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conduct ( and tightly control ) U . S . nuclear-weapons R & D .
This situation is partly the result of sclerotic government bureaucracies in both the European Union and the U . S . The EU technology sector is severely overregulated , and the U . S . Departments of Defense and Commerce , among other agencies , need reform .
Here , the tech industry is somewhat justified in criticizing their governments . But the industry itself is not blameless : Over time , lobbying efforts and revolving-door personnel appointments have weakened the capabilities of critically important public institutions . Many of the problems with U . S . policy reflect the industry ’ s own resistance or neglect . In critical ways , it has been its own worst enemy , as well as the enemy of the West ’ s long-term security .
For example , ASML ( the Dutch maker of state-of-the-art lithography machines used in chip manufacturing ) and the U . S . - based semiconductor-equipment supplier Applied Materials both lobbied to weaken export controls on semiconductor capital equipment , thus assisting China in its effort to displace TSMC , Nvidia and Intel . Not to be outdone , Nvidia designed special chips for the Chinese market that performed just slightly below the threshold set by export restrictions ; these were then used to train DeepSeek- R1 . And at the level of AI models , Meta and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz have lobbied fiercely to prevent any limits on open-source products .
At least in public , the industry ’ s line has been : “ The government is hopeless , but if you leave us alone , everything will be fine .” Yet things are not fine . China has nearly caught up with the U . S ., and it is already ahead of Europe . Moreover , the U . S . government is not hopeless , and must be enlisted to help . Historically , federal and academic R & D compare very favorably with private-sector efforts .
Many of the problems with U . S . policy reflect the industry ’ s own resistance or neglect . In critical ways , it has been its own worst enemy .
The internet , after all , was pioneered by the U . S . Advanced Research Projects Agency ( now DARPA ), and the World Wide Web emerged from the European Organization for Nuclear Research ( CERN ). Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen created the first web browser at a federally funded supercomputer center within a public university . Meanwhile , private industry gave us online services like CompuServe , Prodigy and AOL ( America Online )— centralized , closed , mutually incompatible walled gardens that were justly obliterated when the internet was opened to commercial use .
The challenges of AI R & D and China ’ s rise require a forceful , serious response . Where government capacity falls short , we need to bolster it ; not destroy it . We need to pay competitive salaries for government and academic work ; modernize U . S . ( and EU ) technology infrastructure and procedures ; create robust R & D capacity within the government , particularly for military applications ; strengthen academic research ; and implement rational policies for immigration , AI R & D funding , safety testing , and export controls .
The one truly difficult policy problem is openness , particularly open-source licensing . We cannot let everyone have access to models optimized for hunterkiller drone attacks ; nor , however , can we stamp “ top secret ” on every model . We need to find a pragmatic middle ground , perhaps relying on national defense research laboratories and carefully crafted export controls for intermediate cases . Above all , we need the AI industry to realize that if we don ’ t hang together , we will hang separately .
CHARLES FERGUSON , a technology investor and policy analyst , directed the Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job . © Project Syndicate
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say the vehicle ’ s fans . REIT returns underperformed the S & P 500 in 2024 . But the product ’ s bulls see REITs as a liquid proxy for the entire commercial real estate class , which they believe will rise this year amid improving operating fundamentals and solid economic growth .
Furthermore , REITs pay out at least 90 % of their taxable income to shareholders , and dividend yields for some companies can climb above 10 %. “ REITs are historically cheap , and property-level trends are healthy if not solid ,” says Alex Pettee , the president and director of research at Hoya Capital Real Estate .
But given their tighter correlation to equities , REITs aren ’ t the solid diversification play private real estate is .
In its “ Alternatives 2025 Outlook ” webinar in late January , J . P . Morgan Asset Management urged advisors to allocate private alternatives to clients ’ portfolios , since the sector ’ s alpha , income and diversification benefits should shield portfolios from the uncertainties of high interest rates , inflation , tariffs and government spending .
“ I will go as far as to say there could be a risk in not incorporating alternatives into your broader practice ,” said webinar moderator Shawn Khazzam , J . P . Morgan Asset Management ’ s head of private wealth alternatives for the Americas .
That could be said for private real estate , too , likely one of the best houses in an improving neighborhood .
“ Given the favorable entry point relative to other asset classes , as well as strong fundamentals and a healthy economy , U . S . value-added real estate is forecasted to have the highest return of nearly 60 different investment sectors over the next 10 to 15 years ,” Tredway says .
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