During two closed sessions before the luncheon, committee members discussed the latest in financial regulation issues. At a luncheon briefing following these sessions, SFRC members gave several statements and answered questions.

On April 13, 2012, the US Department of the Treasury released new cost estimates for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Looking principally at actual and projected contractual cash flows, the document concludes that: "Overall, the government is now expected to at least break even on its financial stability programs and may realize a positive return." 

Progress against poverty requires measuring countries by the rule of law, judicial independence and free speech.

Alan D. Viard, a resident scholar at AEI, reviews the budget outlook, the need for tax reform and the benefits of moving to a progressive consumption tax. He also discusses his forthcoming book, Progressive Consumption Taxation: The X Tax Revisited, which he coauthored with Robert Carroll of Ernst & Young. The book will be published by AEI Press in the Spring.

By next year, about two-thirds of American physicians will be working as salaried employees of large groups and hospitals. This movement has been underway for years. Over the last decade, the number of independent physicians was falling by about 2% a year. But these trends are now accelerating. 

Karlyn Bowman is a senior fellow and Andrew Rugg is a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute. The views expressed in this article are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of any other person or institution.

In this article, Bowman and Rugg discuss the public's opinion about...

The following is a summary highlighting testimony by AEI Director of Economic Policy Studies Kevin Hassett to the Joint Economic Committee at a hearing entitled "How the Taxation of Capital Affects Growth and Employment."

An ever-increasing number of individuals are turning to community college for their higher education. Online delivery of classes and competency-based models of higher learning should be employed and innovations from for-profit schools should be borrowed to increase the number of Americans completing their associate’s degrees.