NORTH AMERICA

61 domains mapped · Code: US

These are jurisdiction-specific research-progress records. They expose first moves, likely actors, and institutional infrastructure where mapped; they are not a claim that every country has a finished statutory memo for all 61 domains.

Canonical domain beta-W from Oil & Gas Extraction. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Mandatory emissions disclosure makes W computable from party payoffs. Once Scope 1–3 emissions are disclosed per transaction, system welfare becomes a function of bilateral activity — narrowing independence.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Forever Chemicals (PFAS). Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Ban Forever Chemicals production class-wide. If the profitable pathway does not exist, there is no overlapping interest to exploit. The Montreal Protocol model — eliminate the product, not the externality.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Big Tech Platform Monopoly. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Algorithmic transparency and data portability make W computable. Once attention costs, epistemic degradation, and labor displacement are measurable per user-hour, system welfare becomes visible inside the payoff space.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Bitcoin Proof-of-Work (PoW) Mining. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Sovereign custody regulation can reduce regulated-financial-system exposure to permissionless protocol welfare costs. If exchanges, on-ramps, and custodians are regulated like banks, system dependence weakens and bilateral crypto activity is less likely to transmit losses into regulated finance.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Opioid Ecosystem. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. opioid crisis is driven by aggressive marketing by manufacturers like Purdue Pharma and excessive prescribing by physicians, with the DEA and state medical boards failing to enforce quota limits and prescription monitoring programs effectively.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Commercial Real Estate. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:U.S. commercial real estate faces a maturity wall of roughly $950 billion to $1 trillion in loans due in 2025 (about $1.5 trillion cumulatively through 2027), with office vacancy rates above 20% in major cities like San Francisco and New York, and regional banks holding 40% of CRE debt are undercapitalized.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Illicit Drug Trade. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. illicit drug trade is fueled by fentanyl from Mexican cartels using precursor chemicals from China, with the DEA and CBP intercepting less than 10% of shipments due to porous borders and limited international cooperation.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Child Labor in Global Supply Chains. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:U.S. imports of cocoa, cotton, and electronics from West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia are linked to child labor, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection lacking resources to enforce the Tariff Act's forced labor prohibition.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Ultra-Processed Food. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Ultra-processed foods account for 60% of U.S. caloric intake, driving obesity and diabetes, with the FDA lacking authority to mandate front-of-package warning labels and the USDA subsidizing high-fructose corn syrup.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Tax Havens and Offshore Finance. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:U.S. corporations and wealthy individuals hold an estimated $3 trillion in offshore tax havens, with the IRS lacking resources to audit complex shell company structures and the Treasury failing to enforce beneficial ownership reporting.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Fast Fashion. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:U.S. consumers discard 11 million tons of textile waste annually, with fast fashion brands like Shein and Zara producing 100 billion garments per year, while the EPA lacks authority to mandate extended producer responsibility.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Defense Procurement. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. Department of Defense spends over $400 billion annually on procurement, with sole-source contracts to Lockheed Martin and Boeing leading to cost overruns averaging 30% and no competitive bidding for 40% of contracts.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Frontier AI. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. lacks a comprehensive federal AI law, leaving oversight fragmented across the FTC (deceptive practices), DOJ (civil rights), and NIST (voluntary guidelines), while the White House Executive Order on AI lacks binding enforcement. The primary route is the FTC's authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to police unfair or deceptive acts in AI training data and model outputs.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Coal Combustion. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The EPA's Clean Air Act authority to regulate coal plant emissions is the primary lever, but the Supreme Court's West Virginia v. EPA ruling limited the agency's ability to set generation-shifting standards. The primary route is the EPA's existing authority under Section 112 to regulate hazardous air pollutants like mercury from coal plants.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Topsoil Erosion. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The USDA's conservation programs under the Farm Bill are voluntary and underfunded, while the EPA's Clean Water Act authority over agricultural runoff is limited by the CWA's exemption for normal farming practices. The primary route is the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which pays farmers to take erodible land out of production.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Private Equity in Healthcare. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Private equity firms exploit regulatory gaps in the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute by using management services organizations (MSOs) to control physician practices without direct ownership. The primary route is the HHS Office of Inspector General's authority to issue advisory opinions and impose corporate integrity agreements on PE-owned healthcare entities.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Student Loan Securitization. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The federal student loan system is governed by the Higher Education Act, but private student loans are securitized through trusts regulated by the SEC and the CFPB. The primary route is the CFPB's authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to regulate unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts in private student loan servicing and securitization.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Private Military Contractors. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Private military contractors (PMCs) operate under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) and the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), but oversight is weak because the State Department's International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) focus on exports rather than conduct. The primary route is the DOJ's authority under MEJA to prosecute PMC employees for crimes committed overseas.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Orbital Debris. