October 25, 2023
The Freedom to Choose
When appraising American social cleavages, we should avoid lapsing into two unfortunate trends in conservative thinking: despair and polarization. In “Conservatism and Class,” Bruce Frohnen argues that conservatives should embrace class analysis albeit in a more heterodox and less exclusively economic way than we typically think of it. His argument makes compelling points, especially in the way it extends the Madisonian principle of…
October 18, 2023
Vocation: A Cure for Burnout
In a recent article for The Atlantic, former AEI president Arthur Brooks makes the case that to prevent burnout at work we need to create “meaningful boundaries” between work and the rest of our lives. As usual, Brooks has excellent advice about how to navigate life’s trenches and stay motivated and happy. Yet there is one piece missing: encouraging reflection on what drives us, what makes us tick,…
September 7, 2023
AI Closes the Gaps
It’s a perennial hazard of the policy and opinion space that just about the time one is ready to hold forth on a topic, another, smarter, faster writer jumps in. On the one hand, it’s a bummer; on the other, the explanation of the issue is so good and comprehensive, all one can do is…
August 31, 2023
The Future of Work: Augmented, not Automated
In my first AEI report, “STEM Without Fruit,” I argued the case for the pre-eminence of noncognitive skills in a world of rapidly advancing technology. As part of that report, I cited evidence drawn from employer surveys, as well as wage and labor-share data, showing that across the economy the highest demand from employers and highest wage returns…
August 15, 2023
The Generative AI Revolution Is Underway
2023 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for artificial intelligence, with the rise of generative AI poised to transform industries and reshape workforces. The latest McKinsey Global Survey on AI confirms the increasing market penetration of tools like DALL-E and ChatGPT and outlines how workers and employers see the technology affecting work patterns in the…
August 9, 2023
The AI Apocalypse Can Wait
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has ignited fears about its potential to disrupt the labor market. There has been no shortage of predictions of huge impacts AI will have on the future of work—especially for workers with higher levels of education—fueling both anxiety and the risk of overzealous regulation. A recent report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development…
August 3, 2023
Expanding Economic Opportunities Through Evidence-Based Sector Training
Read the PDF. Introduction The Workforce Futures Initiative is a research collaboration among the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Project on Workforce at Harvard Kennedy School’s Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. The initiative aims to develop concise and actionable reviews of existing research for federal, state, and local policymakers. Since August…
July 28, 2023
The Time Is Now for Workforce Innovation
Over the past two years, I have had the honor and privilege of steering AEI’s Workforce Future’s Initiative in collaboration with colleagues at The Brookings Institution and The Harvard Kennedy School’s Project on Workforce. Together, we’ve convened experts to evaluate evidence of workforce program success, discuss workforce policy, and identify priorities for new research on the future…