The AIER Standard Ethan Yang

The decline of American higher education is a common yet existential conversation.
Every persuasion has its critique: college is getting too expensive yet increasingly unproductive. Elite academia is overtaken by radical Leftists. Elite academia is inaccessible to minorities. American colleges continue to bow to extreme student activists. American colleges refuse to make substantive changes to serve the demands of students.

Ultimately, we are presented with a problem that must be confronted. Higher education is essential for fostering bright minds to lead society into the future, providing the necessary skills to power an advanced economy, and teaching the core values of our civilization. However, academia, like any institution, is filled with self-interested stakeholders and conflicting incentives that lead to mission drift and corruption. This begs the question of whether American higher ed can be reformed or is it drastic action needed.

Phil Magness is a coauthor of the book Cracks in the Ivory Tower, where he applies a public choice analysis to American higher education to highlight its critical, self-destructive tendencies. He explains from a realist, analytical perspective the incentives powering certain trends, such as skyrocketing tuition, falling academic rigor, and ideological uniformity.

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Get an in-depth look at American democracy with Dr. Ryan Yonk and Ethan Yang. Ditch the idealized views and join us for a political-economic analysis of our political institutions. From the meaning of elections to the power allocation of democracy and the American two-party system, Dr. Yonk explores the essential economic and political principles that shape our politics. Learn why politicians act the way they do, the impact of political culture vs institutions, and the role of political entrepreneurs, lobbying, and partisanship. Discover the incentives of elected officials and the influence of the American founding on today's politics. Finally, we delve into why people turn to government for everything and the perspectives of Democrats, Republicans, and American voters. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on how to make democracy work long-term. Time stamps in description box. Don't miss it!

“Is America exceptional or fundamentally flawed? Such abstract moral questions dominating much of modern politics often lead to highly inflammatory debates in what we would call the culture war. Some might say that culture wars distract us from important policy reforms; others might say that an argument about culture is an argument about civilization itself. Either way, it is essential that we understand why and how culture drives our political discourse.
To help me dissect this phenomenon, I was joined by Robin Koerner, visiting fellow at AIER and an academic dean at the John Locke Institute located in Oxford. He received his graduate degrees from Cambridge University in physics and philosophy, and he is written on cultural issues ranging from ideological possession during the Covid era, to the virtues of living truthfully at all costs.

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00:00: The Culture Wars

2:48: The Commanding Heights of Culture

5:12: Why Does American Culture Matter

8:20: What is Brand America

10:00 Is America Racist or Exceptional

16:20: Culture Precedes Politics

19:10: The Culture of the American Revolution

22:20: Establishing a Culture of Freedom

27:40: School Curriculums and Politics

30:10: The Loud Minority of Politics

35:01 Lockdowns and American Culture

36:14: How to Deal With the Culture War

38:17: Defending the Truth

42:52: Lowering the Stakes of Politics

44:11: How Did Studying Physics Prepare You

For decades libertarian and conservative thought formed the basis of the American right. Free markets, limited government, rule of law, and morality summed up a fusion between two groups that shared skepticism of big government. Fusionism, as this coalition and ideology were to be called, came into popularity during the latter half of the 20th Century because of the looming threat of Communism. However, today, both sides are showing signs of disillusionment as the Conservatives drift toward nationalism and the Libertarians fight over what it means to be a Libertarian. In this episode, Stephanie Slade argues that the Fusionist tradition was and is a synthesis worth defending.

In this episode, Ethan speaks with Leslie Corbly, a visiting fellow at AIER and a researcher at the Libertas Institute. Leslie brings her specialty in law and data protection to discuss emergent online privacy issues. The discussion covers contemporary developments concerning government surveillance, corporate commodification of consumer behavior, and pitfalls in current regulatory frameworks. In particular, Leslie discusses the tension between government regulation and emergent consumer preferences.

In this episode, Ethan sit's down with Paul Schwennesen, AIER Graduate Fellow, to discuss his research on the Spanish empire and its unlikely liberal impulses. When people think of liberty in the Western World, they typically point to the English tradition and the Scottish Enlightenment. When people think of the Spanish, they might remember them as brutal conquerors with few philosophical insights. Schwennesen's research adds an important nuance to this historical narrative, pointing out that ideas such as the rule of law, human rights, and market exchange showed themselves throughout the empire's history. Although Paul does not claim that the Spanish empire was a liberal civilization, his insight provides important facts about the reality of Spanish rule and what that might say about human nature.