America Needs a Sovereign Wealth Fund

President Donald Trump signed an order calling for the creation of a U.S.-owned sovereign wealth fund.

Peter Bergen : The order presents an unprecedented opportunity for American technological innovation.

He says the right kind of fund could efficiently address this problem: It would identify the most important nascent technologies that struggle to attract capital, and back startups innovating in those industries.

The CHIPS and Science Act , passed in 2022 , established a little-known domestic equity investing option, authorizing $500 million for direct investment in U.S. microelectronics innovation.

Authors: The government should not try to match China ’s brute force approach to force force force to force a sustained technology preeminence.

They say Washington can help steer private money toward promising companies that investors might otherwise ignore.

Trump ’s executive order could mark the beginning of a new vision for American technology leadership in the twenty-first century .

But the country has yet to fully harness the energy and independence of the private sector to further a long-term vision of economic prosperity and national security.