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
Allies
Antitrust and the Federal Trade Commission in 2023
Excerpt from Mark Jamison’s piece, Antitrust and the Federal Trade Commission in 2023 in the Washington Examiner. “Generally, Republicans have a limited…
Study
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,…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The big news is that the Food and Drug Administration is poised to follow several other countries’ lead in approving one or more coronavirus…
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.
The Hidden Costs of Interchange Fee Bans
The state of Illinois risks transforming the Land of Lincoln into the Land of Patchwork Price Controls. The Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA), passed…
Three Reasons Tariffs Don’t Work
He just likes tariffs. President Trump’s decades-long love of tariffs comes from the heart. The intellectual arguments Trump and his aides use to justify…
Blog
Sanctioning Russia Act: Tariffs won’t change Putin’s mind
When Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) passed away last week, he left behind a bill called the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026. Congress is…
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…
The Regulatory Costberg is melting—or is it? An update on Trump’s “one-in, ten-out” initiative
In the first Trump administration, the longstanding Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the Agenda) was instrumental in assessing…
News
Inflation drops some in June, does not yet indicate inflation relief is here to stay: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for June fell 0.4 percent, mostly canceling out May’s 0.5 percent increase. While this may provide some immediate…
Energy Department seeks to stop bad appliance regulations
The Energy Department today proposed a rule that sets limits on any future appliance regulations. CEI Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman praised this…
Economy adds 57,000 jobs in June; labor market continues to stabilize: CEI analysis
The labor market gained 57,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2 percent. The likelihood of an interest rate…
Op-Eds
National Review
Three Arguments Against Tariffs
President Trump loves tariffs. The Americans paying them don’t. A recent CNN poll found that 65 percent of Americans blame Trump’s tariffs…
Washington Post
A simple step by Europe could loosen Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz
John Berlau is director of finance policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. As European nations ponder unilateral actions to bring shipping back to…
The Chicago Tribune
Springfield’s interchange fee ban takes a costly swipe at Illinois consumers
I have many fond memories of growing up in the Chicago suburbs, including eating out at Lou Malnati’s, visiting Chicago museums on weekends and…
Staff & Scholars
Kent Lassman
President and CEO
- Capitalism
- Deregulation
- Innovation
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Trade and International
Devin Watkins
Attorney
David S. McFadden
Attorney
- Law and Litigation
- Legal Studies
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment
James Broughel
Adjunct Fellow
Patricia Patnode
Research Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation