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2. Access to Capital for Urban Innovators: Report to the Bank of America Charitable Foundation
- Author:
- Aspen Institute
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Urban innovators share a commitment to using new approaches, and often new technologies, to tackle long-standing challenges that seem unsolvable to others and that affect a large number of cities. Despite urban innovators’ insightful ideas on new ways to solve metropolitan areas’ most difficult challenges, many lack access to critical resources, tools, and funding. These access to capital hurdles most severely affect women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color, who historically have lacked opportunities for creating their own ventures, building wealth, and achieving financial empowerment. Throughout 2016 – 2017 the Aspen Institute Center for Urban Innovation worked with partner programs and organizations to demonstrate the sustainable impact urban innovators have when they have access to the capital necessary to start, grow, and stabilize their organizations and businesses. We learned from entrepreneurs, leaders of support organizations, government officials, and funders from capital-heavy places such as Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston, but also from places starting to garner more attention for their innovation-friendly cultures such as Buffalo, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. The Access to Capital for Urban Innovators report highlights the lessons learned from several convenings and programs focused on strategies to eliminate barriers to resources for women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color. We heard firsthand what urban innovators need to achieve success, and put forth principles and ideas on ways different sectors can improve their cities’ economy and become centers of inclusive prosperity
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Finance, Urban, and Innovation
- Political Geography:
- United States and North America
3. Digital Transformation
- Author:
- Aspen Institute
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The digitalization of the U.S. economy will transform the products businesses sell and the ways they can interact with customers. Thank you for registering to download our white paper on the changing U.S. economy.
- Topic:
- Digital Economy, Economy, Business, and Digitalization
- Political Geography:
- United States and North America
4. Recent Department of Labor Rules Open the Door for States to Move Forward with Retirement Initiatives
- Author:
- David S. Mitchell and Jeremy Smith
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- On November 18, 2015, the Obama Administration's Department of Labor (DOL) published two important legal opinions that propose to give states new options for expanding retirement coverage for private-sector workers. These opinions open the door for states to move forward along one of two distinct paths: a payroll deduction plan that avoids ERISA, or a more traditional model that would fall under ERISA. This issue brief summarizes these rules and highlights the tradeoffs state policymakers will face when deciding which of these new avenues to pursue. The brief will be updated once the proposals are finalized.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Welfare, Labor Issues, Governance, and Social Movement
- Political Geography:
- United States
5. The Future of Work for Low-Income Workers and Families
- Author:
- Vickie Choltz and Maureen Conway
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The Future of Work for Low-Income Workers and Families is a policy brief aimed at state policy advocates and policymakers seeking to help low-income workers and their families secure healthy economic livelihoods as the nature of work evolves in the United States. Published by the Working Poor Families Project in December 2015, the brief was written by Vickie Choitz, associate director of the Economic Opportunities Program, with Maureen Conway, vice president at the Aspen Institute and executive director of the Economic Opportunities Program. This brief reviews the major forces shaping the future of work, including changes in labor and employment practices, business models, access to income and benefits, worker rights and voice, education and training, and technology. Across these areas, we are seeing disruptive change in our economy and society resulting in increasing risk and challenges for low-income workers, in particular.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Human Welfare, Social Stratification, and Employment
- Political Geography:
- United States
6. Reimagining Financial Security: Managing Risk and Building Wealth in an Era of Inequality
- Author:
- Annie Kim
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The 2015 Financial Security Summit, titled Reimagining Financial Security: Managing Risk and Building Wealth in an Era of Inequality, took place July 15–17 in Aspen, Colorado. The Summit agenda built on FSP's core themes of expanding retirement security and children’s savings accounts for low- and moderate-income families, and began to explore a broader vision of how to improve short- and long-term dimensions of financial wellbeing in a rapidly changing economy. Participant contributions helped shape new areas of focus for FSP going forward. This report incorporates those insights and provides an outline for future policy dialogue and directions.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Human Welfare, Social Stratification, and Employment
- Political Geography:
- United States
7. Scaling Clean Energy: Lessons Learned and New Approaches
- Author:
- Roger Ballentine and Andy Karsner
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- We are still in the early stages of a transformation of the U.S. electricity sector into a cleaner, more flexible, more resilient, and more dynamic system. The early history of investment in and adoption of clean energy technologies and practices has been mixed. The venture capital model has proven to be inadequate for scaling up clean energy, and anticipated policy developments have been slow to be realized. The sector-reshaping impact of unconventional gas, uneven capitalization of clean energy companies, and the mixed signals of government policymakers have slowed the march to a more distributed energy economy rooted in the greater use of renewables, the more efficient use of energy, and the optimization of information technologies in the energy sector.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, Industrial Policy, Markets, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
