Principles Of Government

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Foundational articles (AA) are repeated in Section (A). Both (AA) and (A) articles provide key insights on major policy and cultural issues, while (B) articles address currently urgent or more technical topics that may be replaced more frequently as they become dated.

(B) Fiscal Policy

Reforming the Safety Net through RISE Pilot Programs

By Les Ford

A publication of the American Idea Foundation @ 2026

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By Paul Ryan and Les Ford August 2026 – Resources for Independence, Stability, and Employment – Our safety net is broken. Even with dozens of means-tested welfare programs and federal expenditures
well over $1.6 trillion, the safety net traps low-income Americans in poverty and dependency instead of
helping them achieve independence. We must redesign the safety net so that it temporarily supports low
income families encountering hardship while empowering them to find long-term opportunity and truly
thrive. Read More

Thank You for Your Success, He Said

By By Rob Arnott July 28, 2026

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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By Rob Arnott July 28, 2026 – In a healthy capitalist system with strong rule of law and a light regulatory burden, success means producing something people value more than its price…. Thank you, Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Steve Jobs, for putting computers, smartphones and user-friendly apps into the hands of billions of people. Thank you, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, for bringing human knowledge to our fingertips, for “free.”… Thank you, Mark Zuckerberg, for enabling effortless social interaction worldwide. Thank you, Ken Griffin, for creating an efficient market in which large trades are shockingly inexpensive. Thank you, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, for launching the artificial-intelligence revolution, which will change our world beyond recognition—almost certainly for the better. Read More

AI Can Empower the Financial Industry B

By By Eric Schmidt and Dimitris Tsementzis Nov. 18, 2025

Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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By Eric Schmidt and Dimitris Tsementzis Nov. 18, 2025 – The release of Chinese artificial-intelligence company DeepSeek’s R1 model in January 2025 renewed debate over the technological rivalry between the U.S. and China. Less widely noted is that DeepSeek began as a spinoff from a quantitative trading firm’s application of early AI techniques to financial markets. That connection highlights the immense promise of AI applications to the financial industry. It should remind us that in this domain, the U.S. has an unparalleled competitive advantage because of the depth of its capital markets, the talent that trades in those markets, and the technology they run on. So how do we use that advantage to drive the next wave of AI developments? Read More

The Politics of Medicaid Reform B

By Paul Winfree and Brian Blase - May 5, 2025

Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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By Paul Winfree and Brian Blase – Congress has an opportunity to reform Medicaid, the nation’s third-largest, and most flawed, entitlement program. Done right, reform could protect the vulnerable, promote private coverage and save hundreds of billions of dollars. Done wrong, it won’t reduce federal spending and will hurt Republicans at the ballot box by making more voters dependent on government welfare.
Medicaid’s financing is fundamentally broken. Because of ObamaCare, the federal government pays $9 for every $1 of state spending on able-bodied working-age adults, compared with roughly $1.33 for pregnant women and disabled children. That incentive pushes states to favor healthy adults over the vulnerable in enrollment and access to providers and better services. Read More

The Scary Math Behind the World’s Safest Assets B

By Spencer Jakab - Aug. 12, 2023

Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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By Spencer Jakab – Say you added just 1 percentage point to the average interest rate in the CBO’s forecast …That would result in an additional $3.5 trillion in federal debt by 2033. The government’s annual interest bill alone would then be about $2 trillion. For perspective, individual income taxes are set to bring in only $2.5 trillion this year.

Compound interest has a way of quickly making a bad situation worse—the sort of vicious spiral that has caused investors to flee countries… Read More