AEI Podcast Channel

AEI Podcast Channel

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AEI Podcast Channel episodes

  • The Deep Dive With John Lettieri: Gbenga Ajilore on Race, Policing, and the Labor Market

    John talks this week with Gbenga Ajilore, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress, about the economic and social upheaval that has gripped the country in recent months, and what can be done to address persistent gaps in the labor market between Black and white Americans. They discuss the federal response to Covid-19, explore how the crisis is affecting rural communities, and debate the merits of the "defund the police" movement as a means of achieving long overdue changes to the way law enforcement interacts with citizens of this country.

    Prior to joining American Progress, Ajilore was an associate professor of economics at the University of Toledo. His research has focused on race and local public finance, peer effects and adolescent behavior, and police militarization. Ajilore’s work has been published in numerous journals, such as The Review of Black Political Economy, Economics and Human Biology, the Review of Economics of the Household, and the Atlantic Economic Journal. In 2018, Ajilore served as president of the National Economic Association.

    An archive of Ajilore's recent publications and bio can be found here. You can follow him on Twitter at @Gbenga_Ajilore.

    1 hr 23 min
  • The Deep Dive with John Lettieri: What Bruce Katz thinks about Opportunity Zones

    This week, John sits down with author and urbanist Bruce Katz to discuss how struggling cities are using Opportunity Zones to bring new energy, collaboration, and capital to local revitalization initiatives. They also discuss how Covid-19 could affect the future of cities, and why Bruce worries that the federal response won’t be enough to save small businesses teetering on the brink of failure.



    Bruce Katz is the Co-Founder of New Localism Advisors, a firm that helps cities design, finance and deliver transformative initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable growth. Katz is the author of two books focused on the rise of cities and city networks as the world’s leading problem solvers. Katz was previously the inaugural Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution from January 2016 to March 2018, where he focused on the challenges and opportunities of global urbanization.  Prior to assuming this role, he was a vice president at the Brookings Institution and the founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.
    1 hr 25 min
  • The Deep Dive with John Lettieri: Part II with Sam Hammond on industrial policy, the supersonic renaissance, and the quest for a class-conscious conservatism

    The Deep Dive is back this week with Part II of a wide-ranging conversation with the Niskanen Center’s Sam Hammond. In this episode, John and Sam explore the growing ascendancy of so-called “economic patriotism” among conservative policymakers and pundits, characterized by a deep skepticism towards globalization and an embrace of industrial policy. They also discuss the rationale for policies that target left-behind places, and unpack what critics and supporters alike might be missing about the federal Opportunity Zones program.



    Sam’s
    commentary has been published in the Atlantic, the National Review, and the
    American Conservative. He has also been featured in New York Magazine, the Wall
    Street Journal, the Washington Post, Vox, and Slate. He previously worked as an
    economist for the Government of Canada specializing in rural economic
    development, and as a graduate research fellow for the Mercatus Center at
    George Mason University. You can follow him on Twitter @hamandcheese. 

    1 hr 16 min
  • The Deep Dive with John Lettieri: Sam Hammond’s Vision for a Dynamic Free Market Welfare State (Part 1)

    This week features Part 1 of a two-part discussion with Samuel Hammond, Director of Poverty and Welfare Policy at the Niskanen Center. John and Sam discuss how free markets can be paired with more robust systems of social insurance to produce an economy that is more dynamic, prosperous, and rich in opportunity for all Americans. They also explore the shortcomings of common arguments for universal basic income, and what conventional wisdom often gets wrong about creative destruction and pace of economic change in our economy today.