8. 2014 Financial Security Summit: Rapporteur's Report
- Author:
- Colby Farber
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The 2014 Financial Security Summit examined how policymakers, the financial services industry, advocates, and academics can advance new policies and products to make it easier for households to build financial security and to reinvigorate the American Dream.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- United States
9. Adapting to Plenty: Effects of the Oil and Gas Boom
- Author:
- Bill White and Leonard Coburn
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The evolution from energy scarcity to abundance in the United States creates dislocations. Technology, infrastructure, laws, regulations, trade flows, and environmental and security policies developed during American energy deficits must be adapted to cope with its new energy prosperity. Significant improvements in oil and gas technology are leading to production increases outpacing projections. A need for infrastructure development follows energy production, necessitating adaptations. Laws passed in the 1970s during times of energy disruptions require reconsideration in a period of relative plenty. The shift of the United States and Canada from an oil and gas importing region to an exporting region has enormous global implications. Policies need to be readjusted in light of new realities, and the effects of the oil and gas boom in North America will require new thinking by governments, industry and consumers.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States and North America
10. Impact Inventing: Strengthening the Ecosystem for Invention-Based Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets
- Author:
- Alexander N. Pan
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Over the past decade, a growing segment of social entrepreneurs and small and growing businesses(SGBs) has emerged that seeks to utilize the power of invention to create products and companies that improve the lives of people living in poverty around the world. We call this class of entrepreneur-looking to develop and disseminate tangible products that will be manufactured and sold at high volumes via market mechanisms-an invention-based entrepreneur.1 ANDE believes that invention-based entrepreneurs are supported or impeded by a number of environmental factors, or the entrepreneurial ecosystem in which they work. While ANDE and our members have made significant progress toward strengthening these entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging markets, invention-based entrepreneurs have a unique set of needs that differentiates them from typical SGBs. Consequently, we believe we can improve the ecosystem to support the growth of this industry, and thereby unleash the full potential impact of these invention-based entrepreneurs.
- Topic:
- Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- United States and South Africa
11. Responding to Trends in the U.S. Electricity Sector
- Author:
- Dave Grossman (Rapporteur) and Sue Tierney, Chair
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- New federal regulations, changes in fuel prices and trends, the expansion of distributed energy resources, declines in U.S. electricity consumption, and advances in technology are all spurring utilities and regulators to respond and adapt. Discussions of the challenges and opportunities these forces present for the U.S. electricity sector – as well as how the industry and its regulators are adapting – formed the heart of the 2014 Aspen Institute Energy Policy Forum. This report summarizes and organizes some of the key insights from those discussions.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- United States
12. Fragmentation and Concentration in the New Digital Environment
- Author:
- Richard P. Adler
- Publication Date:
- 08-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- In 1987, back at the dawn of the Internet age, two studies were published that provided perceptive looks at the evolution of electronic networks and the impact that they would likely have on the way business is conducted in the U.S. and globally. Both studies concluded that rapidly evolving information technologies were helping to break down old hierarchical business structures in favor of new, more decentralized models of economic activity.
- Topic:
- Economics, Science and Technology, Communications, and Mass Media
- Political Geography:
- United States
13. The Weightless Marketplace: Coming to Terms with Innovative Payment Systems, Digital Currencies and Online Labor Markets
- Author:
- David Bollier
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The structure and character of commerce has changed dramatically since the arrival of the World Wide Web and various digital technologies, particularly mobile phones and large, interconnected databases. Consumers now have much greater market power and choice. Markets can more easily scale, often globally. Co-production and fluid producer/consumer interactions are routine. Transactions themselves have become far cheaper and more easily consummated.
- Topic:
- Foreign Exchange, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Science and Technology, Communications, and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
14. The Bottom Line Investing For Impact on Economic Mobility In The U.S: "Insights from Abroad: Impact Investing in Emerging Markets"
- Author:
- Alexander N. Pan and Randall Kempner
- Publication Date:
- 12-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- From our perspective at ANDE, we have seen impact investing become an increasingly important tool used to support small and growing businesses in the developing world that are capable of creating jobs, stimulating long-term economic growth, and generating social impact. However, impact investing is still very much an emerging tool. If it is to scale and become a viable solution to social issues in the United States. There are several key lessons from the international context that the industry should consider.
