Search

Begin New Search Topic Debt Publishing Institution American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

1. Warning: Hollow Force Ahead! The Effect of Ever More Defense Budget Cuts on US Armed Forces

Author:
Gary J. Schmitt and Thomas Donnelly
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
National security is neither a "sacred cow" nor just another federal budget line item. Providing for the common defense of the American people and our homeland is the primary responsibility of policymakers in Washington. However, in an effort to protect social entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the health care reform law from serious deficit and debt reduction efforts, President Obama has proposed not only to raise taxes, but also to cut another $400 billion more from future national security spending. As Obama said on June 29, 2011, "[Outgoing Secretary of Defense] Bob Gates has already done a good job identifying $400 billion in cuts, but we're going to do more."
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Debt, and War
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Washington

2. Defense Spending, the Super Committee, and the Price of Greatness

Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The future of America's national security hangs in the balance. Facing a looming Thanksgiving deadline, a select bipartisan panel of 12 lawmakers is struggling to hammer out legislation that would reduce the federal deficit by more than $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. However, it remains unclear if they will succeed.
Topic:
Defense Policy and Debt
Political Geography:
United States and America

3. Setting the Record Straight on U.S. Military Spending Requirements

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Since the end of the Cold War, administrations of both political parties have underfunded the military, first harvesting a "peace dividend" by reducing the size of the force and then repeatedly postponing investments needed to replace worn out equipment and preserve the technological advantages that have been a traditional source of American strength. Now, just as this strain on the military--engaged in today's persistent irregular wars, yet unable to prepare fully for the wars of the future--reaches a point of crisis, come new calls to cut the Defense Department's budget, amplified by the fears of a faltering economy, the federal government's desire to boost spending elsewhere, and its inability to rein in other spending. Yet the arguments frequently made for Pentagon spending cuts are concocted from a mix of faulty analysis and out-of-context "facts."
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Debt
Political Geography:
United States

4. Myths about Budget Deficits

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
February always brings with it the president's proposals for taxing and spending in the coming fiscal year. The president's budget proposals are accompanied by congressional and administration estimates of the path deficits and government debt are expected to take in coming years. Last year, those projections, especially a three-year string of actual and projected deficits over a trillion dollars from 2009 through 2011, excited widespread comment and handwringing about runaway deficits and their allegedly damaging effects in the form of lower growth, higher inflation, and higher interest rates.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Political Economy, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

5. Why Fiscal Stimulus Is Unlikely to Work

Author:
Kevin A. Hassett
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
This paper reviews the empirical literature on countercyclical policy. It finds that three types of countercyclical policies have been studied in the literature: built in stabilizers, temporary policy changes, and more permanent policy changes. The literature is decidedly mixed on the effectiveness of temporary changes, but more hopeful concerning the other two.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States

6. The Crisis and Fix Cycle

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The global financial and economic crisis that emerged in August 2007 has entered a dismaying fourth phase. The January 17–18, 2009, weekend edition of the Financial Times, which has been a major chronicler of the crisis and its many aspects, laid out a frightening timeline of an accelerating and intensifying oscillatory cycle of crisis and failed policy response that started just fifteen months ago. Each phase begins with a shock and ends with a seemingly decisive policy measure meant to contain or “fix” the crisis. Each phase is shorter than the previous one and culminates in a much larger policy response. Throughout the crisis, the losses of financial institutions have steadily grown at an accelerating pace as the underlying conditions in the financial sector and, since September 2008, in the underlying global economy deteriorate more rapidly. Such a disturbing pattern must be truncated by a large, coordinated global policy response to arrest the accelerating erosion of the market capitalization of multinational banks and insurance companies that has resulted.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States

7. Addicted to the Physician Payment "Fix"

Author:
Bryan E. Dowd
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Congressional mismanagement of Medicare is a bipartisan project in which Democrats and Republicans set aside the rancor of party politics and ideological differences and work hand in hand to run the program into the ground. The latest attempts to "fix" physician payments by replacing a sizeable cut in Medicare fees with a small increase provide the evidence.
Topic:
Debt, Health, Markets, and Politics

8. Poor Countries Need Relief from the World Bank's 'Help' on Malaria.

Author:
Roger Bate
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The World Bank attempts to improve health in poor countries by providing advice in health financing and infrastructure development, as well as grants and loans to poor countries. This is a formidable mission given that the greatest difficulty poor countries have in carrying out public health programs is their lack of infrastructural, managerial and clinical capacity. Its efforts to this end have been diluted by irresponsible forays into disease control financing without a commensurate increase in institutional competence with only limited technical staff capacity. Instead of deferring to the World Health Organization for technical advice on malaria control, Bank staff members have promoted ineffectual malaria prevention and treatment, causing countries to move away from best practices in disease control. The Bank has been criticized in the Lancet medical journal, and its senior staff claim that changes have been made. This working paper reviews the most recent performance from the Bank, which demonstrates the continuing failure of its malaria work. The Bank should stick to its core mission of funding health systems and get out of the disease control business.
Topic:
International Relations, Debt, Economics, and Third World

9. Why Is the World Bank Still Lending?

Author:
Adam Lerrick
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
World Bank money is building schools in China's impoverished western provinces, but the bill for interest charges is being mailed to the United Kingdom, attention Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown. Mexico, Chile, and Brazil will soon be lining up for the same deal. This is but the latest scheme designed to preserve the World Bank's lending role at a time when the need and demand for its services are falling. Major middle-income countries, the cream of the bank's lending portfolio and where more than 80 percent of Latin Americans live, are curbing their borrowing and paying down their balances, setting off alarms at the bank. Net loan flows have shifted from a positive $10 billion in 1999–2001, to a negative $15 billion in 2002–2004.
Topic:
Debt, Development, Economics, and Third World
Political Geography:
China, United Kingdom, Brazil, Latin America, Mexico, and Chile