Op-Eds & Commentary

The recent alteration of the global geopolitical environment has brought into stark reality the weaknesses of long-running economic shifts (and proactive actions) that have favoured China—giving it market dominance and trade leverage throughout industries and supply chains. The future is going to be anything but certain, and Australia, the United States and their allies must be prepared.

Embracing national developmentalism will be critical to enabling America to meet the existential challenge that is China.

In Competition Policy International, Aurelien Portuese writes on digital news aggregators and why the traditional approach favors inefficiency and stifles innovation.

A portion of all new federal royalties from oil and gas drilling leases should go into a dedicated clean energy innovation fund, according to an op-ed written by Stefan Koester.

Supporting manufacturing to lower the trade deficit doesn’t have to mean the dreaded “picking winners”. It could mean an investment tax credit and much higher R&D tax credit. It could be official policy to not defend the dollar. It could mean a regulatory system that spurs innovation.

If the U.S. wants to reverse its 40-year slide in production, then subsidies are the only answer.

As Winston Churchill stated in 1942 as Rommel’s forces were in retreat in North Africa, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” We can say the same today about US-China economic and trade competition. It is the end of the beginning, but much more hard work lies ahead.

Louisiana’s new age verification law, which requires websites that host “material harmful to children” to verify the age of their users, should raise red flags for those concerned about safety and speech online. Allowing one state to dictate online rules will likely lead to 50 different standards, creating a byzantine patchwork of digital rules for businesses and consumers.

There is a perennial policy debate over why the digital divide exists and what to do about it. An evenhanded look at broadband data show that U.S. broadband infrastructure is not the problem; it’s a lack of adoption that’s causing the digital divide to persist.

China’s aspiration to become the new global hegemon calls into question the “Washington Consensus” that free markets and unfettered globalization maximize U.S. and global welfare. But for true believers, that is unacceptable. So, the idea China is a threat must be destroyed intellectually.