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The FCC's orbital debris mitigation rules apply only to licensed U.S. satellites, leaving unregulated foreign debris and defunct upper stages to accumulate in LEO. NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office tracks items but lacks enforcement authority over non-U.S. operators.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Firearms. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) grants broad immunity to gun manufacturers and dealers from civil liability for criminal misuse of their products. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) lacks statutory authority to revoke dealer licenses for systemic compliance failures.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Deep-Sea Mining. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. has not ratified UNCLOS, so it lacks a seat on the International Seabed Authority (ISA) that regulates deep-sea mining in international waters. Domestic mining claims on the U.S. extended continental shelf fall under the outdated Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, which has no environmental review requirement.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Insurance & Climate Risk Mispricing. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:State insurance commissioners, coordinated through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), set rates based on historical loss data rather than forward-looking climate models. The Federal Insurance Office (FIO) has data-collection authority but no rate-setting power, leaving homeowners and commercial property premiums systematically underpriced for wildfire and flood risk.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Gambling. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was struck down in 2018, leaving states to legalize sports betting with minimal federal oversight. The Wire Act of 1961 is interpreted by DOJ to apply only to sports wagering, not online casino games, creating a regulatory vacuum that allows unlicensed offshore operators to target U.S. consumers.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Credit Rating Agency Oligopoly. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The SEC's Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) designation creates a regulatory moat that limits competition to Moody's, S&P, and Fitch, which control over 95% of the market. The Dodd-Frank Act removed statutory references to NRSRO ratings but did not dismantle the oligopoly, and the SEC has not used its authority to certify new competitors.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Cement (Calcination Floor). Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Cement production's process emissions from calcination (60% of total CO2) are chemically unavoidable, yet the EPA's Clean Air Act standards treat cement kilns as ordinary industrial sources without a separate calcination floor. The industry's trade group, the Portland Cement Association, has successfully lobbied against any federal carbon price or performance standard that would penalize process emissions.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Nuclear Fission. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing process for new reactor designs averages 10-15 years, far longer than any other country, due to the Atomic Energy Act's requirement for a two-step combined license with mandatory hearings. The Price-Anderson Act limits liability for nuclear accidents, removing market incentives for private insurers to demand safety improvements.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Social Media & Youth Mental Health. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The FTC lacks rulemaking authority to ban algorithmic amplification targeting minors, and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields platforms from liability for harmful content recommendations.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Private Prisons & Carceral System. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The federal Bureau of Prisons contracts with private operators like GEO Group and CoreCivic, and 28 states allow private prison contracts, creating a profit incentive for incarceration.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from FX-Fixing Benchmark Governance. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The WM/Reuters 4pm fix is set by a small group of banks via chat rooms and order flow, and the CFTC has fined banks over $2.5 billion for manipulation but has not restructured the fix mechanism.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Mining & Rare Earth Extraction. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. relies on China for 60% of rare earth processing, and domestic mining is blocked by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process and state-level permitting delays.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Conflict Minerals and Blood Diamonds. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The SEC's conflict minerals rule was weakened by a 2014 D.C. Circuit ruling, and the Kimberley Process does not cover artisanal gold or cobalt from the DRC.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Alcohol. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The 21st Amendment gives states near-total control over alcohol distribution, creating a three-tier system that blocks direct-to-consumer sales and limits competition.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Proof-of-Stake Protocols. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The SEC treats staking as an unregistered securities offering under the Howey test, but no federal statute explicitly governs proof-of-stake validation or slashing risks.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Antimicrobial Resistance. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The FDA approves antibiotics without requiring stewardship plans, and CMS reimburses hospitals based on volume rather than outcomes, creating no incentive to preserve antibiotic efficacy. Physical-constraint note: evolutionary irreversibility means these routes mitigate exposure; they do not remove the constraint.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. lacks a federal civil remedy for trafficking victims, and state labor laws exempt agricultural and domestic workers from overtime and minimum wage protections.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Industrial Monoculture. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:USDA commodity programs pay farmers based on historical acreage of corn and soy, locking in monoculture, while crop insurance subsidizes single-crop planting without requiring rotation.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Platform Monopoly. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The FTC has not enforced Section 5 of the FTC Act against self-preferencing by dominant platforms, and the Supreme Court's Amex decision makes it nearly impossible to prove anticompetitive harm in two-sided markets.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Data Brokerage and Surveillance Capitalism. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The FTC has not used its Section 5 authority to ban data brokerage as an unfair practice, and there is no federal comprehensive privacy law regulating the sale of personal data.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Industrial Agriculture Methane. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The EPA does not regulate methane from livestock under the Clean Air Act, and USDA voluntary programs like the Climate-Smart Agriculture initiative lack enforceable reduction targets.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:PBMs operate with near-zero transparency in rebate and formulary design, and the FTC has already sued the three largest PBMs for anticompetitive steering of patients to their own pharmacies.