With the midterm elections in the rearview mirror, AEI's scholars are helping move America's attention toward policy discussions that have been overlooked for too long.

Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan argues that among the most pressing, but least discussed, challenges facing America are its outdated fiscal policies and programs. Unless we make serious efforts to stabilize our national debt, boost economic growth, and promote upward mobility, "ours may be the first generation whose children are worse off than its own members." To provide solutions that will steer us out of catastrophe, Ryan coedited—with AEI's Angela Rachidi—American Renewal: A Conservative Plan to Strengthen the Social Contract and Save the Country's Finances, a new collection of essays by AEI scholars and other experts. Ryan and Rachidi joined AEI President Robert Doar to discuss the book, along with AEI's Ryan Streeter, Ross Douthat, and other prominent guests. 

Yuval Levin warns that Democrats are misinterpreting the results of the midterm elections as a mandate for their agenda. In fact, Americans rejected the approaches of both parties, Levin contends, and if Democrats want to be in good position for 2024, "they should look to the kinds of legislation advanced through bipartisan negotiations in this Congress but mostly absent from their election pitches."

How can average Americans rejuvenate our nation's sense of purpose and promise? At this year's Irving Kristol Award presentation during AEI's Annual Dinner, Arthur C. Brooks encouraged attendees to preach what they practice about the rewards of faith, family, and friends and to forsake identity politics in favor of "tell[ing] our shared story as Americans."

Turning to the world of cryptocurrency, Jim Harper takes stock of the dramatic collapse of the exchange platform FTX. "I thought I'd seen it all," he writes, "but FTX was something new," particularly because of its "galloping incompetence in bankruptcy law practice."

After Swedish authorities charged two Iranian-born brothers for being Russian spies, Elisabeth Braw explains how the episode demonstrates that "people born in hostile countries can be particularly vulnerable to recruitment by those countries and their allies"—and that Russian intelligence agencies are still resourceful recruiters.