When I’m talking with friends about big ideas or complex topics, I often find it helpful to focus on the core of the idea. What’s the “elevator pitch”? In that spirit, I’ve created brief summaries of all my proposals and organized them by category. If you find some you want to explore in more detail, follow the links to the full proposals.
America’s Future
Where is America heading?
This is a series of four brief articles that describe what I see happening in America today and our trajectory into the future. I’ll be writing more proposals describing what I think we should do, but these articles provide the initial framing and context.
(Read full proposal for Introduction, Trends, A likely future, and Unexpected factors)
Updating America’s state structure
We should change the state structure of the U.S. to update our government for the 21st century. A key step is to move from the current 50 states to between 6-8. This will align our government structure with current technologies for transportation and communications, and make it more effective, efficient, and representative.
(Read full proposal)
Implementing proxy voting for children
We should implement proxy voting for children to ensure they are represented in our democracy: parents would receive proxy votes for up to two children and would use these votes in all elections. This would help ensure that appropriate attention is given to issues that affect the future (e.g., education and the environment) and not just today.
(Read full proposal)
~~~
Capitalism
How to reduce wealth inequality
We should implement specific policies to reduce wealth inequality in America:
A 90% marginal tax on all annual household income over $250,000.
A 90% tax on inheritance.
These changes would dramatically reduce wealth inequality over time and enable us to reap the benefits of effective capitalism while minimizing the significant drawbacks associated with rampant economic inequality.
(Read full proposal)
A more interesting way to spend $1 billion
Rather than making a specific recommendation, this brief article asks “What if?” in the spirit of helping to put wealth inequality in context. As the disparities in our society increase and accumulation of wealth reaches new heights, what do people currently buy with their money . . . and what might they prefer to buy?
(Read full proposal)
~~~
Daily Life
A better keyboard layout: DVORAK
We should change from the traditional QWERTY keyboard layout to DVORAK, a layout that is significantly better in every way. It will help us all type faster while reducing stress and strain in our hands. Voice recognition is getting better, but until it is widely used we should all be using DVORAK and teaching it to our children.
(Read full proposal)
Simplifying coinage and pricing—eliminate the penny and more
We should eliminate the penny, nickel, and dime–these have negligible purchasing power, are expensive to produce, and pollute the environment. We should also round all prices to the nearest 25 cents, and ensure that all posted pricing for products includes tax. These simplifications will make the shopping process better, faster, and easier.
(Read full proposal)
Using reverse auctions to select CEOs and determine executive compensation
CEO compensation should be determined by reverse auction: the company selection committee identifies a list of acceptable candidates and then the position is awarded to the candidate who is willing to do the job for the least compensation. This will help manage executive compensation, save companies money, and ensure that jobs are taken by those most excited about the role.
(Read full proposal)
~~~
Sports
A new scoring system for golf
We should implement The Point System, a new, positive scoring system for the casual golfer based on counting only good shots. Unlike the current system that is biased towards negative shots, this approach makes golf more enjoyable and less frustrating, and can also help casual golfers play better.
(Read full proposal)
A new structure for college football
We should implement a new structure for college football classification and scheduling to ensure that teams play against others of similar quality. A tiered system in which teams move up or down over time based on performance would lead to more consistent and entertaining season schedules, and is very feasible.
(Read full proposal)
How the college football playoff should really work
We should expand the college football playoff from four teams to eight. This would help ensure we don’t exclude teams that have a legitimate chance of winning the championship, while avoiding the addition of too many games to the schedule.
(Read full proposal)
New rules to make soccer more entertaining
We should make three changes to the rules of professional soccer: slightly increase the size of the goals, conduct the penalty kick shootout at the beginning of the game, and change the offside rules to be similar to hockey. These changes would increase scoring and make soccer more entertaining while eliminating a major source of errors by referees.
(Read full proposal)
A new scoring system for basketball
We should try a new scoring system for basketball that is similar to tennis: the first team to 30 points (winning by at least two) wins a period, and the first team to win three periods wins the game. This approach creates multiple high-pressure moments in tennis matches and significantly increases excitement for fans. It might do the same for basketball.
(Read full proposal)