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52. Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal
- Author:
- Benjamin Forman, Rebecca Sohmer, Eric McLean-Shinaman, David Warren, John Schneider, and Mark Muro
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Could it be? Could it be that at least some of Massachusetts' long-suffering “Gateway Cities”—the state's once-humming mill and manufacturing towns—are ready to rejoin the state's economic mainstream? Yes, it could. Despite the latest blows of deindustrialization, signs of life are animating parts of the state's faded urban hubs beyond Boston.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Markets
53. Back to the Future: The Need for Patient Equity in Real Estate Development Finance
- Author:
- Christopher B. Leinberger
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Over the past decade, the real estate field has begun applying many of the development strategies employed by a number of iconic developers active before 1940. J.C. Nichols (Country Club Plaza in Kansas City), George Merrick (Coral Gables, Florida), the Rockefeller family (Rockefeller Center), and others have become role models, their major developments emulated in recently revived downtowns, suburban town centers, New Urbanism projects, and transit oriented developments. But while nearly all of the attention today has been on the urban design lessons of these developers and their projects, there are financing lessons they can teach us as well.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, Economics, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States and Florida
54. Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Energy Security Series: India
- Author:
- Tanvi Madan
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Growth demands energy. It is no wonder that India — with an economy expected to grow at over 5 percent a year for the next twenty-five years — has developed a ravenous appetite for energy. India is the world's fifth largest consumer of energy, and by 2030 it is expected to become the third largest, overtaking Japan and Russia.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Japan, India, and Asia
55. Restoring Order: Practical Solutions to Congressional Dysfunction
- Author:
- Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The Framers of our nation created a political system built upon three vibrant, assertive, and active branches of government, with a series of checks and balances in place to make sure that no single branch or individual could accumulate too much power and threaten the rights and freedoms of citizens, and to create a deliberative process to make good public policy. Congress, the first branch of government, was designed to be the linchpin of this system, the body closest to the people, with the most robust specified powers.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
56. Corporate Citizenship and Urban Problem Solving: The Changing Civic Role of Business Leaders in American Cities
- Author:
- Royce Hanson, Hal Wolman, David Connolly, and Katherine Pearson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Business-led civic organizations have historically played an important role in urban policymaking, planning, and renewal. These elite organizations of CEOs of the area's largest employers could quickly mobilize their members' personal devotion to the community, their deal making talent, and their ability to commit corporate financial resources to their city's emerging needs.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- America
57. Building a Better New Orleans: A Review of and Plan for Progress One Year after Hurricane Katrina
- Author:
- Amy Liu
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- It has been one year since Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans area and the surrounding Gulf Coast. While longtime residents of these communities can easily rattle off the names of past hurricanes, “Katrina” will be emblazoned like no other. And for good reason: After accounting for all households and structures, Hurricane Katrina is the deadliest and costliest storm this country has ever seen, causing over 1,800 deaths to date and approximately $81.2 billion in total damage.
- Topic:
- Development, Disaster Relief, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- United States
58. Federal Allocations in Response to Katrina, Rita, and Wilma: An Update
- Author:
- Amy Liu and Matt Fellowes
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Federal allocations in response to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma now total $109 billion. Additionally, over $8 billion in tax relief is available. While these numbers appear quite large, widespread uncertainty exists over how much of this money has been spent and where.
