As a result, CEI experts have encouraged and supported trade-enhancing policies and treaties over the years, including “fast-track” Trade Promotion Authority, specific trade deals, and multilateral efforts such as the Doha round of the World Trade Organization. We have opposed increased tariffs, attempts to increase regulation through trade deal language, and the trend toward bilateral rather than multilateral deals. CEI continues to make the case for free trade in the face of increased bipartisan hostility to the idea.
CEI’s experts also work with like-minded colleagues abroad to oppose harmful initiatives, such as working with British colleagues to stop that country’s competition agency from blocking mergers between American firms based on speculative reasoning.
Featured Posts
Blog
Why do so many countries have tariffs?
Over at the Center Square, Iain Murray and I ask an overlooked question: If tariffs are so bad, then why does nearly every country…
Center Square Opinion
Why do so many countries have tariffs?
If tariffs are so bad, then why does nearly every country have them? It’s a fair question, and many Trump tariff defenders are asking it.
Blog
That didn’t take long: Tariffs shrink economy in just two months
The US is halfway to a self-imposed recession, and tariffs are to blame. A healthy economy started shrinking even before President Trump’s Rose Garden…
Search Posts
Blog
Government-Subsidized Murder: Cannibal Ph.D Candidate Studies Homicide at Taxpayer Expense
"While pursuing a PhD in “homicide studies” at the British taxpayers’ expense, a man with a long history of criminal violence became a…
Op-Eds
The Exceptional Children Of Skilled Immigrants
Much of the debate over increasing legal immigration and work visas, such as the H-1B visa for highly skilled workers, has centered on the…
Blog
Obama Administration Votes Against England, Supporting Argentine-Backed Resolution on the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are English-speaking and have been part of the United Kingdom for generations. Although Argentina unsuccessfully tried to conquer them in 1982, they…
Blog
Failures of Auto Bailouts Hidden by Deceptive Accounting and Bogus Jobs Figures
Mounting evidence shows that the auto bailouts weren't worth it. They have been far more costly, and less successful, than claimed, as even liberal…
Blog
Top 3 Myths about Immigration
According to Ben Powell, the three most common immigration myths are that immigrants are a drag on the economy, they steal our jobs, and that…
Blog
Liberalize High-Skilled Immigration
Over at the Daily Caller, Alex Nowrasteh and I tell the story of Jeffrey Lin. He is a Ph.D student at CalTech who holds three…
Daily Caller
Immigration Reform Can Jumpstart Economy
Jeffrey is a talented electrical engineering PhD student at CalTech. He already holds three patents. One of his inventions may cure glaucoma. It is…
Blog
Sen. Hatch Questions Illogic of Holding Three Trade Agreements Hostage to TAA
Consideration of the three pending trade pacts -- with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea -- presents a conundrum. The administration is saying that these Free…
Blog
Trade Week: Why I Learned to Hate Civilization
When I first played the strategy game Civilization -- on an Amiga computer in the early 1990s -- I was instantly hooked. I was a…
Blog
Is the U.S. Serious About Trade and Economic Growth — Or About Currying Favor with Trade Unions?
Is the U.S. serious about trade or does the Obama administration just want to cater to union supporters and set up more obstacles for trade…
Blog
Trade Week: Fair Trade Isn’t Fair
As I passed by the Commerce Department on my way in to work this morning, I saw the bureaucrats had erected a banner for…
Blog
Fighting for its Life: Absolute Poker Makes a Deal with Feds
In 2002, four fraternity brothers from the University of Montana founded an online gambling platform that became one of the most popular online casinos for…
Blog
Greenland Flourishes Due to Global Warming and Climate Change
Alarmists have been decrying the effects of global warming on Greenland for years, even though Greenland was greenest during the Medieval Warm Period, and Greenland’s Vikings,…
Blog
Temporarily Buoyed by Japanese Earthquake, General Motors Looks for Profit Overseas
"GM sees China as a road to profit," reports the Washington Post today. "GM last year sold more cars in China than in the…
Blog
Is Trade Adjustment Assistance a Pre-Condition for Pending Trade Agreements?
