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161. Fulfilling the Promise: Seven Steps to Successful Community-Based Information Strategies

Author:
Pari Sabety
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
While some neighborhoods in American cities are resurgent, many others remain stubbornly entrenched in a cycle of underinvestment. A contributing factor is that—despite thriving immigrant populations, high volumes of cash transactions, and relatively stable housing markets—these neighborhoods are victims of an urban information gap which undervalues their commercial potential. The importance of good information for private and public investments is widely acknowledged, but fragmented funding, lack of standards, and spotty data has impeded either effective or universal use of these tools. This paper sets forth seven steps for practitioners and investors to follow in investing in local community information initiatives and, in turn, close the urban information gap and accelerate investment in these markets.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States and America

162. Credit Scores, Reports, and Getting Ahead in America

Author:
Matt Fellowes
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Everyday, more than 27,000 employees in the credit bureau industry walk into over 1,000 locations around the country and process over 66 million items of information. Out of this massive churning of activity, credit bureaus produce consumer credit reports and scores, two of the most powerful determinants of modern American consumer life.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

163. One-Fifth of the Nation: America's First Suburbs

Author:
David Warren and Robert Puentes
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
One of the more encouraging metropolitan policy trends over the last several years is the increased attention on America's older, inner-ring, “first” suburbs. Beginning generally with Myron Orfield's Metropolitics in 1997, a slow but steady stream of research has started to shine a bright light on these places and begun to establish the notion that first suburbs have their own unique set of characteristics and challenges that set them apart from the rest of metropolitan America. Since then first suburbs in a few regions have assumed a small, but significant, role in advancing research and policy discussions about metropolitan growth and development.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States and America

164. The Earned Income Tax Credit at Age 30: What We Know

Author:
Steve Holt
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the nation's largest antipoverty program for working families, plays an important role in the economic life of America's low- income households and communities. It increases the ability of workers in lower paying jobs to support themselves and their families. It represents a large inflow of resources into local economies. It magnifies the importance of the annual tax filing process. The federal EITC turned 30 years old in 2005. During the past 20 years, many states and localities have enacted versions of the federal credit to benefit their own residents. Meanwhile, a new generation of local leaders has emerged to publicize the availability of the EITC and related tax credits for lower-income families and neighborhoods, and to argue for progressive federal tax policies.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
America

165. The Effects of Investing in Early Education on Economic Growth

Author:
Jeffrey Tebbs, Isabel V. Sawhill, and William T. Dickens
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Many in Congress and the administration have called for new investments in education in order to make the United States more competitive, with President Bush stressing the importance of education in preparing young Americans to “fill the jobs of the 21st century.” Yet advocates of early childhood education have only recently stressed the economic benefits of preschool programs, and it has been difficult to win support for these short-term investments given the long-term nature of the benefits to the economy.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, and Government
Political Geography:
America

166. The Decline of the Underclass

Author:
Paul A. Jargowsky and Isabel V. Sawhill
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Hurricane Katrina reminded the nation of the consequences of entrenched poverty, and Congress now faces complicated policy questions set against the backdrop of class and race. As America confronts these issues in cities and states beyond the Gulf Coast, it is important to realize that the number of poor people living in troubled neighborhoods—often described by journalists as the “underclass”—are actually fewer now than in the 1980s. Yet public policies that encourage education, work, and opportunity are urgently needed to keep that positive trend from reversing.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
America

167. Interview with Senator John Edwards

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Senator John Edwards was the Democratic 2004 nominee for Vice President (Senator John Kerry's running mate) and a one-term former Democratic Senator from North Carolina. He defeated the incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election. Senator Edwards is now the Director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Senator Edwards addressed the Asia Society on The Future of US-China Relations as part of the series entitled "American Political Leaders on the Future of US Relations with Asia". Senator Edwards addressed the Asia Society on October 31st, and gave this interview to Nermeen Shaikh following his speech.
Topic:
Economics and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, America, Asia, and North Carolina

168. Savings in America: Building Opportunities for All

Author:
Suzanne Nora Johnson, Lisa Mensah, and C. Eugene Steuerle
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Savings policy in the United States is at a critical juncture. The U.S. personal saving rate has declined from 10.8 percent in 1984 to zero in 2005.The national saving rate, which includes government and business savings, is the lowest among the G-20 countries and has decreased significantly in recent decades. These low levels of saving generally suggest lower growth rates of income and standards of living in the future.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and America

169. Reforming U.S. Patent Policy: Getting the Incentives Right

Author:
Keith E. Mascus
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
America's robust economic competitiveness is du e in no small part to a large capacity for innovation. That capacity is imperiled, however, by an increasingly overprotective patent system. Over the past twenty-five years, American legislators and judges have operated on the principle that stronger patent protection engenders more innovation. This principle is misguided. Although intellectual property rights (IPR) play an important role in innovation, the recent increase in patent protection has not spurred innovation so much as it has impeded the development and use of new technologies.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States, China, and America

170. The Economic Costs of the Iraq War: An Appraisal Three Years after the Beginning of the Conflict

Author:
Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Three years ago, as America was preparing to go to war in Iraq, there were few discussions of the likely costs. When Larry Lindsey, President Bush's economic adviser, suggested that they might reach $200 billion, there was a quick response from the White House: that number was a gross overestimation. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz claim e d that Iraq could “really finance its own reconstruction,” apparently both underestimating what was required and the debt burden facing the country. Lindsey went on to say that “The successful prosecution of the war would be good for the economy.”
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Economics
Political Geography:
Iraq, America, and Middle East