- Topic:
- Development, Disaster Relief, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- United States
59. New Goals and Outcomes for Temporary Assistance: State Choices in the Decade after Enactment
- Author:
- Sean Fremstad and Margy Waller
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- State officials are spending Temporary Assistance funds quite differently from the early years after welfare reform. States now spend a majority of Temporary Assistance funds on benefits and services other than cash assistance, and the beneficiaries of these benefits and services include a substantial number of families who do not receive cash assistance.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Humanitarian Aid
- Political Geography:
- United States
60. From Traditional to Reformed: A Review of the Land Use Regulations in the Nation's 50 largest Metropolitan Areas
- Author:
- Jonathan Martin, Robert Puentes, and Rolf Pendall
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- A key component of the struggle for prosperity in American metropolitan areas is development patterns, which define everything from density to the socioeconomic make up of residents. Development patterns are partly a consequence of decisions by local governments—often with very little coordination, oversight, or even guidance from state or regional entities—about the physical character of new growth. Among the most important of these decisions is how to regulate land; a prerogative that local governments guard jealously.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
61. Special Edition of the Katrina Index: A One-Year Review of Key Indicators of Recovery in Post-Storm New Orleans
- Author:
- Amy Liu, Matt Fellowes, and Mia Mabanta
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- A review of dozens of key social and economic indicators on the progress of recovery in the New Orleans region since the impact of Hurricane Katrina finds that: Housing rehabilitation, and demolition, are well underway while the housing market tightens, raising rent and home prices. Across the most hard-hit parishes in the New Orleans area, the pace of demolitions has accelerated in the last six months while the number of permits issued for rehab has nearly doubled in the city. Yet, housing is less affordable as rent prices in the region have increased by 39 percent over the year and home sale prices have spiked in suburban parishes. Across the city, public services and infrastructure remain thin and slow to rebound. Approximately half of all bus and streetcar routes are back up and running, while only 17 percent of buses are in use, a level of service that has not changed since January. Gas and electricity service is reaching only 41 and 60 percent of the pre-Katrina customer base, respectively. The labor force in the New Orleans region is 30 percent smaller today than one year ago and has grown slowly over the last six months; meanwhile, the unemployment rate remains higher than pre-Katrina. The New Orleans metro area lost 190,000 workers over the past year, with the health and education services industries suffering the largest percentage declines. In the past six months, the region has seen 3.4 percent more jobs but much of that may reflect the rise in new job seekers. The unemployment rate is now 7.2 percent, higher than last August. Since last August, over $100 billion in federal aid has been dedicated to serving families and communities impacted by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. In the meantime, the number of displaced and unemployed workers remains high. To date, the federal government has approved approximately $109 billion in federal aid to the Gulf Coast states most impacted by the storms. Of these funds, nearly half has been dedicated to emergency and longer-term housing. In the meantime, an estimated 278,000 workers are still displaced by the storm, 23 percent of whom remain unemployed.
- Topic:
- Development, Disaster Relief, Economics, and Environment
62. Lessons and Limits: Tax Incentives and Rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Katrina
- Author:
- Michael J. Rich and Robert P. Stoker
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Congress enacted legislation creating Gulf Opportunity Zones (GO Zones) in localities in Alabama, Louisiana, and Missis- sippi that suffered the most extensive storm damage. Special tax incentives created in these areas are designed to encourage investment, job creation, and economic growth. While many studies have been done to evaluate the effectiveness of federal and state tax-based efforts to redevelop distressed areas, none of the learning has been reflected in policy debates about the Katrina recovery effort. The evidence suggests that tax incentives alone are not enough—they work better when combined with good planning, local capacity-building, and good governance across sectors. This paper will summarize the purpose of the Gulf Opportunity Zone tax program and explain how this latest endeavor reflects the 25-year evolution of federal efforts to use tax incentives as a core tool for revitalizing distressed areas.
