Capitalism is the economic system in which a market economy is combined with legal protections for each individual’s rights, including the right to own and dispose of one’s own property as one sees fit. Leaving people free to work, save, and invest, with as little government interference as possible, creates an environment in which wealth grows and society advances.
Defending that system is one of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s primary goals. Regardless of which industry, product, or business model we consider, the same expectations and legal guarantees apply. The role of government officials—whether at the local, state, or federal level—is to create a system of law and policy that allows voluntary contracts to proceed and the gains from them to be enjoyed by their participants.
To the extent that current government policy violates those expectations, it should be reformed or abolished. CEI’s defense of capitalism as an economic and legal system applies to sector-specific law and regulation as well as to economy-wide rules. Our advocacy for regulatory reform of telecommunications, energy, finance, or any other part of the economy rests on the fundamental right of individuals to create, innovate, and build whatever voluntary arrangements they can imagine.
Capitalism Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
One lesson socialists forgot: Price controls never work
Socialists in both parties may feel they are offering fresh solutions to today’s problems, whether it is government-run grocery stores from Democrats or…
Blog
Section 338: Trump’s latest tariff tool could send trade policy uncertainty soaring
Just when businesses thought they had enough tariff uncertainty to manage, another chapter emerges. By turning a nearly century-old provision of trade law into…
Blog
Getting in the way: The demise of early termination at the antitrust agencies
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division released their Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Annual Report for…
Studies
Don’t Panic: A Skeptic’s Guide to the AI Jobs Doomsday
As technology advances it has periodically bred the fear that progress will destroy jobs and livelihoods. History teaches that these fears are usually misplaced.
Giants of the Free Society
Introduction I was invited to deliver remarks to the Philadelphia Society on the subject, “Giants on Whose Shoulders We Stand: What We Owe to…
Zombie Antitrust: Is Robinson-Patman a Dead Law Walking?
Introduction Lawrence O’Brien, well-known confidant and aide to the Kennedys at the height of their 1960s power, entitled his political autobiography No Final Victories.
Blog
The economic case for third-party litigation financing
The US is often described as overly litigious, and it’s true that there need to be better methods to disincentivize frivolous lawsuits.
Moment of truth: Reassessing Obamacare enrollment predictions
In 2025, several organizations predicted Obamacare enrollment in a world without the ACA’s expanded subsidies. That world became reality this year. Some groups’ predictions…
Free the Economy podcast: Ethical consumers and sustainable capitalism with Kimberlee Josephson
In this week’s episode we cover the latest inflations numbers, reforming $1 trillion worth of federal grantmaking, and a new…
News
Supreme Court overrules Humphrey’s Executor in a major win for constitutional accountability: CEI analysis
Today, in a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court held that statutory restrictions on the President’s authority to remove Federal Trade Commission commissioners violate…
Foreign automakers’ threat to exit US market illustrates Trump tariff consequences
Foreign automakers are reportedly threatening to pull their most affordable models out of the US market if terms of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement aren’t renewed.
Statement of Support for the Unfunded Mandates Accountability and Transparency Act
The Unfunded Mandates Accountability and Transparency Act (UMATA) represents a timely and necessary modernization of federal oversight. Nearly three decades ago, the original…
Op-Eds
Daily Wire
Slaughter Gets Separation
On Monday, the Supreme Court hewed closely to the Constitution’s important organizing principle in a 6-3 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter. The separation of powers…
Op-Eds
Sunset for Regulations, Sunrise for Opportunity
Affordability is the big concern in households across the country, yet politicians are overlooking one big solution: regulatory reform. Federal regulations drive up the price…
Human Progress
Olive Oil Prices Are Falling—So Should Olive Oil Climate Hysteria
Summary: Olive oil prices spiked in 2023 amid heat and drought in Spain, prompting widespread claims that climate change was driving the industry into…
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Paige Lambermont
Research Fellow
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
Kent Lassman
President and CEO
- Capitalism
- Deregulation
- Innovation
Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
Richard Morrison
Senior Fellow
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
Alex Reinauer
Research Fellow
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Tech and Telecom
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform