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A group of former government workers are developing a plan that a future administration can use to rebuild government services damaged by DOGE. Tech Viaduct, an initiative launched by the left-leaning think tank Searchlight Institute, is made up of former senior government officials with experience in agencies including U.S. Digital Service (USDS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and General Services Administration (GSA). Its goal is to create a plan for how the federal government might repair and improve its digital presence, services, and processes. And fast. The group’s thinking is that actual implementation of government reform requires a long lead time, but political party mandates only last until the next electionso the next administration can’t afford to spend two years studying the problem. Instead, the next president needs to hit the ground running. “It’s the combination of rigid short deadlines, such as legislation or election calendars, and every action happening extremely slowly,” Mikey Dickerson, a former administrator of USDS from 2014 to 2017 who’s now working in leadership for Tech Viaduct, says of the slow pace of government work. “It’s good to slow down and be careful when figuring out how a change is going to impact people,” he tells Fast Company. “It’s not good when minor technical decision requires approval from 35 committee members, representing 40 different agendas. That second type of slowness needs to be pruned way back.” A tactical plan for the future Tech Viaduct’s objectives are to draw up a tactical plan for a future administration with options that vary based on political circumstances, including day-one executive actions and wider ambitions that could pass with support from Congress. With three more years left in President Donald Trump’s final term, the scope of their work is a moving target. Part of their work is administrative, technical, and boring to the average civilian, like reforming government procurement, personnel, and oversight systems. But another part is public-facing: building visibility in order to drive adoption and support for the initiative. Americans often compare government services to that of the private sector, and the government is often found wanting. A brand rehab has long been in order. Before it folded last year, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was created out of USDS, the executive branch’s digital office. In place of those entities is the National Design Studio, a new office that launched last August and is headed by Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia. The office has given Trump initiatives the sheen of Silicon Valley web design, masking an agenda of government cuts in a shiny wrapper. This initiative is less interested in such window dressing, according to the plan it’s outline so far. Tech Viaduct’s idea for day-one digital repair Dickerson says he imagines a future president’s day-one executive orders could include a direction that agencies cooperate with a “triage team” to determine digital risks and needs, or stabilize and restore government programs so that they an perform their intended purposes. Other executive orders could instruct agencies to stop illegal or unsafe abuse of private data. He says hed like to see a transparent accounting of what happened to public data under DOGE. His bigger goal is the long-term, systemic improvement to government procurement and the civil service. “It won’t be an overnight miracle,” Dickerson says. “It’s not possible to build, fix, or repair as quickly or dramatically as you can do demolition.” Project Searchlight says it will take years to correct DOGE’s damage, but the group also learned something from DOGE’s efforts: Changing government fast is possible if there’s sufficient political will. “What could be done if the mandate and power of and urgency of DOGE was used to build more effective government services instead of tear them down?” Dickerson asks. Tech Viaduct seeks to find out.
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E-Commerce
Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk turned to the actors from Apple’s 2000s “Get a Mac” ads to differentiate its GLP-1 medication amid a rising sea of competitors. On January 20, the Danish pharmaceutical company announced its “There’s Only One Ozempic” campaign starring Justin Long and John Hodgman. The actors are reprising their roles from Apple’s Mac vs. PC ads playing the personifications of a name brand and the alternativebut now for weight-loss drugs. [Video: Novo Nordisk] Long personified Mac in the original Apple campaign by dressing in a more youthful, casual way than Hodgman, who personified a stuffy, dorky PC by wearing glasses and a suit and tie with a closely cropped haircut. (Think Steve Jobs versus Bill Gates.) In the Apple ads, Mac was always portrayed by Long as more cool and capable. In the new Ozempic ad, Long personifies Ozempic, facing off in a mock game show against Hodgman, who plays all of Ozempic’s competitors wrapped up in one dull brown T-shirt. (His hardworking name is “Other GLP-1s for Type 2 Diabetes.”) Hodgman’s character gets the game show’s single question right after the host asks which GLP-1 is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to lower the risk of worsening chronic kidney disease. The answer is, of course, “Ozempic,” which ultimately makes his win bittersweet. The “Get a Mac” campaign was created by Apple’s ad agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab; 66 total spots aired from 2006 to 2009. In 2010, Adweek named it the best ad campaign of the 2000s for connecting technology to humanity. Now Novo Nordisk is hoping some of that magic can rub off. The new campaign aims to reassert Ozempic’s brand equity in the public sphere as it faces business headwinds. It follows both layoffs and lower sales growth at the company, even as its U.S. competitor Eli Lilly is ascendent. The ad also drops shortly after Novo Nordisk’s other GLP-1, Wegovy, hit the market in pill form. In such a competitive landscape, Novo Nordisk is working to make its brand name the standard. “There’s Only One Ozempic” plays up Ozempic’s unique selling proposition in a practical sense, as a solution to chronic kidney disease. But with a jingle based on the song “Magic” and a pair of actors remembered for selling computers, it’s also positioning its drug as the most desirable GLP-1.
