Hawaii Just Banned This Type Of Tourist Attraction
Hawaii Just Banned This Type Of Tourist Attraction
Shutterstock / Mark Pitt Images
https://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/hawaii/experiences/news/hawaii-bans-cable-cars-and-gondolas-in-landmark-law-to-protect-sacred-lands
Hawaii has banned private cable cars, gondolas, and aerial tramways statewide after opposition to a North Shore project.
There’s one popular type of tourist attraction visitors to the Aloha State won’t be seeing in the future: cable cars.
The Hawai‘i State Legislature just banned aerial tramways and gondolas throughout the state in a measure signed by Governor Josh Green on Friday.
The law bans “private passengers or cargo ropeways” in the state, which effectively bans privately-owned and operated gondolas, cable cars, ski lifts, or aerial tramways. Publicly-owned organizations can build and operate them, but only with specific authorization from the state legislature.
Sean Quinlan, a legislator in Hawai‘i’s state House of Representatives who represents the north shore on the island of O‘ahu, introduced the measure after significant local resident opposition to a plant to build a gondola in the area. Local residents argued that the plan, which called for a gondola on the slopes of Mount Ka‘ala as part of the Kaukonahua Ranch development, would adversely impact the local landscape, and desecrate a mountain peak historically considered sacred by many Native Hawaiians.
“I think this is a big win for local communities. This is a big win for Native Hawaiian self-determination, and I think it’s a strong message that people from lord knows where can’t come to Hawaiʻi and build lord knows what,” Representative Quinlan told Honolulu’s KHON news after the Governor signed the measure.
“We don’t want these gondolas, ski lifts taking people up the side of mountains because it’s not an appropriate use of land. It is a blight on our natural landscape and it’s an invitation for people to create more theme parks,” he added.
The island of O‘ahu is administered as the City and County of Honolulu, and the county’s Department of Planning and Permitting had issued a conditional use permit for the project in 2019 with the understanding that the gondola would be for agricultural purposes, but opponents to the project argued it was really intended for tourism.
“This ill-advised and extremely unwelcome project was presented as an agricultural accessory business, even though it was indisputably conceived as a tourist attraction and the primary use of land zoned for agriculture,” the advocacy group Keep The North Shore Country said in a statement celebrating the ruling. The group had already put resolutions in opposition before the Honolulu City Council, but the new state measure renders those resolutions moot, as a ban on such projects is now in effect statewide.
Frustrated by the development plans at Kaukonahua Ranch and other sites on the north shore of O‘ahu, area residents have been organizing protests. Residents fear overdevelopment would threaten the rural character of their community. Tourism has shown slow but steady growth on the island’s north shore, increasing traffic and crowding local beaches and the popular tourist spot Hale‘iwa Town. Residents say further development would only make the crowding worse.
There are currently no cable cars, gondolas, or funiculars operating in the state of Hawai‘i, and a statewide ban effectively puts a moratorium on any future development. The state has a long history of banning or putting significant restrictions on potential threats to the state’s fragile natural environment, including the importation of animals, flowers, plants, or soil from the continental United States.
Hawai‘i has also banned the sale of sunscreens containing the reef-harming compounds oxybenzone and octinoxate since 2021. The former territorial government also banned billboards in 1927—some three decades before Hawai‘i joined the union as the 50th state.
O‘ahu, the most populous island in the Hawaiian archipelago, also welcomes the most annual visitors—counting 5.6 million in 2025, or just under half of the state’s total visitors.
The Canadian Wilderness Lodge You Can Only Reach by Seaplane
George Apostolidis
https://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/canada/experiences/news/going-off-the-grid-in-canada-helped-save-me
Going off-the-grid to this Canadian lodge helped me find my way back to myself.
I have been recovering from a serious illness. The kind of thing that shifts your perspective, makes you look at ordinary days differently. When I got the green light to travel again, I was honestly scared to death.
What if my body wasn’t ready? My first trip back felt like a huge deal, and I did not want to get it wrong, but Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge turned out to be exactly right.
Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge sits on 600 acres of untouched wilderness on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. You can’t just drive there; you arrive only by seaplane or boat. That journey alone tells you something: this is a place that asks you to leave the world behind.
Once you arrive, you’re greeted by 25 canvas tents nestled along the banks of the Bedwell River, surrounded by old-growth rainforest and mountains. These aren’t your average camping tents—they’re elegantly appointed with handcrafted furniture, antiques, plush bedding, and wood-burning stoves. Many have heated bathroom floors, private decks, and indoor-outdoor showers. And most of the property is off-grid. It’s just you, nature, and the sound of rain on canvas.
The old-growth temperate rainforest surrounding Clayoquot Sound almost didn’t survive at all. In the summer of 1993, this remote stretch of Vancouver Island became the unlikely center of one of the most significant environmental battles in North American history.
When the British Columbia government approved a plan allowing the logging of the majority of Clayoquot Sound’s remaining old-growth forest, some 12,000 protesters blockaded the logging roads, resulting in the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.
Out of that extraordinary stand emerged new provincial logging policies, the growth of Tofino’s eco-tourism economy, and First Nations gaining greater ownership over their region’s logging rights. The forests that surround the lodge today—those cathedral-like groves of ancient cedar and Douglas Firs—are standing in part because thousands of people were willing to be arrested to protect them.
I thought about that a lot during my stay. Every trail I walked, every breath of that clean forest air carried weight. Someone fought for this. That knowledge made the beauty feel even more profound.
Of just 100 properties worldwide, and of only two Canadian hotels, Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge was listed as one of Fodor’s Finest Hotels. But the Fodor’s recognition isn’t the only major honor on the lodge’s shelf. Clayoquot also holds three Michelin Keys—the highest Michelin rating.
Between the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation of Clayoquot Sound, the First Nations cultural partnerships woven into every detail of the experience, and a genuine commitment to eco-luxury, it’s not hard to see why this property clears every bar
George Apostolidis
When I stepped off the seaplane and breathed the fresh rainforest air, something immediately relaxed in me. It’s clean in a way that’s almost disorienting when you’re used to city life. I could feel it in my lungs, in my whole body. It was replenishing.
I was nervous about activities. I didn’t know what my body could handle. But that’s where the team at Clayoquot genuinely shone. They met me where I was at. Some guests are canyoning, cold plunging, hiking, and horseback riding. Others, like me, are doing yoga or trying their hand at archery for the first time. But there’s also space—beautiful, unhurried space—to simply be. To sit on your private deck and watch the river. To wander torch-lit boardwalks. To breathe.
The food was restorative in the most literal sense. Chef Ben Godin’s dining program draws on fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced from Vancouver Island—every meal felt intentional, nourishing, and connected to the land around you. After weeks of eating whatever I could manage during recovery, sitting down to those meals felt like being genuinely cared for.
And the Healing Grounds Spa—I cannot say enough. While I’d normally consider the spa an indulgent extra, it felt essential here. The setting, the quiet, the skill of the therapist… it was the kind of rest that reaches into something you didn’t even know was depleted.
By the end of my stay, I realized that what I had been most afraid of had become the opposite of what I found. Clayoquot didn’t demand anything of me. It just held space. The rainforest did its work. The silence did its work. The food and the spa did their work. I came back different than I arrived. A little more like myself again.
There’s something poetic about a place that was fought for being the place that helped me fight my way back too. The forests of Clayoquot Sound were worth protecting. And I’m so grateful they were.
If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to experience somewhere truly extraordinary—whether you’re celebrating something, recovering from something, or simply ready to be reminded that the world is staggeringly beautiful—Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge is worth every bit of the journey to get there. And it is, without question, one of the most remarkable places I have ever been.
This Sounds Ridiculous, but This Might Be Mexico’s Best Budget Hack
Jonathan Ross/iStock
https://www.fodors.com/world/mexico-and-central-america/mexico/experiences/news/are-luxury-all-inclusives-mexicos-best-budget-hack-why-they-may-actually-save-you-money
Mexico vacations aren't as cheap as they used to be. Here's why luxury all-inclusive resorts may offer better value, fewer hidden costs, and a more relaxing getaway.
At Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, white sand meets seafoam green water that extends to the horizon. Our family has managed to squeeze three beach loungers together under a sun umbrella, which we rented from a roving attendant moving between crowds of tourists. The catch? We each must order a drink, ranging from giant margaritas to buckets of beer.
Three drinks later, we pile into a rental golf cart and speed back to our resort on the tiny island that’s a quick ferry ride from Cancun. Between the golf cart, beach equipment, and booze, we’ve already shelled out more than $200 for a DIY island tour, so instead of spending our remaining pesos on a pricey meal in town, we’ll indulge in softshell crab tacos and wagyu beef burgers by the pool at our luxury, adults-only all-inclusive.
Like everywhere else, prices have skyrocketed along the Mayan Riviera, which is no longer a “cheap” destination. There are still budget-friendly mega-resorts with overly sweet sour-mix margaritas, waterparks packed with screaming children, and the weekly poolside foam party.
But my swim-up bar days are long behind me, and my adult son can now drink beer. So here we are at Almare, one of Marriott’s Luxury Collection all-inclusive resorts, where everything from daily dockside yoga to spa access is included in the price, and you don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to secure a beach chair for the day.
As I knock back a perfectly balanced paloma made with Don Julio tequila and fresh grapefruit juice, I can’t help but wonder: Are luxury all-inclusives Mexico’s best budget hack?
Why Has Mexico Gotten So Expensive?
A quarter century ago, my husband and I spent two weeks backpacking around the Yucatan Peninsula to see the Mayan ruins at Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, and snorkel in the Caribbean Sea. We rode public buses, stayed at hotels with $50 rooms, guzzled $6 six-packs of Tecate, and ate dollar street tacos.
Now, restaurant, hotel, and activity prices are a lot closer to those in U.S. and Canadian cities, thanks to inflation, a strong Mexican peso, and the region’s post-pandemic popularity.
“Demand is driving the pricing,” says McKenzie McMillan, a travel advisor and managing partner of The Travel Group, a Vancouver-based travel agency. “It’s a destination where a lot of people are going, and they’re willing to spend more money for more curated experiences. That drives up the costs overall.”
During the height of revenge travel in 2023, 10.04 million international travelers visited Cancun, compared with 7.98 million in 2019, a 27 percent increase in just four years. Arrival numbers have since flattened, but it remains Mexico’s most popular beach destination.
High-end, à la carte hotels such as Fairmont and The Ritz-Carlton are well established in destinations like Cancun, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta, as are low-cost mega-resort brands like Iberostar and Barcelo. For decades, vacationers to Mexico fell on either side of this divide: high rollers non-plussed by paying $2,000 a night for a villa at the Four Seasons, or thrifty vacationers who expected $2,000 to cover everything for a week at a RIU Palace, including airfare, accommodation, food and booze.
“That is quite a big gulf,” says McMillan. “What we’re finding is there’s a segment of the population that’s willing to spend more for a higher-end experience, but isn’t quite willing to part with a couple thousand dollars a day.”
Rise of the Luxury All-Inclusive
In the last 10 to 15 years, traveler expectations began to shift away from one-size-fits-all resorts toward more personalized experiences, according to Alejandro Rodriguez del Peon, vice president of marketing and public relations for Royalton Hotels and Resorts, which operates adults-only, all-inclusive boutique properties including Royalton Hideaway Riviera Cancun, CHIC Cancun, and Paraíso de la Bonita.
These more intimate, luxury properties bridge the gap. They feature spacious suites, bespoke activities such as wine tastings and cooking classes, premium alcohol, and à la carte restaurants rather than buffets—all included in the price. They also speak to place through design touches and food experiences, like the mezcal and ceviche bar pop-ups at Paraíso de la Bonita, for example.
At the same time, after a few post-pandemic years spent organizing complicated bucket-list trips, adventure fatigue is pushing Americans back to simple-to-book, “frictionless” holidays, an area where Mexico excels. Traditional à la carte hotel brands like Hilton and Marriott have also expanded into the luxury all-inclusive space, making it especially easy (and a huge incentive) for loyalty program members to redeem or earn points at these smaller, boutique resorts.
Amenities You Can’t Really Put a Price On
Fewer rooms and guests translate to attentive, intimate service—staff learns your name after a day or two, and the bartender anticipates your happy hour order. “Soft products” like a concierge who makes your dinner reservations or a spa attendant who leads you through the hydrotherapy circuit are difficult to put a price on.
“For a lot of travelers, spending the extra $500 or $600 per person, or even $1,000 (for a luxury all-inclusive), is well worth it,” says McMillan. (During spring break, which is peak season in Mexico, all-inclusive rates at Almare for a standard king room with double occupancy cost up to $982, compared with $698 during the low season from June through September.)
At Almare, it was the little things that made a difference. We caught a private (included) ferry transfer from Cancun to Isla Mujeres, where we were greeted on the resort’s dock by waving and smiling staff members. It felt like a scene out of White Lotus.
We never waited in lines at the cafe for our morning latte or to take out paddle boards from the beach shack. Best of all, it wasn’t the Hunger Games when it came to securing a beach chair and umbrella for the day, either poolside or seafront.
We also loved the resort’s food, from flank-steak ciabatta at the beachside food truck to beautifully plated tuna tartar, crab salad, and Gulf of Mexico sea bass at the rooftop restaurant, where the chef came out to see how everything was tasting. One night, we sipped margaritas at the beach bar while the sun set and pelicans dive-bombed the water for fish. It felt like we had the tranquil bay to ourselves.
“Guests expect quality, variety, a beautiful setting, and they want it to feel memorable,” says Louise Bang, chief commercial officer for Marriott International. “The setting is part of the value.”
Financial Predictability Brings Peace of Mind
In theory, we could have pieced together a similar experience, but when you’re looking at private transfers, wellness options, watercraft rentals, elevated meals, and craft cocktails, the price quickly adds up.
“For the overall cost, absolutely all-inclusives tend to save money in the end,” says McMillan.
What they also save, hands down, is the front-end hassle of planning and coordinating everything, and the stress of hoping it all goes off without a hitch. All we had to do was get ourselves to the dock in Cancun to commence our frictionless vacation.
“Luxury all-inclusive resonates because it combines that aspiration to travel with a sense of control over the total vacation experience. Travelers know what to expect; they know it’s going to be memorable, but they also know what the trip is going to cost them,” says Bang. “It takes away the need for micro decisions throughout the day, and that gives an incredible peace of mind.”
Back at Playa Norte, every decision came with a price tag, from renting an umbrella to ordering a drink. The out-of-pocket excursion was totally worth it to explore the island, but it was a relief to return the golf cart and step back into the Almare oasis.
At 250, sustaining America’s competitive edge
https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/at-250-sustaining-americas-competitive-edge?
By
America’s history of reinvention holds compelling lessons as the nation confronts a future of immense if uncertain opportunity
At a glance
- At 250 years old, the United States is the world’s most competitive economy. It generates 26 percent of global GDP and is home to 59 of the world’s top 100 firms. In the past several years, accelerating US productivity growth and announced foreign direct investment inflows have sharpened its edge over other advanced economies.
- It’s a new world. AI is unveiling an ever-expanding realm of possibilities, just as geopolitical contention is growing and fertility rates are falling. The United States is a global technology leader today and spends 27 percent of the world’s research and development dollars—but will that be enough to sustain its current 59 percent share of top firms?
- Some US historical competitive advantages are becoming liabilities. Current generations owe it to future ones to address deteriorating fiscal health, eroding infrastructure, declining educational achievement, fading manufacturing know-how, and sustained disparities in income and wealth.
- Safeguarding an economic edge requires evolving, as America has before. The United States has repeatedly adapted its economic model to meet, and then shape, new technologies and geopolitical realities. Since the country’s founding, American competitiveness has shifted but sustained across four historical chapters: agricultural, industrial, scientific, and digital. A new one is coming.
- A culture of innovation and natural abundance are abiding strengths on which to draw. By our count, Americans created or supported 76 of the 100 most important inventions since 1776, from steamboats to smartphones, from the electrical grid to generative AI. Over its history, the country has profited from twice as much agricultural land per capita as any other large economy, and it was largely self-sufficient in energy for 200 years, including since 2019. These are just a few examples of its resource wealth.
- We the people will write the coming chapter. Collective effort from American individuals, business, and government can ensure energy abundance, an infrastructure backbone, education that builds minds and skills to match new technology, and the financial strength to pay for it all. The prize is continued growth, national economic security, and economic opportunity for everyone.
Chapter 3.
The foundations of US competitiveness
While the nature of US competitiveness has shifted over time, a pair of distinctive foundations has remained constant—natural abundance, and a culture of creativity, innovation, ambition, and individual achievement; in a word, entrepreneurialism. These foundations provided the United States with unique advantages at pivotal moments in history. They also encouraged the development of strong institutions and infrastructure, which in turn have reinforced the foundations over time. That reinforcement can make it difficult to untangle cause and effect; indeed, each has shaped the other. What matters is that the United States has undoubtedly benefited from its twin foundations.
Favored by nature
In 1767, Benjamin Franklin wrote: “America, an immense Territory, favour’d by Nature with all Advantages of Climate, Soil, great navigable Rivers and Lakes, &c. must become a great Country, populous and mighty.” He was prescient. Over time, the country’s natural abundance and geographic positioning have provided plentiful energy and mineral resources, vast stretches of arable land, and access to internal and international trade routes. The depth and diversity of these resources set the United States apart (Exhibit 10).
Exhibit 10
A bar chart compares the US share of global reserves or geographic endowments across categories such as arable land, ports and waterways, water resources, coal, natural gas, crude oil, and key minerals (for example lithium and copper), alongside US population share. For many resources, the US share is far larger than its population share and ranks first or second among G7 plus China. Particularly large advantages appear in arable land and major energy resources like coal and natural gas. Takeaway: a broad, diversified resource base has historically supported US economic scale and energy security.
The importance of various natural resources evolved across time. In the first historical chapter, arable land and navigable waterways were essential for agriculture and transportation of products across the country. An expanding frontier brought forth increasing access to minerals, energy, and land. In Europe, such expansion and ensuing infrastructure development typically required compensating landowners, which did not always occur in the United States. In the second chapter, fossil fuels such as coal and oil, along with minerals such as iron ore, powered industry and provided raw materials. In the third chapter, as science and technology took off, mineral access was a source of strategic advantage; deposits of copper, bauxite (aluminum-containing ore), and uranium supported electrification, aerospace, and nuclear power. In the fourth chapter, the United States was more connected than ever before through global trade, but even then, domestic minerals still provided an advantage. The internet backbone depended on fiber optics and its components (copper, gold, and aluminum) and plentiful energy.
Reliable and affordable energy has been an enduring source of strategic advantage for the United States (Exhibit 11). Access to plentiful energy has lowered input costs for businesses, improving productivity, enabling scale, and improving household well-being. At independence, Americans consumed twice as much energy per person as Britons, given abundant firewood. As discussed, ready access to coal ignited the American industrial revolution of the second chapter. In the third chapter, the United States became a net energy importer as its energy consumption began to outpace domestic production. The resulting exposure to the oil crises of the 1970s led to energy squeezes, contributing to a slump in productivity. The country regained energy independence in the fourth chapter through the shale revolution, which began in the mid-2000s. In 2019, energy imports dropped below exports for the first time in half a century. This ultimately helped shield the United States from major energy price fluctuations brought about by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Today, 64 percent of US crude oil production and 79 percent of dry natural gas production is from shale and tight formations.
Exhibit 11
A stacked area chart shows US primary energy consumption per capita by source (1775–2024), dividing fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), renewables (hydro, wind, solar, geothermal), and other sources (nuclear and biomass). The mix shifts from biomass dominance in the 18th–19th centuries to coal in the early industrial era, then to oil and natural gas in the post‑war period, with nuclear and modern renewables growing more recently. An overlay and shading indicate a long period when the US was a net energy importer (mid‑1950s to 2019). Takeaway: the US energy system has repeatedly transitioned as technology and resource availability changed, and recent decades show movement back toward greater domestic balance.
Geography has also mattered. Relative geographic isolation meant the United States saw minimal damage during the World Wars. Natural deep harbors and warm-water ports on two oceans provided access to plentiful trade routes throughout history. Relatively friendly relations with neighbors also provided a layer of security.62 Periods of conflict within Europe also motivated the United States to develop its own industry; the Napoleonic Wars, for example, helped launch early US manufacturing.63
America’s ‘can-do’ spirit
From its inception to this day, the United States has had an entrepreneurial culture that has served as an ongoing foundation for competitiveness. By some accounts, entrepreneurs and inventors have been “cultural heroes” throughout US history. Entrepreneurship in America —often supported by wealth earned from its resources—has meant a willingness to take risks, an embrace of new ideas and people, and a drive for economic progress. As Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1840: “America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion, and every change seems an improvement. No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and in his eyes what is not yet done is only what he has not yet attempted to do.”
The culture of entrepreneurship stems at least in part from the absence of Europe’s entrenched societal structures and systems; the United States was able to start fresh. Perceived openness and economic opportunity have attracted many of the world’s best minds over the country’s history. In the second chapter, for example, immigrants brought new ideas and had an outsize impact on innovation; migrants from this era were more than 1.5 times likelier to file a patent than their US-born peers. Andrew Carnegie, an immigrant from Scotland, famously started a steel empire that became the world’s largest corporation. This phenomenon has endured. In 2024, 46 percent of Fortune 500 firms had at least one founder who was a first- or second-generation immigrant, according to a recent study.
From steamboats in the first chapter to smartphones in the fourth, the United States has been a leader in invention. Americans came up with or collaborated on the vast majority of the most important inventions of the past 250 years (Exhibit 12). The nature of invention changed over time, as did who funded it. In the first chapter, self-taught tinkerers and artisans such as Eli Whitney led the charge. In the second, the industrial research lab took center stage, providing capital to inventors such as Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. In the third, collaborations between government, universities, and businesses mobilized teams such as a group at Bell Labs led by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain, co-inventors of the first transistor. During this chapter, funding for R&D primarily came from government, with strong incentives rooted in Cold War–era geopolitical competition. In the fourth, business once again played a larger role in funding R&D. Knowledge ecosystems, including universities and venture capital–backed start-ups, became the centers of invention, with figures such as Steve Jobs envisioning products and ways of interacting with technology such as smartphones, backed by teams that turned those ideas into reality.
Exhibit 12
A table lists a selection of major inventions from 1775 to the present day, highlighting those that are US‑led or US‑involved. Many foundational innovations across eras are marked, including industrial technologies (for example the steamboat and assembly line), communications and computing breakthroughs (transistor, ARPANET/internet, microprocessor, personal computer), and recent advances (cloud computing, CRISPR gene editing, mRNA vaccines, generative AI). The density of highlighted entries illustrates repeated US participation in step‑change innovations. Takeaway: US competitiveness has been reinforced by a long history of invention and technology leadership.
The entrepreneurial spirit of the United States was not limited to tech visionaries. It was also embedded in the American people and business community, who have long had the appetite (and means) to adopt and scale new technologies, including those invented elsewhere, such as the automobile, first developed in Germany in 1885. Over time, inventions such as railroads, telephones, and personal computers were adopted more quickly in the United States than elsewhere (Exhibit 13). The effects on the economy and the fabric of life were manifold: better connections, greater economies of scale, and faster transportation, communication, and learning. While these examples are historical, the same can be said of some more recent technologies; for example, the United States has been at the forefront of scaling cloud computing services.
Exhibit 13
Three line charts compare adoption of railroads, telephones, and personal computers across countries. The US expands railroad track per capita rapidly in the 19th century and reaches higher levels than peers; it also shows earlier and steeper growth in telephones per capita through the mid‑20th century. For personal computers (1980s–2000s), the US again rises quickly and stays among the highest penetration levels relative to other advanced economies. Takeaway: the US has often scaled network and connectivity technologies faster than peers, helping integrate markets and boost productivity.
Americans have adopted generative AI even faster than earlier transformative technologies. That said, however, other countries have been faster; a recent ranking puts the United States in 24th place for adoption rates, behind many other G7 economies. As discussed, Chinese companies are embedding AI at a rapid clip. This raises the crucial questions of whether the United States can maintain this foundation of competitiveness, and, if lost, what reclaiming it might take.
Institutions and infrastructure reinforce the foundations
Over the past 250 years, institutions have embodied and supported the country’s entrepreneurial culture, and infrastructure has helped the United States harness the power of its natural resources. A virtuous cycle animates both. Entrepreneurial culture encouraged the development of new forms of governance, and the resulting institutions in turn encouraged higher ambitions and risk-taking. Resource discovery demanded infrastructure investment, while better infrastructure enabled and encouraged more resource discovery.
American institutions have, throughout history, incorporated the nation’s ideals, especially its entrepreneurial culture. To an unusual degree among modern economies, they have supported and strengthened the spirit of taking risks, protecting intellectual property, and promoting markets and individual freedom. The US Constitution is the oldest in the world, having survived a Civil War, the Great Depression, and two World Wars. This stability has been balanced with regulatory adaptability amid economic expansion, shifting geopolitical circumstances, and technological advancements. Federalism, which supports policy experimentation at the state and local levels, has been critical in the development and refinement of institutions. As just one example, in the realm of corporate law, several states moved early to codify limited liability and enact general incorporation laws, starting with New York in 1811. The approach ultimately spread and has been central to the development of modern corporations. Institutions such as comparatively generous bankruptcy laws also have encouraged entrepreneurship and risk-taking.
The American educational system, another critical and evolving institution, has produced a well-educated, dynamic labor force, installing an ethos of constant improvement in the entrepreneurial foundation. The expansion of public education, especially in the early 20th century, created a workforce with a baseline of general knowledge. By the end of the second historical chapter, the United States had one of the highest rates of education in the world. Importantly, American education emphasized problem-solving and flexibility over specialization, creating a more adaptable workforce and lowering switching costs for workers. Developments in tertiary education, such as the Morrill Land-Grant Act in the first historical chapter and the GI Bill in the third, also expanded knowledge and skills development in technical fields. Lower regulation in labor markets than seen elsewhere complemented an educated and adaptable workforce to lift competitiveness.
The US financial system, meanwhile, emerged as both a product and an enabler of the American entrepreneurial culture. Beginning in the early years of the republic, the United States developed deep capital markets and innovative financial institutions. Beyond positioning the country as a global financial leader as early as the 1830s, early finance provided funding for major infrastructure projects, including canals and railroads, as well as industry. Over time, financial institutions made it easier for firms to form, scale, and fail without permanently deterring future experimentation.
Infrastructure has also contributed to America’s competitiveness. Infrastructure moved minerals, energy resources, water, and agricultural goods to ports or places of consumption and adapted over time as the country’s context and needs shifted. Americans built their earliest railroads to transport coal to factories, specialized piers to ship iron ore across the Great Lakes, and vast aqueducts to divert water to arid mining claims. Then, too, natural resources were integral to infrastructure construction, especially minerals such as copper for electrical equipment and iron ore for steel in bridges, buildings, and pipes, among numerous other fixtures. US infrastructure today supports the second-largest domestic freight system in the world, including the longest freight railroad network and the second-longest highway system. Today, institutions and infrastructure alone do not make the United States unique; plenty of other countries have high-quality infrastructure and pro-market institutions. But they have supported US competitiveness in a uniquely American way over the course of the past quarter millennium.
Plentiful natural resources and favorable geography provided both easy connection to markets and security, allowing for rapid advances in industry, science, and technology. But natural resources alone were not enough; harnessing them, in evolving and often innovative ways, has made the difference. The nation’s entrepreneurial spirit was similarly codified and strengthened by strong property rights and pro-market institutions and was further nurtured over time through educational and financial systems. In the next section, we discuss how, in the chapter to come, the United States can build on the foundations that have served it so well throughout its history.
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