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Big business is a myth
Many policy discussions, from antitrust to telecom policy, focus on how large businesses should be. Almost no one asks the big questions. Why are businesses…
Blog
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…
Search Posts
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…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Dead malls and retail nostalgia with Sal Amadeo
In this week’s episode we cover state-level regulatory reform, the opinions of Latino voters, Biden’s tax on stock buybacks, and another…
Op-Eds
Tariffs Don’t Protect Jobs
Many Americans, including it seems the presidential and vice presidential nominees of the Republican Party, worry that trade costs jobs. This helps to explain why…
Review-Journal
Yes, you do have the right to a jury trial
The Constitution says you have the right to a jury trial. At least in its in-house court, the Securities and Exchange Commission argued against that…
Blog
Book review: The War on Prices by Ryan Bourne
I have reached a stage in my career where younger colleagues sometimes ask me for advice. There are a few evergreen pieces of advice I…
Blog
Kansas REINS Act overrides governor’s veto
Advocates for government accountability recently scored a big win with the passage of House Bill 2648 in Kansas. The Regulations from the Executive In…
Blog
How major rules are surging under the Biden administration
We’ve taken a look at the total numbers of significant regulations issued this year in the Biden administration as well as at the subsets…
The Washington Examiner
The Inflation Reduction Act’s buyback tax restrains public company growth
The Biden administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress imposed a new tax on corporate stock buybacks as part of the …
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Taxocracy with Scott Hodge
In this week’s episode we cover how the SEC is going to spam investors with a deluge of low-quality disclosures, the Supreme Court’s…
Blog
California’s Newsom grants exception to state law so restaurants can cope with other state law
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation over the weekend that exempted restaurants in the Golden State from…
Blog
Can moderators ask debate questions that don’t presume a progressive policy agenda?
Numerous policy issues are shaping this year’s first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as well as the entire campaign atmosphere. These include…
News Release
Report: SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Spams Investors, Arms Climate Alarmists
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released a report on the controversial Securities and Exchange Commission climate disclosure rule, examining its legal and economic…
Study
Climate Disclosure Spam
Introduction “Despite cost-saving changes from the proposed rule, the final rule will prove expensive for public companies and their shareholders who will be paying for…
Blog
Biden-era unfunded and funded mandates alike are co-opting state and local priorities
Policymakers are increasingly aware of the federal red tape burden on small businesses, but they should also recognize its emergent implications for state and…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Rejecting Proposals to Manipulate Interchange Fees
Dear Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Americans for Tax Reform, and the undersigned organizations, write to you today to voice our opposition to…
Blog
SEC’s Orwellian surveillance system faces its greatest challenge yet
The Eleventh Circuit Court will soon decide whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acted arbitrarily and capriciously by proposing the first market-wide surveillance…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Enlightened capitalism with Siri Terjesen
In this week’s episode we cover regulatory burdens on small businesses, common-sense solutions to poverty, a legal challenge to the TikTok…
Blog
Three years of Chair Lina Khan’s unhinged FTC
Lina Khan’s appointment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was meant to bring about significant change and a new direction for the independent agency. Before…
Blog
Yes, make tipping tax-free
Republican candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to make tips tax-free is a good idea, and not just because it will be a…
Blog
Regulations hit small businesses and low-income households hardest
There are about 33.3 million small businesses in the United States, comprising 99.9 percent of all American businesses. About half of all employees work for…
Blog
Three cheers for House efforts to defund climate-related foreign aid
House Republicans should be applauded for introducing an FY 2025 State Department appropriations bill that blocks climate change-related foreign aid. Specifically, the bill wouldn’t…
Blog
The federal government’s shift toward controlling small business
Recent proclamations by the Biden administration have revealed a worrying shift in the federal government’s attitude toward America’s small businesses. In a new column…
Blog
When emergency declarations become the emergency
Crises and economic shocks have a history of abuse. Few are aware that there are 31 declared and ongoing national emergencies, with some active…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Capitalism and the historians with Phil Magness
In this week’s episode we cover the prospect of Inflation Reduction Act 2.0, rising consumer confidence, the perils of stress bragging,…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Giving for a cause with Peter Lipsett
In this week’s episode we cover attitudes toward social media companies, the guerilla war over ESG investing, YIMBY housing reforms in…
Daily Caller
‘Money Has To Come From Somewhere’: New York Winning Big From Biden’s Domestic Agenda Despite Poor Business Climate
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited in Daily Caller on government subsidies: “Subsidies make taxpayers worse off because that subsidy money has to come from…
Blog
Has ESG gone guerrilla warfare?
