James Pethokoukis is a senior fellow and the DeWitt Wallace Chair at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he analyzes US economic policy, writes and edits the AEIdeas blog, and hosts AEI’s Political Economy podcast. He is also a contributor to CNBC and writes the Faster, Please! newsletter on Substack. He is the author of The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised, and has written for many publications, including the Atlantic, Commentary, Financial Times, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review, New York Post, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Week.

This art piece was created with the help of Dall–E 3.

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James is aiming for a future driven by significant technological advancements supported via pro-progress policy. In his view, technologies such as AGI, nuclear fusion, and widespread access to genetic treatments could lead to a world with less disease, abundant clean energy, and economic growth, supporting innovation and prosperity across the board. His Existential Hope scenario is a society where individuals have the freedom to invent and pursue their own visions of the future, leading to diverse and vibrant communities living in harmony with these future advanced technologies.

Therefore, James worries that downwing policies which slow technological progress will mean “we're unable to solve the big problems that we should have solved earlier”. For him, “not taking any risks might be the biggest risk of all”.

Overall, he stresses the importance of maintaining optimism, embracing risk, and supporting a rich educational environment which encourages the pursuit of technological progress.

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