Research Themes

Mapping economic power

The Power Curve organizes its research into six standing themes, the systems through which economic power compounds. Each is a continuous line of inquiry that feeds every report, briefing, and essay we publish.

Six systems through which economic power compoundsSelect a theme to bring it into focus
Theme in focus· 01

Advanced technology

Compute, chips, AI, and frontier capacity.

Frontier capability is concentrating in a handful of firms and supply chains. We follow who controls compute, how quickly capability diffuses, and where it converts into industrial advantage.

01Who controls the compute stack?
02When does frontier capability become decisive?
03How quickly does capability diffuse?
0Reports
2Briefings
Explore technology
Frontier compute index2019 to 2026
01002003004005002019202120232025YearIndex (2019 = 100) frontier
Effective compute at the frontier, indexed to 2019. The coral point marks the current frontier; the dashed segment is the modeled path ahead.
The research indexCoverage across reports and briefings, by theme
ThemeCoverageLatest
ReportsBriefingsBar length is total coverage, comparable across themes