There has been much discussion recently over declining institutional support for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing theory. Many indications suggest that US shareholders…
Blog
Want higher air fares? Overregulate credit cards
This morning, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Transportation are holding a joint hearing “investigating” airline and credit card reward programs.
Blog
Biden’s veto of joint employer rule CRA a blow to small businesses
President Biden’s veto Friday of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) bill rolling back the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) “joint employer”…
Blog
Subsidy-free capitalism may require a constitutional amendment
Automobiles, electrification, ample consumer goods and mass marketing, a construction boom, and access to credit helped fuel the Roaring Twenties of a century ago.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Frontier economics with Kendall Cotton
In this week’s episode we cover the diamond jubilee of the Philadelphia Society, the cost of government regulation in the UK, the…
Blog
Small banks targeted as FDIC cracks down on technology partnerships
Earlier this week, Politico’s “Morning Money” column reported an astonishing finding that almost certainly points to politicization in enforcement by federal bank regulators. The…
Blog
US move to ban TikTok a troubling signal for our great experiment in self-determination
As a part of a foreign aid funding package, the Senate passed a bill mandating TikTok’s divestiture from Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance. Biden…
Blog
FTC approves ban on noncompete agreements, sets up potential court battle
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to ban the vast majority of noncompete agreements in employment contracts during a special open commission meeting this…
Blog
New UK report recommends ‘rules about rules’ for regulation
In a new report, the Center for Policy Studies in the UK surveys that nation’s regulatory landscape – and doesn’t like what it sees.
Blog
FTC tightens grip over its in-house judges
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) possesses one of the most conflicted administrative law court (ALC) systems. The agency recently began hiring new administrative…
Blog
Seattle’s new minimum wage rule undermining delivery drivers
A new Seattle minimum wage law meant to boost the incomes of app-based delivery drivers has instead backfired, resulting in less work for drivers. Some…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Heroes of Progress with Alexander Hammond
In this week’s episode we discuss venture capitalists fighting red tape, challenges to electric vehicle adoption, Americans sleeping on the job,…
Blog
The eventual federal regulatory budget has bipartisan roots
With apologies to Margaret Thatcher, I’ll often joke that when the federal government runs out of other people’s money, it keeps spending anyway. The Congressional…
Blog
‘Fast Track’ series looks at states’ permit progress: First up, Pennsylvania
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is pleased to announce the release of a new policy paper series called “Fast Track.” The series, overseen by CEI senior…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Extremely online with Brad Polumbo
In this week’s episode we cover how honeybees came back from colony collapse disorder, why you shouldn’t believe the government’s nutrition advice,…
Blog
More credit card competition? Not really
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is worried about a lack of competition in payment card networks, so he’s planning to force the issue. His Credit…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Gig work with Liya Palagashvili
In this week’s episode we cover how to rebuild after the Baltimore bridge collapse, legal challenges to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new…
Forbes
Libertarian Victory: You Mean We Can Shut Down Government Without Even Passing A Law?
