Subject: IRS discrimination, how to fix the economy, the future of housing (AEI Economics Ledger) If you have

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IRS
IRS discrimination will continue. Alan Viard: The danger of future abuse will persist if the standards remain vague and susceptible to political manipulation. We made the IRS political. Tim Carney: Our tax code and campaign finance laws put the IRS in the business of policing political speech. President Obama teased about IRS auditing in 2009. Not so funny. Michael Barone: The fact is that the targeting of Tea Party groups by the IRS helped Democrats win elections. The end of big government? Jim Pethokoukis: It probably represents the last shovelful of dirt on the central mission of Barack Obamas presidency. Lawsuit: The IRS raids 60 million medical records. Scott Gottlieb: Political targeting of conservative groups should give us pause about turning over to the IRS a greater role in regulating healthcare.

Economy
How to fix America? Ed Conard debates Fareed Zakaria. Ed Conard: Private-sector investment and risk taking, not infrastructure investment, have driven U.S. economic growth. NEW RESEARCH -- Tax treatment of the family. Sita Slavov and Aspen Gorry: Family-based tax systems create a number of difficulties. . . . In some cases, two individuals pay more in taxes as a married couple. . . . tax rates discourage married women from participating in the labor market. 41 percent of small businesses are not hiring because of Obamacare. Michael Strain: Perhaps the government shouldnt provide a disincentive for small businesses to grow their workforces. Long-term unemployment has increased (maybe permanently) . Kevin Hassett: The U.S. has yet to return to its previous levels of unemployment. . . . It may never do so. Another reason for our labor crisis. Alex Brill: The unprecedented expansion of federally funded unemployment benefits is a contributing factor to the current labor market crisis. MUST-SEE VIDEO -- Kevin Hassett on the deficit, economy, and whether things are getting better

Financial Reform
Don't do Brown-Vitter. Do this. Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee: Any efforts to reduce the size of bank holding companies should focus on creating incentives for the management of these organizations voluntarily to do so. Read more statements from the Committees May 13th meeting.

By break-up-the-banks logic, the Fed should be worried. Alex Pollock. It follows pretty clearly from the same logic that we should break up the Fed. TESTIMONY -- Taxpayers guarantee 90 percent of new mortgages. Phillip Swagel: A nationalized housing finance system is a default outcome if no reform is undertaken. MORE RESOURCES -- What to do with Fannie and Freddie?

In Other News
Italy has Germanys back against a wall. Des Lachman: One simply cannot envisage the euro surviving an Italian exit. MUST-SEE CHART Economic gains from the Trans-Pacific Partnership for Japan and the US How to fix the R&D tax credit. Stan Veuger: Policymakers should redesign the credit with permanency in mind. GOP: Find your groove. Stan Veuger: Let the ranking commence: 21 rap songs to inspire the conservative movement in the 21st century.

Mark Your Calendar

5.22 FOMC minutes are released 5.22 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks to Congress on the economy 5.30 AEI Event: Public employee pensions: How large are the deficits? @AEIecon Sign up for a weekly copy of the LEDGER here. Read more from the American Enterprise Institute economic policy team at www.aei.org. Questions or comments about what you read? Contact Abby at abby.mccloskey@aei.org. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research | 1150 Seventeenth Street, NW, Washington DC 20036 | 202.862.5800 | www.aei.org If you were forwarded this message, click here to subscribe to AEI newsletters. Click here to unsubscribe or manage your subscriptions.