- Political Geography:
- United States
15. Tectonic Shifts in the U.S. Electricity Sector
- Author:
- Dave Grossman (Rapporteur), Roger Ballentine, and Andy Karsner
- Publication Date:
- 12-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The U.S. electricity sector is nearing an historic inflection point. A confluence of mutually-reinforcing factors is putting unprecedented pressure on the century-old model of monopolistic supply of electrons at approved rates of return, flowing from central generation stations to end-users. Cleaner energy generation technologies continue to improve, are getting less expensive, and are being deployed at an accelerating rate. Innovations in the financial markets and in business models are spurring cleaner energy deployment and increasing competition for providing customers with energy services. A new generation of customers accustomed to transparency, control, and choice in all aspects of their consumption of goods and services is increasingly expecting the same from energy providers. Information technologies that have enabled rapid change in communications and entertainment are now starting to be applied to energy. And public policies are beginning to enable, if not encourage, fundamental changes in how electricity is generated and provided. The current utility model is colliding with this confluence of factors, leading to a system in conflict, with the old system trying to accommodate more irregular dispatch, customer or third-party owned distributed generation, a range of social equity issues, and societal desires for a stable, clean, interactive, and hardened system. While part of the answer to these challenges may lie in a reformulation of the regulated utility business model, others believe that a more fundamental re-ordering of how energy is produced, delivered, managed, and owned is in the offing. This vision of a re-ordered, more diverse, more competitive, and more integrated electricity system could be thought of as “Clean tech 3.0”. This vision involves better systems (not just better devices), smart and connected devices of all sorts, a dynamic and flexible two way grid, more active and involved consumers, and business models that do not rely on subsidies. It also envisions clean energy not just as a commodity but as a way to provide value to customers (e.g., comfort, mobility, health). Achieving Clean tech 3.0 will require society to grapple with some tough equity and policy challenges, including whether to keep and/or adapt the traditional regulatory compact, how to treat low-income consumers and consumers not generating their own power, and which policies and institutions should be created, reformed, or eliminated to create the proper enabling environment for change. The electricity sector is already starting to witness the rise of a class of customers empowered by technological advances to start to re-think their relationship to energy. These empowered customers have social needs and practical preferences for which they are willing to pay, including price certainty, reliability, resilience, and cleanness. The industry is thus entering a new era that focuses less on selling electrons than on offering consumers valuable services. The path, however, is not without obstacles. The role for traditional utilities in this customer-focused market is unclear; such a focus has not historically been part of their business and is not one of their strengths, and the utilities have been operating in a sector unaccustomed to significant change. Clean energy companies, too, can find it challenging to develop new profitable business models. Even the energy efficiency industry, which offers the fastest and lowest cost pathway to a cleaner energy future, may struggle to sell and scale energy efficiency unless market structures and enabling policies can align with improving technologies to realize the full value proposition of smarter energy delivery and consumption. Regulators have been struggling to figure out how to address the suite of changes facing the electricity sector as well. Current physical and policy infrastructures do not seem to be up to the task. There appear to be three interdependent tectonic plates in motion – long term utility generation planning, mid-term smart grid design, and very near-term device and software design and deployment – that are not aligned, are moving at dangerously different speeds, and are not properly engaging with each other on a regular basis. Regulatory models must be devised that are more flexible, adaptive, and open to rapid advances in technology. There are some places now, such as Hawaii and New York, where regulatory innovation is occurring to try to get ahead of some of these issues. While the challenge of rethinking utility regulatory models falls largely in the hands of state policy makers, the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rule for carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, issued under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, might have profound implications for how state policies and markets will impact energy efficiency and clean energy. The draft rule would set 2030 emissions goals for states and then give states flexibility on how to meet those goals. The draft 111(d) rule is complex, and a variety of concerns have been raised about it. It is not known how the final rule will be modified to address concerns and comments, nor how the almost certain litigation will be resolved. At the very least, the draft rule is already spurring conversations in every state that have not been had to this point at the level and scale necessary, forcing states to think about how emissions reductions will be achieved, what their energy mix will be, what role clean energy will play, and how state policies and market structures need to change in the years ahead. Those conversations can help contribute to broader discussions about creating a clear and compelling vision of the near-future state of U.S. clean energy. Those discussions need to include a range of actors, including the many regulators and utility executives who think the U.S. is still in Clean tech 1.0 and does not need to go anywhere else. There is a need to figure out how to bring those people along and help them start to understand the speed and nature of the changes that are occurring.
