As the nation celebrates its 250th birthday, the most important question is no longer how the United States became the world’s largest economy. It is how we build an even more prosperous future over the next 250 years.

That question deserves our attention because the world’s next generation of prosperity is being built today. Artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, quantum computing, energy innovation, and robotics are reshaping the global economy at extraordinary speed. The strategic choices we make over the next decade will determine whether those industries, the investment they attract, the jobs they create, and the prosperity they generate are built here or somewhere else.