- Topic:
- Development, Disaster Relief, Economics, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi
63. Tools to Avoid Disclosing Information About Individuals in Public Use Microdata Files
- Author:
- Cynthia Taeuber
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Statistical agencies walk a fine line to meet the needs of two sets of customers: those who demand more detailed data to better understand complex policy questions, and those who demand that their responses to surveys or their use of public services be kept confidential.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Government, and Science and Technology
64. Katrina and Rita Impacts on Gulf Coast Populations: First Census Findings
- Author:
- William H. Frey and Audrey Singer
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In the late summer of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wrought severe damage along much of the Gulf Coast, stretching from Alabama west - ward to Texas, with perhaps the most devastating consequences for the greater New Orleans area.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, Economics, and Environment
65. 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
66. The Shape of Metropolitan Growth: How Policy Tools Affect Growth Patterns in Seattle and Orlando
- Author:
- William Fulton, Linda E. Hollis, Chris Williamson, and Erik Kancler
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Land use, infrastructure, and open space policy play an important role in shaping metropolitan growth, and whether or not they are coordinated on the policy level, they do interact with each other in shaping those patterns. However, the exact interplay of these policies is not well understood. This paper uses two metropolitan areas—Orlando and Seattle—with differing growth management regimes to explore the effects of conscious growth policy on metropolitan form.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, Economics, and Industrial Policy
67. Overcoming Barriers to Mobility: The Role of Place in the United States and UK
- Author:
- Alan Berube
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In late 2004 and the first half of 2005, the US media elite caught the mobility bug. Within weeks of one another, three newspapers of national record – The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal , and the Los Angeles Times – each independently published a series of articles describing, by various measures, whether and how Americans are 'getting ahead' today. Collectively, the articles offered a re-examination of a powerful narrative in the United States: that of a classless society, with boundless opportunity awaiting those who choose to seize it.
- Topic:
- Civil Society and Development
- Political Geography:
- United States, United Kingdom, America, and Europe
68. Katrina Index: Tracking Variables of Post-Katrina Reconstruction
- Author:
- Bruce Katz, Matt Fellowes, and Mia Mabanta
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Over the past thirty days, the number of new building perm its filed in the metro area more than quadrupled, and the first of thousands of homes destroyed by Katrina finally started being demolished in Orleans Parish. Meanwhile, the most recent population statistics released by the city of New Orleans in March showed that over 180,000 people now live in New Orleans. But, little or no progress was made in rebuilding many key components of the area's infrastructure and hospitality industry.
- Topic:
- Development, Environment, Government, and Industrial Policy
69. Federal Allocations in Response to Katrina, Rita, and Wilma
- Author:
- Amy Liu and Matthew Fellowes
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Federal allocations in response to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma now total over $88 billion. Additionally, over $8 billion in tax relief is available, and another $19.8 billion in spending has been proposed by the Bush administration in February 2006. While these numbers appear quite large, widespread uncertainty exists over how much of this money has actually been spent and where.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Environment, and Government
70. Upstate School Reform: The Challenge of Regional Geography
- Author:
- Kieran M. Killeen and John Sipple
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- As documented in four prior reports in this series, Upstate New York faces many common challenges, including economic decline, sprawling development, population and job loss, and concentrated poverty. The impact of these problems is not uniform across Upstate, however, as the regional landscape includes large and small cities, stable and unstable metropolitan economies, and economically isolated rural areas. The health and status of the K-12 educational systems is no exception.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, Education, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- New York
71. Making Sense of Clusters: Regional Competitiveness and Economic Development
- Author:
- Joseph Cortright
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In recent years, "cluster strategies" have become a popular economic development approach among state and local policymakers and economic development practitioners. An industry cluster is a group of firms, and related economic actors and institutions, that are located near one another and that draw productive advantage from their mutual proximity and connections. Cluster analysis can help diagnose a region's economic strengths and challenges and identify realistic ways to shape the region's economic future. Yet many policymakers and practitioners have only a limited understanding of what clusters are and how to build economic development strategies around them.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
72. Diversity Spreads Out: Metropolitan Shifts in Hispanic, Asian, and Black Populations Since 2000
- Author:
- William H. Frey
