The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)

Research Company/Group
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit libertarian think tank founded by the political writer Fred L. Smith Jr. on March 9, 1984, in Washington, D.C., to advance principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individual liberty. CEI focuses on a number of regulatory policy issues, including business and finance, labor, technology and telecommunications, transportation, food and drug regulation, and energy and environment in which they have promoted climate change denial. Kent Lassman is the current President and CEO. According to the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), CEI is number 59 (of 90) in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States". Source

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Diary of deconstruction: White House releases 2026 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations

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By Clyde Wayne Crews
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
Since 1983, the often-tardy semiannual Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the Agenda) has surveyed recently completed and forthcoming rulemaking priorities across dozens of federal departments and agencies. The Trump administration quietly released a 2026 edition over Independence Day weekend, the first since the lone 2025 volume last September.
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The week in regulations: Supersonic flight and circuit board acquisition

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By Ryan Young
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
America turned 250 years old on July 4. The Unified Agenda, which lists all upcoming regulations, came out in the July 3 holiday weekend news dump. The Federal Register passed the 40,000-page mark. President Trump has made more than $2 billion since returning to office. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from marine casualties to nuclear waste casks. On to the data: Agencies issued 87 new final regulations last week. This is equivalent to one new final regulation every one hour and 56 minutes.
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Free the Economy podcast: George Washington, entrepreneur with John Berlau

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By Richard Morrison
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
In this week’s episode we cover terrible advice on poverty from the United Nations, reforming the way we regulate banks, and possible new policy directions at the Federal Reserve. Our guest this week is John Berlau, Director of Finance Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of George Washington: Entrepreneur: How Our Founding Father’s Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World.
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Europe’s heat wave tragically demonstrates the need for air conditioning

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By Ben Lieberman
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
Western European nations take a very different approach from the United States on many issues — immigration, defense, welfare, energy, health care, and more. Each summer also offers a cautionary tale about their dangerously misguided opposition to air conditioning. The recent heat wave across Europe is exacting a death toll that is both tragic and unnecessary.
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Mamdani’s road to housing hell is paved with rent freezes

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By Steve Swedberg
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
As housing affordability becomes increasingly elusive, there are few things more politically alluring than telling voters their rent will not increase. It was a campaign promise that helped propel Zohran Mamdani to become Mayor of New York City (NYC). Last week, he delivered on that promise by pushing the city’s already-stringent rent control system to its logical extreme: a rent freeze. At first glance, it looks like Mamdani is providing relief to tenants.
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The Living Wage for All Act leaves hourly workers behind

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By Justin Liu
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
Last week, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced the Senate version of the Living Wage for All Act, which raises the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $25 per hour — a 245 percent increase — over 12 years. It begins by increasing the minimum wage 66 percent to $12 an hour and then establishes separate schedules for large and smaller employers, with the former being required to raise hourly pay to $25 in only 5 years.
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CEI and the minimum wage

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By Iain Murray, Jeremy Nighohossian, Ryan Young
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) recently proposed a bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $25. Listed below are 18 arguments against raising the minimum wage put forth by CEI scholars previously.
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Mid-year 2026: Is Washington actually deregulating?

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By Clyde Wayne Crews
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
It’s June 30, mid-year 2026 — almost America’s birthday. In terms of conventional issuance of rules and regulations in the Federal Register, the Trump administration continues to set records for “inactivity” and pursue a value of principled federal neglect. The year-to-date reductions aren’t as striking as during 2025 — the first year of Trump 2.0 and the first year of the administration’s “one-in, ten-out” regulatory operating mode — but the results remain notable and are to be encouraged.
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A $25 minimum wage cannot legislate away the high cost of living

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By Steve Swedberg
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
Affordability is the political buzzword for 2026. Last week, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) announced plans to introduce the Living Wage for All Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour. His argument is straightforward: if Americans cannot afford basic necessities, the government should require employers to pay more. But would a $25 federal minimum wage make housing, groceries, childcare, or health care more affordable?
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Murphy’s minimum wage bill would stiff waiters and waitresses

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By Sean Higgins
| The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
Among its other bad features, Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour would also eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers. That provision would likely reduce jobs for waiters, waitresses, and other service sector workers, most of whom already earn much more than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. And those who stay employed won’t necessarily see a boost in their wages.
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The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) Journalists

Bakst, Daren
Berlau, John
Crews Jr., Clyde Wayne
Ebell, Myron
Higgins, Sean
Lassman, Kent
Lieberman, Ben
Melugin, Jessica
Minton, Michelle
Morrison, Richard
Murray, Iain
Patnode, Patricia
Young, Ryan