in turn enable further types of interactions beyond the realm of business. The genius of the market is that it enables a wide array of individuals, groupings, and associations to organize spontaneously to advance their various interests in a cooperative fashion that yields win-win arrangements.
Featured Posts

Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Waste, fraud, and tax hikes with Emily Ekins
In this week’s episode we cover workplace injuries, MAGA antitrust in theory and practice, portable benefits for gig workers, and the…

Blog
Fred Smith and the Hourglass of Market Evolution
Our much–loved CEI founder Fred L. Smith Jr. would often insist that we not refer merely to antitrust or antitrust policy, but…

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…
Search Posts
Blog
Adam Smith’s Recommendation To End Illegal Immigration
Restrictions on immigration have created a black market in labor and movement. Currently, the U.S. government issues only 10,000 green cards to workers who lack higher…
Blog
James Buchanan, 1919-2013
Economics has lost one of its greats. James Buchanan has passed away at age 93. Born on a Tennessee farm in 1919, he continued working…
Forbes
Hurricane Sandy, and the Invisible Hand of Recovery
Once again, a terrible natural disaster strikes, and Americans from the Carolinas to New England are doing their best to sort through the wreckage and…
Forbes
History’s Witness: Prague, Communism, And The Socialist Ideal
What is it about the “noble ideals” of socialism that makes people forget the lessons of their actual practice? If you need yet another reminder,…
Blog
Remembering Elinor Ostrom
Among the individuals with whom I wish I could have greater opportunities to exchange ideas is Elinor Ostrom. She passed away today, and now I…
Reason
Leftwing Pitchforkers: Kill the Limited Government Monsters!
From Ronald Bailey's article in Reason: In a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal about the relentless Team Blue crusade…
Blog
Twenty Years without Hayek
F.A. Hayek died twenty years ago today. In his long career—his first book was published in 1929, his last in 1988—he made important contributions to…
Reason
Is Your Company Ready to Meet its New Disability Hiring Quota?
Has the economy got you worried about reelection? Looking for clever ways to showcase your bona fides as a promoter of “fairness,” champion of the…
Blog
CSR: Business’s Shampoo?
To the Editor, Financial Times: Gillian Tett notes the vogue among CEOs for “corporate social responsibility” (When Making Shampoo Becomes a Service to Society).
Wall Street Journal
Letter to the Editor: McDonald’s and Pepsi’s Different Response to Pressure
Holman Jenkins's "What Pepsi Can Learn From McDonald's" (Business World, Jan. 28) hits on a failure of corporate management that is far more widespread…
Wall Street Journal
The Ability to Fire People Creates More and Better Jobs
“I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.” By speaking the truth, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney committed the cardinal…
Blog
The Compassion of Adam Smith
It's much more fashionable to attack Adam Smith these days than to read him. Yes, he favored economic liberalism, which wasn't exactly in style in…
Townhall
The War on Lemonade
America is a country founded on entrepreneurship and free enterprise. That’s why one of its most enduring childhood traditions is the lemonade stand. It teaches…
Townhall
Fred Smith on the Future of the Automobile
CEI President and Founder Fred Smith appeared on a panel at the 2011 Washington Auto Show to discuss the…
Study
Study and Understand Corporate Social Responsibility
Full Document Available in PDF Congress should study the confusion created in the…
News Release
Protest San Francisco’s Happy Meal Ban – While You Still Have a Choice
Washington, DC., November 16, 2010—The Competitive Enterprise Institute invites you to consider taking your family to McDonald’s for Happy Meals on Saturday, November 20th, to…
Townhall
Democrats Support Yet Another Bailout
Blog
Celebrating Bastiat
Economist Don Boudreaux reminds us that 209 years ago today, the great economic journalist Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was born. F.A. Hayek in his introduction…
Townhall
USA Today Cheers Proposed Financial Protection Agency
Cablefax
FCC Releases Title II Broadband NOI for Comment
Cablefax discusses Ryan Radia and Wayne Crews's comments on the FCC Title II Broadband NOI. Reaction to this vote was immediate. Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Cablefax
BP’s Disturbingly Close Ties to Obama Administration
Columnist Tim Carney notes that BP, responsible for the massive oil spill, is “a close friend of big government whenever it serves the company’s…
Comment
CEI Comments to the FCC on the “Future of Media” Inquiry
Full Document Available in PDF FCC’s “Future of Media” Campaign vs. Separation of Speech and State The Duty to Expand Communications Liberty…
Cablefax
Dodd’s Main Street Punishment Bill
With the focus this week on health care’s “home stretch” and concerns about government limiting the ability of ordinary Americans to make choices about…
Cablefax