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The idea of America as an ethnic “melting pot” gained currency at the turn of the 20th century, amid an unprecedented wave of European immigrants to the United States. At the turn of the 21st century, the melting pot ideal persists, but encompasses a more racially and ethnically diverse group of Americans, both native and foreign born. In particular, the higher growth rates of the nation's minority populations versus its white population animate this distinctly American concept.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Demographics, Development, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- New York, Asia, California, Chicago, and Phoenix
73. 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
74. The New Safety Net: How the Tax Code Helped Low-Income Working Families During the Early 2000s
- Author:
- Alan Berube
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The early years of the twenty- first century marked a period of change in both the labor market and in public policy for the nation's low-income working families. Most prominently, employment conditions deteriorated after 2000. The nation's unemployment rate climbed from 4 percent in 2000 to 6 percent in 2003. The unemployment rate for workers with less than a high school education rose to nearly 9 percent in 2003. Real hourly wages continued to increase slightly for most workers during this period, but the weak labor market reduced the number of hours worked, along with overall earnings and family incomes. The steady rise in labor force participation among low-income families during the 1990s, spurred in part by the 1996 welfare reform law and other policies to “make work pay,” gave way to a decline after 2000.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- New York
75. 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
76. Firm Sizes: Facts, Formulae and Fantasies
- Author:
- Robert L. Axtell
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Recently discovered facts concerning the size distribution of U.S. firms are recapitulated—in short, these sizes are closely approximated by the Zipf distribution, a Pareto (power law) distribution with exponent of unity. Interesting consequences of this result are then developed, having primarily to do with formulae for the distribution's moments, and difficulties of reasonably characterizing a 'typical' firm. Then, a leading candidate explanation for these data—the Kesten random growth process—is assessed in terms of its realism vis-á-vis actual firm growth. Insofar as it has fluctuations that are quite different in character from actual firm size variability, the Kesten and related stochastic growth processes qualify more as fables of firm growth than as credible explanations. Finally, new explanations of the facts are proposed by considering firms to be partitions of the set of all workers. Assuming all partitions to be equally likely, the observed distribution of firm sizes is hypothesized to be the distribution of block sizes in the most likely partitions. An alternative derivation of this distribution as a constrained optimization problem is also described. Given that these calculations involve unimaginably vast magnitudes, it seems just short of fantastic to consider them relevant empirically.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
77. Central Asia Human Development Report
- Author:
- Johannes F. Linn
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Increased cooperation among the Central Asian republics stands to produce big gains for the people of the region. The benefits from reducing trade costs, increasing remittances from migrant workers, and more efficient use of water and energy resources could generate a regional economy twice as large and well off 10 years from now. The price of non-cooperation could also be large, a heavy toll extracted from the spread of disease, lost economic opportunities, natural disasters and environmental destruction, as well as conflict and insecurity. Both costs and benefits will be felt most among the region's poorer populations.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia
78. Higher Education in Pennsylvania: A Competitive Asset for Communities
- Author:
- Jennifer S. Vey
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In 2003, the Brookings Institution released a report on how to enhance Pennsylvania's economic competitiveness. “Back to Prosperity: A Competitive Agenda for Renewing Pennsylvania” called for the state to rejuvenate its many distinctive cities, towns, and older suburbs and to invest in the high quality service industries often located there. The Commonwealth's institutions of higher learning are among those industries.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Education, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Pennsylvania
79. 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
80. 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
81. 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
82. 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
83. Deficits, Interest Rates, and the User Cost of Capital: A Reconsideration of the Effects of Tax Policy on Investment
- Author:
- William G. Gale and Peter R. Orszag
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Under traditional formulations, lower capital income tax rates reduce the user cost of capital and stimulate investment. The traditional approach, however, implictly or explicitly considers a revenue-neutral reduction in capital income taxation. We extend the traditional approach by considering a reduction in taxes that generates an increase in the budget deficit; the expanded budget deficit raises interest rates and the opportunity cost of investment. This provides a mechanism through which tax cuts can raise the cost of capital. Representative calculations show that, even with relatively modest interest rate effects, the net effect of making the Administration's recent tax cuts permanent or a 10-percent reduction in individual income tax rates would be to raise the user cost of capital. Thus, sustained tax cuts can raise the cost of capital and reduce investment.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
84. The Millennium Challenge Account: Moving Toward Smarter Aid
- Author:
- Lex Rieffel and James W. Fox