It is happening again. Congress will enact another bloated, pork-laden and largely unread omnibus spending bill to complete formal appropriations for the 2024 fiscal year…
News Release
Fifth Circuit hits pause on the SEC climate disclosure rule: CEI analysis
A controversial climate disclosure rule put forward by the Securities and Exchange Commission has been stopped by a federal appeals court. On Friday, March 15,…
Blog
Right to repair will not save households over $300 a year
You may have heard that so-called “right to repair” laws will provide big savings to consumers. Last week, Forbes published an article claiming that…
Forbes
How The Biden Administration’s ‘Junk Fee’ Policies Will Hurt Consumers
In his State of the Union address last week, President Joe Biden touted his policies against “junk fees,” vowing to save Americans billions…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Defending election integrity with Walter Olson
In this week’s episode we cover the Securities and Exchange Commission’s controversial new rule on climate change, federal science policy and indigenous…
Blog
One great moment in the budget battles: GOP’s ‘Policy Statement on Deregulation’
Today marks the release of the White House’s $7.3 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2025, even as policymakers continue their wrangling over the…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Free markets and the common good with Iain Murray
In this week’s episode we cover fake environmentalism and the need to build, a look at policymaking inside the National People’s Congress…
Blog
SOTU 2024: Unparalleled spending, regulation, and dependency
In bumper-sticker fashion, we have fondly summed up Joe Biden’s recent State of the Union Addresses (SOTU) as appeals for more spending, regulation and…
Blog
The Stop Woke Investing Act and ‘ESG fatigue’
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made it far too easy for activist shareholders to overturn the traditional proxy review process. The SEC’s…
Blog
I’ve got your ‘common good’ right here
As a classical liberal, I believe in the value of free markets and individual liberty, but as a Freedom Conservative, I also feel that…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Federal tech with Deb Collier
In this week’s episode we cover the future of environmental policy, rare earth minerals in Wyoming, and what we can learn from…
Blog
Today’s federal spending makes the Louisiana Purchase look like pocket change
The week of Presidents’ Day 2024 comes at a lull before contentious budget battles resume in early March. It is thus an opportune moment…
Letters
Coalition Letter to Support the Stop Woke Investing Act (S. 3179)
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing in support of the Stop Woke Investing Act (S. 3179). The bill was introduced by Sens. Eric Schmitt…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Federalism wins with Patrick Gleason
In this week’s episode we cover President Biden’s attack on shrinkflation, barriers to workplace flexibility, and a motherlode of domestic lithium.
Blog
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: A slush fund for the EPA and favored nonprofits
President Joe Biden signed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law on August 16, 2022. The bill, enacted on a purely partisan basis,…
Daily Caller
Biden Has Cracked Down On Big Business Mergers And Monopolies. Are Americans Better Off Because Of It?
CEI’s Jessica Melugin is cited in Daily Caller on mergers and monopolies: “The Biden administration’s government-wide attack on American businesses has stifled efficiency and…
Comment
Comment on FTC Unfair or Deceptive Fees
Dear Commissioners, On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rulemaking concerning…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Independent contractors and emergency haddock action
Happy MLK-government snow shutdown days, everyone. There was more shutdown drama last week. The US launched strikes against the Houthis, one of three factions trying…
Blog
Transparent New Year: SEC shows its work after CEI prodding
As we enter the New Year, it is important to reflect on what went well and not so well in 2023. We should do our…
Blog
Liz Warren’s revolving door with Wall Street
There was an interesting development in the world of big government and big business recently. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) declared that “The abuse of…
Blog
No, we don’t want as many new laws as possible
The New York Times recently published an article reviewing what happened in the House of Representatives over the past 12 months, and it gives…
Blog
Even the University of California system has dropped carbon offsets
MIT Technology Review just published an article on one of my perennial favorite topics, carbon offsets. According to senior editor James Temple, the University…
Blog
Should government-favored non-profits have their own shadow courts?
Imagine being sued by a private nonprofit that is sanctioned by a federal agency to enforce securities laws. The nonprofit appoints its own judges and…
Blog
Defense bill amendment could help undo China’s unfair advantage in environmental treaties
Congress is currently considering the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA), including a long list of amendments added to the bill.
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Making Congress work with Kevin Kosar
In this week’s episode we cover people who fetishize old homes, the big AI risk no one’s talking about, how environmentalist activists…
Blog
Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next year?
