Dayton, OH Correspondent — Training frontier models requires capital, data, and compute that few organisations command. That creates economic risk if critical capability sits with a handful of private entities, and political risk if they become gatekeepers. The capital scale is the new fact this year. The committed spending on data centres and related infrastructure … Continue reading Is the concentration of advanced AI capabilities among a small number of firms creating new forms of systemic economic and political risk?
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How should policymakers respond to the persistent underperformance of many urban public school systems after years of increased spending?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Spending rose while outcomes stayed flat or declined on key measures. Money inside the same structures hasn't closed the gaps. The recovery money from the pandemic period has now expired, and the evaluations of what it bought are mostly discouraging. Districts spent a great deal on staffing they can't sustain … Continue reading How should policymakers respond to the persistent underperformance of many urban public school systems after years of increased spending?
Should the United States maintain its current network of security commitments in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, or begin a more explicit process of prioritization?
Dayton, OH Correspondent — Commitments exceed comfortable capacity measured against simultaneous requirements in multiple theatres. The production numbers are still the argument. Artillery expansion took three years to approach the consumption rate of a single conflict, and the interceptor stocks used in the Middle East this year are on multi-year replacement schedules. Prioritisation is recognition … Continue reading Should the United States maintain its current network of security commitments in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, or begin a more explicit process of prioritization?
Will expanded domestic energy production and infrastructure investment produce visible improvements in household costs and industrial competitiveness — and how can major projects be delivered faster without simply increasing spending?
Clermont, FL Correspondent — Expanded production can reduce volatility and exposure. Infrastructure that moves energy and goods more efficiently lowers costs over time. Visible improvement isn't automatic. It depends on volume actually increasing and projects being completed rather than announced. The Florida experience is that permitting and litigation determine the timeline far more than funding … Continue reading Will expanded domestic energy production and infrastructure investment produce visible improvements in household costs and industrial competitiveness — and how can major projects be delivered faster without simply increasing spending?
How can the administrative state be made more responsive to elected officials without introducing new forms of politicization into technical decisions?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — Responsiveness requires clearer statutory direction, stronger oversight of policy priorities, and consequences for refusing to implement lawful policy. The risk is that technical judgments become subordinated to preference. The workable separation is elected control of ends with integrity in means. What makes this question unusually live is that it may … Continue reading How can the administrative state be made more responsive to elected officials without introducing new forms of politicization into technical decisions?
Is the current trajectory of federal debt and interest costs compatible with sustained economic growth and long-term geopolitical leadership?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent — Rising interest costs reduce fiscal space for investment, defence, and future emergencies. Net interest passed a trillion dollars this year and exceeds defence spending. That's not a projection anymore. Sustained growth is still possible. The trajectory makes it harder and raises the odds of an eventual adjustment that itself slows growth. … Continue reading Is the current trajectory of federal debt and interest costs compatible with sustained economic growth and long-term geopolitical leadership?
Will the continued advance of artificial intelligence force a fundamental rethinking of education, workforce development, and the design of the social safety net?
Dayton, OH Correspondent — AI is changing the return to certain cognitive skills and the speed at which tasks can be automated. Systems built around fixed credentials and slow curriculum cycles will lag. The safety net was designed for cyclical unemployment and industrial transition. It will face more frequent skill obsolescence in white-collar work. Fundamental … Continue reading Will the continued advance of artificial intelligence force a fundamental rethinking of education, workforce development, and the design of the social safety net?
How should the United States balance stricter border enforcement with the practical need for legal pathways that match labor-market demand?
Clermont, FL Correspondent — Strict enforcement without workable channels produces repeated waves. Channels without enforcement produce the same inflows under different paperwork. The enforcement half is now demonstrated rather than theoretical. Crossings are at levels not seen in decades and interior removals ran to several hundred thousand this year. So the question has narrowed usefully. … Continue reading How should the United States balance stricter border enforcement with the practical need for legal pathways that match labor-market demand?
After a full year, did the administration demonstrate that significant policy change is possible within the existing administrative structure, or that institutional inertia remains dominant?
Dayton, Ohio Correspondent — A year in, the answer has more evidence behind it than it did in March. Direction changed fast where the law already left room — enforcement choices, permitting emphasis, regulatory pauses. That's changing the process sheet and it matters. The machinery is a different story. What the year actually demonstrated is … Continue reading After a full year, did the administration demonstrate that significant policy change is possible within the existing administrative structure, or that institutional inertia remains dominant?
Should states copy a DOGE-style unit against Medicaid, unemployment, and licensing boards, or does the federal version only work as national political theater?
Myrtle Beach, SC Copy the function and leave the merchandise. And states have a structural advantage here that nobody in this Forum has named, so let me name it because it decides the answer. Every state but one has a balanced budget requirement. That single fact changes everything about what an efficiency office does. In … Continue reading Should states copy a DOGE-style unit against Medicaid, unemployment, and licensing boards, or does the federal version only work as national political theater?
