Commentary
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Setting the Policy Agenda on Innovation Issues
- Alongside our in-depth policy reports, ITIF’s long-running Innovation Files blog serves as a forum where analysts provide quick takes, quips, and commentary on the latest in technology and innovation policy.
- Other blogs from ITIF include In the Arena, Rob Atkinson’s notes on the battle of ideas (also on Substack at policyarena.org), plus special series, such as The Brussels Effect, examining how the EU exports its regulatory agenda; Defending Digital, examining spurious critiques of the tech industry; and Innovate4Health, covering the intersection between intellectual property and life sciences innovation.
- ITIF analysts also frequently contribute op-eds and commentary pieces to leading publications around the world.
February 23, 2026|Blogs
Fact of the Week: Through November 2025, U.S. Consumers and Businesses Bore 86 Percent of the Economic Burden From Tariffs
Throughout 2025, U.S. businesses and consumers have borne the largest share of the tariff incidence, or burden, while tariffs had relatively minimal impacts on foreign exporters.
February 20, 2026|Blogs
Brazil Should Avoid Rushing Into DMA-Style Regulation
A bill proposing ex ante regulation of digital markets in Brazil would harm efficiency and innovation. Given the significance of this bill, the Brazilian legislature should not proceed with a motion to bypass typical civil procedures and debate.
February 20, 2026|Blogs
We Don’t Want Our Companies to Be Jobs Programs
We should want companies to shed workers they no longer need. Productivity gains flow to lower prices, higher wages, and long-term growth. Don’t slow innovation—accelerate it.
February 19, 2026|Blogs
Hyundai Motor’s Humanoid Robot Debate and Korea’s Real AI Challenge
While the Hyundai Motor case now sits at the center of Korea’s AI jobs debate, the evidence suggests that the nation’s more immediate constraints are weak productivity growth and uneven labor-market adjustment—not large-scale technological displacement. How Korea responds will shape its competitiveness in a high-cost, aging manufacturing economy under intensifying global competition.
February 19, 2026|Blogs
The Flawed Narrative Driving Tech Bans for Kids
Jonathan Haidt’s claims that smartphones and social media are the primary drivers of the youth mental health crisis overstate the evidence and ignore broader social, economic, and developmental factors. Rather than imposing blanket bans, policymakers should focus on teaching digital literacy and supporting age-appropriate, responsible technology use.
February 19, 2026|Blogs
The Grid Act Is the Wrong Way to Protect Consumers from Price Spikes
The GRID Act misdiagnoses the problem of rising electricity costs by treating data centers as inherently extractive and imposing punitive requirements, rather than addressing flawed market design. A better approach is a flexibility-first model that rewards adjustable AI demand, allowing data centers to support grid stability while protecting households from price spikes.
February 17, 2026|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles
US Trade Representative Should Shine a Spotlight on Chinese Counterfeits
If the USTR is serious about protecting U.S. consumers and businesses from copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting, it should designate Chinese online platforms Temu, AliExpress, and SHEIN as notorious markets.
February 17, 2026|Blogs
Fact of the Week: Between 2019 and 2023, the Average Math Scores of US Eighth Graders Declined by 27 Points
Between 2019 and 2023, the average performance of U.S. eighth graders on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) exam exhibited a 27-point decline.
February 13, 2026|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles
Dating Is Digital. Why Is Getting Married Still So Offline?
As Daniel Castro writes in Government Technology, a new Information Technology and Innovation Foundation analysis finds a sharp “digital marriage divide,” with only 10 states offering largely end-to-end online processes while many still rely on paper forms and in-person visits. Castro argues the barriers are legal and administrative—not technological—and calls for reforms such as permitting electronic signatures to modernize marriage services
February 13, 2026|Blogs
American Culture and the Decline of the Digital Spirit: Part II
The culture of digital and AI opposition is a growing threat to American prosperity and power. Unless we return at least to neutrality, other nations unburdened by this self-doubt will surpass us.
