Nonpartisan analyses of the economic and financial challenges facing the United States are few and far between. This one, the latest in a series of annual volumes from the Aspen Institute, is a must-read in an election year. Its expert contributors focus on three issue areas: public debts and deficits, investment in the country’s youth, and how to navigate shifts in the world economy. The authors identify neglected aspects of these challenges. Bringing the federal debt under control, for example, requires not only restraining spending and reforming Social Security but also addressing pharmaceutical prices that contribute to spiraling Medicare and Medicaid costs. Preparing the country’s youth to compete in the twenty-first century entails overcoming pandemic-induced learning loss but also better targeting public assistance for low-income families. Reaping the benefits from globalization involves building more resilient supply chains but also repairing economic relations with China. These careful analyses are not the final word, but they are an important start.
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