUIT
Plaintiffs- APPELLEES’/CROSS-APPELLANTS’PRINCIPAL AND RESPONSE Brief Certificate of Interested Persons Counsel certifies that the following listed persons and entities as described in the fourth…
Legal Brief
In the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
MOTION OF COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTEFOR LEAVE TO FILE AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEFIN Opposition to Defendants-Appellants’Emergency Motion For Stay Pending Appeal CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED…
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…
DC Journal
Counterpoint: Biden Should Reduce Presidential Power
The American experiment can be summed up in one big idea: don’t put too much power in one place. That is why the federal government…
News Release
Fed cuts interest rates again, fewer cuts planned next year: CEI analysis
Today, the Federal Reserve announced that interest rates will be cut by 25 basis points, with an additional note that there will be fewer…
Forbes
Republicans’ Next Reconciliation Bill Should Include These Reforms
Republicans are already planning at least one, and possibly two, major budget reconciliation packages in the next Congress. Reconciliation bills allow lawmakers…
News Release
Minnesota’s cautionary environmental permitting history: CEI report
Lawmakers in Minnesota, including former Gov. Mark Dayton, have made environmental permitting reforms to make the system efficient and effective. These reforms, noted in a…
Study
Feeling Minnesota
Minnesota’s efforts to streamline environmental permitting under former Gov. Mark Dayton (D) initially saw some success, with reforms aimed at reducing approval times for priority…
The Federalist Society
Court Holds the Corporate Transparency Act Is Unconstitutional: A Victory for Limited Government and the Right to Privacy
Earlier this month, a federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), a law that requires new…
Comment
Improving Accreditation Process and Strengthening Legal Education
RE: Improving Accreditation Process and Strengthening Legal Education Requirements for Accredited Agents and Attorneys, 89 Fed. Reg. 82546 (Oct. 11, 2024), Docket VA-2024-OTHER-0022-0001 (to be…
Marketplace
Court rules Nasdaq diversity initiative illegal
“The SEC has recently been trying to use its powers to force companies to provide more information than companies normally provide to investors,” said Devin…
Forbes
White House Releases Fall 2024 Unified Agenda Of Federal Regulatory And Deregulatory Actions
Federal departments and agencies have highlighted their rulemaking priorities in the (usually) twice yearly Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions since the early 1980s. This…
Letters
CEI Coalition Letter on Permitting Reform in the 119th Congress
Dear Members of Congress: The undersigned organizations strongly believe that our nation needs across-the-board federal permitting reform. This requires amending the National Environmental Policy Act…
Foodfix
How to reform infant formula policy, according to Project 2025
FoodFix quoted CEI’s CEO & experts on formula policy according to project 2025 The Project 2025 vision: Until this crisis hit, there wasn’t much debate about…
The National News Desk
Sticky inflation, Trump bring obstacles to Fed’s path to lowering rates
“While the Fed would like to cut interest rates, if they really want to signal seriousness about inflation and they want to build up that…
News Release
Report: FTC used insufficient analysis in its investigation of Pharmacy Benefit Managers
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report delves into major problems with a Federal Trade Commission report critical of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). PBMs are specialized…
The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity
The Politics of Freedom & Progress in 2028 at Freedom & Progress 2024
CEI’s Kent Lassman speaks on The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity discussing the politics of freedom & progress panel.
Letters
The U.S. International Trade Commission nominations
Dear Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Crapo: We the undersigned organizations write to urge you to expeditiously process the following bipartisan slate of qualified nominees…
Blog
Can Trump’s DOGE team outmaneuver regulatory dark matter?
As Donald Trump prepares for a second term, his administration inherits a far more expansive regulatory state than it did in 2017. As explored today…
Fox News
‘Gov’t knows best’: Biden admin breaks Obama record for filling Federal Register with most regulations
Fox News quoted CEI’s expert on Federal Register record “Federal Register page counts are a highly imperfect gauge of regulatory burden. Biden’s milestone,…
Washington Examiner
Trump will need to hire new federal workers for trade war, former Cabinet member says
The Washington Examiner CEI’s expert on how Trump’s trade policy might be at odds with the DOGE mission. Ryan Young, senior economist at the libertarian Competitive…
Des Moines Register
Elon Musk’s DOGE can learn from Iowa’s bold government overhaul | Opinion
Iowa has started some regulatory reforms that set a good precedent for President-elect Donald Trump’s newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to be headed by…
City Journal
Unions’ Choice
At first glance, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of one-term congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as Labor secretary is mystifying. The former congresswoman seemingly …
News Release
Economy adds 227,000 jobs in November, suggesting a steady labor market: CEI analysis
Today’s labor report for November suggests a steady job market, with 227,000 jobs being added to the economy last month. Considering the report, the…
The Daily Economy
The Debanking Craze Reveals Everything Wrong with the Administrative State
After an appearance by financier Marc Andreessen on the Joe Rogan Podcast, Elon Musk’s X exploded with indignation that tech entrepreneurs were being debanked owing to…
News Release
North Carolina’s deregulatory approach to environmental permitting reform
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report highlights North Carolina’s commitment to significantly reforming its environmental permitting system. The reforms, which focused on accelerating project approvals…
News Release
Report: SEC climate disclosure rule complicated by EU, California
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report explains the problem businesses face complying with complicated, disparate climate disclosure rules imposed by multiple governments – the federal…
News Release
Biden Labor Department withdraws controversial apprenticeship rule opposed by CEI
On November 27, the Biden administration withdrew the Department of Labor’s proposed rule imposing costly, burdensome requirements on everyone involved in federal apprenticeship programs.
News Release
Trump nominee for SEC will refocus agency on core mission
President-elect Trump has nominated prior SEC commissioner Paul Atkins as chair of the agency, a move that CEI Director of Finance Policy John Berlau believes…
Washington Examiner
Biden did it: Most regulation-filled Federal Register ever at 96,088 pages
Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on the final number of regulation pages in the Federal Register for Biden’s term Clyde Wayne Crews, the…
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…