- Political Geography:
- United States
16. Task Force Report on Streamlining and Consolidating Congressional Oversight of the US Department of Homeland Security
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Congressional leaders are best able to judge what committee should have jurisdiction over this department and its duties. But we believe that Congress does have the obligation to choose one in the House and one in the Senate, and that this committee should be a permanent standing committee with a nonpartisan staff.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Biosecurity, Governance, Law, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- United States
17. Responding to Change: The New World of Oil and Gas
- Author:
- Bill White(Chair) and Leonard Coburn(Rapporteur)
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Improved technology has led to enhanced oil and gas productivity at lower cost and significant production increases in the United States and Canada, dramatically changing energy perspectives. The shift from energy scarcity toward abundance is requiring new energy policies. The potential for the United States to become a net exporter of oil and gas changes American views of energy dependency. Shifts in global energy demand growth from developed to less developed countries, and especially to the Asia-Pacific region, require understanding of changing global energy trade. American energy will flow to markets where scarcity is the largest. Canada and the United States are reaping the benefits of this new world of oil and gas. Mexico will lag behind unless it addresses its chronic problems. Without reform, Mexico could become a net importer of all its hydrocarbons, a fundamental change from its current status. Responding to these changes will require knowledge, foresight, and strategies that are bold and comprehensive.
- Topic:
- Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, Oil, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, Canada, and Mexico
18. The Future of the U.S. Electricity Sector
- Author:
- Bill Dickenson (Co-Chair), Phil Sharp (Co-Chair), and Dave Grossman (Rapporteur)
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The future of the U.S. electricity sector is hard to foresee – and it is never wise to overpay one's fortune tellers – but there appear to be some key trends and technologies that may reshape future electricity markets and determine the innovativeness, resilience, security, and global competitiveness of the sector. Discussions of the sector's past, present, and future formed the heart of the 2013 Aspen Institute Energy Policy Forum. This report summarizes and organizes some of the key insights from those discussions.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, Markets, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States
19. A Northern Tiger? Canada's Economic and Fiscal Renaissance and its Implications for the United States
- Author:
- Jeremy A. Leonard
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- As the United States struggles to find a politically acceptable and economically sensible solution to its severe fiscal crisis, hidden in plain sight just North of the 49th parallel is an example that ought to be considered more carefully. Quietly, but steadily, under governments of all political stripes, Canada has profoundly re-structured its economy, gotten its fiscal house in order, created a competitive business tax environment, and come into its own as a strong economic player in North America and beyond.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- United States and Canada
20. Reinventing Health Care
- Author:
- Basit Chaudhry deBronkart, Carole Roan Gresenz, Joseph Hutter, Anjali Jain, Brent C. James, Shawn Martin, Lewis Mattison, Daniel L. Newton, Anthony Nguyen, Brent Parton, Kavita Patel, and Steven Weinberger
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- In many respects, the U.S. health care system is breathtakingly innovative. It produces new technology, medical procedures, and scientific knowledge at a dazzling speed, enabling patient store cover from diseases and injuries once thought incurable or untreatable. As a consequence, the U.S. has one of the highest survival rates for cancers, excels at acute and trauma care, and has produced half of the world's Nobel laureates.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology and Health Care Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
21. The Freedom Savings Credit: A Practical Step to Build Americans' Household Balance Sheets
- Author:
- Lisa Mensah, Raymond O'Mara III, Colby Farber, and Robert Weinberger
- Publication Date:
- 02-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The imbalance of too much debt and not enough assets fuels financial insecurity in many American households. Building Americans' household balance sheets should start with making savings and asset-building incentives more efficient and equitable. Although millions of working Americans currently receive little or no tax incentive to save, modest reforms to our tax code have the potential to dramatically improve their financial futures. The Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security (Aspen IFS) proposes the Freedom Savings Credit to create a more equitable and economically efficient savings system that will benefit millions of American households and the nation as a whole.
