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
MINIMIZING ECONOMIC DISTORTIONS
A Tax-Reform Alternative to Trump’s Tariffs
October 18, 2025
President Donald Trump’s attempt to attract investment and manufacturing to the United States through sweeping tariffs is in legal jeopardy, as the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the tariffs’ legality next month. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Paul Ryan and Kyle Pomerleau propose ([link removed] ) that the president embrace a destination-based cash flow tax as a less legally vulnerable and more economically efficient alternative.
AdobeStock_1411619010 ([link removed] )
The wider public and American businesses are still coming to terms with the full implications of the other major piece of President Trump’s economic agenda: the tax-reform legislation passed in July. In a new AEI report, Barry K. Goodwin and Vincent H. Smith assess ([link removed] ) the legislation’s changes to US farm policy—and in particular its significant expansion of agricultural subsidies.
While Republicans traditionally embrace deregulation as another spur to economic growth, the Trump administration has displayed a worrying trend of using the administrative state as a political cudgel against businesses. In new research for AEI, Clay Calvert documents ([link removed] ) the serious First Amendment problems with the Federal Trade Commission’s use of antitrust law to interfere in social media platforms’ content moderation.
Another use of executive authority has been the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which proposes conditioning the receipt of federal funds on universities’ acceptance of new presidential standards. AEI’s higher education scholars are covering this from multiple angles. Beth Akers highlights ([link removed] ) the fundamental legal problems with the White House’s approach. And both Frederick M. Hess ([link removed] ) and Benjamin and Jenna Silber Storey suggest ([link removed] ) ways to turn the compact into a more constructive dialogue between higher education and the federal government.
On Monday, the president addressed Israel’s Knesset to mark the new ceasefire in Gaza. AEI Domestic Policy Studies Director Matthew Continetti analyzes ([link removed] ) the speech and describes the qualities that have made President Trump an effective peace broker in the Middle East.
The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States
America’s Founding Fathers feared that a standing army would be a permanent political danger, yet in the 250 years since, the US military has become a xxxxxx of democracy—standing out as a historical anomaly for maintaining its strength and popularity without threatening the constitutional order. In her new book, The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States, AEI Foreign and Defense Policy Studies Director Kori Schake explains ([link removed] ) how our armed forces have avoided the dangers and pitfalls that have plagued other countries. Tracing this story from George Washington to the present, Schake shows how norms of civilian control and professionalization emerged from the struggles between elected officials and charismatic generals. And she cautions against pulling the military into political divisions today.
More from AEI
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Need Not Be a Surprise: Early-Warning Systems for Chronic Absenteeism ([link removed] )
Nat Malkus and Sam Hollon | American Enterprise Institute
Why Free Speech Is Essential to a Free Republic ([link removed] )
Jay Cost | American Enterprise Institute
International Emergency Food Aid Under the Current Trump Administration: An Update ([link removed] )
Vincent H. Smith | American Enterprise Institute
The Problem with America’s Health Care Subsidies ([link removed] )
Michael R. Strain | Project Syndicate
I Thought I Didn’t Need God. I Was Wrong. ([link removed] )
Charles Murray | The Free Press
PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
The Formula for Better Health: A Book Event ([link removed] )
Robert Doar | AEI event
Learning Loss and Its Consequences ([link removed] )
Nat Malkus et al. | AEI video
Changing the Culture of Public and Subsidized Housing ([link removed] )
Howard Husock | AEI video
China’s Rare Earth Export Controls ([link removed] )
Chris Miller | ChinaTalk
Supreme Court Preview: Sports, Speech, and the Separation of Powers ([link removed] )
John Yoo et al. | Law Talk with Epstein, Yoo & Cooke
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Students need the experience of facing the challenge of long, classic works of literature—the linguistic and cognitive growth that comes through parsing through difficult texts, and the sense of accomplishment derived from doing so. We read The Great Gatsby or Animal Farm to challenge common beliefs about wealth, political power, and human nature, and to expose students to beauty. In short, we teach literature not to teach students the current approved set of views but to expose them to the best that has been thought and said.
—Daniel Buck ([link removed] )
Ensure delivery ([link removed] ) | Subscribe ([link removed] )
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Robert Doar, President
1789 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036
202.862.5800 | www.aei.org ([link removed] )
Unsubscribe from the link below ([link removed] )
Facebook ([link removed] )
X ([link removed] )
LinkedIn ([link removed] )
YouTube ([link removed] )
Instagram ([link removed] )
Podcast Logo New_Gray ([link removed] )
Donate to AEI ([link removed] ) in support of defending and promoting freedom, opportunity, and enterprise.
This message is for:
[email protected] | ([link removed] ) Manage preferences or Unsubscribe ([link removed] )
