The Competitive Enterprise Institute believes the proper role for government is to provide consumers with accurate, unbiased guidance that informs consumer choice. But, whether it is the substances we prefer, how we entertain ourselves, what dietary habits we maintain, or how we pursue personal health, consumers ought to have the right to make decisions for themselves.
Consumer Freedom Issue Areas
Featured Posts
News Release
FDA succeeds in approving new flu vaccine: CEI comment
The FDA has approved a flu vaccine made with mRNA technology, the same technology used for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, the company announced on…
Blog
Can Trump proposed rule pull the plug on bad appliance regulations?
Many Americans dislike federal home appliance regulations, perhaps nobody more so than the current White House occupant, who routinely rails against them at his…
Blog
Hopping the fence: The failures of social media bans
There is growing global momentum toward mandatory age verification and stricter internet safety regulations. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 56…
Search Posts
NJ Star-Ledger
Donald Trump makes a corny argument for the 2024 nomination
The New Jersey Star-Ledger cites CEI Senior Fellow Ben Liberman on ethanol mandates: Virtually every free-market thinker in…
C-SPAN
VIDEO: National Cannabis Policy Summit
CEI Senior Fellow Michelle Minton participated in the National Cannabis Policy Summit Watch the full video at C-SPAN here.
The Hill
Congress can prevent an over-regulated US digital economy. Here’s how
Last month, Connecticut became the fifth state to pass a comprehensive consumer data privacy law. As more states appear poised to …
Issues & Insights
Militarizing The Baby Formula Crisis Is Infantile
A military cargo plane lands filled with vitally needed baby formula to be greeted by a top government official. A relief flight…
Blog
Banning Menthol Cigarettes Will Do Nothing to Promote Racial Justice
Public support for the War on Drugs has never been lower, due in no small part to increased awareness about the devastation drug…
Newsy
Government Combats Baby Formula Shortage With ‘Operation Fly Formula’
Newsy cites CEI Senior Fellow Ryan Young on regulating the formula shortage: Experts say the FDA’s requirements are cumbersome…
Blog
Baby Formula and Regulatory Failure
A lot of people are blaming free markets for the baby formula shortage. As the economist Jagdish Bhagwati might say, the problem with this…
The Washington Examiner
What Elon Musk gets wrong about Apple App Store fees
Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter has some in the throes of ecstasy and others fearing a social media apocalypse. But, whatever happens, it’s good news that…
Vapor Voice
Unnatural Response
Vapor Voice cites CEI Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on nontobacco nicotine regulation: Michelle Minton, writing for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, states that…
Letters
36 Organizations Sign Coalition Letter Condemning Menthol Prohibition Proposal
We, the undersigned 36 organizations, representing millions of taxpayers and consumers across the United States, strongly urge you to reject any proposed ban on…
Blog
CEI Joins Coalition Urging FDA Not to Ban Synthetic Nicotine
This week CEI joined a coalition of groups urging Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf not to prohibit synthetic nicotine (read the…
Blog
Why Cannabis Banking Liberalization Would Indeed Increase U.S. Competitiveness
As war continues in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, interest by policy makers and the media has spiked in competitiveness bills passed…
Blog
FDA’s Dysfunctional Regulation of E-cigs Created the Synthetic Nicotine Problem
Winston Churchill once said that “If you destroy a free market you create a black market” and nowhere is the validity of that…
Los Angles Daily News
Menthol Ban a Bad, Harmful Idea
Los Angeles Daily News cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on why e-cigarettes offer smokers a better alternative: “While some smokers might…
The Washington Times
Researchers Warn Trendy CBD Gummies Can Cause Failed Drug Tests
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on popular consumer gummies and vaporizers: Michelle Minton, a senior fellow at the…
Blog
Treasury Department Report Endorses Deregulation to Boost the Booze Business
It isn’t often that a Democratic administration endorses deregulation, but that is exactly what the Treasury Department does in a new report on…
The Doug Collins Podcast
AUDIO: How the Government Regulates Every Room in your House: From Shower Heads to Dishwashers
Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman joins The Doug Collins Podcast to discuss regulations in households: Click here to read more.
The Wall Street Journal
A Regulatory Burden for Every Room of Your House
Skyrocketing inflation, empty store shelves, rising crime and endless Covid restrictions have been grabbing headlines, but lesser-noticed regulatory mischief from the Biden administration may…
Study
The High Costs of the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act
Concerns about plastics waste in the world’s oceans have raised genuine issues about the impact of plastics on the environment. In response, Sen. Jeff…
News Release
Biden Energy Department Blocks Faster Dishwashers That Consumers Want
The Biden administration today undid a useful, consumer-friendly reform put in place by Biden’s predecessor, reinstating energy restrictions that make household dishwashers take much…
News Release
New Biden Admin Rule Unnecessarily Tells Americans How Much Water They Can Use in the Shower
The Biden Administration today announced a finalized rule restricting the amount of water showerheads with multiple nozzles can use. The final rule reverts…
Blog
Bah Humbug. The States that Ban Booze on Christmas, New Year’s, and other Winter Holidays
The holidays bring parties, feasts, and visits with friends and family, many of whom haven’t seen each other in person since the start of…
Blog
Request to OIRA to Ensure Peer Review of Agency’s Medical Marijuana Claims
For two years, CEI has been trying to get the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to…
Blog
GOP Cannabis Legalization Bill Could Finally Surmount Partisan Divide
Even with the majority of Americans having supported cannabis legalization for nearly a decade, proposals to decriminalize the substance at the federal level…
News Release
Inflation Hits High Mark with Consumer Price Climb in October 2021, but Policymakers Can Take Steps to Help: CEI Statement
Bad news for consumers – prices rose 0.9 percent in October and to a 30-year high, according to data released today by the…
News Release
CEI Attacks FDA Salt Guidelines for Failure to Undergo Peer Review, Charges Violation of Federal Information Quality Act
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today formally requested the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to peer review nutrition guidelines on sodium…
The Washington Examiner
Biden Declares War on Showerheads
President Joe Biden may lack the authority to reach into your shower and turn the dial down in order to save water.