- Topic:
- Security, Debt, Economics, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
22. Changing Currents: Turbulence for the Electricity Industry?
- Author:
- Phil Sharp
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The question is never whether the United States has an energy policy. It has dozens. They come with various decision-makers at overlapping levels of authority, ample numbers of stakeholders, and generally lots of confusing and often contradictory signals.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- United States
23. Global Energy Markets in a Time of Political Change
- Author:
- Bill White
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- A shift in relative energy consumption among regions and the development of new, unconventional supplies will be the most significant changes over the next twenty years. The dominant fuels in the world energy market until 2030 will continue to be hydrocarbons — oil, coal, and natural gas. Major shifts will occur, however, among the three fuels, among regions and in their supply. Globally, oil will continue to be the most widely used fuel as it supplies more than 90 percent of the energy for transportation. Coal, now the dominant fuel used for electric power generation, will lose ground to natural gas, a less carbon-intensive hydrocarbon. Natural gas will become the second largest overall supplier and well positioned to replace coal as the leading supplier for electric power. Developing countries will lead the way in overall energy growth, with Chinese and Indian energy demand growing fastest. Energy demand in developed countries will remain flat. For the United States, growth in gas shale and oil shale are likely to be “game changers,” altering the supply picture dramatically.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Markets, Political Economy, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and India
24. Social Security: The House that Roosevelt Built
- Author:
- Pamela J. Perun and Patricia E. Dilley
- Publication Date:
- 07-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Critics of the Social Security program are fond of disparaging it as a "Ponzi" scheme or as a redistributive transfer of income from the young to the old. Others go even further, labeling the Social Security trust fund as a fiction or claiming the program is bankrupt. Some also suggest that the government bonds held in the trust fund are mere IOUs. Still others say that the program's legal basis is ephemeral, subject to the whims of Congress.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
25. Race, Crime, and Punishment: Breaking the Connection in America
- Author:
- Keith O. Lawrence (ed)
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- More than 2.3 million people in america are in jail or prison.sixty percent are african american and Latino.Of all the statistics portraying racial inequity in our country, this is the most alarming: it indicates the failure of so many of our society's institutions; it predicts dire consequences for millions of children and families of color who are already at socioeconomic disadvantage; and it challenges the very definition of our democracy.
- Topic:
- Crime, Race, and Social Stratification
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
26. Government Transparency: Six Strategies for More Open and Participatory Government
- Author:
- Jon Gant and Nicol Turner-Lee
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Over the last several decades, local, state and federal government entities in the United States have steadily moved toward more openness and transparency.By definition, openness and transparency allow stakeholders to gather information that may be critical to their interests and offer channels of communication between stakeholders and elected officials. Aided by legislative mandates and public policy decisions, most government entities are now required to make a minimum amount of information available to citizens, operate in the “sunlight” and not behind closed doors, and actively engage citizens in the policy-making process.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Education, Government, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
27. The New World of Natural Gas
- Author:
- John M. Deutch
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The development of natural gas from shale is providing new possibilities for gas use in the United States and throughout the world. The largest conventional natural gas deposits are concentrated in the Middle East and Russia, but unconventional natural gas, including shale, is spread throughout the world, potentially permitting development in many different countries.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Globalization
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, and Middle East
28. Chicago's Preparedness for Terrorism
- Author:
- Clark Kent Ervin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- This is the third in a series of reports about various cities' preparedness for terrorism and/or natural disasters. It is the outgrowth of a series of discussions in 2007-2008 in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, New Orleans, and Chicago among key federal, state, and local government officials in each such city, as well as private sector stakeholders, and think tank/academic experts on homeland security and counterterrorism. The series was underwritten by a generous lead grant from the Ford Foundation, supplemented by additional grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, and the Houston Endowment. The goal in each city was to identify best practices that can be replicated around the country; to identify any gaps in preparedness; and to recommend to policymakers ways and means of closing any such gaps.
- Topic:
- Security, Terrorism, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- United States, New York, and Chicago
29. Houston's Preparedness for Terrorism
- Author:
- Clark Kent Ervin
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- This is the fourth in a series of reports, underwritten principally by the Ford Foundation, and, in this particular case, additionally, the Houston Endowment, as to various cities' (namely, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, and Houston) preparedness for terrorism and catastrophic natural disasters. Our goal in each city was to identify best practices that can be replicated in other cities around the nation; to identify any gaps in preparedness; and to make recommendations to close any such gaps. We conducted these assessments primarily through roundtable discussions in each city in 2007-2009 with key local, state, and federal government officials, corporate and non-profit stakeholders, and academic and think tank experts, with some supplemental research and follow-up interviews. The audience for each roundtable consisted of representatives of funding organizations, congressional staff, policy experts, and students, all of whom were helpful in engaging the speakers in dialogue following their formal presentations.
