"Innovation anywhere, opportunity everywhere." I always enjoyed hearing Dr. Panch talk about the NSF's mission. His departure is another blow to federal innovation and economic development policy as we know it. science.org/content/articl…

🚨 Tariffs are the controversial centerpiece of President Trump’s plan for a new Golden Age of American prosperity. How should we judge the tariff agenda on Trump’s own terms? To answer this, today we’re launching the EIG Trade Policy Dashboard. Here’s what you need to know. 🧵

I’ve got an article out in the Washington Post today explaining how the South is doing so well in manufacturing and why neither party wants to talk about it. The #1 auto exporting state isn’t Michigan, it’s Alabama. How did that happen? 1/4 (link below)

Florida is pushing a new law to expand noncompete agreements — and it’s bad news for workers, small businesses, and innovation.

.Economic Innovation Group R Street Institute Center For American Entrepreneurship and Florida NELA signed a letter urging Ron DeSantis to veto a bill that will lock workers into noncompetes for 4 years and removes requirements that employers need compelling business interests to enforce noncompetes.

One of the load-bearing claims behind pro-tariff populism is that recent decades of globalization and trade liberalization have been a disaster for American workers. Let’s examine that claim against the evidence. 🧵

The timing of the anti-neoliberal story just doesn't add up. Wage growth stagnated before globalization took off. When globalization took off, working-class men's wages started growing again.

The contrast with the Trump administration's top-down approach to forcing economic transformation on the nation couldn't be starker. Check out my debut on EIG's Substack reminding how strong regions — and through them, a strong nation — are built. agglomerations.substack.com/p/trumps-top-d…

“The industries of tomorrow will be forged in the places where workers, firms, and ideas come together,” writes Kenan Fikri. “In his drive to transform the U.S. economy, the President should take a moment to study what makes its regional economic engines tick.” Read more from

The Trump administration wants to eliminate EDA, the only federal agency solely dedicated to economic development. Here's why that's a terrible idea. open.substack.com/pub/agglomerat…

New op-ed from my colleague Sam Peak on Florida's CHOICE Act, which would broaden the use of noncompete agreements. Ron DeSantis should veto this bill.

Wrote an Agglomerations post today about whether we should try to steer the direction of AI innovation. TLDR: no. open.substack.com/pub/agglomerat…

What kinds of communities are we talking about? This chart gets to the heart of the matter: OZ investment is concentrated in places with poverty rates much higher than the typical community and *higher than the typical low-income community*. Places far more distressed than the

After attempts from Business Partnership to include a repeal of Minnesota's noncompete ban in the budget, the effort failed. But the group won over people with claims that noncompetes are needed to protect trade secrets and investments in R&D. Here is why these claims are incorrect🧵

New: Student visas have come under fire in recent weeks. Critics say they're a source of unfair, low-wage labor. Do they have a point? The latest National Survey of College Graduates shows student visas arrivals are: -Highly paid -Entrepreneurial -Much more likely to do R&D

The widespread use of non-compete agreements diminishes job mobility and stifles innovation. Our bill would limit their use to empower American workers and encourage entrepreneurship. young.senate.gov/newsroom/press…

Dense place *can* build! 🤩 DC, Atlanta, and Seattle are building, enjoying population growth, and preserving affordability. Is it alchemy? Nope: they're working the supply side. 💡 agglomerations.substack.com/p/not-just-sub…

This thread is policy gold - and a great primer if your priors on #OpportunityZones need an update. Chances are that what you think you know about OZs was forged before we really knew anything at all. ⬇️