Aiden Grogan is a graduate of the Spring 2025 contributor cohort and has recently started a new role at the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal as an Associate Editor.
Aiden Grogan’s Impact Interview:
You participated in the contributor program in the Spring 2025 contributor cohort. How has your writing during the Contributor Program impacted your career?
My writing during the Contributor Program has enabled me to build up an extensive portfolio of work, with a wide range of publications in outlets such as National Review, The Daily Wire, The American Spectator, and Law & Liberty. These publications have elevated my presence in the conservative movement and boosted my credibility as a commentator and emerging scholar. They have also provided opportunities to connect with journalists, academics, and nonprofit leaders who value my perspective and are eager to communicate and collaborate.
You write a lot about economics and the budding issues for younger generations of Americans. What would you say is the biggest economic problem facing those under 30?
The biggest economic problem facing Americans under age 30 is the rising cost of living. Due to excessive zoning and land-use regulations, the United States is experiencing a housing shortage and thus higher costs, especially in big cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Additional government intervention in education and health care has distorted market mechanisms, driving up costs. Also, a shrinking workforce of young, productive Americans shoulders a heavier tax burden to subsidize overly-generous and unsustainable entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare for retirees. Lastly, an inflationary regime at the Federal Reserve and the Trump administration’s misguided protectionist policies have only exacerbated our “affordability crisis.”
Despite these economic pressures, it’s important to remember that Gen Z Americans are fortunate to live in the freest and most prosperous time in human history. While everyday life today is more expensive in dollar terms, it has become cheaper in time prices. The amount of time the average American must work to earn enough money to purchase a given item has significantly decreased in recent decades. Such progress can be attributed to the growth of the world’s population as well as the expansion of the rule of law, property rights, and economic freedom. Young Americans live in a time of “superabundance” unmatched in history and must not forfeit the luxuries of capitalism for the temptations of collectivism, which will only worsen their very legitimate cost-of-living concerns.
Which media placement that the Young Voices content team helped you place are you most proud of?
The media placement the Young Voices content team helped me place that I am most proud of is my National Review op-ed “The Coming Japanification of Economies.” The op-ed addresses the economic and fiscal challenges that most countries will experience in the 21st century due to prolonged sub-replacement fertility rates. I argue that market-oriented reforms will be increasingly necessary to cope with the problems of an aging and depopulating world. On The Editors podcast, National Review Senior Editor Charles C. W. Cooke selected “The Coming Japanfication of Economies” as his editor’s pick. The causes and consequences of low fertility is my primary research interest and the topic of my doctoral dissertation, so I greatly appreciated my work appearing in National Review and receiving a positive response from a senior editor.
You recently started a new role at the Manhattan Institute's City Journal as an Associate Editor. What drew you to this role and what excites you the most about it?
I have long admired the Manhattan Institute and its work advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in America and its great cities. As a Chicago resident, I am grateful for the Manhattan Institute’s dedication to addressing crime and public safety. I was drawn to the Associate Editor position because I am nearing the completion of my PhD and wanted to transition into a role more aligned with my long-term career goals. I am excited to work with a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders at the Manhattan Institute and look forward to making a lasting impact at City Journal.
What would you say to a young person hoping to build a career as a writer in the modern age?
A young person hoping to build a career as a writer today should have a firm devotion to truth and excellence. This requires intellectual humility as you explore, articulate, and refine your ideas. In our current polarized political climate, ideological possession is rampant across a multitude of online echo chambers, and “shock jock” content often receives the most engagement. Historical standards of propriety in the public square have been eviscerated by anonymous trolls and a lack of social repercussions for ad hominem attacks, deliberate misinformation, and degrading or inflammatory speech. Serious writers must rise above impudent digital discourse and avoid intellectual egoism while persistently acknowledging the limits of their own understanding. The views you espouse as an undergraduate student will ideally change as you progress throughout your early career or graduate training. When I arrived at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) as a communications staffer in 2023, I was heavily sympathetic to New Right ideas such as protectionism and industrial policy. But after conversations with AIER scholars and reading their books and articles, I became a principled free trader and established a newfound appreciation for classical liberalism. The comprehensive education in sound economics I received at AIER is reflected in the op-eds I have published with Young Voices, which concentrate on advancing a vision of ordered liberty undergirded by tradition and a robust civil society. Young aspiring writers should welcome similar opportunities for intellectual growth and remain humble in their beliefs as they mature and cultivate greater knowledge.
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