- Topic:
- Security, Government, Terrorism, Natural Disasters, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- United States, New York, and Chicago
30. Los Angeles' Preparedness for Terrorism
- Author:
- Clark Kent Ervin
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- This is the second in a series of reports about various cities' pre-paredness for terrorism and/or natural disasters. It is the outgrowth of a series of roundtable discussions in 2007 and 2008 in New York, Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, and Los Angeles among key federal, state, and local government officials in each such city, as well as private sector stakeholders, and think tank/academic experts on homeland security and counterterrorism. The series was financed by a generous lead grant by the Ford Foundation, supplemented by additional grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, and the Houston Endowment. The goal in each city was to identify best practices that can be replicated around the country; to identify any gaps in preparedness; and to recommend to policymakers ways and means of closing any such gaps.
- Topic:
- Security, Terrorism, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- United States, New York, and Chicago
31. Sustainable Water Systems: Step One - Redefining the Nation's Infrastructure Challenge
- Author:
- David Monsma, Regan Nelson, and Ray Bolger
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- During the past 150 years, a complex water infrastructure has been built throughout the U.S. to supply homes and businesses with clean water, collect and treat wastewater and manage stormwater – and an equally complex regulatory system has evolved alongside it. A generation of progress has been made under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. However, serious challenges still exist for the nation's freshwater resources, including insufficient progress in achieving water quality goals, overuse of water resources, and looming challenges associated with global climate change, including droughts, heavy storm events and flooding. Meanwhile, water and wastewater utilities are struggling with aged infrastructure that requires upgrades or replacement. Control of urban storm water and rural runoff will require large new investments. Appropriate sources of funding and affordability of these investments also requires attention.
- Topic:
- Natural Resources, Water, and Infrastructure
- Political Geography:
- United States
32. Wall Street/Main Street: The Challenge of Building Financial Security in the Obama Era
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The last 18 months have dealt a devastating blow to Americans' sense of financial security. Few have been untouched by the financial crisis. For many, wealth accumulated over years of saving and investing has disappeared almost overnight. For many more, the economic crisis has imperiled their jobs, their ability to provide for their families, and their optimism about the future.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
33. Lebanon: The Swing State of a New Levant
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The American relationship with Lebanon has ebbed and flowed over the decades, as policy has tended to be reactive rather than driven by a clear sense of U.S. goals. More recently, the U.S. strongly supported the 2005 Lebanese independence movement against Syrian hegemony, known as the “Cedar Revolution” in the United States and the “Independence Intifada” in Lebanon, and continues to maintain strong ties to the ruling March 14 coalition which was born out of that movement.
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, Lebanon, and Syria
34. New York City's Preparedness for Terrorism (and Catastrophic Natural Disasters)
- Author:
- Clark Kent Ervin
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Sooner or later, somewhere or other, another natural disaster will strike America, be it a hurricane, a tornado, an earthquake, or a flood. Sooner or later, somewhere or other, terrorists will attempt to strike America again. Indeed, many experts believe that the threat of another attack is rising. Al Qaeda is resurgent, having reconstituted itself along the Afghan-Pakistan border. And, recent history shows that terrorists are especially prone to strike during the transition from one administration to another or early in the term of a new government. Adding to our vulnerability, the nation is now bogged down in two wars and groaning under mounting debt, while our economy is sinking from the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
- Topic:
- Security, Disaster Relief, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, and New York
35. Climate Change and the Electricity Sector
- Author:
- Paul Runci
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- With the expectation that a new Administration and new Congress in 2009 will actively consider climate change legislation, the Aspen Institute's 2008 Energy Policy Forum chose the topic of “Climate Change and the Electricity Sector.” The Forum, now in its 31st year, convened a select group of leaders and policy experts to discuss commercial and public policy issues at the intersection of energy, the economy and the environment. As in previous years, the format relied heavily on dialogue among the diverse participants who brought a variety of perspectives and areas of expertise to the table. Short introductory presentations kicked off each half-day session, and a spirited, off-the-record discussion followed.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Globalization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
36. China's March on the 21st Century
- Author:
- Kurt M. Campbell and Willow Darsie
- Publication Date:
