American Enterprise Institute

NEW | Rwandan-backed M23 rebels withdrew unilaterally from the Ruzizi Plain in the eastern DRC, relinquishing their residual territorial gains from a late 2025 offensive in South Kivu province. The withdrawal does not solve key issues fueling fighting in the eastern DRC, however, and the group has retained positions that could enable a renewed offensive to retake these areas in the future. 🧵⬇️

In this sense the appropriations process flips the usual burden of inertia against presidential unilateralism and forces Congress to take a politically harder vote and assume a bit more responsibility for the conflict, writes AEI’s @jacklgoldsmith execfunctions.org/p/the-stakes-i…

“It’s been five years since we’ve had inflation at target,” said Michael Strain, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute. “That’s a problem for the Fed’s credibility.” “As Powell Steps Down, the Fed Confronts ‘Regime Change,’” by @colbyLsmith. nytimes.com/2026/05/15/us/…

The primary obstacle to national security is no longer funding scarcity but the peacetime appropriations process. Read the latest working paper from AEI’s John G. Ferrari and Elaine McCusker on the Pentagon’s unfunded priorities lists. aei.org/research-produ…

Notable findings from our new survey in this week's Storylines... Who cares about kindness? What do the parents of teenagers really worry about? Is Gen Z prioritizing community (or only talking about it)? americanstorylines.com/p/who-cares-ab…

AEI’s @DerekScissors1 on President Trump's decision to invite Xi Jinping to the US six weeks before midterm elections: This looks like he values what he can get from China more than he values the political optics back in the US.

AI may destroy jobs faster than it creates them, and that timing mismatch is what will determine the vibe—promising or painful—of the economic transition to the Age of AI.

It’s complicated, with two well-intentioned goals in tension—and partisanship, race, and redistricting all weighing on the process, writes AEI's @JonahDispatch on Louisiana v. Callais. thedispatch.com/article/voting…

🚨Be sure to register for our event tomorrow w/@drbethakers & @prestoncooper93 on higher education accountability! No walk-ins will be accepted, so make sure you RSVP in advance. ⬇️ aei.org/events/can-acc…

“As mayor, I believe everyone has a role to play in contributing to our city,” Mayor Mamdani said gleefully, while announcing his proposed pied-à-terre tax and singling out hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin. “And some, a little bit more than others.” Well. Griffin and his firm, Citadel, contribute much more to New York than the average citizen, though perhaps in ways that are less obvious than the creators of Amazon and Google Maps. According to a memo by Citadel’s chief operating officer, the firm’s New York employees paid $2.3 billion in city and state taxes over the past five years. A proposed $6 billion Park Avenue office project for Citadel would require 6,000 construction jobs. (And Griffin himself has donated $650 million to philanthropic causes in New York.) Moreover, like tech entrepreneurs, hedge-fund managers create value that accrues to all of society. Apart from building projects and tax revenue, firms like Citadel help to ensure that capital is allocated efficiently throughout the economy, which ultimately makes workers throughout the entire economy more productive, increasing their wages and living standards.

“There’s a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned. You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that.” So claimed Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive superstar from New York who is attracting presidential buzz. Her fellow New York progressive, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, would agree. He seems to think that billionaires with second homes in New York City aren’t pulling their weight. Meanwhile, a proposed wealth tax in California seems to be motivated by a similar mindset. How to explain this sense that billionaires are taking from society rather than contributing to it? Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Mayor Mamdani — and Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, and many more — seem to assume that the economy is a zero-sum game, in which the only way for your income to rise is for mine to fall. This is dangerous nonsense. The game is not rigged. In the US economy, people receive their just rewards. Compensation is primarily determined by productivity—effort, risk-taking, skills, and choices. Billionaires have outsize wealth primarily because the market value of their economic contributions to society warrants it. We should celebrate their success as a message to young people. We should want more billionaires, not fewer—certain in the knowledge that they give much more to society than they take from it. My @ProSyn column: project-syndicate.org/commentary/bil…

New from @axios: In 2012, 51% of young Americans regularly engaged with neighbors, according to a new AEI report from @dcoxpolls. Today, that number has plummeted to 25%. axios.com/2026/05/13/ame…

AEI senior fellow @ScottGottliebMD joins NPR to discuss recent changes at the FDA and what comes next for the agency. npr.org/2026/05/13/nx-…

Billionaires have outsize wealth primarily because the market value of their economic contributions to society warrants it. My latest @ProSyn column. project-syndicate.org/commentary/bil…

I cannot be more emphatic: This is an enormous problem that’s not getting enough attention, says @natmalkus to @UpshotNYT on the decline in US test scores. nytimes.com/2026/05/13/ups…

Even if one were generally in favor of putting additional downward pressure on drug prices, there are multiple reasons to be concerned about the means the administration used to pursue its objectives, writes AEI’s James Capretta. washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/45574…

AEI’s @ConleyHeather1: What has changed is that you now have the president ready to go to Beijing. And this is not what he wanted. He wanted this to be in the rearview mirror; he wanted to present strength. And now he comes in a weakened position.

With all eyes on the summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping, AEI’s @HalBrands explains the unique significance of the meeting amidst the rapidly escalating US-China rivalry. aei.org/op-eds/this-tr…

And this is up! youtube.com/watch?v=CPGumE…