Today, at the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the committee chairman, ranking Republican, and the U.S. Trade Representative’s…
News Release
Obama Gives Half-Hearted Speech on Immigration Reform
Washington, D.C., May 10, 2011 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute is cautiously optimistic about President Obama’s call for comprehensive immigration reform. Some of his…
Blog
Progress on Free Trade — With Strings Attached
Looks like there could finally be some progress on long-pending free trade agreements (FTAs). Yesterday U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that the administration…
Blog
Free Trade Agreements Don’t Kill Jobs
Over at the Daily Caller, I look at employment data and find out that the labor force has grown by 23 million people since NAFTA…
Blog
Free Trade: A Step Towards Revitalizing the Economy
According to Chris Frates’ article this morning in Politico, After years of wrangling, labor and business groups are gearing up for an epic showdown…
Daily Caller
Free Trade Agreements Don’t Kill Jobs
The U.S. is slowly working towards free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. After years of wrangling, they might even pass this…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 170: Kinder Eggs
Kinder eggs are a type of candy that enjoys worldwide popularity. They are also illegal in the United States.
Blog
Washington Post’s Royal Class Snobbery Against Middletons
Thanks Iain, for your kind comments on my Wall Street Journal op-ed celebrating the Middleton's entrepreneurship and for the great info on how…
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 28, 2011: High-Speed Rail
Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at China's experience with high-speed rail, and finds that it may not be a very good…
Blog
Obama Subsidizes Job-Killing Outsourcing, While Attacking Job-Creating Outsourcing
In his 2008 campaign, Obama demagogued about “outsourcing,” but his own policies have outsourced thousands of American jobs, at taxpayer expense, as I…
Blog
Ideologies Undermine Attorney-Client Relationship, National Sovereignty, and Protection Against Crime
At the Washington Examiner, I discuss the implications for the attorney-client relationship of a law firm’s decision to dump a client after signing…
Blog
Biofuels Policy — Death and Disease Follow
The inestimable Indur Goklany has an important new report on biofuels and developing countries. “Could Biofuel Policies Increase Death and Disease in Developing Countries?”…
Blog
China Had a Quarterly Trade Deficit — And it was Hardly Noticed
Here’s a bit of news that didn’t get too much attention — China had a first quarter 2011 trade deficit. It’s the country’s first quarterly…
Blog
U.S. Swipes at Colombia’s Sovereignty with Onerous Labor Requirements
AEI’s Claude Barfield posted an insightful comment on the new labor requirements the U.S. foisted on Colombia in connection with the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade…
Blog
Constipated Colombia Pact
Pres. Obama has made expanding U.S. exports a centerpiece of his economic plan. In his January State of the Union Address, he noted that "95%…
Blog
ReasonTV video on Protectionism at the Smithsonian
ReasonTV just produced an eye-opening video regarding how easily politicians can utilize rhetoric to create economically absurd policies. In the video below, Bernie Sanders works…
Blog
Rep. Levin Wants to Stall Trade Pact — Colombia Needs to Change its Laws, He Says
Okay -- another big roadblock for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and not surprisingly, it’s coming from Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member on the…
Blog
Stop the Sweet Deal for Sugar, Says Senator Lugar
There's a great op-ed by Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) in The Washington Times today telling how Big Sugar’s sweet deal harms consumers, leads to job…
News Release
Sen. Lugar’s Bill to Repeal U.S. Sugar Program to Benefit Consumers, Economy, Developing Countries
Contact: Christine Hall, 202.331.2258 March 30, 2011, Washington, D.C. – Legislation introduced today by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) marks a bold step towards repealing the…
Blog
March Madness
In the closing days of March, not only are sports fans a bit crazy, so also are the electorate. Consider the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg,…
Blog
Obama’s Support of Brazil
President Obama was in Brazil over the weekend: “The United States doesn’t simply recognize Brazil’s rise; we support it enthusiastically,” Obama said in Brasilia,…
Blog
High-Speed Rail Follies: International Edition
Over at the excellent NewGeography.com, Wendell Cox has an article about the battle over high-speed rail investment in Britain. As we've seen in the…
Blog
