June 5, 2025
The One Thing Both Parties Agree On: More Deficits and Debt
The House of Representatives recently passed by a single vote Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” that reflects President Donald Trump’s tax and spending agenda, and GOP senators are now working to put their own stamp on the bill. Given that partisan pedigree, you would think this bill had little in common with legislation that Democrats crafted during the…
June 4, 2025
Congress Is Subsidizing the Wrong Neighborhoods
When President Trump signed Republicans’ 2017 tax legislation into law, one section in it stood out for its ambitious goal: directing private investment dollars to left-behind communities. The law provides a tax incentive for long-term investment in economically disadvantaged communities that were designated by governors as so-called opportunity zones, subject to federal standards based on the communities’…
May 29, 2025
How Non-disabled Medicaid Recipients Without Children Spend Their Time
The reconciliation bill passed by the United States House of Representatives imposes community engagement requirements for childless non-disabled Medicaid recipients age 19–64, starting in 2027. The requirement can be met by spending 80 hours in at least some months either working, going to school, participating in a work program, or doing community service. In a…
May 28, 2025
The Challenge: A Complex and Inefficient Student Loan System
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May 28, 2025
An Evaluation of Approaches to Cut and Reform SNAP
House Republicans narrowly passed their version of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last week, and the legislation contains major changes to SNAP, including expanded work requirements, reduced federal and state exemptions and shifting more of the costs to states. Changes are likely as the Senate takes up the bill, and Kevin Corinth, senior fellow and deputy…
May 27, 2025
The Surprising Role of Large Developers in Solving the Housing Crunch
Against the odds—and conventional wisdom—the nation’s largest home builders have engineered a dramatic shift toward serving first-time homebuyers (FTBs). New data from the AEI Housing Center show that in 2024, 51.2% of all new construction sales by the top 20 builders went to FTBs, up significantly from just 38.6% in 2014. This shift has occurred…
May 23, 2025
How AI Will Harm Working-Class Families
Donald Trump rose to power in large part by appealing to working-class men. He was able to channel their frustration with trade deals and automation that destroyed working-class jobs, helped fuel thousands of deaths of despair, and powered a wave of anger in working-class communities across America. These economic shocks also proved devastating for all too many families in working-class communities across America. Job…
May 22, 2025
Course Correction: Rebuilding The Federal Student Loan System After Biden’s Mismanagement
Key Points Introduction Thirty-five million federal student loan borrowers went back into repayment in October 2024 after the government had suspended their student loan payments, in effect, for four and a half years. Already, delinquencies have shot up, and a wave of loan defaults looms. Borrowers will feel the pain—but so will the federal budget…
May 20, 2025
The share of Medicaid recipients in compliance with the House bill’s community engagement requirement
Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved several changes to Medicaid as part of the reconciliation bill. One major change is the imposition of community engagement requirements for non-disabled working age adults without dependent children. This change would take effect in January 2029, although some House members have argued for moving up…
May 19, 2025
The Case for Shifting More Welfare Costs to States
As part of Congressional Republicans’ drive to craft “one big beautiful bill” reflecting Donald Trump’s tax and spending agenda, the House Agriculture committee on May 14 approved several proposals that would reduce federal spending by shifting some current federal welfare costs to states. At the same time, dissatisfied conservative members have called for more federal…