    Sam’s commentary has been published in the Atlantic, the National Review, and the American Conservative. He has also been featured in New York Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Vox, and Slate. He previously worked as an economist for the Government of Canada specializing in rural economic development, and as a graduate research fellow for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. You can follow him on Twitter @hamandcheese
    44 min
  • What the Hell is Going On?: WTH is going on with the chaos in American cities? Sen. Tim Scott on the politicization of violence and racial unrest (What the Hell)
    Following the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests, Sen. Tim Scott introduced the JUSTICE Act, which aimed to address police abuses and systemic issues affecting at risk communities. Despite Republicans’ offer to allow votes on as many amendments as Democrats wanted, Senate Democrats voted to block the bill.
    Sen. Scott joined Dany and Marc to discuss the JUSTICE Act and partisan delays in meaningful police reform. The three also talk about Sen. Scott’s conversation on race with President Trump and the challenge of growing violence in America’s cities.
    Sen. Scott was first elected to Charleston County Council, to the South Carolina State House, and the US House of Representatives. In January 2013, he was sworn in as a US Senator from South Carolina, and was re-elected in January 2017.
    https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/7.23.20-Tim-Scott-transcript.pdf (Download the transcript here.)
    We hope you enjoyed this episode of AEI’s https://www.aei.org/tag/what-the-hell-podcast/ (What the Hell is Going On?), with hosts Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen. For more episodes, find What the Hell on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-the-hell-is-going-on/id1467993804 (iTunes), https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/aei/what-the-hell-is-going-on (Stitcher), https://open.spotify.com/show/2Yo2gsVPUYm7iPTZHm1qKt?si=yuc7IUQ-Tue3LGgYlmMH1A (Spotify), and https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yaWNvY2hldC5jb20vc2VyaWVzL2FlaS13aGF0LXRoZS1oZWxsLWlzLWdvaW5nLW9uL2ZlZWQ (Google Podcasts). This episode was first released on July 23, 2020.
    36 min
  • The Deep Dive with John Lettieri: Jim Tankersley on the untold story of America’s middle class
    https://twitter.com/LettieriDC?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor (John) sits down this week with New York Times economics reporter https://twitter.com/jimtankersley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor (Jim Tankersley) to discuss his new book, “https://www.amazon.com/Riches-This-Land-Untold-Americas-ebook/dp/B0827RCB6G (The Riches of This Land: The Untold, True Story of America’s Middle Class).” They discuss what inspired Jim to write the book, the memorable characters he met along the way, and why this examination of the middle class matters more than ever as the country navigates an unprecedented economic crisis. They also discuss how the pandemic has influenced the way Jim is able to report on the lives and fortunes of ordinary Americans.
    Jim Tankersley covers economic and tax policy for The New York Times. Before coming to the Times, Jim’s career as a reporter included work at Vox, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The Toledo Blade. You can find him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jimtankersley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor (@jimtankersley).
    1 hr 6 min
  • Robert Doar and Ian Rowe on police reform and race in America (Banter)

    In The Wall Street Journal last month, AEI resident fellow Ian Rowe wrote that the great danger of the moment is that “the next generation of Americans—black and white—might grow up believing that the entire destiny of one race rests in the hands of another, which must first renounce its ‘privilege’ before any progress can be made.” He joined Banter this week for a conversation with AEI president Robert Doar to discuss his perspective on race relations in America, what this country has achieved, and what more can and should be done.



    Ian Rowe is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on poverty studies, family formation, and adoption. Concurrently, Mr. Rowe is the CEO of Public Prep, the nation’s first nonprofit network to develop tuition-free pre-K and single-sex elementary and middle public schools. Before joining Public Prep, Mr. Rowe was deputy director of postsecondary success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and public affairs at MTV, director of strategy and performance measurement at the USA Freedom Corps office in the White House, and cofounder and president of Third Millennium Media. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was the first black editor-in-chief of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School newspaper.



    Robert Doar is the president and Morgridge Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He joined AEI in 2014 to create a new body of work on poverty studies, after serving for more than 20 years in leadership positions in the social service programs of New York State and New York City under Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.



    We hope you enjoyed this episode of Banter: An AEI Podcast. You can subscribe to Banter on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify, and archived episodes can be found at www.aei.org/tag/aei-banter. This is Banter episode #411.



    Related reading:



    Denying progress is key to the Left’s rhetoric
    39 min
  • Meet Your New Colleague: Artificial Intelligence (Hardly Working)

    The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and machine learning in recent decades has had a ripple effect throughout the economy. As the economic landscape continues to change, we are once again asking ourselves about what the future of work looks like, and, when it comes to computers exactly who will be working for whom.



    Brent talks to Amy Webb, CEO of the Future Today Institute and author of several books, including “The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity”. They discuss the uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence, its impact on how we work, and the importance of a liberal arts education in remaining competitive in a changing economy.



    We hope you enjoyed this episode of Hardly Working, part of the AEI Podcast Network. This episode was first released on June 10, 2020. For more episodes of Hardly Working, find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts.
    50 min
  • ‘The Deep Dive with John Lettieri’: Lyman Stone’s thoughts on demography, democracy, and dynamism

    This week, John sits down with AEI Adjunct Fellow Lyman Stone.



    They discuss Lyman’s thoughts on what policymakers can do to make it easier to raise a family in the United States, the role of immigration in fostering a dynamic economy, the impact of demographic decline on national well-being, and the need to reinvigorate American institutions, especially Congress, in order to meet today’s challenges and ensure their legitimacy for generations to come.
    1 hr 2 min
  • Explain to Shane: Global internet governance with David Gross and Dustin Loup

    What is “internet
    governance?” Why does it need to be coordinated internationally? And who gets
    to participate in these discussions?



    On this episode, Shane speaks with two leading experts on international internet policy. Ambassador David Gross, the former US Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, and Dustin Loup, executive director of The Internet Society’s Greater Washington DC chapter, join to discuss how the workings of the internet are coordinated at the global and regional level.



    Download this episode’s transcript here.
    25 min

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