Capitalism generates unmatched prosperity, yet growing inequality and diminishing opportunities threaten its long-term viability. To put capitalism on a sustainable path, CED develops solutions that combine the efficiency of the free-market system with public policies that promote greater economic opportunity and outcomes for all.
Regulation can provide a number of societal benefits such as improve food safety, ensures safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, protects consumers against fraud, promotes safety in transportation, protects workers in the workplace, and helps enforce civil rights laws in areas such as fair housing. But regulation can also have real costs as well -- costs to business, costs to consumers, costs to American competitiveness in the world. Resources that could be spent on new investment instead go towards regulatory compliance, and the impact on smaller businesses can be particularly profound. The fundamental tool of regulation should be cost-benefit analysis.
CED has promoted the idea of “smart regulation” – the idea that regulation should achieve the purpose for which it was imposed at the lowest possible cost and with the maximum possible benefits. Smart regulations are well-designed at the outset and must be continually reviewed, revised, or sunset, particularly given the rapid pace of technological change. The process of adopting these regulations requires strong input from all stakeholders who have an expertise in how they would be implemented in practice, including from those who would be subject to the regulation. See CED’s book on this topic: Smart Regulation, Changing Speed Bumps into Guardrails. Download the book here.
This Solutions Brief provides an analysis of the current situation of regulatory law following recent Supreme Court decisions.
Learn MoreInfographic
Pandemic regulatory changes infographic
LEARN MOREInfographic
Infographic: free and secure trade, resilient supply chains
LEARN MOREInfographic
Almost two years after the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the United States and the world into economic and social disruption, the nation is recovering.
LEARN MOREInfographic
This Solutions Brief puts the budget reconciliation process into the context of the nation’s serious ongoing budget problem, and concludes that significant revision…
LEARN MOREInfographic
The United States lags far behind other nations in infrastructure investment.
LEARN MOREInfographic
The COVID-19 pandemic decimated international public health, but it also ravaged the global economy and labor markets.
LEARN MOREAccess more information on this policy issue.
September 17, 2024
August 08, 2024
July 03, 2024
July 03, 2024
June 28, 2024
May 10, 2024
March 28, 2024
CED experts and Trustees speak on this policy issue.
PRESS RELEASE
CED Makes Recommendations for Navigating New Regulatory
September 17, 2024
PRESS RELEASE
CED Maps Out 2024 Policy Priorities and Solutions
January 23, 2024
PRESS RELEASE
Survey: In 2024, CEOs Are Most Worried About a Recession
January 10, 2024
COMMENTARY AND LETTERS
The climate work we must do now to meet our 2050 goals
September 20, 2023
PRESS RELEASE
CED Maps Out 2023 Policy Priorities and Solutions
January 18, 2023
COMMENTARY AND LETTERS
CED Letter To President Biden: Public Policy Priorities
January 12, 2023