The primary focus of the Competitive Enterprise Institute since its founding in 1984 has been to promote deregulation. Government regulation of the economy blocks innovation and wealth creation. It also encourages damaging behavior such as rent-seeking and cronyism. Finally, it crowds out more effective forms of regulation such as market discipline.
The beneficial effects of deregulation were plain in the airline and freight rail industries. Deregulation begun in the Carter administration led to more flights at lower cost and to better rail infrastructure and much lower shipping costs. Yet, since the 1990s, successive administrations of different political stripes have piled on regulations, burdening the economy needlessly. We chart this problem every year in our Ten Thousand Commandments report.
The power of regulators now raises constitutional concerns. Regulators are often unaccountable, and their insulation from the checks and balances of the constitutional system suggests that they may in effect form a fourth branch of government. The use of guidance documents to avoid rulemaking procedures, for instance, can amount to government by decree. Deregulation is therefore essential to restore good constitutional order.
CEI advocates for both overall regulatory reform – changing the ways in which rules are made to make them more transparent and easier to remove – and for specific regulatory changes. Recent successes include recognition of our concerns in Executive Orders promoting deregulation and curtailing the use of guidance, and in the reflection of our comments in rules promulgated by agencies such as the Department of Labor and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Deregulation Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
How the Inflation Reduction Act Favors Unions over Taxpayers
The word “prevailing” appears 27 times in the text of the misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed by Congress Sunday and…
Blog
CPI Gives Reason for Cautious Optimism on Inflation
Inflation may finally be coming down. July’s month-to-month Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase dropped to zero last month, down from 1.3 percent in June. The…
Blog
Federal Agency Guidance Document Inventory Tops 107,000 Entries
Federal statutes appear in the U.S. Code. Regulations, pass through the Federal Register, and come to rest in the Code of Federal Regulations. But no…
Studies
A Market Approach to Regulating Stablecoins, the Future’s Money
Executive Summary The cryptocurrency sector experienced its most successful year to date in 2021. Familiar digital assets Bitcoin and Ethereum hit record values, as the…
Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress
Congress is considering an onslaught of legislation targeting the largest tech platforms in the U.S., addressing topics such as mobile apps, advertising, merger review,…
The Case for Letting Crises Go to Waste
Executive Summary An Abuse-of-Crisis Prevention Act to reaffirm boundaries of politicians and the legislation they can pass has become necessary to the survival of limited…
Blog
How the Inflation Reduction Act Will Expand Regulation
Ever since observers began tallying rule counts and pages in the Federal Register, detractors have complained about what poor measures such devices are. They might…
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Inflation Reduction Act, which would not reduce inflation, is now expected to pass after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema agreed to sign on. Meanwhile, agencies issued…
Why Carried Interest Tax Hike Deserves to Die in IRA and Otherwise
The Inflation Reduction Act (referred to by critics such as Phil Kerpen as the Income Reduction Act) will likely be voted on in the…
News
U.S. Economy Adds 528k Jobs In July Amid Inflation and Shrinking GDP, but Congress isn’t Helping: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 528,000 in July, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
GDP Woes Worsened by Lawmakers’ ‘Ready, Fire!, Aim” Spending Spree
Gross domestic product fell by 0.2 percent in the second quarter, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Already there was a 0.4 percent decline in…
Manchin/Schumer Deal on Health Care, Energy Spending is Bad News for Inflation, Taxpayers
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin reportedly announced a surprise deal on July 27 that resuscitates Democrats’ big government spending ambitions on…
Op-Eds
Inside Sources
Counterpoint: Manchin Disappoints With Inflation Reduction Act
Throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has acted as a check on his party’s worst excesses. Manchin has stopped billions, possibly trillions, of…
Crowdfund Insider
The Crypto Revolution Has Just Started
Hot summer temperatures have done nothing for the current “crypto winter,” which has seen a $2 trillion market drop from highs last year.
Wall Street Journal
The 20-Year Experiment Holding America Back
Many commentators these days, both progressive and conservative, decry a lack of opportunities for the American middle class, the concentration of certain industries under a…
Staff & Scholars
John Berlau
Senior Fellow and Director of Finance Policy
- Banking and Finance
- Deregulation
- Financial Regulation
Clyde Wayne Crews
Vice President for Policy and Senior Fellow
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Sean Higgins
Research Fellow
- Deregulation
- Labor and Employment
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Kent Lassman
President and CEO
- Capitalism
- Deregulation
- Innovation
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
Angela Logomasini
Adjunct Fellow
- Chemical Risk
- Consumer Freedom
- Energy and Environment
Michelle Minton
Senior Fellow
- Consumer Freedom
- Consumer Product Safety
- Consumer Well-Being
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Trade and International
Ivan Osorio
Editorial Director
- Labor and Employment
Ryan Radia
Research Fellow and Regulatory Counsel
- Intellectual Property
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
- Privacy and Cybersecurity
Fran Smith
Adjunct Fellow
- Trade and International
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Ryan Young
Senior Fellow
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform