Trelysa Long

When it comes to a nation’s innovation and global competitiveness, what truly matters is how the top students perform, since they will play a disproportionate role in shaping the nation’s technological and economic edge. Policymakers should expand K-12 gifted and talented programs and provide high school students with more advanced and honors classes.

Innovation can stagnate when workers remain in the same positions for extended periods. Policymakers should invest in reducing labor market barriers (e.g., hiring barriers) and workforce training while creating targeted safety nets to balance flexibility with security.

Nations with businesses that spend more on R&D experience fewer firm closures. As such, policymakers should incentivize domestic businesses to invest more in R&D if they want to see industries succeed and grow, boosting the overall economy.

The higher education sector remains the leader in R&D investments for basic research. If the United States wants to stay ahead of China, it must invest more, not less, in basic and applied research to build the foundational knowledge needed for innovation.

China is rapidly overtaking the U.S. in production across many advanced industries. If the United States wants to remain competitive and keep its market share in these industries, it must act now to incentivize R&D investment.

Policymakers should make it easier for foreign AI researchers with master’s degrees and beyond to work in the United States.

Policymakers should not attempt to reallocate innovative resources from large to small firms. Instead, Congress should pass the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 and expand the R&D tax credit. These measures will incentivize firms of all sizes to continue investing in productivity-enhancing and socially valuable R&D.

As the Trump administration seeks to rebalance America’s trade relationships, it should focus the most attention on countries where U.S. industries face the worst trade distortions and imbalances, and where the greatest gains can be achieved for the U.S. economy. China, India, and the European Union top that list.

The new administration and policymakers should target the U.S.-China trade deficit by increasing exports of advanced industry products and reducing imports of these products from Chinese firms.

Pakistan's frequent Internet shutdowns, justified by the government as measures to address political unrest, have significantly harmed the nation's economy, with estimated losses ranging from $892 million to $1.6 billion in 2024. To preserve economic activity and social value, policymakers should explore alternative approaches to addressing security concerns without restricting Internet access.

The growth of business R&D spending from 2018 to 2022 was quite uneven, with nonmanufacturing industries’ growth rate far exceeding that of manufacturing industries. For the United States to successfully compete with China, most industries need to be strong in innovation, which requires robust R&D increases. Congress must pass pro-innovation tax reforms.

A recent study found that the number of H-1B visa holders is highly correlated with the number of issued patents in a state.