- 05-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- After a protracted period of uncertainty concerning the nature of the foreign policy challenges that are likely to confront the nation over the course of first half of the 21st century, twin challenges are now coming into sharper relief. For the next generation or more, Americans will be confronted by two overriding (and possibly overwhelming) challenges in the conduct of American foreign policy: how to more effectively wage a long, twilight struggle against violent Islamic fundamentalists, and at the same time cope with the almost certain rise to great power status of China.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Development, Economics, and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, America, and Asia
37. Soft Power, Hard Issues: Reports of the 2005 Aspen Institute Roundtable on Public Diplomacy and the Middle East and the Forum on Communications and Society
- Author:
- Shanthi Kalathil
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Having lapsed in importance following the end of the Cold War, public diplomacy has reemerged as a focal point for policymakers, scholars, and practitioners. Particularly following the attacks of September 11, 2001, American public diplomacy in the Middle East has rocketed to a place of prominence in the U.S. foreign policy toolkit. Yet even as resources and attention are trained on refining the U.S. public diplomacy strategy, there is little consensus on core problems, effective solutions, and what success might tangibly look like.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Middle East, Asia, and Arabia
38. Savings in America: Building Opportunities for All
- Author:
- Suzanne Nora Johnson, Lisa Mensah, and C. Eugene Steuerle
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Savings policy in the United States is at a critical juncture. The U.S. personal saving rate has declined from 10.8 percent in 1984 to zero in 2005.The national saving rate, which includes government and business savings, is the lowest among the G-20 countries and has decreased significantly in recent decades. These low levels of saving generally suggest lower growth rates of income and standards of living in the future.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
39. Mapping the Jihadist Threat: The War on Terror Since 9/11
- Author:
- Kurt M. Campbell and Willow Darsie
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously bemoaned the challenges of measuring success in a long twilight struggle with Islamic fundamentalists. There are the “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” that confront the United States in the most unfamiliar set of foreign policy challenges in the country's history. In addition to the difficulties of establishing “metrics” – as Rumsfeld would put it – in our war on terror, there is also the intrinsically related and perhaps more vexing question of how the global ideological virus of Islamic fundamentalism is morphing and evolving. An influential and well-funded cohort of radicalized Islamists, seizing upon an unyielding interpretation of religious text (a kind of Koranic original intent), has been at war with the West for nearly a generation, and the pace of operations globally is accelerating. According to recently released U.S. government reports, there has been a sharp surge in the number of global terrorist attacks in recent years, a tally substantially comprised of incidents initiated by Islamist instigators. Taken in its totality with all its many manifestations, the jihadist challenge stretches from the Taliban strongholds in the rugged Afghan mountains and the dense jungle hideouts of the Philippines, to the ornate mosques of Saudi Arabia, from a quiet neighborhood in Leeds, England to, just possibly, a place near you.
- Topic:
- Islam, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, and Middle East
40. Energy: The New Normal?
- Author:
- John A. Riggs
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The title of the 2006 Energy Policy Forum—Energy: The New Normal? — raises two primary questions: has the world crossed a threshold into a qualitatively different energy environment in which the era of cheap and plentiful energy is over, and does the interaction of energy issues with other considerations, such as national security, foreign affairs, and global climate change, require fundamentally new ways of thinking about U.S. energy policies?
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Environment, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- United States and Middle East
41. Unmassing America: Ethnic Media and the New Advertising Marketplace
- Author:
- Amy Korzick Garmer
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Fundamental changes are taking place in the advertising marketplace. Audiences are moving away from big media and adopting niche media, with indisputable trends toward fragmentation, disintermediation and greater consumer control affecting the media sector. Consumers have expressed preferences for more personalized, relevant forms of media that speak directly to their needs and interests. Advertisers are experimenting with new ways of communicating with customers and searching for new ways of reaggregating audiences. In this new environment, new media expert Jeff Jarvis has observed, “the economies of scale must compete with the economies of small.”
- Topic:
- Civil Society and Communications
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
42. A Silent Tsunami: The Urgent Need for Clean Water and Sanitation
- Author:
- William K. Reilly and Harriet C. Babbitt
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Few issues matter more to public health, economic opportunity, and environmental integrity than the availability of clean water and sanitation. With the 4th World Water Forum scheduled for Mexico City in March 2006, the Aspen Institute and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University conducted a multistakeholder dialogue to help highlight the importance of global water issues, suggest steps to provide services more rapidly and effectively, and to identify and draw attention to constructive ways the US government and other US participants can take part in the Forum.