The Corker-Dodd-Alinsky Bill? : Center-Right Coalition Letter Warns about “Proxy-Access”
Capitol Confidential and Jim Hoft have done an excellent job laying out concerns with the potential “compromise” bill that comes out of Sen. Bob…
Cablefax
Credit Card Bill of Rights
Cablefax
Proxy Access: The Obama-Dodd-Alinsky Shareholder Jujitsu
What would Saul Alinksy do? In the wake of defeats for the Obama administration last month both with Scott Brown’s stunning Senate…
Cablefax
Contrasting Concurrences of Clarence Thomas: Deploying Originalism and Paternalism in Commercial and Student Speech Cases
Cablefax
Credit Card Act Hits Cardholders, Entrepreneurs
Today, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 goes into effect and is being hailed as a boon for consumers.
Newsletter
Child Support Disputes, NFL Claims “Who Dat?” and Anti-terrorism Police Drills
Virginia legislators vote down a bill which would have forced non-custodial parents to pay child support for their children through college.
Cablefax
The Corporate Library: Servant of Special Interests
Full Document Available in PDF Labor unions, left-leaning foundations and activists declare their support…
Cablefax
Reforms Bode Ill for Tax-Free Health Accounts
Washington Examiner
Seven Quotes about Communism
The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall was widely remembered this past November, the 20th anniversary of one of the most momentous events in the…
Newsletter
Wall Street Meets the White House, EPA Rules on Greenhouse Gases and Health Care Divided
President Obama hosts a White House summit with Wall Street banking leaders The Environmental Protection Agency publishes its final rule designating greenhouse gases as a…
Newsletter
Health Care Competition, Financial Regulations in Court and Net Neutrality
The House Judiciary Committee votes to strip antitrust protections from health insurance companies who share risk information. Prominent officials and scholars endorse CEI’s Supreme Court…
News Release
Labor Unions Aim to Roll Back Pension Protections, Ramp Up Political Investments
Labor Unions Aim to Roll Back Pension Protections, Ramp Up Political Investments Pensions Should Invest to Profit Workers – Not Promote Union Politics…
Newsletter
Bottled Water, Microhoo and New Policy at the FDA
Critics of the bottled water industry call for federal labeling requirements. Microsoft and Yahoo begin the process of seeking federal approval for their announced business…
Newsletter
Regulating online drug ads, Google Book settlement, bottled water to the rescue
Yahoo being scrutinized online pharmaceutical ads. Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon sign on to oppose the Google Book settlement.
Comment
Letter to Securities and Exchange Commission: Reforming Shareholder Director Nominations
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to submit comments on the proposed rule governing shareholder nominations of corporate directors on behalf of the…
Washington Examiner
Possible FDA Ban on E-Cigarettes is Wrong Move
The FDA is now moving towards banning a smoking alternative that could save many lives. Every year, millions of smokers like my wife try…
Washington Examiner
Senate Passes Bill to Give FDA Tobacco Regulation
The Senate has just passed the FDA tobacco regulation bill by a 79-to-17 vote. The bill now goes to President Obama, who has said…
News Release
Bank Chairman to Speak Out on Banking Crisis and Capitalism at CEI 25th Anniversary Gala
This Thursday evening John Allison, Chairman of BB&T Bank, will deliver the keynote address at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s 25th Anniversary Gala. Allison will…
News Release
Obama Mitts Off Chrysler Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Obama Mitts Off Chrysler Chapter 11 Bankruptcy CEI Comments on Obama Takeover of Chrysler Washington, D.C., April 30, 2009—In the next 48 hours, Chrysler…
Washington Examiner
1,000,000 Tea Bags Find a Home
After park officials turned away Tea Party protesters' 1 million tea bags, the press conference was moved to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. We were happy…
Newsletter
Obama’s Greenhouse Gas Plan, Accounting Rules for Economic Recovery and Science v. Politics
The Obama administration plans to dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing on the economic…
News Release
CEI Unveils Agenda for Congress
Washington, D.C., January 26, 2009—With the incoming Obama administration and the opening of the new Congress, the House and Senate are…
Washington Examiner
Geithner’s Nomination
Washington Examiner
Why Geithner Is A Bad Choice
Washington Examiner
The Embattled Geithner’s Nomination
National Association of Manufacturers
Obama and the Keynesian Revival
The National Association of Manufacturers discusses Iain Murray's National Review article on Obama's Keyenesian revival. Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute makes…
CNS News
Economists Say Bush ‘Chucked’ Free Market Principles Long Before Financial Crisis
CNS News discusses President George W. Bush's move away from free market principles. However, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute told CNSNews.com that…