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
THE BATTLE FOR THE NORTH POLE
Who Will Secure the Arctic’s Commanding Heights?
December 13, 2025
The Arctic has become a key geostrategic area as tensions among the United States, Russia, and China continue to grow. AEI Nonresident Senior Fellow Heather A. Conley examines ([link removed] ) the Arctic’s economic, military, and environmental value and what strategies the United States must adopt to ensure the region’s advantages remain in Western hands.
artic ([link removed] )
Over the past few months, the US Supreme Court has taken on several key cases challenging the scope of presidential power. Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance Adam J. White categorizes ([link removed] ) presidential power into two types—whom the president has authority to fire and what authority he can wield to set policy—and evaluates where the Supreme Court is headed in expanding or limiting each type.
Minnesota’s massive welfare fraud scandal highlights how the systems of government aid, originally designed for those in need, have become all-too-easy to exploit. AEI Director of Domestic Policy Studies Matthew Continetti scrutinizes ([link removed] ) the way government benefits have permeated the status quo and how states like Minnesota, which failed to enforce the rules, left the door wide open for fraud.
A recent memo by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) senior official alleged that COVID-19 vaccines caused at least 10 deaths and announced changes to the FDA’s core policies on vaccine development and safety. AEI Senior Fellow Scott Gottlieb and coauthors dissect ([link removed] ) the flawed methodology behind the justification for these changes and argue that the memo threatens science-based regulation and public trust.
The American right has struggled to address its internal rupture over attitudes toward Israel, particularly as prominent figures continue to spread antisemitic conspiracies and sow division within the coalition. Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow Daniel J. Samet argues ([link removed] ) why the right must decisively reject anti-Zionism for the sake of civilizational strength and American security.
Playing Catch-Up with Health Savings
Health savings accounts (HSAs) are a tax-advantaged savings account with a catch-up provision, allowing higher contributions for individuals age 55 and older. In their new study, AEI Nonresident Senior Fellow Sita Nataraj Slavov and coauthors use ([link removed] ) comprehensive tax data to study how saving behavior responds to this raise in contribution limits. The study leverages restricted-access tax records from the IRS and is the first causal analysis of HSA policy using administrative tax data. It identifies a sharp increase in contributions among those previously near the limit and smaller increases among unconstrained savers. Overall, the authors highlight how tax incentives shape HSA saving and meaningfully change household financial behavior.
More from AEI
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Getting Intimate with Updike ([link removed] )
Andrew Ferguson | The Washington Free Beacon
World Trade Grows Without the US ([link removed] )
Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux | The Wall Street Journal
Has Marriage Fallen Because Young Adults Can’t Afford Homes? ([link removed] )
Scott Winship | First World Problems
University of California San Diego and the Crisis of Education ([link removed] )
Ben Sasse | The Wall Street Journal
PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
What Are Congressional Norms, and Why Do They Matter? ([link removed] )
Kevin R. Kosar and Brian Alexander | Understanding Congress
Education Policy Debate Series: Maximizing School Improvement by 2035 Means Integrating AI into Classrooms Today ([link removed] )
Nat Malkus | AEI event
NASA and Beyond: My Chat (and Transcript) with Space Policy Analyst Casey Dreier ([link removed] )
James Pethokoukis and Casey Dreier | Faster, Please!—The Podcast
"Safer, Richer, Freer, Greater"? Trump’s New Strategy for American Power ([link removed] )
Zack Cooper et al. | Net Assessment
An Inside Look at Bush v. Gore ([link removed] )
John C. Fortier et al. | The Voting Booth
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
America’s leading chip firms want looser rules, but U.S. AI giants, who benefit from weaker Chinese competitors, have powerful political voices, too. On top of a bipartisan congressional consensus, now a significant share of America’s AI industry is coming to realize that selling advanced chips to China threatens not only national security, but also their business.
—Chris Miller ([link removed] )
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