The role of free enterprise in American culture is a defining issue of the day. None of the major policy questions that dominate the public discussion—tax rates, the deficit, broadband, roads—can be understood without a clear vision of the proper relationship between the government and the private sector. And this requires a theory of free enterprise.

In the next American Enterprise Debate, AEI Fellow Jonah Goldberg will argue that libertarians are part of the broader American conservative movement’s push for limited government. Matt Welch, editor in chief of Reason, will counter that libertarians offer a unique understanding of political life that makes libertarianism incompatible with conservatism. 

Why did Obama's first jobs plan--the $825 billion stimulus--so quickly result in the need for another jobs plan? The economy would have benefitted far more if the government had instead improved the incentives for people and businesses to invest, produce and grow. The President probably won't mention any of this, but it does explain why he has to give his latest speech.

In making informed decisions about behavior, an individual needs to know the probability that he will be personally affected by a terrorist act, not what the probability is that such an act may occur at some place and some time.

What does 2012 hold, both in terms of policy and politics, for the developing relationship between public-sector workers and taxpayers? What does a proactive reform agenda for 2012 look like? Is a pro-reform platform a winning issue for reformers or their opponents? This event will address these and other questions in two panel discussions.

The new portal for AEI's scholarship blends a clean, modern design with dynamic search and filters, a streamlined registration process and easy online events viewing, enhanced social media tools including article highlights primed for Twitter, and special collections of content that keep readers on top of the hot news trends.

Niall Ferguson argues against the idea that the European Union is an emerging "counterweight" to American power. He suggests that the European Union is actually a moribund institution--economically stagnant, culturally decadent, politically stalemated, and geopolitically impotent. More than is generally acknowledged in the United States, the historic process of European...

One of the strangest developments in financial markets this year is the "Lafite effect." It offers a valuable lesson about investing.