American Action Forum

09/07/2026

Happy from all of us at AAF!

09/06/2026

Despite increasing petroleum shipments and saving up to about $110 million, the Jones Act waiver had minimal impact on gasoline prices, which remained elevated due to global oil market disruptions.

Executive Summary In response to global energy disruptions triggered by conflicts in the Middle East, the Trump Administration issued a waiver of the century-old Jones Act in March 2026, temporarily lifting restrictions on foreign-built and foreign-owned vessels to facilitate domestic petroleum ship...

09/06/2026

Open AI models offer greater access and flexibility. But growing reliance on Chinese models could affect U.S. competitiveness and create risks involving data privacy, government use, and sensitive applications.

Executive Summary: Open artificial intelligence (AI) models – those that can be downloaded, inspected, and modified – offer greater access and flexibility of use, while lowering costs and barriers to AI innovation compared with closed models; many policymakers, however, favor closed models over ...

09/05/2026

The Fed controls the short-term fed funds rate but does not set borrowing costs across financial markets. Understanding the term structure can help policymakers better influence interest rates and economic activity.

Executive Summary While the Federal Reserve (Fed) is often described as setting interest rates – or the price of borrowing money – it in fact only controls a single short-term interest rate and does not directly control the longer-term rates that matter for economic activity, such as mortgage, c...

09/05/2026

The FDIC and OCC finalized reforms to narrow examiner discretion, constrain informal supervisory communications, and promote more proportionate enforcement. The goal is greater clarity and predictability, but implementation remains key.

Executive Summary The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have jointly finalized a rule seeking to restore clarity and discipline to federal bank supervision by codifying the definition of “unsafe or unsound practice,” constraining the use of i...

09/04/2026

MFN may lower prices on specific medicines, but a lower administered price is not the same as a better-functioning market. The U.S. should strengthen pharmaceutical competition, not replace it with government price-setting.

On Monday, the White House announced most-favored-nation (MFN) pharmaceutical pricing agreements with nine additional manufacturers – Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB – bringing the administration’s stated deal tota...

09/04/2026

AAF President Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Director of Trade Policy Jacob Jensen join us to discuss Medicare for All (again), Iran’s economic D-Day, and the trade war with Canada.

AAF President Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Director of Trade Policy Jaco...

09/04/2026

The jobs report is out! AAF’s Fred Ashton reacts to the August employment report.

09/03/2026

The U.S.-Venezuela oil deal could have profound long-term consequences for energy, national security, and the global economy, potentially increasing U.S.-controlled reserves by 140 percent.

(Not So) Fun Fact: Since the beginning of the conflict with Iran, higher energy prices in the United States have cost U.S. businesses and consumers an additional $96 billion – over $730 per household. Venezuela and Iran: What is Going on with Oil? What’s Happening: There have been a lot of headl...

09/03/2026

Here’s the Weekly Economic Tracker. Douglas Holtz-Eakin discusses this week’s economic news.