The traditional approach to increasing national competitiveness has been to increase innovation and government investments in research and development, workforce development, and public infrastructure. Given today’s fiscal realities, the nation must explore alternative policy approaches and ways for government to do its business. These alternatives can enhance national competitiveness in an environment where major new investments will be difficult.

The book on which this forum is based addresses three topics that, together, offer a competitiveness agenda different from the traditional approach.

• Section I sets the context for the current national debate on fiscal stability by describing the long-term structural debt of the country, which will be a key priority of policymakers in coming years. Section I also offers a path for creating a nonpartisan framework for setting national priorities in that context, which should foster fiscal sustainability and thereby enhance national competiveness.

• Section II identifies targeted policy interventions in key sectors of the economy that could lead to improved national competitiveness, but within the context of the fiscal austerity our nation will face for the foreseeable future.

• Section III offers a value-oriented, enterprise operating model for the federal government, based on commercial experience, which could lower operating costs by up to $1 trillion over a decade while improving mission performance and services to citizens. Because the federal government, as an enterprise, is such a large segment of the overall economy, this new operating model could bring about similar changes in the broader economy, thereby improving productivity and enhancing national competitiveness.

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