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Cybercrime and Ransomware. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. lacks a federal breach-notification law and ransomware payment ban, leaving critical infrastructure vulnerable; CISA and the Treasury OFAC have limited enforcement tools.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Tobacco. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:FDA has authority to mandate nicotine reduction to non-addictive levels under the Tobacco Control Act, but has delayed rulemaking for years due to industry litigation threats.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Fisheries. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires annual catch limits to prevent overfishing, but NOAA Fisheries often sets limits above scientific recommendations due to industry pressure.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Algorithmic Pricing. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The FTC has authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to challenge unfair pricing algorithms, but has not yet brought a case against algorithmic collusion in rental housing or retail.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Electronic Waste Export and Toxic Dumping. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. has not ratified the Basel Convention, allowing unregulated e-waste exports to developing countries where informal recycling causes severe health and environmental damage.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Arms Exports. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Arms Export Control Act gives Congress the power to block major arms sales by joint resolution, but this authority is rarely used due to political pressure from the executive branch.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Groundwater / Ogallala Aquifer. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Ogallala Aquifer is governed by state-level prior appropriation doctrines and local groundwater management districts, which lack enforceable caps on extraction, leading to depletion that has cumulatively removed on the order of 300 million acre-feet since the 1950s, far exceeding annual recharge.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Palm Oil. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. imports over 2 million metric tons of palm oil annually, mostly for food and cosmetics, but FDA labeling rules do not require disclosure of deforestation-linked sourcing, and USDA's biofuel subsidies incentivize palm oil imports for renewable diesel.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Factory Farming and Industrial Animal Agriculture. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. has over 25,000 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that produce 500 million tons of manure annually, yet EPA's Clean Water Act permits cover fewer than 40% of CAFOs, and USDA's voluntary conservation programs lack enforcement teeth.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Payday Lending and Predatory Consumer Finance. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. payday lending industry originates over $30 billion in loans annually at annual percentage rates averaging 400%, yet the CFPB's 2017 small-dollar lending rule was rescinded in 2020, and 32 states still allow triple-digit interest rates.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Water Privatization. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Over 2,000 U.S. water systems are privately owned, and many operate under rate-setting rules that allow profit margins of 10-15%, yet the Safe Drinking Water Act does not require public ownership or rate review by an independent consumer advocate.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Aviation Emissions. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:U.S. aviation accounts for 2.5% of domestic CO2 emissions and is the fastest-growing transport emissions source, yet the FAA's Clean Air Act exemption for aircraft engines prevents EPA from setting CO2 standards, and the industry's voluntary CORSIA offset scheme covers only international flights.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Deforestation & Industrial Logging. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Lacey Act and USDA Forest Service enforcement gaps allow imported timber linked to illegal deforestation to enter U.S. markets, while voluntary corporate pledges lack binding federal oversight.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Stablecoins & Shadow Banking. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. lacks a full federal stablecoin framework, leaving a regulatory gap between SEC, CFTC, and state banking authorities that shadow-banking entities exploit.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Plastics and Petrochemical Waste. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:EPA lacks enforceable recycling mandates and the Toxic Substances Control Act does not adequately regulate plastic additives, while petrochemical waste is exempt from hazardous waste rules under RCRA.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Persistent Organic Pollutants. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:EPA has not listed PFAS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, and the Toxic Substances Control Act lacks a rapid phaseout mechanism for persistent organic pollutants.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Shipping & Maritime Emissions. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. has not ratified MARPOL Annex VI and the Clean Air Act exempts international shipping from domestic emission standards, leaving a regulatory void.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Gig Economy Platforms. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The National Labor Relations Act excludes gig workers from collective bargaining rights, and the Fair Labor Standards Act's independent contractor test varies by state, creating a patchwork.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Weapons of Mass Destruction. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. nuclear weapons complex is governed by the Atomic Energy Act and the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), but budget oversight and export controls under the State Department and Commerce Department offer actionable points. The primary route is the NNSA's reliance on annual congressional appropriations for warhead modernization. Physical-constraint note: capability knowledge does not diffuse in reverse; these routes mitigate exposure; they do not remove the constraint.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Sovereign Debt & Intergenerational Extraction. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The U.S. federal debt is governed by the debt ceiling statute under the Second Liberty Bond Act, while intergenerational extraction occurs through Social Security and Medicare trust fund depletion. The primary route is the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) authority to score the long-term fiscal impact of new legislation under the Budget Act.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Gene Drives. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The USDA and EPA have not issued any rule specifically governing gene-drive organisms, and the Coordinated Framework for Biotechnology lacks binding risk-assessment requirements for self-propagating genetic elements. Physical-constraint note: evolutionary irreversibility means these routes mitigate exposure; they do not remove the constraint.

6 actor-lane actions mapped

© 2026 Erik Postnieks · Independent Researcher · Salt Lake City