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February 24, 2025
AI and American Dynamism
Last year, I published a report, The Age of Uncertainty, on the challenges in understanding and estimating the job and skill impacts of artificial intelligence. One of the big problems was how quickly expert estimates become outdated, not due to any fault on the part of the experts, but because of how rapidly AI is evolving….
February 24, 2025
Why We Do the Research
One of the wonderful things about science is that research results cannot be consistently anticipated. That’s why we do the research. That research doesn’t always come out how we expect is particularly problematic for partisans who expect research to provide results in alignment with their political commitments. So you think hurricane landfalls have become more…
February 21, 2025
Innovating Future Power Systems: From Vision to Action
Key Points Read the full report here.
February 21, 2025
Haste Controls Waste! A Theory of Reform
I’m intensely ambivalent about fast-moving events in Washington, DC, where President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a joint venture with Elon Musk, is causing consternation. Whether part of a purposeful strategy or not, the administration is “flooding the zone” with activity, producing talk of “constitutional crisis” from critics who deplore loose talk from the…
February 20, 2025
Innovating Future Power Systems: From Vision to Action
Key Points Executive Summary The global energy landscape is transforming, and nowhere is this more evident than the electricity sector. Technological advancements, shifting economic conditions, and evolving environmental policies are converging to reshape the way power systems operate. This report explores the implications of these changes for the future of power systems, focusing on the…
February 20, 2025
Why Cutting Basic Science Funding May Amount to Economic Unilateral Disarmament
Earlier this month, Eric Berger of Ars Technica reported that the White Houses’ first budget request of Donald Trump’s second term could be a fiscal reckoning for America’s government scientific enterprise. The National Science Foundation, a cornerstone of the country’s research infrastructure with its annual $9 billion purse, might face particularly savage cuts. According to Berger, Intelligence…
February 20, 2025
Free Speech or Culpable Conduct? When Role-playing Chatbots Allegedly Harm Minors
In November, I examined a federal lawsuit filed by a Florida mother who claims that Character.AI ––a platform operated by Character Technologies, Inc.––and affiliated companies Alphabet and Google are civilly liable for her 14-year-old son’s suicide allegedly caused by a roleplaying chatbot. The outcome of Garcia v. Character Technologies, Inc. may prove momentous for two…
February 19, 2025
Regional Transmission Organizations as Market Platforms IV
Networks shape modern life. From roads to the internet to global supply chains, they enable movement, exchange, and value creation. But networks also suffer from congestion, a problem driven by both physical limitations and the difficulty of defining and enforcing property rights. In some networks, pricing mechanisms can help mitigate congestion, but political and regulatory…
February 19, 2025
Trump’s Tariffs Would Prime Prices at the Gas Pump
Donald Trump promised tariffs, and he delivered, imposing by executive fiat tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada (10 percent on Canadian energy) and Mexico and 10 percent on imports from China. His justifications are “the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs killing our Citizens, including fentanyl,” and our “major trade deficits with those countries.” According…
February 19, 2025
Regional Transmission Organizations as Market Platforms IV
Networks shape modern life. From roads to the internet to global supply chains, they enable movement, exchange, and value creation. But networks also suffer from congestion, a problem driven by both physical limitations and the difficulty of defining and enforcing property rights. In some networks, pricing mechanisms can help mitigate congestion, but political and regulatory…