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January 30, 2024

Democrats in the House Have a New (Old) Plan for Higher Education

Lately, it’s been Republican lawmakers who have been at the table and offering up comprehensive reform for higher education policy, but this week House Democrats got back in the game. Today, they released new legislation outlining their vision for higher education reform beyond the administration-led student loan cancellation agenda. In some sense, this marks a welcome return to normalcy,…

By Beth Akers

January 30, 2024

How Sensitive Are Single Mothers’ Work Decisions to a Change in Incentives? Correcting Misperceptions of the Evidence

Let’s start with a table. (With apologies to our mobile audience…) Evidence on Extensive Margin Employment Elasticities for Single Mothers   Reported Revised Consistent w/ 0.75? Notes Reviews or Based on Reviews Corinth et al. (2021, rev 2022) 0.75 —   p. 22; based on midpoint of McClelland and Mok (2012), p. 5 (below); unpublished…

By Kevin Corinth | Scott Winship

January 29, 2024

Per-Child Benefit in Wyden-Smith Child Tax Credit Bill Would Discourage Full-Time Work for Families with Multiple Children

The Wyden-Smith proposed tax legislation would make four changes to the Child Tax Credit (CTC). First, it would increase the cap on the refundable portion of the CTC, eventually to the same amount as the maximum non-refundable CTC. Second, it would begin indexing the maximum non-refundable CTC with inflation. Third, it would apply a one-year lookback for…

By Kevin Corinth | Scott Winship

January 29, 2024

The Value of a Bachelor’s Degree

Key Points As public confidence in higher education has declined, Americans have become less sanguine about the bachelor’s degree and skeptical of its potential return on investment. Nonetheless, four-year degrees continue to be associated with significant economic and noneconomic benefits for individuals and communities. For those who want to attend college, have adequate financing options, and can finish their degrees, the benefits of…

By Brent Orrell | David Veldran

January 29, 2024

How Should Students Think About College?

In recent years, there has been a marked decline in public confidence in higher education, sparking debate on the value of a bachelor’s degree. In a new report published by AEI’s Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility, we seek to add some much-needed nuance to an increasingly go/no-go debate. Despite public perception, the bachelor’s degree continues to have great…

By Brent Orrell

January 29, 2024

Let’s Not Turn the Child Tax Credit Into Welfare

A renewed effort to expand the child tax credit (CTC) is currently making its way through Congress. The proposed policy would increase benefits for low-income families—especially those with multiple children—automatically grow the credit with inflation, and most contentiously, eliminate the work requirement for families who had earnings in the prior year. In debating these changes and even…

By Kevin Corinth

January 29, 2024

Pandemic Unemployment Fraud in Context: Causes, Costs, and Solutions

Key Points Read the PDF.

By Matt Weidinger | Amy Simon

January 26, 2024

Please Congress: Make Fiscal Sanity a Priority

Sometimes I don’t understand Republicans in the House of Representatives. When they are threatening government shutdowns, they make a great show of saying their highest priority is getting a handle on out-of-control federal spending, reducing the deficit, and bringing down our national debt. And yet, when an obvious opportunity falls in their lap to reduce…

By Robert Doar

January 25, 2024

On the Front Porch with Brent Orrell and Tony Pipa: A Conversation with Nicholas F. Jacobs

On January 25, AEI’s Brent Orrell and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa hosted the first of a series of conversations “On the Front Porch” with authors of recent research on issues facing rural America. Mr. Orrell and Mr. Pipa spoke with Nicholas F. Jacobs, the author of The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America, a recent book that examines the state…

By Brent Orrell | Tony Pipa | Nicholas F. Jacobs

January 24, 2024

Expanding Housing Supply with Light-Touch Density: City of Seattle Case Study

Executive Summary The formula for housing abundance is straightforward: Micro-managing this process won’t work. Planners need to get out of the way and let the market build more housing. 

By Tobias Peter