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) proposed by President George W. Bush in March 2002 is an important step toward smarter US assistance to low-income countries. While it cannot yet be said to represent a revolution in development assistance, it is a welcome experiment and merits substantial funding by the Congress.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States
85. The "Underclass" Revisited: A Social Problem in Decline
- Author:
- Paul A. Jargowsky and Rebecca Yang
- Publication Date:
- 05-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- No single metric can capture all the dimensions of as complex a phenomenon as poverty in an affluent society. Several different empirical strategies, each with strengths and weaknesses, may all contribute to a more complete understanding of the experience of living in poverty in a modern urban setting. The standard federal measure of poverty focuses narrowly on the income of families in comparison to a standard meant to reflect the cost of basic necessities (Orshansky 1963, 1965). The concentration of poverty adds a geographic component, by gauging the extent to which poor families are spatially isolated (Jargowsky and Bane 1991; Jargowsky 1997, 2003). Neither of these measures, however, adequately conveys the extent of social disorganization in poor neighborhoods that has figured so prominently in the political debates over public policies that address poverty and urban development.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, Economics, and Poverty
86. WTO Dispute Settlement and the Missing Developing Country Cases: Engaging the Private Sector
- Author:
- Chad P. Bown and Bernard M. Hoekman
- Publication Date:
- 05-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The poorest WTO member countries almost universally fail to engage as either complainants or interested third parties in formal dispute settlement activity related to their market access interests. This paper focuses on costs of the WTO's extended litigation process as an explanation for the potential but "missing" developing country engagement. We provide a positive examination of the current system, and we catalogue and analyze a set of proposals encouraging the private sector to provide DSU-specific legal assistance to poor countries. We investigate the role of legal service centres, non-governmental organizations, development organizations, international trade litigators, economists, consumer organizations, and even law schools to provide poor countries with the missing services needed at critical stages of the WTO's extended litigation process. In the absence of systemic rules reform, the public-private partnership model imposes a substantial cooperation burden on such groups as they organize export interests, estimate the size of improved market access payoffs, prioritize across potential cases, engage domestic governments, prepare legal briefs, assist in evidentiary discovery, and pursue the public relations effort required to induce foreign political compliance.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Economics, and Third World
87. Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2005: Meeting the Long-Run Challenge
- Author:
- Alice M. Rivlin and Isabel B. Sawhill
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Sometimes good news poses hard choices. Over the next several decades Americans will be forced to make difficult decisions necessitated by the good news that people are living longer and that medical care has become far more effective (albeit more expensive) than ever in history. These choices will require adjustments by almost everyone—families, communities, employers, and older people themselves—but they will be most starkly evident in the federal budget.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
88. Global Health and Global Governance: Prioritizing Health within the Framework of the Millennium Development Goals
- Author:
- Colin I. Bradford
- Publication Date:
- 01-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Global health conditions are in a state of crisis. Not only are poor health conditions in poor countries ravaging lives and restraining development, but the HIV/AIDS pandemic is threatening to undermine progress on all other fronts in developing countries and menacing the sense of health security in industrial countries.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Human Welfare, and Politics
89. Protect or Neglect? Toward a More Effective United Nations Approach to the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons
- Author:
- Simon Bagshaw and Diane Paul
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In theory it seems quite straightforward. All United Nations humanitarian and development agencies have a role to play in ensuring respect for the human rights of persons who have become, or are at risk of becoming, displaced within the borders of their own country as a result of armed conflict and human rights violations.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, Third World, and United Nations
90. Risks and Rights: The Causes, Consequences, and Challenges of Development-Induced Displacement
- Author:
- W. Courtland Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- While it may have as many meanings as people who invoke its name, development generally has positive, though perhaps ambiguous, connotations. Uneven development is a bad thing and sustainable development is a good thing but, for the most part, under- developed countries and communities seek to become more developed, whether that is through improving health and livelihoods, expanding educational opportunities, or building infrastructure. But, as the citations above suggest, development does not benefit everyone equally and for some—indeed, for millions of people around the world—development has cost them their homes, their livelihoods, their health, and even their very lives. The suffering of those displaced by development projects can be as severe, and the numbers as large, as those displaced either internally or internationally by conflict and violence. What follows is an examination of the often-overlooked phenomenon of development-induced displacement, its causes, consequences and challenges for the international community.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Asia