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
Free the Economy Episode 15: Eco-Modernism and Abundance with Alex Trembath
In this week’s episode of the Free the Economy podcast, we talk about the likelihood of blue state bailouts, issues with “…
News Release
FTC Antitrust Overreach Threatens Health of Americans at Risk of Cancer Diagnosis
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today ordered Illumina to unwind its acquisition of Grail, a $7 billion deal that would add an early cancer…
Blog
Free the Economy Episode 14: Conservative Economics with Dominic Pino
This week we talk corporate mega-mergers that turned out for the best, political meddling with the Federal Reserve’s inflation policy, “woke” language…
Studies
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right to Repair
Should you have the legal right to fix your own stuff? At first glance, the answer would seem like a simple “yes.” That simple answer…
Turning Back the Clock: Structural Presumptions in Merger Analyses and Revised Merger Guidelines
Introduction Since 1950, when Congress closed a loophole in Section 7 of the Clayton Act,[1] the federal antitrust agencies have investigated actively, and prosecuted diligently, mergers the government…
Free to Prosper
Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 118th Congress highlights specific steps lawmakers can take to prevent overreach by executive branch agencies, reduce the costs…
Blog
After Too Big To Fail, Too Big To Merge?
Did antitrust ideology play a role in the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the slight contagion that destabilized the global banking system thereafter?…
Free the Economy Episode 13: The Future of Online Privacy with Spencer Purnell
This week we talk about Silicon Valley Bank and political favoritism, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate agenda, the relationship of…
Protecting Pensions from Politics
Congress recently voted to protect pensions from politicized mismanagement and ESG fads, but President Biden has announced that he will be vetoing the measure. I…
News
RESTRICT Act Threatens Americans’ First Amendment Rights
Debate in Congress over calls to ban Chinese social media platform TikTok has led to the introduction of the RESTRICT Act by Senator Mark Warner…
Biden Veto Means ESG Investment Rule Means Politicized Investing for Pensions
President Biden today vetoed a resolution passed by Congress that would have stopped a Labor Department rule on ESG investing. Specifically, the rule, “Prudence and…
Biden Budget Amounts to Top-Down Central Planning, Lacks Needed Reforms
President Biden today unveiled his latest budget submitted to Congress. CEI experts take a dim view of the agenda of excess spending and regulation…
Op-Eds
City Journal
“E” Doesn’t Stand for Environment
The Securities and Exchange Commission is nearing a decision on a proposed rule that would require publicly traded companies to indicate how their investments affect…
National Review
FTC Runs into the Judicial Wall
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust crusade has run into an obstacle: the judiciary. Indeed, the agency wants to expand its authority and broaden enforcement standards so…
Fee.org
The Real Race Revolutionaries: How Minority Entrepreneurship Can Overcome America’s Racial and Economic Divides
Alfredo Ortiz has a message for all of the progressive politicians and activists working to close the economic gap between white and non-white Americans: Please…
Staff & Scholars
Joshua Bandoch
Research Fellow
- Capitalism
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
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
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
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Stone Washington
Research Fellow
- Capitalism
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
Ryan Young
Senior Economist
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform