Asking the Right Questions for the Next Social Contract

What should the social contract be between the communications sector, the government, and the public in the next two decades? Its terms should reflect that the purpose of communications policy is to ensure that all Americans can fully participate in the economy and civic life of their communities. In 1996, there was a bipartisan consensus that policy should drive competition that, in turn, would drive the communications sector to continually deliver faster, better and cheaper communications for all. But there should be no argument about this: in the wake of developments with AI, it is time to think again about the social contract.

Blair Levin is the Policy Advisor to New Street Research and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro. Prior to joining New Street, Blair served as Chief of Staff to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt (1993-1997), directed the writing of the United States National Broadband Plan (2009-2010), and was a policy analyst for the equity research teams at Legg Mason and Stifel Nicolaus.