About
The American Enterprise Institute is a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. The work of our scholars and staff advances ideas rooted in our belief in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.
Leadership
The American Enterprise Institute’s governance is overseen by our Board of Trustees, composed of leading business and financial executives. The Institute’s external development and outreach activities are bolstered by entrepreneurs from across the country who serve on our National Council.
Organization and Purposes
In all our endeavors, AEI trustees, scholars and fellows, and officers and staff are responsible for maintaining the highest standards of integrity, intellectual rigor and excellence–and for sustaining AEI’s founding commitment to open inquiry, lucid exposition, vigorous debate and continuous improvement in the institutions of American liberty.
AEI’s Annual Report
Over the past year, AEI scholars engaged in new research and developed innovative reform ideas designed to solve some of America’s greatest challenges: leveraging the right tools in US trade policy; addressing the scourge of opioids in communities across the country; narrowing America’s skills gap; thwarting transnational threats emanating from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia; and undergirding American national defense.
Our Scholars
AEI scholars are committed to making the intellectual, moral, and practical case for expanding freedom, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening the free enterprise system in America and around the world. Our work explores ideas that further these goals, and AEI scholars take part in this pursuit with academic freedom. AEI operates independently of any political party and has no institutional positions. Our scholars’ conclusions are fueled by rigorous, data-driven research and broad-ranging evidence.
Research Products
AEI operates at the intersection of scholarship and politics, aiming to elevate political debate and improve the substance of government policy. Many of the subjects of AEI research and publications are controversial, and many are the focus of political contention and intense interest-group advocacy. A number of AEI scholars and fellows are or have been directly engaged in practical politics and policymaking as government officials, advisers or members of official commissions. For these reasons, AEI maintains policies and procedures for assuring the integrity and reputation of its work and research.
Articles & Op-Eds
AEI scholars and researchers often write for major news outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, and National Review among many others.
