The opioid crisis cost the nation half a trillion dollars in 2015, based on deaths, criminal justice expenses, and productivity losses

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How a think tank measures the impact of ideas  Show impact or fail — AEI President Arthur Brooks writes about how treating AEI like a startup enterprise strengthened its efforts in the competition of ideas and helped push it to the vanguard in the fight for freedom, opportunity, and human dignity. Continue Reading The F-35 for Germany  Gary Schmitt explains Germany's need for new military aircraft. In 2015, the German press reported that only 30 of its Tornado multi-role combat aircaft were combat-ready at any given time. The men and women of the Luftwaffe are right to want the F-35. Continue Reading The myth of what’s driving the opioid crisis  The White House Council of Economic Advisers recently estimated that the opioid crisis cost the nation half a trillion dollars in 2015, based on deaths, criminal justice expenses, and productivity losses. Sally Satel writes about why the narrative of patients becoming addicted to doctor-prescribed opioids is wrong. Continue Reading Employer-sponsored health insurance: Love the plan you’re with?  Thomas Miller explains that employer-sponsored health insurance coverage was unpopular because of its rising costs, one-size-fits-all absence of choice, and lack of portability. That was before Obamacare was launched in 2010 with its own wide gap between promises and performance. It turned out that employer plans might not be so bad after all. Continue Reading One Kim to rule them all  North Korea's mockable features, such as choreographed rallies for its supreme leaders, offer a good laugh, but this country is a serious threat, says Nicholas Eberstadt. North Korea’s leadership is methodically preparing for a nuclear showdown against the United States and its allies in the Korean peninsula — and it is planning to win that confrontation. Continue Reading