AEI's weekly digest of top commentary and scholarship on the issues that matter most
AEI This Week
AEI's weekly digest of top commentary and scholarship on the issues that matter most
DEFENDING CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE
Trump’s Attack on the Fed Should Galvanize the GOP
January 24, 2026
Republican senators including Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, and John Kennedy have spoken out forcefully against the criminal probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Writing in Financial Times, AEI Economic Policy Studies Director Michael R. Strain explains ([link removed] ) why the GOP needs to defend central bank independence, especially throughout the process of selecting Powell’s successor.
AP26019619844428 ([link removed] )
President Trump has accelerated the weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) over the past year—fundamentally breaking with norms of impartial law enforcement that Attorney General Edward Levi instilled after Watergate. DOJ veteran and leading expert on executive power Jack Goldsmith reflects ([link removed] ) on Levi’s achievements—and the costs of abandoning his legacy.
As we enter 2026, it would be a mistake to celebrate 250 years of American independence as merely a birthday or an anniversary. Drawing attention to the vague character of public celebrations so far, Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies Director Yuval Levin offers ([link removed] ) a more profound vision of how citizens can use this year to reflect on and recommit to the American tradition.
The COVID pandemic exposed flaws in our nation’s unemployment benefits system that cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in improper payments. In a new AEI report, Matt Weidinger, the leading expert on this scandal, identifies ([link removed] ) reforms that could address these problems by improving efficiency and accountability.
For the past two years, spending on health care has grown faster than inflation and economic growth—reaching $5.3 trillion in 2024. In testimony before the House Committee on the Budget, Benedic N. Ippolito demonstrates ([link removed] ) the threat this poses to the United States’ long-run fiscal outlook—and the need to pursue market-based reforms to drive savings.
The Golden Thread, Volume II: The Modern and Contemporary West
On January 27, Encounter Books is publishing The Golden Thread, Volume II: The Modern and Contemporary West, cowritten by James Hankins and AEI historian Allen Guelzo. Building on the first volume, written by Hankins, that covered the period between antiquity and the Renaissance, Guelzo, across 900 pages, takes ([link removed] ) the story from the Reformation to the present, tracing how the West developed epochal political, scientific, and cultural advancements that unleashed unprecedented prosperity and freedom but undermined its own classical unity. Responding to critics of the idea and study of Western civilization, Guelzo provides a constructive basis for understanding the practical and intellectual achievements, as well as the paradoxes, of the tradition that created the world we live in.
More from AEI
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
A Failed Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Would Be Disastrous for Xi Jinping ([link removed] )
Zack Cooper and Bonnie Glaser | Foreign Policy
What Using AI for My Mom’s Cancer Taught Me ([link removed] )
John Bailey | AEIdeas
Trump’s Big Changes to Government Might Not Last ([link removed] )
Yuval Levin | The Atlantic
How to Resolve the Greenland Standoff ([link removed] )
Marc A. Thiessen | The Washington Post
Last Year’s Income Tax Cuts and This Year’s Tax Refunds ([link removed] )
Kyle Pomerleau and Huaqun Li | AEIdeas
PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
From the Halls of Caracas to the Shores of Tripoli ([link removed] )
Jay Cost and Sean Trende | Stubborn Things
If China Attacks Taiwan: Military Risks and International Costs ([link removed] )
Zack Cooper | China Global
What Is Christian Zionism? Ralph Reed Has the Gospel. ([link removed] )
Danielle Pletka et al. | What the Hell Is Going On?
What Does the Future Look Like for Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council? ([link removed] )
Michael Rubin | AEI event
Greenland, Guns, and Money ([link removed] )
John Yoo et al. | Law Talk with Epstein, Yoo & Cooke
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Even as Mr. Trump gives himself an A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus on the economy, he has moved toward the very Democrats who turned ‘affordability’ into a political buzzword. His anticorporate populism doesn’t make economic sense, scrambles partisan lines and threatens to divide the GOP ahead of midterm elections.
—Matthew Continetti ([link removed] )
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