Author: Robert E. Litan - CIAO Search Results

Author:: Robert E. Litan
Publication Date:: 03-2006
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: While policymakers and leaders continue to debate the rebuilding of Gulf areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, a much greater loss looms on the horizon. Katrina exposed more than problems with poverty, emergency management, and infrastructure. The storm also illustrated the inability of private insurance markets to handle large-scale losses. “Mega-catastrophes” are catastrophic events, like Katrina, whose costs are so large and unpredictable that private insurers either are unwilling to insure against them, or charge premiums so high that significant numbers of customers do not want or cannot afford the insurance.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Environment, and Politics

Author:: Robert E. Litan, Nicholas Warren, and Lael Brainard
Publication Date:: 07-2005
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: With a new wave of white-collar offshoring coming fast on the heels of accelerated job losses in manufacturing, an ever-broader pool of American workers is finding that the nation's safety net has more holes than netting. The nation can and must do more to help insure the livelihoods of American workers in the face of structural shifts of whatever form, while preserving the benefits of an open and innovative economy. With technological change and offshoring accelerating job turnover and the pace at which workers' job-specific skills lose value, the time has come for the federal government to strengthen the existing safety net.
Topic:: Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: United States and America

Author:: Robert E. Litan, Nicholas Warren, and Lael Brainard
Publication Date:: 07-2005
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: With a new wave of white-collar offshoring coming fast on the heels of accelerated job losses in manufacturing, an ever-broader pool of American workers is finding that the nation's safety net has more holes than netting. The nation can and must do more to help insure the livelihoods of American workers in the face of structural shifts of whatever form, while preserving the benefits of an open and innovative economy. With technological change and offshoring accelerating job turnover and the pace at which workers' job-specific skills lose value, the time has come for the federal government to strengthen the existing safety net.
Topic:: Economics, Government, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:: America

Author:: Lael Brainard and Robert E. Litan
Publication Date:: 04-2004
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: Americans worry the economy is permanently shedding jobs and compressing wages, not only in manufacturing but also now in services once assumed immune to foreign competition. The digitization of information and expanded bandwidth abroad are enabling companies to outsource to low-wage countries services ranging from routine call center work to higher-value software programming, medical diagnosis, and research and analytical activities.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: America

Author:: Robert E. Litan and Richard J. Herring
Publication Date:: 03-2004
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: Economists and insurance experts have studied the industry for many years and have developed a series of theoretical concepts to explain how insurance markets function. The prevailing view of the demand for insurance was summed up by one conference participant who noted that an economically rational consumer would understand that apart from certain tax benefits, when you buy insurance, you're making a bet with an insurance company, which the insurance comp any wins on average because it must cover administrative costs and earn a competitive return for its shareholders. From this perspective it makes sense to insure only against potential losses so large as to affect your standard of living. But that is not always how consumers behave.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: America

Author:: Robert E. Litan and Roger G. Noll
Publication Date:: 01-2004
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: The U.S. telecommunications industry is riding a roller coaster. For most of the 1990s, the industry's future looked promising. The growth of Internet use, the promise of a broadband network, and a less restrictive regulatory environment that was expected following passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act led industry experts to forecast rapidly growing demand for core network services along with high-margin business opportunities in an expanding array of new information services. The industry backed these expectations with massive investments to expand the capacity of both wireless and wire line networks as well as to facilitate the expected boom in high-speed data transmission.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: United States

Author:: Michael E. O'Hanlon, Peter R. Orszag, James B. Steinberg, Ivo H. Daaldar, James M. Lindsay, Robert E. Litan, Paul C. Light, and I. M. Destler
Publication Date:: 07-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: President Bush's June 6 proposal to create a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would constitute the largest reorganization of the federal government in fifty years. Given the urgency of the terrorist threat, Congress has pledged to act rapidly. It aims to have a bill ready for the President's signature in time for the one-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Government, and Terrorism

Author:: Robert Z. Lawrence and Robert E. Litan
Publication Date:: 10-1997
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: The outcome of the fast-track debate that opened this month will determine whether the United States continues to lead the world toward a more open global economy or whether, for the first time since the end of World War II, it sends the opposite message.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Globalization, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: United States

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