Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — National money, national media, and national messaging have already turned a lot of state and local races into extensions of the presidential fight. Candidates get judged by their alignment with a national figure rather than by anything they did locally. In a state this small that's a genuine loss, because … Continue reading Will the 2020 presidential election cycle further accelerate the nationalization of every local and state political contest?
Champagne Summits
How can the United States improve the resilience of its pharmaceutical supply chains after repeated shortages of critical drugs?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — The pattern in the shortages is worth stating plainly, because it isn't what people assume. The drugs that vanish are almost never the expensive new ones. They're cheap, old, off-patent sterile injectables — the things that cost four dollars a vial. That's an economics problem before it's a security problem. At … Continue reading How can the United States improve the resilience of its pharmaceutical supply chains after repeated shortages of critical drugs?
Is the growing use of national-security justifications for tariffs and investment restrictions creating a new form of permanent industrial policy?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent — National-security language is being applied to a widening set of economic measures. Some uses are legitimate. Others are conventional industrial policy wearing a more convenient label. The tell is usually the product. When the security case is made about uranium or semiconductors, it's at least arguable. When it's made about a … Continue reading Is the growing use of national-security justifications for tariffs and investment restrictions creating a new form of permanent industrial policy?
Should large social-media platforms be required to disclose more detail about how their algorithms amplify or suppress political content?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — These platforms determine political visibility at scale, and when amplification happens through an opaque system, public accountability is nearly impossible. Requiring disclosure of the principal factors driving distribution of political material would let researchers and the public evaluate claims of bias with data instead of anecdote. At the moment every … Continue reading Should large social-media platforms be required to disclose more detail about how their algorithms amplify or suppress political content?
Will the rapid expansion of electric-vehicle mandates outpace the actual development of charging infrastructure and battery supply chains?
Dayton, Ohio Correspondent — Mandates can force adoption of the vehicle. The supporting systems move on entirely different clocks — charging networks, grid capacity, secure mineral supply. Right now the targets run ahead of both, and I'd point out that the binding constraint isn't the one people name. Everybody talks about chargers. The harder problem … Continue reading Will the rapid expansion of electric-vehicle mandates outpace the actual development of charging infrastructure and battery supply chains?
How should policymakers respond to the increasing evidence that many major cities are becoming unaffordable for middle-income workers?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — When teachers, nurses, firefighters, and service workers can't live near where they work, the city starts losing functional balance, and it loses it in a specific order. The hardest positions to fill go first. The core response is supply in high-demand areas. More density near jobs and transit, faster permitting, fewer … Continue reading How should policymakers respond to the increasing evidence that many major cities are becoming unaffordable for middle-income workers?
Is the current pace of Federal Reserve interest-rate reductions appropriate given the mixed signals in the labor market and global growth?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent — The data are genuinely mixed. A solid labor market against softer global growth and weak manufacturing readings. A cautious, data-dependent pace is appropriate. Faster risks reigniting the imbalances we spent a decade unwinding. Slower risks falling behind an actual slowdown. What I'd note from years in financial planning is that the … Continue reading Is the current pace of Federal Reserve interest-rate reductions appropriate given the mixed signals in the labor market and global growth?
Should the United States continue to treat the Hong Kong protests primarily as an internal Chinese matter, or take a more active diplomatic stance?
Sydney, Australia Correspondent — Hong Kong occupies a middle position — legally part of China, operating under a framework the world has treated as distinct for twenty-two years. Treating the protests as purely internal concedes the argument that no external interest exists, which is precisely the claim being tested. A more active stance built on … Continue reading Should the United States continue to treat the Hong Kong protests primarily as an internal Chinese matter, or take a more active diplomatic stance?
Will the ongoing investigations into the previous presidential campaign ultimately strengthen or further erode public trust in federal law-enforcement institutions?
Wheeling, West Virginia Correspondent — Trust in these institutions was already uneven here before any of this started. In a place where the Bureau's main historical appearance was in a corruption case against somebody local, the reservoir was never deep. When a high-profile probe is read through partisan lenses, every procedural decision becomes evidence of … Continue reading Will the ongoing investigations into the previous presidential campaign ultimately strengthen or further erode public trust in federal law-enforcement institutions?
With improvements in sports officiating such as allowing challenges, appeals, and/or reviews of calls on the field, will any major sport do away with human officiating?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent-Instant replay has become ubiquitous in all refereed sports. Coaches and managers can challenge calls by referees and umpires, and the number of calls subject to challenge is expanding. Technology can show us the outline of a baseball strike zone, allowing viewers to judge for themselves if the umpire called a pitch correctly. … Continue reading With improvements in sports officiating such as allowing challenges, appeals, and/or reviews of calls on the field, will any major sport do away with human officiating?
