CEI has fought excessive regulation in the financial sector from laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank. We have scored major bipartisan victories for deregulation. These include the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, signed by President Obama in 2012, that lifted or relaxed some of the biggest burdens preventing small and midsize firms from raising capital and going public; and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, signed by President Trump in 2018, that lifted some of Dodd-Frank’s crushing burden on community banks and credit unions. We continue to fight to remove regulatory barriers that limit choices and increase costs for entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers.
Banking and Finance Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
What a 1958 onion law reveals about modern politics
University of Chicago students recently held an onion-themed protest, of all things. Social media was flooded with more onion puns than any reasonable…
Blog
The challenges of central banking
The Federal Reserve has decided to maintain interest rates between 3.75 percent and 4 percent. Within minutes of this announcement, economists, investors, politicians,…
News Release
Federal Reserve holds rates steady as inflation turmoil continues: CEI analysis
The Fed has decided to keep interest rates steady as it continues to battle against rising inflation and economic uncertainty, made worse by…
Search Posts
The Washington Times
Inflation rises again, driven by energy costs amid Iran war
The Washington Times cites CEI’s Steve Swedberg on inflation and the continual push for lowered interest rates. The report on rising inflation arrived…
Reason
Inflation Reaches 4.2% as Prices Outpace Paychecks
Reason cites senior economist Ryan Young regarding inflation. The fact that those two lines have now crossed again should be setting off…
The Center Square
Inflation spikes to 4.2% in May, highest in three years
The Center Square cites senior economist Ryan Young on inflation numbers. The Competitive Enterprise Institute said a rate hike could be coming at…
News Release
Inflation still stubbornly high in May, future rate increase growing more likely: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for May shows inflation rose 0.5 percent across all sectors, with energy continuing to be a major factor…
Blog
Trump’s Strait of Hormuz insurance plan gambles with taxpayer dollars
As wars and skirmishes escalate, the risks to commerce increase and are reflected in market prices. In past conflicts, shipping firms faced soaring premiums…
Washington Examiner
Business
Soaring stock market defies broader US economic doldrums CEI senior economist Ryan Young gave comment to the Washington Examiner regarding consumer bias in stock…
Washington Examiner
Fed and Warsh under increasing pressure to keep rates higher, thanks to labor market strength
CEI senior economist Ryan Young gave comment to the Washington Examiner regarding price stability. Ryan Young, senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise…
News Release
CEI Report: AI Industrial Policy Schemes Create “Misalignment by Design” and a New AI Welfare State
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute contends the greatest risk associated with artificial intelligence is not technological misalignment but what author…
Washington Examiner
Market expectations for rate hike haunt Warsh and GOP
The Washington Examiner cites Senior Economist Ryan Young on the consumer price index: Additionally, the producer price index showed wholesale inflation shot up…
Blog
Colorado legislature joins Illinois in breaking national payment system
One of the glories of the modern economy is that you can walk into a store anywhere in America, or indeed much of the…
National Review
Bank regulators finally back off reputational risk overreach
We are in the middle of a quiet revolution in how banks are regulated in the United States, and you can be forgiven if you…
Blog
Less discretion, more discipline: Three focus areas for Warsh at the Fed
New Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh should focus on three dimensions of reform: how the Fed makes decisions, the size of its market footprint,…
Bloomberg Tax
SEC Proposes Scaling Back Auditor Testing of Fraud Safeguards
Most US-listed companies would be exempt from requirements they hire an outside auditor to field test safeguards meant to ensure investors can rely on…
Blog
How the Bank Holding Company Act helped shape modern banking consolidation
Back in the 1950s, Congress feared a future in which a small number of powerful banking organizations would dominate the financial sector.
News Release
April PPI shows inflation still a major problem for the Fed and the economy: CEI analysis
The April Producer Price Index (PPI) shows a 1.4 percent jump, the largest increase since 2022. Inflation remains a stubborn issue for the…
Blog
Deputizing banks for citizenship verification could halt America’s financial greatness
A few weeks after he was confirmed as Treasury secretary last year, Scott Bessent delivered a message to the American Bankers Association that regulatory…
News Release
Inflation increases again in April, no end in sight for higher energy prices: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index for April shows inflation increased by 0.6 percent across all sectors, slightly lower than March’s 0.9 percent but still…
News Release
SEC seeks end to quarterly reporting mandate: CEI analysis
The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed to end mandatory quarterly reporting for public companies and switch to semiannual reporting. “The SEC…
Chicago Tribune
Steve Swedberg: 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…
Blog
CEI leads coalition supporting OCC preemption of Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act
CEI today sent a letter to Jonathan Gould, the Comptroller of the Currency, cosigned by 22 other free market groups, supporting his office’s…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter Supporting Preemption of the Misguided Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act
Dear Comptroller Gould, On behalf of our organizations and the members they represent, we write to support your office’s moves to preempt the Illinois Interchange Fee…
Comment
CEI comments on OCC’s proposed implementation of GENIUS Act stablecoin regulation
Dear Comptroller Gould:On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I appreciate the opportunity to submit comments on OCC-2025-0372, the OCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking…
Blog
The limits of balance sheet runoff at the Fed
At his confirmation hearing last week, Kevin Warsh called for a smaller Federal Reserve balance sheet. This statement revives debate over how the…
News Release
