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12. The Economic Potential of American Cities
- Author:
- Bruce Katz
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The relationship between the federal government and American cities is intricate and complex. Majoy federal policies on tax, trade, transportation, and immigration have a substantial influence on the health and vitality of city economies and the shape of metropolitan growth and development. Other federal policies on education, job training, wages, financial services, health care, and housing help shape the life opportunities of urban residents, particularly those who earn low or moderate incomes. Each of these policies influences and is influenced by the nation's changing demographic and economic reality, which in turn has significant implications for cities.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- United States
13. 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
14. Untangling China's Quest for Oil through State-backed Financial Deals
- Author:
- Erica Downs and Peter C. Evans
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The efforts of China's national oil companies to secure upstream oil assets abroad have attracted attention from U.S. officials and policymakers. Congress has taken notice, as indicated by the request of the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Resources Committee Richard W. Pombo—triggered by the bid made by China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. for Unocal in 2005—for a study by the Department of Energy of the economic and national security implications of China's energy demand. The report, released in February 2006, concludes that the foreign investments of China's national oil companies do not pose an economic challenge to the U.S. However, one issue the report mentions only in passing that merits further attention is how the Chinese government's financial support for some of these investments can undermine an open and competitive world oil market.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Asia
15. Reducing Unwed Childbearing: The Missing Link in Efforts to Promote Marriage
- Author:
- Daniel T. Lichter and Andrea Kane
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Most social scientists acknowledge that, on balance, single parents, stepparents, or cohabiting couples are no substitute for childrearing by two married parents. Yet, new data from the federal government show that a record number of babies—nearly 1.5 million—were born to unmarried women in the United States in 2004. Empirical evidence of this sort has leveraged political support for the Bush administration's “Healthy Marriage Initiative.” Congress recently approved major funding for this initiative as part of welfare reform reauthorization. Approximately $100 million per year will be available for research, demonstration, and technical assistance projects to promote healthy marriage through such activities as public advertising campaigns, relationship and marriage education in high schools, and relationship and marriage skills for both unmarried and married couples. In addition, about $50 million per year will be available to promote responsible fatherhood.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States
16. Building Automatic Solvency into U.S. Social Security: Insights from Sweden and Germany
- Author:
- James C. Capretta
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Although Social Security reform appears to be off of the national agenda for now, real funding problems remain for America's popular retirement program that policymakers need to address. The payroll taxes that support Social Security's “pay–as-you-go” system will begin to fall short of outlays in 2017 and will be sufficient to finance only 74 percent of scheduled annual benefits by 2041, when the Social Security trust fund is projected to be exhausted.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Economics
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, Germany, and Sweden
17. 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
18. Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease: What Does Rationing Do?
- Author:
- Henry J. Aaron
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Providing all beneficial care to those who need it is rapidly becoming unaffordable, even for a nation as rich as the United States. The highly decentralized U.S. payment system is unique in its lack of effective levers for limiting health care spending, and managed care has largely been ineffective. A different solution, considered extreme by many in the United States, is rationing.
- Topic:
- Economics, Health, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- United States
19. Health Care Rationing: What it Means
- Author:
- Henry J. Aaron
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The United States spends more on health care than any other nation. In 2003, medical spending made up more than 15 percent of U.S. GDP, and if historical trends persist, this share will climb to more than one-third of GDP by 2040. With medical technology advancing at an ever-increasing rate, the potential for spending on procedures not worth their costs is growing. But there are few good ideas for reining in medical costs without hurting patients.
- Topic:
- Economics, Health, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States
20. Insuring America's Workers in a New Era of Offshoring
- 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
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