America Doesn’t Need More College Graduates at Taxpayer Expense
President Obama says that “the best economic policy is one that produces more college graduates.” No doubt this is best for colleges, which have been…
Blog
A Tsunami is Not a Stimulus
Tragedy struck Japan this morning. It will be some time before we know just how many lives the tsunami took, and how much damage was…
Blog
Vintage Friedman in CNBC Ad
This is a current CNBC ad — gasp — produced from a 1979 interview of Milton Friedman by Phil Donohue. Can hardly get a better…
Blog
Pressure Mounts for Three Free Trade Agreements to be Submitted
Bi-partisan pressure mounts for the Obama administration to move on long-pending free trade agreements (FTAs). At Senate Finance Committee hearings yesterday on the trade…
Blog
House Republicans Push for Fast Action on Three Pending Trade Pacts
The new House Republicans are pushing for fast action on the three pending free trade agreements (FTAs) -- with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Windows Intune hits the street March 23: “Microsoft said today that the final version of its Windows Intune cloud-delivered PC management…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Gmail accidentally resetting accounts, years of correspondence: “If you've got a working Gmail account, you might want to back it up every so…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: London Stock Exchange Hit by Technical Glitch: The London Stock Exchange suffered a second embarrassing system glitch in a week on Friday…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Google launches Apps certification program for IT pros: “Google has launched a program to certify that staffers at Google Apps resellers have specific…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Amazon Rolls Out Instant Streaming for ‘Prime’ Members: “Amazon.com (AMZN: 180.45, 0.00, 0.00%) on Tuesday announced its highly-rumored video-streaming service for customers subscribing…
Blog
Egyptian Military Seeks to Reverse Economic Reforms
The military government that replaced Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak is now moving to reverse recent reforms that gave Egypt solid economic growth in the last several…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Meet the Android Malware That Sucks Your Bandwidth: “Mobile malware is still a fringe development, but it’s not inconceivable that you’d run…
Blog
U.S. Continues to Ignore Staunch Trade Partner and Ally Colombia — And Possible Consequences
As the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement languishes, the U.S. stands to lose some of its influence with that staunch and critical ally in South America.
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: ‘Watson’ the computer creams human ‘Jeopardy!’ champs: “An IBM computer creamed two human champions on the television game show “Jeopardy!” today in…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Computer crushes the competition on ‘Jeopardy!’: “The computer outsmarted its human competition in Game 1 of the Man vs. Machine competition on…
Daily Caller
Obama budget: Life is short, eat dessert first
Blog
Mubarak’s Exit Lifts U.S. Stocks
As Egypt settles into a cautious detente, stock markets around the world recover from their Jan 25 dip. As Mubarak ceded the presidency Friday,…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Google Launches Site-Blocking Extension Against Content Farms: “Aimed at stripping search results of pages from “low-quality” sites, a new Google Chrome extension…
Blog
Hold the Sizzle: Chipotle, Immigrant Employees Get ICE’d
Chipotle boasts that it offers “food with integrity,” but the popular restaurant chain may want to consider an addendum in light of its recent actions:…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: FTC Warns About Public Wi-Fi Hotspot Dangers: “The OnGuardOnline.gov website, operated by the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, Homeland Security, Commerce Department…
Blog
What’s In Store for Egypt After Mubarak’s Departure?
Recently, Egypt’s pro-American dictator, Hosni Mubarak, was forced to resign after 30 years in power, and forced to give way to a military-controlled government. Victor…
Blog
Politics is a Country Club: Mubarak/Clinton Edition
Hillary Clinton, March 10, 2009: “I really consider [Egyptian] President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I…
Blog
Obama Administration Hid Role of Politically-Correct Discrimination in Spawning Fort Hood Massacre
Discrimination and politically-correct blinders can be deadly. It was obvious in the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings that the killer was inspired by Islamic…
Blog
Blogger Kareem Amer Missing in Egypt
Kareem Amer, noted Egyptian blogger and democratic activist has not been heard from since 11 PM on February 6th.
