The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Opportunity Zones: Analyzing the tax incentive’s impacts, and how to enhance them
English Summary
The Brookings analysis concludes that while Opportunity Zones (OZs) are a powerful tool for accelerating private capital deployment into distressed communities, the tax incentive alone is not sufficient to guarantee inclusive growth. Evidence from 7,174 tracts shows that outcomes are highly variable, suggesting that local market conditions, existing land use, and complementary state/local policies are more influential than the federal tax benefit. For future iterations of the program, policymakers must shift focus from the incentive itself to defining success. States should develop an explicit 'theory of change' that identifies specific local objectives—such as housing affordability or clean energy deployment—and coordinates the tax incentive with complementary public investments and regulatory reforms.
中文摘要
布魯金斯智庫的分析指出，儘管「機會區」（Opportunity Zones, OZs）是加速私人資本投入經濟困境社區的有力工具，但單純的稅收激勵本身不足以保證實現包容性增長。對7,174個地塊的證據顯示，其實際成效差異極大，這表明地方市場條件、現有的土地使用規劃，以及互補的州/地方政策，比聯邦稅收優惠更具影響力。對於該計畫的未來迭代，政策制定者必須將焦點從激勵本身轉移到定義成功上。各州應建立明確的「變革理論」（theory of change），識別出特定的地方目標——例如住房可負擔性或清潔能源部署——並將稅收激勵與互補的公共投資和監管改革相協調。
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