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.
Can AI restore fiscal sustainability in the US?
English Summary
The Brookings analysis models whether AI-driven productivity growth can resolve the US's unsustainable fiscal trajectory, finding that while a major shock could significantly reduce annual deficits, it is unlikely to fully restore long-term balance. The key reasoning highlights several counteracting forces unique to AI adoption: lower mortality expands entitlement spending, and the shift from labor to capital income narrows the tax base. Furthermore, reduced labor participation, rising interest rates, and accelerated defense spending due to an AI arms race collectively erode much of the potential fiscal benefit. Policymatically, this suggests that while AI offers a material improvement in the budget outlook, achieving true fiscal sustainability requires structural reforms beyond mere productivity gains.
中文摘要
布魯金斯分析模型評估了人工智慧（AI）驅動的生產力增長是否能解決美國不可持續的財政軌跡。研究發現，雖然一次重大衝擊可以顯著減少年度赤字，但不太可能完全恢復長期財政平衡。其核心論點指出，與AI採用相關的數個抵消力量包括：低死亡率擴大了社會福利支出；以及從勞動收入轉向資本收入的結構變化縮小了稅基。此外，勞動力參與率下降、利率上升，以及由於AI軍備競賽加速而增加的國防開支，共同侵蝕了大部分潛在的財政效益。因此，政策層面建議，雖然AI為預算前景提供了實質改善，但要實現真正的財政永續性，必須進行超越單純生產力增長的結構性改革。
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