MON AM News: U.S. economy at ‘major transitional moment’ driven by public policy shifts, AI revolution; Wisconsin’s members of Congress own few individual securities, rarely trade on stock market

February 2, 2026

— The U.S. economy is at a “major transitional moment” shaped by rapid public policy change and a technological revolution around AI, a Wisconsin economist says.

Mike Knetter is the senior advisor for investments and business development at the Wisconsin Foundation & Alumni Association, and the former dean of the Wisconsin School of Business.

Speaking during a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, Knetter said artificial intelligence may be affecting the economy “in a bigger and faster way” than other technologies ever have.

“The other thing that’s moving really fast is the current administration,” he said last week. “They’ve implemented many major policy shifts, mainly through executive actions, which allows them to move with speed. But I will argue today, do erode a lot of the foundations of American capitalism.”

While he doesn’t expect major impacts to economic performance in the short-term from these actions, Knetter predicted the federal government’s interventions will start to take a toll in the coming decades. He drew a comparison between the Trump administration and other countries where the government has had “too big a role” in resource allocation.

“Even Soviet five-year plans worked pretty well for a while,” he said, adding “over the long run, you don’t want one person deciding where to invest your capital, and there’s a lot more of that going on today than makes me comfortable.”

He argued the outsized impact of AI on the economy is masking some impacts of the administration’s America first policies. A group of the 41 top AI-related companies — dubbed “the blob” by some — have made up 75% of S&P 500 returns and 80% of earnings growth since ChatGPT launched in late 2022, according to Knetter.

“We just haven’t seen anything like this, where such a small group of firms has such a big impact,” he said.

At the same time, eight of the 10 largest U.S. companies by market capitalization didn’t exist 50 years ago, Knetter noted, calling it “highly unusual” for such a mature, developed economy. By comparison, he pointed to Germany, where none of the top 10 firms are that young.

“That’s normal, actually. That’s what the world is like in most places,” he said. “And we are demonstrably different … Because we are on the technological frontier, we’re not borrowing technology from anyone else to figure out how to build a better mousetrap. We have to invent it and deploy it to stay ahead.”

While U.S. tech sector development continues, it’s taking place against a backdrop of shaken international trade norms, as the Trump administration has targeted allies and adversaries alike with tariffs and other pressure. Knetter called it “a mess,” arguing it’s resulting in misdirected efforts in the political realm at the expense of innovation.

And though he said the administration’s efforts to cut taxes and reduce regulations will likely boost economic activity, he argued trade frictions reduce specialization and division of labor, dragging down growth and driving up inflation.

Meanwhile, new barriers to immigration will reduce the quality and quantity of the labor force, he said. He also claimed the “erosion” of independence for the Federal Reserve will likely increase long-term inflation and weaken the dollar. And he said attacks on research funding and foreign students will “reduce human capital” and related innovation.

“Make no mistake, these policies will have economic consequences,” he said.

Watch the video.

— Three members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation hold individual stock in publicly traded companies and two rarely or never report trading those assets, a WisPolitics review found.

That means that most of the state’s members of Congress would go largely unaffected by U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil’s Stop Insider Trading Act, which would place new restrictions on buying and selling publicly traded securities by Congress.

The notable exception is Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, a wealthy businessman who reported an extensive stock portfolio.

Current law requires members of Congress to disclose stock trades of more than $1,000 every 30 days, but does not limit the purchase or sale of stocks by members or their relatives.

The bill would prevent House and Senate lawmakers and their immediate family members from buying individual stocks once they take office and require members to issue a public notice seven to 14 days before selling their current stock holdings.

While that would limit future stock trading by the Wisconsin delegation, only three members – Wied, Steil, R-Janesville, and Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah – report owning individual stocks as of 2024, based on a review of members’ annual financial disclosure reports and periodic transaction reports.

See the full story in the WisPolitics Friday Report.

— The Appleton International Airport is seeing rising passenger numbers with about 1.3 million people traveling through the airport in 2025.

That’s a 16.5% increase from the prior year, which was already a record-high year for passenger totals, according to new figures released by airport officials. In 2024, the airport exceeded 1 million annual passengers for the first time.

Outagamie County Executive Thomas Nelson is touting the “tremendous growth” at the Appleton airport, pointing to carriers such as Sun Country Airlines adding new flights there. The airport opened a new concourse last year while carriers added at least seven new routes, according to a release.

“We thank Sun Country and our other carriers for recognizing the immense economic potential of the Fox Cities market by offering diverse routes and frequent flights to serve business and leisure travelers,” Nelson said.

Top flight destinations last year included Orlando/Sanford, Phoenix/Mesa, Ft. Myers/Punta Gorda, Tampa/St. Pete and Las Vegas.

See the release.

— WARF has rolled out a new “express licensing” option for more than 100 UW-Madison technologies, aimed at streamlining the process for potential partners.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation recently announced the new option for industry partners seeking university innovations deemed ready for licensing. The group says these technologies are “ideal” for startups, established companies and research institutions, ranging from specialized chemicals and materials to clean technologies and more.

“Express licensing is about meeting industry where they are, providing speed, simplicity and transparency,” Jeanine Burmania, WARF’s senior director of IP and licensing, said in a statement.

See the release and the express licensing catalogue.

— The UW Health Transplant Center performed 134 liver transplants last year, setting a new program record and exceeding the prior year’s total by 23%.

UW Health on Friday released 2025 figures for its transplant center in Madison, which performed at least 520 adult and pediatric organ transplants last year. Melissa Roberts, the center’s executive director, says that’s more than all of Wisconsin’s other transplant centers combined.

“We are proud to be Wisconsin’s transplant leader,” she said in the release. “This achievement is a direct result of the remarkable care and dedication of our entire team as well as the generosity of organ donors and their families.”

In addition to the record number of liver transplants, the center also performed a record-high 67 lung transplants last year, as well as 273 kidney transplants, 24 heart transplants, 21 kidney and pancreas transplants together, eight pancreas transplants alone and one heart-lung transplant.

UW Health says its transplant program is one of few in the country that can do a lung transplant and heart bypass surgery during the same procedure. The center performed eight of these procedures last year.

Along with the procedure totals for last year, UW Health is also touting its wait times for organ transplants, noting they’re “consistently shorter than the national average” for every type of procedure.

Dr. Dixon Kaufman is the center’s director and a professor of surgery at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. He says kidney transplant patients have a median wait time of 13.2 months at UW Health, compared to the national average of 27.4 months.

“When more than 90,000 people are in need of a new kidney, every month matters,” he said.

See the release.

— Two Dem members of the state’s congressional delegation are seeking to create new mental health and addiction treatment coverage requirements for certain health plans.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Madison and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee have introduced the federal Mental Health and Making Access More Affordable Act, which they say would improve health care access for pregnant women and postpartum mothers.

The bill would require commercial, state/local government and federal employee health benefits plans that provide mental health or addiction care to cover them with no cost-sharing from the start of pregnancy care through the first year postpartum, according to an overview from Baldwin’s office.

It would also extend existing protections to ensure patients don’t lose coverage or access to providers when their plan networks change during pregnancy or soon after, the release notes.

Baldwin calls it “commonsense” legislation, noting many expecting and new mothers can’t get mental health care and addiction help during this “extremely difficult” time. And Moore says the cost of care is one of the biggest hurdles to getting treatment, especially for people of color and those with low incomes.

“The Mental Health and MAMA Act will help break down those barriers, so that mothers, parents, and caregivers can get the support they need, when they need it most,” she said in a statement.

See the release.

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