- Topic:
- Development, Environment, Government, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States and Mexico
43. Opening Opportunities, Building Ownership: Fulfilling the Promise of Microenterprise in the United States
- Author:
- Elaine L. Edgcomb and Joyce A. Klein
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The notion that a person can turn a dream into a small business by applying healthy doses of ingenuity, elbow grease and grit has resonated with Americans from the earliest days of this nation. Indeed, there is something so intrinsically appealing about that scenario that more than 22 million Americans are small business owners today—including some 20 million who operate "micro"—or very small—enterprises.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Environment, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
44. Journalism, Transparency and the Public Interest
- Author:
- Jon Ziomek
- Publication Date:
- 01-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The American media have always been intimately connected with American public life. The newspapers of the colonial era helped generate public support for the idea of separation from England and the creation of a democratic state. The newspapers of the 19th century fed the urbanized public life of a young industrializing nation. The media of the 20th century reflected the national and international political and social movements of their era.
- Topic:
- Civil Society and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States
45. Opening the Realm: The Role of Communications in Negotiating the Tension of Values in Globalization
- Author:
- Michael Suman
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- We live in an era in which security concerns have become paramount, the forces of capitalism have dealt a death blow to socialist command economies, and the United States is aggressively promoting democracy in the Middle East. In this context, what does the future hold for the values of security, capitalism, and democracy? Historians tell us we also are in the Digital Age—increasingly so with the advent of new communications technologies such as the Internet. What role can the media play in fostering the values of security, capitalism, and democracy?
- Topic:
- International Relations, Civil Society, Democratization, and Globalization
- Political Geography:
- United States and Middle East
46. Tackling the Critical Conundrum: How Do Business, Government and Media Balance Economic Growth and a Healthy Environment?
- Author:
- John A. Riggs
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- One of the enduring debates about environmental issues is the extent to which progress can be achieved without economic harm, either to a business or to society as a whole. The risk of such harm has frequently been used, often effectively, as a reason to oppose or delay actions to reduce pollution or to otherwise advance environmental protection goals. The apparent political persuasiveness of the argument has led to a counterargument: that there are usually win-win solutions and that environmental and economic goals need not be in conflict.
- Topic:
- Economics, Environment, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States
47. Crossing the Atlantic, A Report from the Aspen Atlantic Group 2003 Workshops
- Author:
- Madeleine Albright and Kurt M. Campbell
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- In two workshops, June 6-8 and July 31-August 2, 2003, the Aspen Atlantic Group and its guests examined avenues for renewed transatlantic cooperation in light of contemporary and cumulative challenges to the relationship. Having conducted a frank and in-depth diagnosis of core differences and commonalities in the first workshop, the second workshop extended its scope to include sessions on specific areas of collaboration such as homeland security and humanitarian intervention.
- Topic:
- International Relations and NATO
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
48. The Role of Health in the Fight against International Poverty
- Author:
- Lael Brainard
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The end of the Cold War and disillusionment with aid's many failures led to widespread aid fatigue among donors during the 1990s. Total official development assistance (ODA) as a share of donor GDP fell by one third over the decade (from 0.32 to 0.22 percent). This was particularly pronounced in the United States, where a slash-and-burn approach reduced foreign economic assistance to just over one half of 1 percent of budget outlays, compared with over 3 percent at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. And U.S. per capita spending fell to last place among donor nations, ending the decade at $29, far below the average of $70.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, International Organization, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- United States and Cuba
49. A Matter of Degree: The Role of Journalists as Activists in Journalism Business and Policy
- Author:
- Neil Shister
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The prevailing view of journalism today draws on strands from a diverse portfolio of political, legal, and commercial theories. Some of the propositions underlying the way we regard the practice of the craft date back to the 18th-century “age of reason;” others are as current as yesterday's Wall Street media deal. “Journalism” is a historical hybrid— more an evolving social construct than a fixed point of reference. As such, it conveys contradictory associations: on one hand a band of swashbuckling iconoclasts daring to “speak truth to power;” on the other hand considerably more temperate, disinterested professionals gathering content to distribute through the “information division” of giant corporations. Each image is exaggerated; neither is wholly wrong
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
50. People / Networks / Power: Communications Technologies and the New International Politics
- Author:
- David Bollier
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Kurdish people living in Turkey can now receive satellite television broadcasts emanating from London. Iranians can view Farsi-language television programs that originate in Los Angeles. Even though they are dispersed throughout the world, emigrants from mainland China remain a vital diasporic community, thanks to websites and e-mail discussion lists. Insurgent movements from the Zapatistas to the East Timorese to Indonesian students have used the Internet to organize themselves and communicate a political vision to the world.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Politics, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States, Turkey, London, Kurdistan, and Los Angeles