Alan Greenspan

Official productivity statistics still fail to capture the true output gains from AI and digital services, just as they failed to measure computerization in the 1990s. Government data shows AI task-level gains of 14-55% yet aggregate statistics show negligible impact.

A private-sector consortium that constructs alternative productivity measures using confidential company data on margins, labor costs per unit, and hiring patterns combined with sensitive indicators like delivery schedules, order backlogs, and raw-material prices. Publish competing weekly and monthly productivity estimates that force BLS to improve.

The federal budget process defaults toward unchecked spending and unpaid-for tax cuts; pay-go rules expired and have not been restored. Deficits are running 6% of GDP—twice historical averages—and will grow to 6.7% by 2036.

A non-partisan Budget Enforcement Institute that publicly scores all legislation against the expired 1990 Budget Enforcement Act standards, names legislators who violate those standards, and builds a coalition of bond-market participants who will publicly warn of credit consequences.

Social Security and Medicare face trillions in unfunded obligations as the baby-boom generation ages, yet political leaders refuse serious reform because any solution involves pain for voters. The bipartisan commission model from 1983—which succeeded by limiting the problem, agreeing on numerical facts, keeping leaders in the loop, and spreading the burden—has no current institutional carrier.

A standing Entitlement Commission modeled on the 1983 Social Security Commission, permanently funded by the Peterson Foundation and similar groups, that pre-negotiates bipartisan packages ready for adoption when political windows open. Commission would operate continuously rather than wait for crisis.

Counterparty surveillance remains the most effective check against fraud and excessive risk, but it failed catastrophically in cases like LTCM where reputation allowed firms to refuse collateral. AI and algorithmic trading now create concentration risks that regulators cannot see and that market participants are not adequately monitoring.

A private clearinghouse for anonymized counterparty exposure data that lets major financial institutions see aggregate risk concentrations without revealing proprietary positions. A consortium of the largest banks could build this, convened using relationships with bank leadership.

Property rights in developing countries remain too weak to support capital formation and growth. Digital identity and blockchain create new possibilities for establishing property registries that function despite weak judicial systems.

A foundation that works with developing-country land registries to implement blockchain-based property title systems, starting with pilot programs in countries with reformist leadership. Partner with Hernando de Soto's organization and the World Bank's land administration programs.

Income inequality in the United States has reached levels not seen since the 1920s, threatening the political stability that market capitalism requires. While aggregate numbers were good, median-income workers were not benefiting, explaining why polls showed pessimism despite growth.

An ongoing public data project that tracks income at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles alongside GDP growth, and explicitly attributes the gap between productivity gains and wage gains to specific policy choices and structural factors.

Real-time economic tracking remains inadequate. Quarterly GDP is still driving blind; we lack official high-frequency measures despite the availability of vastly more real-time data from payments, shipping, and employment systems.

An open-source nowcasting consortium that integrates credit card transactions, shipping data, electricity usage, and job postings into a weekly GDP estimate with published methodology. Make the code and data relationships public so anyone can audit.

Mathematical and economic education fails to produce citizens who understand how markets work, which explains why populist policies that worsen the problems they claim to solve retain political appeal.

A curriculum for high school economics that teaches market mechanisms through hands-on simulation rather than abstract theory—students run simulated businesses, experience price signals, and discover for themselves why price controls create shortages. Partner with state education departments.

Energy price volatility continues to destabilize economies and create political pressure for counterproductive interventions. The long-term price elasticity of oil remains underestimated by forecasters, and we have made insufficient progress on alternatives despite decades of talk about energy independence.

A long-term energy transition fund that invests in technologies with proven physics but unproven economics—advanced nuclear, grid-scale storage, enhanced geothermal—with patient capital that can wait for commercial viability. Structure as a sovereign wealth fund model that returns profits to deficit reduction.

Corporate governance still lacks effective checks on CEO compensation and risk-taking because boards remain effectively chosen by the executives they supposedly oversee. Even good directors cannot easily challenge an authoritarian CEO structure.

An independent board evaluation service that rates the true independence and engagement of corporate directors—measuring how often they challenge management, whether they have relevant expertise, and whether their compensation creates conflicts. Publish ratings that institutional investors can use in proxy voting.