Dayton, OH Correspondent — Task-level gains are real and the aggregate hasn't appeared, and both of those have been true for two years now. The manufacturing view is that the useful applications are unglamorous — inspection, scheduling, predictive maintenance — and they're being adopted steadily without anyone calling it a revolution. Five years is enough … Continue reading Will the next generation of AI systems produce a significant, measurable increase in overall economic productivity within the next five years?
Should the United States begin a deliberate process of prioritizing its global military commitments rather than attempting to maintain all of them indefinitely?
Dayton, OH Correspondent — Resources and industrial capacity are finite and holding every line at readiness stretches all of them. The production numbers are the argument. We've been supplying one war for nearly three years and the artillery expansion is still short of what that single theatre consumes. There is no version of the current … Continue reading Should the United States begin a deliberate process of prioritizing its global military commitments rather than attempting to maintain all of them indefinitely?
Is the growing reliance on executive action to achieve major policy goals a temporary response to congressional gridlock or a lasting change in governance?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent — It expands when Congress won't legislate, both parties use it, and the pattern has persisted long enough to be a shift rather than a workaround. What's different heading into January is that unified control removes the usual excuse. A party with the House, the Senate, and the presidency can legislate. … Continue reading Is the growing reliance on executive action to achieve major policy goals a temporary response to congressional gridlock or a lasting change in governance?
Will the combination of elevated interest rates and high government debt eventually force a fiscal adjustment that neither party appears prepared to make?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent — Higher rates raise the cost of servicing the stock and high deficits keep adding to it. The number that ended the abstraction this year is that net interest exceeded defense spending. That's not a projection. It's the ledger, and it happened while both parties campaigned on programs that assume it away. … Continue reading Will the combination of elevated interest rates and high government debt eventually force a fiscal adjustment that neither party appears prepared to make?
Should the federal government continue expansive industrial policy, or shift toward broader reforms that improve the general climate for investment — and how should it reduce dependence on adversarial nations for critical minerals and pharmaceutical ingredients?
Dayton, OH Correspondent — Expansive industrial policy can accelerate capacity in narrow strategic sectors. As a general method it allocates capital by political preference and raises costs for everything unsubsidized. What's now visible is the execution record. Manufacturing construction spending is at a record and a substantial share of the announced projects haven't broken ground, … Continue reading Should the federal government continue expansive industrial policy, or shift toward broader reforms that improve the general climate for investment — and how should it reduce dependence on adversarial nations for critical minerals and pharmaceutical ingredients?
How should the United States manage the simultaneous pressures of high immigration levels, housing shortages, and strained local public services?
Clermont, FL Correspondent — Treating these as three separate problems guarantees continued strain, and the last four years demonstrated it. Management requires three linked pieces: predictable inflows, more housing supply where the jobs are, and either relief for localities or the tools to manage. I'd note what changed this year. Encounters fell sharply after the … Continue reading How should the United States manage the simultaneous pressures of high immigration levels, housing shortages, and strained local public services?
Did the presidential election produce a lasting realignment of the major-party coalitions, or another high-turnout polarized contest?
Wheeling, WV Correspondent — We now have a result rather than a forecast, and the result is more interesting than either camp's account of it. Nearly every county in the country moved in the same direction. Not the swing states — every county, including places that were never contested and had no advertising and no … Continue reading Did the presidential election produce a lasting realignment of the major-party coalitions, or another high-turnout polarized contest?
Should federal disaster and heat-response policy treat this summer as a reason to pre-position grid and hospital surge capacity, independent of the larger climate-statute fight?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — Yes. A hot week and a weak feeder are an operations file and operations files shouldn't wait on a twenty-year bill. Pre-positioning means transformers you can actually move, mutual aid that doesn't begin at the press conference, hospital generators tested in June, cooling sites a county has already licensed. Those are … Continue reading Should federal disaster and heat-response policy treat this summer as a reason to pre-position grid and hospital surge capacity, independent of the larger climate-statute fight?
Regardless of who wins, has the 2024 campaign exposed structural weaknesses in the primary system, debate format, campaign finance, or party institutions that should be reformed before 2028?
Prescott Valley, Arizona Correspondent — Yes, and this is the question I'd most like the winner to take seriously, precisely because nobody has any incentive to. The primary process again compressed serious scrutiny and rewarded early momentum. Debate formats struggled to hold order and substance. Campaign finance continues to route influence through outside groups while … Continue reading Regardless of who wins, has the 2024 campaign exposed structural weaknesses in the primary system, debate format, campaign finance, or party institutions that should be reformed before 2028?
Briefly, what are the three or four most consequential issues the winner must confront in the first year, and which candidate is better equipped to address them?
Clermont, Florida Correspondent — Restore operational control at the border and fix the asylum mismatch. Address cost-of-living pressure through energy production, housing supply, and spending discipline. Rebuild deterrence in the Middle East and hold a competitive stance toward China without new open-ended wars. Signal fiscal seriousness on the debt path. Trump's record and stated priorities … Continue reading Briefly, what are the three or four most consequential issues the winner must confront in the first year, and which candidate is better equipped to address them?
