Karl Smith

Karl Smith is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an economist whose work focuses on growth, industrial policy, technological change, labor markets, and the practical problem of how countries actually build things. He writes on artificial intelligence, energy and digital infrastructure, trade, health policy, and the economic and regulatory constraints that shape investment and productive capacity in the United States. Before joining CSIS, he was a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, where he wrote on macroeconomics, public finance, innovation, and political economy, and he also taught economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His commentary and analysis have appeared in the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and the Financial Times. Across his work, Smith is interested in the link between economics and statecraft: how institutions, incentives, and political choices affect a nation’s ability to innovate, expand capacity, and sustain strength over time. He writes for policymakers and general readers alike, with an emphasis on making complicated economic questions clear without flattening the substance. At CSIS, his recent work has focused in particular on AI infrastructure, electricity demand, workforce bottlenecks, and the broader challenge of economic renewal in a more competitive world.