Real Clear Policy
Anti-Plastics Campaign Will Harm Consumers — and the Environment
Policymakers continue to miss the boat when it comes to plastics and proactive solutions to combat litter and clean up the environment — even…
Blog
Regulatory Flexibility: Good for the Booze Business and Consumers
The coronavirus pandemic has taught us a few things, including the economic fragility of many industries. The restaurant industry, with its reliance on in-person…
The Vaping Post
The US Vape Industry Grows Discouraged as The FDA Rejects Thousands of PMTAs
The Vaping Post cites CEI on the vapor industry: A recent blog on Competitive Enterprise Institute’s website highlighted that the amount of…
Reason
Since the FDA Has Not Approved Any Vaping Products, All of Them Are Now ‘Subject to Enforcement Action’
Reason cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarette regulations: “There is robust evidence that non-tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes help adults quit smoking,” notes Competitive…
Forbes
Debt Ceiling, Meet Domestic Forever Wars
Joe Biden proclaimed to the nation that “I was not going to extend this forever war,” referring to the tw0-decade campaign in Afghanistan. To…
Reason
Setting the Record Straight on Heated Tobacco Products
Reason cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton e-cigaretts: But as Michelle Minton of the Competitive Enterprise Institute points out,…
Study
How Plastics Benefit Wildlife and the Environment
Several proposals designed to end America’s so-called addiction to plastics are currently pending in Congress. They include the Break-Free from Plastics Act (H.R. 2238,…
Blog
Tobacco Control’s Latest Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
If you want to make something irresistible to teenagers, portray it as a forbidden fruit. That is what has happened in the U.S. with…
News Release
DC Flavored Tobacco Ban Will Make Life Harder for Marginalized Groups
The Council of the District of Columbia today voted to ban the sale of flavored tobacco, including menthol, a policy opposed by CEI and…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Urging D.C. City Council to Reject Prohibition of “Flavored” Tobacco Products
June 28, 2021The Council of the District of ColumbiaJohn A. Wilson Building1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, DC 20004Dear Chairman Mendelson and Councilmembers:The undersigned civil rights,…
Letters
CEI Joins Letter Urging Congress to Lift DC Rider Blocking Cannabis Regulation
Dear Members of Congress, On behalf of the undersigned criminal justice reform, liberty, and drug policy organizations, we write to urge you to…
Reason
Sports Betting Pays Off
Reason cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on sports betting: “There is nothing criminals like more than a large, unregulated betting market…
News One
All Cigarettes Matter: Why Ban Just Menthols? Statistics Show 77% Of Black Smokers Prefer Them
News One cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on menthol cigarettes: “The issue of tobacco control is no different, Michelle Minton recently wrote for…
Inside Sources
Anti-Plastics Would Undermine Our Economy and Environment
Many valuable plastic products and thousands of jobs could disappear nearly overnight if fool-hearted members of Congress have their way. They propose legislation that…
News Release
New EPA HFC Rule Bad News for Homeowners, Car Owners, Businesses
Citing climate change concerns, the EPA announced today a proposed rule curtailing production and consumption of a crucial chemical compound used for refrigerators,…
The Washington Post
FDA Promises to Move to Ban Menthol in Cigarettes, Flavored Cigars Within a Year
The Washington Post cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on menthol cigarettes: The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, warned that…
Blog
A Menthol Cigarette Ban Would Perpetuate the Racist War on Drugs
In April the White House announced an apparently historic shift in the U.S. War on Drugs—away from strict prohibition to an approach emphasizing…
News Release
House-passed SAFE Banking Act Would End Federal Threat to Banks Dealing with Legal Cannabis Businesses
The House has passed a bill allowing banks to do business with cannabis companies, the SAFE Banking Act. While Senate action on the…
Blog
Can Biden End the Current War on Drugs without Starting a New One?
This president is not your Grandad’s Joe Biden. At least, that seems to be the message of a new White House plan on…
News Release
FTC Nominee Khan’s Antitrust Views Will Have Negative Consequences for Consumers if Made Official Policy
Competitive Enterprise Institute experts reacted to today’s announcement the White House intends to nominate Lina Khan to be a Commissioner at the Federal Trade…
Tobacco Reporter
Mail Ban Forces Vape Shops Out of Business
Tobacco Reporter cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarettes and a USPS mail ban: Writing in the National…
News Release
CEI and FreedomWorks Foundation Intervene to Protect Faster Dishwashers and Consumer Choice
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the FreedomWorks Foundation intervened today in lawsuits from eco-groups and their allies seeking to overturn…
Fortune
It’s Time to Raise the Cost of Spreading Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories were a major driver behind the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building. They have also been a growing part of…
