AEI scholars this week provided insights into some of the most significant problems facing America.

Michael R. Strain argues that the Federal Reserve's role in the United States' economic recovery should come to a close. American workers are returning to the workforce slower than expected, and that's a problem that low interest rates can't fix. Instead, Strain says, it's time for Congress to take the lead in passing policies to promote employment.

Unfortunately, a new report from Philip Wallach finds that while Congress reacted quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic with major legislation, it abdicated many other responsibilities. Chief among these was the duty to oversee and organize the pandemic response beyond just spending bills. Instead, legislators' excessive deference to public health officials precluded them from taking responsibility amid the crisis.

Meanwhile, Phil Gramm and Mike Solon write that a full recovery may be impossible as long as President Joe Biden and his appointees stick to their stifling regulatory agenda. President Biden, they say, has ignored the examples of Democratic deregulators such Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, staffing his administration with people "openly hostile to the industries they regulate and to the American economic system."

On the foreign policy front, Zack Cooper and Ben Noon spot five things in the 2022 defense spending bill with big implications for US security policy in Asia. First on the list is something new: a requirement for a classified and coherent strategy for how the US deals with China.

In a new working paper, Scott Winship investigates the research showing that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) mistakenly underestimated the reduction in employment caused by the expanded child tax credit. He finds the evidence of the NAS's error — published by Kevin Corinth and AEI's Bruce Meyer — to be highly persuasive. 

As the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States issued its final report, commissioner Adam J. White released a separate statement to "highlight some of [the] most dangerous aspects" of the proposed reforms.