Trillion Dollar Questions

A popular idiom in the United States refers to tricky problems without simple solutions as "64 dollar questions." As a concept, it needs an update.

These days, the world's most complex problems would more accurately be labeled Trillion Dollar Questions. Not because they are solely questions with massive economic impacts, but because solving them would be enormously—even incomprehensibly—valuable. Solving them would change the world.

Trillion Dollar Questions exist across many areas of research and policy. By nature, they are interdisciplinary problems, requiring diverse viewpoints, novel approaches, and an understanding of how we got here.

In this ongoing series, Heinz College experts will convene solutions-oriented conversations with colleagues from across academia, government, and media to address the Trillion Dollar Questions that will shape the next century.

Keeping The Lights On: Energy Policy and the Climate Crisis

The political debate surrounding the dual, multi-trillion dollar infrastructure bills working their way through Congress mainly focuses on costs and spending levels. Lost in that debate is the actual potential impact of these legislative packages, particularly on the areas of energy infrastructure and resilience. Just as the New Deal reshaped the social compact of the United States for the last century, the energy policy decisions made in the coming months will reverberate in American society for decades or more.
As the climate crisis tests our ability to keep the lights on—whether in the face of hurricanes, wildfires, or deep freezes—solutions are needed urgently that will make our energy systems cleaner, more reliable, more secure, and future-proof. We have to get this right.
This panel, moderated by Jennifer Hiller from the Wall Street Journal, will bring together top experts in energy and environmental policy to provide their insight on the substance of the proposed infrastructure packages and discuss the solutions and proposals they want to see come to the floor.
Keeping The Lights On Is Harder Than You Think: President Biden’s Energy Policy
The challenges facing our energy infrastructure, and the policies that could reshape the grid
Tuesday, November 9
Jennifer Hiller, Moderator
Energy Reporter
The Wall Street Journal

Lori Bennear
Juli Plant Grainger Associate Professor of Energy Economics and Policy
Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke University

John Graham
Professor of Risk Analysis; Former Dean
Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Indiana University

Akshaya Jha
Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy
Carnegie Mellon University
Health Care: Mission Impossible?

Dysfunction in the U.S. health care system affects much more than just doctors and hospitals. Nearly one out of every five dollars spent in the U.S. goes to health care, and yet key metrics of quality lag behind other countries.
The problems in American health care are interconnected and not solely about money and politics. And they are high stakes problems, ranging from racial disparities and anti-competitive behavior to gaps in insurance coverage and billions of dollars in wasteful spending. These issues are detrimental for patients, and for the country as a whole.
This panel, moderated by Margot Sanger-Katz from the New York Times, brought some of the nation's top health policy experts together to discuss achievable solutions.
Mission Impossible? How to Fix U.S. Healthcare
Can U.S. healthcare be saved, or is the patient beyond all hope?
Thursday, July 15
Margot Sanger-Katz, Moderator
Healthcare Correspondent, The Upshot
The New York Times

Katherine Baicker
Dean and Emmett Dedmon Professor
Harris School of Public Policy
University of Chicago
Zack Cooper
Associate Professor, Institution for Social and Policy Studies
Yale School of Public Health
Yale University
Martin Gaynor
E.J. Barone University Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy
Carnegie Mellon University
Shelley White-Means
Professor and Executive Director of Consortium for Health Education
Economic Empowerment and Research (CHEER)
University of Tennessee Health Science Center