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E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Among the 24 price forecasts tracked by ResiClub in our final 2026 home price forecast roundup, the average prediction is a +1.43% increase in U.S. home prices in 2026. Keep in mind that roundup mentioned above looks at forecasts for nationally aggregated home prices. On a regional and neighborhood basis, home price swings can vary greatly from the national figure. For example, on a year-over-year basis, U.S. home prices as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index are up +0.1%, while home prices in the Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, Connecticut metro area are up +4.6% and home prices in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas metro area are down -6.0% during that same timeframe. To better understand how regional home prices may vary in 2026, ResiClub reached out to economists at Zillowwhose forecast of U.S. home prices rising by +2.1% in calendar 2026 is slightly above the average modeland economists at Moodys Analyticswhose forecast of U.S. home prices rising by +0.8% in 2026 is slightly more bearish than the average modelto gather their metro-level home price forecasts. Lets take a look at the metro-level forecasts. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); When we published our final roundup of national home price forecasts for 2026, Zillow was forecasting +1.2% for 2026; however, over the weekend they slightly upgraded that to +2.1%. Zillow economists write the following: With supply no longer as tight as it was during the pandemic, price gains are likely to stay modest. Buyers should see a bit more time and leverage when they shop, while sellers can still build equity, just at a slower pace than in past boom year(s) . . . Looking ahead, Zillow projects sales will strengthen in 2026 as mortgage rates trend lower and affordability improves. Existing home sales are forecast to reach 4.3 million next year, a 5.2% yearoveryear gain. After two slow years, the recovery is expected to be led by the Southeast and West, where demand is more ratesensitive and is starting to rebound as borrowing costs ease. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); The forecast by Moodys chief economist Mark Zandi has U.S. home prices, as measured by the Moody’s repeat sales index, rising just +0.8% in calendar year 2026, followed by +1.5% uptick in 2027. When I recently reached out to Moodys Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi for his updated home price forecast, he said his long-term outlook for the U.S. housing market remains largely unchanged: He expects a prolonged period of stagnation as affordability gradually improves. Following the historic run-up in prices during the pandemic housing boom and the subsequent mortgage rate shock, Zandi believes resale activity/existing home sales will likely stay frozen for several more years. Affordability has to be restored for housing to regain its mojo, Zandi told ResiClub a few months ago. Flat home prices [adjusted for inflation] is the healthiest path forwardits the only way for incomes to catch up. Zandi expects nominal national home prices to move sideways over the next 12 to 18 months, with local variation: markets in the South and West, where building has been stronger, seeing some modest declines, while tight-inventory markets in the Northeast and Midwest remain more stable. The worst of the pain in the housing market might be now and in the next six to nine months. After that, things will begin to feel a little betterbut not good, Zandi told ResiClub in October. The housing market will heal . . . but its going to take timeand a lot of patience. Over the next decade, Zandi projects U.S. home prices will rise roughly in line with inflation, meaning no real [adjusted for inflation] house price gains for around 10 years. We expect homes for sale to steadily increase as more existing homeowners need to sell for demographic reasonsdeath, divorce, children, job changeand lower mortgage rates help ease their interest rate lock. The [potentially] lower rates will also support housing demand, but the increase in housing supply will be even more significant, weighing on house price gains, Zandi tells ResiClub. What is ResiClubs take? The housing market is still working through a cyclical cooling phase, with many of the nations fastest-growing Sun Belt boomtowns undergoing a deeper recalibration after experiencing greater overheating during the pandemic housing boom. This adjustment period wont last forever, and the long-term growth fundamentalssuch as rising populationin many of these Southern markets remain attractive. However, in 2026, ResiClub believes the market is still within that normalization window (but weregetting closer to exiting it). Broadly speaking, housing markets where inventory (i.e., active listings) has climbed well above pre-pandemic 2019 levels have experienced softer/weaker home price growth (or event outright declines) over the past 42 months since the pandemic housing boom fizzled out. Conversely, housing markets where inventory remains far below 2019 pre-pandemic levels have, generally speaking, experienced more resilient home price growth over the past 42 months. Using active inventory/months of supply as a short-term guide, we expect the greatest pricing resilience in 2026 to be in Midwest and Northeast markets, while the greatest pricing softness is still likely in Gulf markets such as Austin and Punta Gorda, Florida. (I think both Zillow and Moodys are a little too optimistic about Southwest Florida in particular, which I believe is still in correction modealthough it is starting to create some interesting buying opportunities.) Regardless of how regional inventory (see our latest monthly inventory update here) or regional home prices (see our latest monthly home price update here) perform in 2026, well be closely tracking the trends to keep you informed of any shifts.
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E-Commerce
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