Fed keeps a hold on interest rates for now, debate on balance sheet a highlight for next Fed Chair-hopeful Warsh: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve has decided to keep interest rates steady, aligning with economists’ and financial analysts’ predictions. With the Senate Banking Committee voting…
Comment
CEI Comments on Federal Reserve Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Prohibition on Use of Reputation Risk or Other Supervisory Tools to Encourage or Compel Banking Organizations to Engage in Politicized or Unlawful Discrimination
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is pleased to have the opportunity to comment on the Federal Reserve’s current notice of proposed rulemaking,…
Blog
A quantitative easing hangover has the Fed in a balance sheet trap
As Kevin Warsh undergoes the Fed Chair confirmation process, debate has returned to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and how it should be managed…
Blog
Quantitative easing and the Fed’s free lunch problem
As Kevin Warsh undergoes his confirmation process for Fed Chair, one of the most consequential yet least straightforward issues in modern monetary policy is…
News Release
Fed Chair nominee Warsh has mixed signals in Senate hearing
Kevin Warsh’s confirmation hearing for Federal Reserve Chair in the Senate today prompted questions about future Fed policies. While his testimony had promising signals,…
Blog
Forward guidance is not a crystal ball: A case for rules-based monetary policy
Throughout history, the urge to predict the future has been hard to resist. The Federal Reserve is not immune to such temptation. In recent…
Blog
From lifeline to lifestyle: How quantitative easing became the Fed’s default setting
The nomination of Kevin Warsh has renewed scrutiny of the Federal Reserve’s expanding role in the economy. One of the most consequential shifts in…
Blog
Dual mandate, dual headache: Why the Fed should focus on price stability
With Kevin Warsh set to appear before the Senate for his Fed confirmation hearing, the question of his monetary priorities is taking center stage.
Blog
Questions Kevin Warsh needs to answer if he is to become the next Fed Chair
A new CEI paper out today by John Berlau, Ryan Young, and myself offers some questions that Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh…
News Release
Report: Senate questions for Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh
As the US Senate prepares to consider the nomination of Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve, the Competitive Enterprise Institute today offered lawmakers…
Study
Questions for Kevin Warsh
Kevin Warsh is President Trump’s choice to succeed Jerome Powell as the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Warsh’s…
News Release
Energy and oil prices driving force behind March inflation increase: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for March shows a 0.9 percent increase across all sectors, mainly driven by significantly higher energy and…
News Release
Federal Reserve keeps interest rates steady, higher inflation likely to continue: CEI analysis
The Fed has decided to keep interest rates steady, with inflation still too high to warrant rate cuts. With Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s…
News Release
SEC to seek end to quarterly reporting mandate: CEI analysis
The Securities and Exchange Commission will propose to end mandatory quarterly reporting for public companies, and give companies the option to file semi-annually instead,…
The National News Desk
Inflation steady in February, but war risks new price surge
The National News Desk cited CEI’s expert on CPI data “The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the greater the upward pressure…
News Release
Inflation increases in February, predates new soaring energy prices: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for February shows a 0.3 percent increase across all sectors. The increase predates the escalation in the Middle…
Blog
The Senate housing bill’s road to socialism
In the last week of February, I expressed hope that members of Congress would “embrace free-market proposals to advance opportunities in the housing…
Reason
Fight Government Corruption With Deregulation
Reason cited CEI’s expert on regulatory budgets “When regulatory systems become dense, opaque, and discretionary, they create perverse incentives for corruption,” Steve Swedberg,…
The Washington Examiner
Credit card companies are easy to vilify, but the wrong target for consumer ire
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on financial policy. John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said entrepreneurs turned…
Blog
Cut the steel, cut the cost: Why Congress is right to scrap the chassis mandate
If buying a home in the US feels more expensive, that is not merely your imagination. A Harvard University study found that national single-family…
News Release
Federal regulator fights state regulation of prediction markets – a gain for ordinary entrepreneurs and investors
Today, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Mike Selig announced actions to attempt to block state regulation of prediction markets that offer contracts on sports and…
News Release
Inflation rose 0.2 percent in January, year-over-year numbers still above Fed’s target rate: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for January shows inflation rose 0.2 percent, lower than economists’ predictions. Inflation year-over-year remains above the Federal Reserve’s…
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Attacks on Credit Cards Will Hurt Georgia Consumers and the State Economy
Recently, President Donald Trump cheered many self-styled consumer advocates by saying that credit card interest rates should be capped at 10%, and later gave…
News Release
Housing bill aids affordability through deregulation
Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by 390-9 the bipartisan Housing for the 21st Century Act. CEI scholars highlight the bill’s…
Blog
Congress keeps propping government-backed deposit insurance up, risk keeps rising
On Sunday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 marked its 20th anniversary. This Act consolidated the Bank Insurance Fund and the…
News Release
Fed stays the course on fighting inflation and proving its independence: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve has decided to not move interest rates, an expected decision that signals the Fed’s independence and its continued fight against inflation.
Blog
Durbin-Marshall’s new provisions enable lawfare from state AGs
Even though President Trump unfortunately endorsed earlier this month the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) – a bill that attempts to force down fees…
Staff & Scholars
John Berlau
Senior Fellow and Director of Finance Policy
- Banking and Finance
- Deregulation
- Financial Regulation
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Trade and International
Steve Swedberg
Finance and Monetary Policy Analyst
- Banking and Finance
- Deregulation
- Financial Regulation