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91. Reforming Tax Incentives into Uniform Refundable Tax Credits

Author:
Lily L. Batchelder, Jr. Fred T. Goldberg, and Peter R. Orszag
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The federal tax code provides about $500 billion each year in incentives intended to encourage socially-valued activities, including homeownership, charitable contributions, health insurance, and education. The vast majority of these incentives operate through deductions or other approaches that link the size of the tax break to a household's marginal tax bracket, which means that higher-income taxpayers receive larger incentives than lower-income taxpayers. Such an approach is often appropriate for provisions, such as deductions for business expenses, designed to measure income or ability to pay. But such an approach for incentives intended to promote socially-valued activities excludes more than a third of America, and misses an important opportunity to increase efficiency and economic growth.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
United States

92. 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

93. Pragmatic Reform of Global Governance: Creating an L20 Summit Forum

Author:
Johannes F. Linn and Colin I. Bradford Jr.
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The global challenges confronting political leaders today—whether the stalemate of global trade negotiations, the threat of Avian flu, the struggle over Iran going nuclear, or the fight against global poverty—cannot be solved by yesterday's institutions. They demand new approaches to global governance that are more inclusive, more representative, and thus more effective. The G8 summit, in particular, is a forum of the eight industrialized countries that were the dominant powers of the mid-twentieth century. By excluding the emerging powers of the twenty-first century, it has become increasingly ineffective, unrepresentative and illegitimate. U.S. global interests are best served by increasing the inclusiveness and effectiveness of the global steering process rather than sticking with the obsolete, overly formalized and unrepresentative G8.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Politics, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States

94. Preparing for Future "Katrinas"

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

95. 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

96. Autism and Hope

Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Autism spectrum disorders have become among the most common and severe developmental disabilities facing children—and thus future generations of adults—in the United States today. More than in 200 young children may now be affected by a neurological condition on the spectrum (which includes autism, pervasive development disorder, and Asperger's syndrome or disorder). This fact has become increasingly well reported in recent months.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

97. The Spread of Innovations through Social Learning

Author:
H. Peyton Young
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Innovations often spread by the communication of information among potential adopters. In the marketing literature, the standard model of new product diffusion is generated by information contagion: agents adopt once they hear about the existence of the product from someone else. In social learning models, by contrast, an agent adopts only when the perceived advantage of the innovation--”as revealed by the actions and experience of prior adopters--”exceeds a threshold determined by the agent's prior beliefs. We demonstrate that learning with heterogeneous priors generates adoption curves that have an analytically tractable, closed-form solution. Moreover there is a simple statistical test that discriminates between this type of process and a contagion model. Applied to Griliches' classic results on the adoption of hybrid corn, this test shows that learning with heterogeneous priors does a considerably better job of explaining the data than does the contagion model.
Topic:
Civil Society, Demographics, Development, and Education

98. A New Federal Contribution to the District of Columbia? The Need, Likely Impact, and Some Options

Author:
Ed Lazere and David Garrison
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
A 2003 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the District of Columbia faces a large structural budget imbalance—that is, a persistent gap between its ability to raise revenues and the cost of providing basic services. DC's imbalance stems largely from its being a "city without a state" and from revenue limitations caused by the federal presence. The most logical solution to this problem would be an annual contribution from the federal government to help address the challenges that arise from DC's unique status as the nation's capital.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Colombia

99. The Private Sector in the Fight Against Global Poverty

Author:
Lael Brainard
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
In recent weeks, aging rockers have reclaimed young fans by joining movie stars, faith-based groups, and leaders of developing nations in a global campaign to "Make Poverty History." World leaders have taken note: the push is on for a massive boost in official assistance flows and the cancellation of official debt. But as preparations move forward for the first heads of state stocktaking of the Millennium Development Goals at the United Nations in September, scant attention is being directed at the most powerful engine of growth and poverty alleviation: the private sector. This despite the fact that the past two decades have witnessed an enormous shift in resources away from the public sector to private hands, and private flows to developing countries are now more than twice the level of public flows.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United Nations

100. Moving Toward Smarter Aid

Author:
Lex Rieffel and James W. Fox
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is seriously wounded. Unveiled by President Bush in March 2002 as a promising new bilateral aid instrument for tackling global poverty, the most prominent sign of the MCC's distress was the mid-summer resignation of Paul Applegarth, its first CEO. More disturbing are the cuts imposed by the Congressional committees marking up next year's budget.
Topic:
Debt, Development, International Cooperation, and Poverty