In our latest issue, we assembled the leading thinkers in the realms of regulation and the digital economy to chart a path for the future. How can government continue to play its proper role without strangling innovation in the crib? Cass Sunstein, Jessica Rosenworcel, John Mayo, Karen Kornbluh, Larry Downes, and Beth Noveck offer their ideas.

Also in the issue: Gara LaMarche scrutinizes the growing role of foundations in policy-making and asks how they can be held more accountable to the public. Susan Holmberg and Mark Schmitt look at the problem of excessive CEO pay and suggest a new approach. Ben Merriman examines how we regulate genetic research and argues there’s a better way. And MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid takes on the reform conservatives, who have been vocal on a lot of issues but have been notably silent on a big one: race.

In the books section, Jacob Weisberg reviews Rick Perlstein’s latest on Reagan. Karen Ho dives into the world of Wall Street. David France assesses the emerging literature on the fight for gay marriage. And Dayo Olopade probes one of the more interesting geopolitical moves of our time: China’s growing investment in Africa.

Thomas Piketty has commandeered our intellectual conversation in a way no other book has in recent years. You’re probably thinking everyone has weighed in on it. Wrong. In this issue, Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary and one of our most distinguished economists, takes a close look at the book of the season. He believes that Piketty’s research on inequality is Nobel-worthy—but he questions the French economist’s ideas about the causes of and solutions for inequality.

Also in the issue: We proudly present a symposium on national service featuring General Stanley McChrystal, former Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford, Clive Belfield, and Shirley Sagawa. Their ideas to make national service part and parcel of citizenship are bracing and thought-provoking.

There’s more: E.J. Dionne examines the emergent reform conservatives, but asks: Is there really anything new here, or just old ideas in new packaging? Michael Cohen argues for a smaller, reality-based Army. Cristina Rodriguez looks at how state and local governments are increasingly taking the lead on immigration policy and contends that that’s a good thing. In the books section, Paul Starr looks back on the New Democrats. And Todd Gitlin reviews the new book by Matt Taibbi, one of our most impassioned critics of corporate America.

Jason Furman, chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, unveils the Administration’s new proposal in the continuing War on Poverty: an expansion of the earned-income and child tax credits. These tax credits have been instrumental in fighting poverty for decades, and have consistently won bipartisan support. The time has come, Furman argues, to expand them to benefit millions more.

Next: Brian Katulis calls on progressives to reject the drift toward disengagement in global affairs. Richard Kahlenberg writes on an important American institution that rarely gets the attention it deserves: the community college system. Mike Konczal tackles the conservative belief that voluntarism can take the place of the social safety net. And Molly Ball reports on the ongoing battle between the Tea Party and the GOP establishment.

Finally, in the books section, we have The New Yorker’s James Surowiecki on economic forecasting; Molly Worthen on the postwar intellectuals and religious faith; Tom Perriello on our white-collar Congress; Vanessa Williamson on rich people’s protests against taxes, and the grassroots supporters who enable them; and Monica Potts on the challenges of poverty journalism.

The Tea Party came out of the shutdown looking pretty awful—except, that is, to Tea Partiers. As the establishment begins to push back, what comes next? We asked leading political thinkers and observers to look at the movement from different angles: Theda Skocpol on why the Tea Party will not go away quietly; Sean Wilentz on its historical antecedents; Leslie Gelb & Michael Kramer on the impact the movement has had on GOP foreign policy thinking; Alan Abramowitz on the dire choices facing GOP leadership; Christopher Parker on the Tea Party’s roots in Obama hatred; and Dave Weigel on the movement’s prospects in 2016.

Also in the issue: Nick Hanauer & Eric Beinhocker argue for a new way to measure prosperity and growth. Heather Hurlburt previews the coming congressional debate about presidential war powers. Jonathan Lusthaus examines the world of cybercriminals. Jamelle Bouie and Ramesh Ponnuru each respond to William Galston and Elaine Kamarck’s essay in the previous issue about the GOP’s dilemma. And Jillian C. York takes a look at the boys’ club that is the tech world.

In the books section, we have Jeffrey Goldberg on Pakistan; Sheri Berman on Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine; Mike Abramowitz on Raphael Lemkin, the father of the Genocide Convention; and Emily Bell on Rupert Murdoch’s tottering empire.