News & Updates

The United States’ national debt is the highest of any nation in the world, standing at $36.22 trillion, according to the Senate Joint Economic Committee. Put another way, the U.S. national debt now stands at 121 percent of GDP, the highest it has since WWII and one of the highest levels of any advanced economy. […]

From: Council on CompetitivenessDeborah L. Wince-Smith, President and CEO On behalf of the Council on Competitiveness, and its National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, thank you for the opportunity to provide our views on development of the Administration’s new Artificial Intelligence Action Plan in response to President Trump’s January 23 Executive Order. The Council […]

In December 2024, Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the U.S. Treasury Department's computer systems, exploiting vulnerabilities in third-party cybersecurity provider BeyondTrust. This attack, labeled a "major incident" by Treasury officials, exposed unclassified documents and highlighted the growing sophistication of state-backed cyber espionage. According to America’s Cyber Defense Agency, China remains the most active cyber security threat to […]

Despite the increasing need for cybersecurity expertise worldwide, the size of the global cybersecurity workforce remained broadly flat at 5.5 million workers from 2023 to 2024, according to the ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study. Over the same two-year time period, the need for cybersecurity workers increased from just over 9 million to approximately 10.2 million. As […]

In the early hours of his presidency, Donald Trump signed several Executive Orders (EOs) likely to affect higher education. Though it will take time to fully understand the implications of these orders—and many may face legal challenges—there are some immediate impacts across the research community from certain orders. Three are highlighted here: 1. The EO […]

Sudden shifts in industry, trade dynamics, and supply chains have disproportionately affected certain communities most exposed to disruption. As Chinese imports surged in the early 2000s, American factories shuttered and manufacturing communities lost millions of jobs. And as the energy transition continues accelerating, communities reliant on traditional energy sources like coal and oil face similar […]

Inflation-adjusted household income rose about 4% in 2023, driven by easing inflation and a strong labor market. This represents the first annual increase since the start of the pandemic and puts real income back at roughly 2019 levels, which represented a historical peak. While U.S. households have experienced nominal wage gains in recent years, these […]

Economists have been keeping a close eye on the U.S. labor market as the economy continues to toe the line between inflationary and recessionary pressures. In particular, experts have noticed a divergence between sustained tightness in the labor market (e.g., low unemployment, high job openings), and easing inflation. New research from Brookings points to elevated […]

In the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, American entrepreneurship lagged behind the historically high levels that many have come to expect. In 1982 about 38 percent of U.S. firms were less than five years old; by 2018, that share fell to 29 percent, with many start-ups concentrated in Silicon Valley and a few other […]

U.S. power demand is surging for the first time in more than 20 years. Many observers point the finger at the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which has spawned hundreds of data centers across the country. According to an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group, electricity demand at US data centers could triple by 2030. In […]