Blog
World Food Prices at an All-Time High Because of Subsidies
World food prices are at an all-time high, announced the FAO this week. Many experts are jumping to conclusions that this indicates a global…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: 1Gbps Wi-Fi Soon Coming To a Billion Devices: “Not only is 1Gbps heading for your Wi-Fi network by next year, it will…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: China building a city for cloud computing: “China is building a city-sized cloud computing and office complex that will include a mega…
Daily Caller
The Ethanol Idiocy That Will Not Die
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Internet is easy prey for governments: “For all that the revolution in Egypt tells us about the power of…
Daily Caller
Democracy in Egypt? Define “Democracy”
Blog
Egyptian Riots Fueled by Ethanol Subsidies and Biofuel Mandates
As world food prices hit a record high, protests in Egypt demand the removal of the country’s pro-American dictator, Hosni Mubarak. No one can…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: A Shortage of Power in Data Centers?: “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, right? If you’ve ever experienced a…
Blog
American Apparel Almost Bankrupt; Supply and Demand Alive and Well
American Apparel has started dumping shares, so stock up on your leggings and Ts now. Explanations are below, if you’ll try for a moment to…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: News Corp. Launches Digital Daily: “News Corp. on Wednesday unveiled The Daily, a tablet newspaper that Chairman Rupert Murdoch described as “the…
Blog
Ethanol and the Egyptian Riots
Ethanol subsidies helped cause the Egyptian riots, contributing to the “skyrocketing food prices” that triggered “the massive unrest now occurring in Egypt,” argues economist…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Google accuses Microsoft on search data: “Google has accused arch-rival Microsoft of plagiarising its internet search results in an attempt to narrow…
Daily Caller
Christians In the Middle East and the American Dream
The current uprising in Egypt is troubling many Christians throughout the region, but it is not a stand alone incident. Pope Benedict XVI’s New Year’s…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: 200GB to 25GB: Canada gets first, bitter does of metered Internet: “Metered Internet usage (also called “Usage-Based Billing”) is coming to Canada,…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Without Internet, Egyptians find new ways to get online: “”When countries block, we evolve,” an activist with the group We Rebuild wrote…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Facebook posts mined for court case evidence: “It’s the latest litigation tactic in the online age: U.S. lawyers are trying to mine…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Facebook phones to be unveiled next month: “London-based City A.M. is reporting that Facebook, in conjunction with Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC, will…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: DOJ seeks mandatory data retention requirement for ISPs: “The U.S. Department of Justice and an organization representing police chiefs from around the…
Daily Caller
Obama’s SOTU Speech: More Spending on Democrat Special Interests
Blog
What’s Expected on Trade in the State of the Union Address
In his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama will finally set out his agenda and timetable on three pending free trade agreements…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Two-thirds of U.S. Internet users lack fast broadband: “Two-thirds of U.S. Internet connections are slower than 5 Mbps, putting the United States…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Opps: No copied Java code or weapons of mass destruction found in Android: ?Sometimes the sheer wrongness of what is posted on…
Daily Caller
Dems Prefer Academic Theories of Job Creation to Economic Reality
Blog
Obama Policies Fuel Global Food Crisis Through Ethanol Mandates, While Fostering Obesity in America
Food prices are soaring all over the world. The global food chain is reportedly stretched to the limit, fueled by the fact…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Gov will spend 400k pounds to destroy ID card data: “The cost of destroying the personal data collected under the ill-starred programme…
Daily Caller
Are Biofuel Policies Fueling a Global Food Crisis?
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Starbucks launches largest mobile payment program in the US: “Starbucks has started accepting mobile payments. Customers can use the Starbucks Card Mobile…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: FCC signs off on Comcast’s bid to control NBC Universal: “Federal regulators signed off on Comcast Corp.’s bid to control NBC Universal,…
Blog
Will UAW Seek Foreign Help to Unionize American Workers?
America has a vibrant and successful auto industry — just largely outside of Detroit. For years, many foreign automakers’ American divisions have been successful at…
Study
Advance a Global Pro-Trade Agenda
Liberate to Stimulate Index Increasing liberalization of world trade is a key factor behind the dramatic increase in global prosperity since the…
Study
Reform Federal Agriculture Programs
Liberate to Stimulate Index With America’s economy struggling to roar back to strong growth and a deficit approaching $1 trillion, policy makers…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Facebook: Goldman Sachs excludes US investors from deal: “Investors from outside America will be able to take part in…
Blog
WikiLeaks Backs Censorship in Response to Tucson Shootings
In a press release, WikiLeaks has blamed Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and other conservatives for the Tucson shootings, and called for them to…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Google Release Chrome 8.0.522, Pays $14,000 in Bug Bounties: “Google has released version 8.0.552.237 of its Chrome browser, which includes fixes for…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Person Tweeting Death Wish for Palin Now Wants Privacy: “Now YouTube is threatening to pull the video because one of the people…
Blog
US Loses Ground in 2011 Index of Economic Freedom
The U.S. dropped from 8 to 9 on the just-released “Index of Economic Freedom” put out by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Verizon iPhone Could Double U.S. Mobile Games Industry This Year: “Earlier today, Verizon and Apple finally confirmed what everyone knew was coming:…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Iceland protests to U.S. over Twitter data demand: “Iceland called in the U.S. ambassador in Reykjavik on Monday to register its displeasure…
Daily Caller
Inspector General Says ‘Jobs Saved’ Numbers Are Nonsense; Totals ‘Should Be Offset By Thousands Destroyed’
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Twitter endorsements face OFT clampdown: “How does a celebrity declare their affiliations to certain brands in fewer than 140 characters? Many may…