As expected, the Federal Reserve kept the federal funds rate the same this week, which influences other interest rates, including car and mortgage payments. The…
Blog
Biden’s yearly Federal Register second-highest page count ever, could still score number one
The Federal Register is the daily depository of rules and regulations. Today, the count stood at 86,256 pages, with three weeks to go for Joe…
Blog
Federal government waves goodbye to ‘economically significant’ regulations
Last week, the Fall 2023 edition of the White House’s Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions appeared. It features the…
Daily Caller
Here’s Where Americans Are Feeling The Greatest Pain Under Biden’s Economy
CEI’s Ryan Young cited in the Daily Caller on economic conditions: “When some goods are hurt worse than others, the causes are not inflation,”…
Blog
Equity shmequity: How US government’s ‘discounting’ policy hurts the global poor
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently finalized its Circular A-4 guidance on regulatory analysis, constituting the first update to the guidance in…
Blog
Ten Thousand Commandments 2023 is out now
The 2023 edition of CEI’s flagship annual study, Wayne Crews’s Ten Thousand Commandments, is out now. For those not familiar, 10KC gives a big-picture…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Making college pay with Preston Cooper
In this week’s episode we cover Javier Milei’s election as president of Argentina, how much money it takes to be happy,…
Blog
Vehicle kill switches and other horrible things Washington is doing to us from a distance
The remote kill switch for automobiles authorized by the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021 is a prime…
Blog
Experts weigh in: Sen. Cassidy’s carbon tariff bill would mean more taxes
A carbon tax is both bad policy and dumb politics. Yet Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has just introduced legislation, the Foreign Pollution Fee…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: The trouble with big-government conservatives with André Béliveau
In this week’s episode we talk about which state has the least-bad business taxes, how many Americans really love America, the continuing…
Forbes
Biden’s New AI Executive Order Is Regulation Run Amok
Signed yesterday, President Biden’s new executive order on artificial intelligence safety is already making waves across the technology industry. While the intention of…
Blog
Biden administration cites fanciful numbers to support ‘right to repair’
The Biden White House hosted an event on right to repair last Tuesday to provide information “about federal and state efforts to strengthen the…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Joint employers and almond taxes
GDP grew 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023. Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from Kraft…
News Release
Biden executive order on artificial intelligence will be a problem: CEI analysis
President Biden is reportedly poised to sign an executive order aimed at monitoring artificial intelligence technology and moving toward new regulations for AI. CEI experts expressed…
Blog
Biden admin wants to sweep independent agency regulation costs under the rug. Congress should say no.
When Congress gets around to streamlining federal regulations and forcing disclosure of their costs, exposés of the paperwork inflicted on the economy by independent…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Financial regulation and ESG with Hester Peirce
In this week’s episode we talk about commuting via bicycle, regulatory reform legislation from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the new book…
Blog
The way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded is unconstitutional
Today the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association. The appellee correctly complains that…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Improper CHIPS funding to pool motors
The FTC filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. Sen. Dianne Feinstein passed away. The federal government almost partially shut down. Agencies issued new regulations…
Blog
Net neutrality is political predation
It’s fitting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chose to dig up the net neutrality corpse just before Halloween. Now, our elected representatives need to…
Blog
Federal agency closes! British embassy celebrates!
Nobody knows how many federal agencies there are, but the number just went down by one. The Board of Tea Experts is shutting down…
Blog
What’s wrong with Bidenomics?
Yesterday, I pointed out that in the looming threat of a government shutdown, President Joe Biden is aiming to cement as his legacy something that…
Blog
Shareholder support for ESG proposals is falling
With the 2023 proxy voting season officially behind us, we can note a few trends in corporate governance that stood out. For one, it…
Blog
What I told Congress about the unlawful plan to ‘align’ NEPA with Biden Climate Targets
I testified today at the House Natural Resources Oversight Subcommittee hearing on “Examining Systemic Government Overreach at CEQ.” My testimony developed three main points…
Blog
The Powell Memo was good, actually
This week the Competitive Enterprise Institute published my study (co-written with my colleague Iain Murray) on the 50-plus year history of the…
Blog
Politicians take too much credit for good news
Over Labor Day weekend, Inside Sources syndicated an op-ed of mine arguing that politicians do not deserve credit for the economy’s post-COVID recovery. They…
Blog
Climate policy deserves thoughtful discourse, not petty attacks: a response to Paul Krugman
Just because someone doesn’t support an extreme climate policy agenda, like the Inflation Reduction Act, doesn’t mean that they deny climate change is occurring. Science…
Blog
Biden administration working overtime to regulate working overtime
The Biden administration issued a new rule this week that vastly expands of the number of workers covered by federal overtime rules. While some…
Blog
Why Congress needs to care about Biden’s ‘Circular A-4’ subterfuge
Proposed changes in the American government’s executive regulatory functions showcase a conflict of visions over separation of powers; over executive overreach; over the size and…
Blog
Trump proposes 10 percent universal tariff
Everyone makes mistakes. It’s part of life. It’s not even necessarily a bad thing. If you’re the entrepreneurial type, mistakes are an opportunity to learn…
Blog
‘Economically significant’ regulations: an obituary
I never thought I’d miss “economically significant” rules and regulations. But Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14094 (“Modernizing Regulatory Review”) has redefined “Significant regulatory action.”…
Testimony
The Disproportionate Burden of Federal Regulation on Small Businesses
Submission to the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Hearing on “One Size Does Not Fit All: Understanding the Importance of Rightsizing Regulations…
