Public Economics Commons^™

Public Actors In Private Markets: Toward A Developmental Finance State, Robert Hockett, Saule Omarova

Saule T. Omarova

The recent financial crisis brought into sharp relief fundamental questions about the social function and purpose of the financial system, including its relation to the “real” economy. This Article argues that, to answer these questions, we must recapture a distinctively American view of the proper relations among state, financial market, and development. This programmatic vision – captured in what we call a “developmental finance state” – is based on three key propositions: (1) that economic and social development is not an “end-state” but a continuing national policy priority; (2) that the modalities of finance are the most potent means of …

Can We Actually Calculate The Social Cost Of Carbon?, Kyle Mckay

Kyle McKay

Social cost of carbon calculations poorly integrate the risk of worse-case scenarios and their impact on social equity, primarily due to the fundamental limitations of cost-benefit analysis. Continued use of the social cost of carbon is preferable to policy that assumes no social cost to carbon emissions, but risks overconfidence in modeling and political clashes around insufficiently important regulatory changes that could impair necessary larger scale policy changes.

Evaluating Social Impact Bonds As A New Reentry Financing Mechanism: A Case Study On Reentry Programming In Maryland, Kyle Mckay

Kyle McKay

Maryland Department of Legislative Services evaluation of the benefits, risks, costs, and feasibility of using social impact bonds as a financing mechanism for reentry programs in Maryland.

Child Feeding Practices Of Head Start Parents And Safeguarding The Oral Health Of Very Young Children, Elizabeth T. Powers

Elizabeth T Powers

Dentists serving children in a Head Start program attributed dental problems in preschoolers to parent feeding practices. In particular, parents' use of sippy cups and bottles promotes long exposure of teeth to sugars, causing cavities. This presentation reports the preliminary findings from a survey of feeding practices of parents whose children using a dental clinic. Holding constant child's age and other factors, Head Start parents' feeding practices differ from other parents' in several important respects. While Head Start parents report ending bottle use earlier in the child's life, their intensity of sippy cup use is high, and they more frequently …

[Review Of The Book Growing Public: Social Spending And Economic Growth Since The Eighteenth Century], George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] Lindert’s discussion of the costs and benefits of the welfare state is only one part, albeit the most eye-catching part, of this wide-ranging work in comparative economic history. Volume 1, written for non-specialists, presents “The Story”; it is tailor-made for upper-level undergraduate courses in economic and social history, public policy, and welfare economics. Volume 2 presents “Further Evidence,” including the regression results that underlie the findings presented in the first volume, and eighty pages of appendices. Graduate students and scholars studying the welfare state will want to read this volume in conjunction with Volume 1. For those who want …

Reducing The Drug War's Damage To Government Budgets, David B. Kopel, Trevor Burrus

David B Kopel

This Article examines ways that governments can mitigate the economic damage caused by the drug war. Part I details four specific legal reforms enacted in Colorado, which aim to reduce the problems of over-criminalization: Requiring a fiscal note for the creation of new statutory crimes; reducing drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor; narrowing the scope of 'three strikes' laws, and; adjusting old sentences in light of new laws.

Part II explores the fiscal benefits of ending prohibition, such as reduced law enforcement costs and substantially increased tax revenues.

Part III analyzes the conflict between congressionally-imposed prohibition, and state …

Building Democracy In Japan, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How is democracy made real? How does an undemocratic country create new institutions and transform its polity such that democratic values and practices become integral parts of its political culture? These are some of the most pressing questions of our times, and they are the central inquiry of Building Democracy in Japan. Using the Japanese experience as starting point, this book develops a new approach to the study of democratization that examines state-society interactions as a country adjusts its existing political culture to accommodate new democratic values, institutions and practices. With reference to the country's history, the book focuses on …

The Administrative System Of The European Union-From Concept To Reality, Lucica Matei, Ani Matei

Ani Matei

At the beginning of the 21st century,

the European Union (EU) governance and

administration are undergoing some significant

transformations, not without obstacles, from concept

to reality, revealing characteristics that aim both the

European and national elements in a permanent

interpenetration, whose complexity is superior

to other processes and phenomena specific for

the construction of a United Europe. The major

objective of the current paper is to substantiate and

describe systemically the process of affirmation and

transformation of the EU administration as a core

pillar of European governance. A doctrinal overview

on the debated topic reveals an atypical concept in

terms …

Innovation Cooperation: Energy Biosciences And Law, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

This Article analyzes the development and dissemination of environmentally sound technologies that can address climate change. Climate change poses catastrophic health and security risks on a global scale. Universities, individual innovators, private firms, civil society, governments, and the United Nations can unite in the common goal to address climate change. This Article recommends means by which legal, scientific, engineering, and a host of other public and private actors can bring environmentally sound innovation into widespread use to achieve sustainable development. In particular, universities can facilitate this collaboration by fostering global innovation and diffusion networks.

Mother Earth "Speaks": Change Yourself, Change The World, Use The Archetypal Energy "Harmony" As A Guide, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

In relation to the Cosmos, we all, as human beings, live on this tiny planet we call Earth, a planet that supports and sustains life, as we know it. There are many different kinds of people, plants, and animals functioning in harmony with soil, air, and water--all linked to one another in a complex web of life to form one Earth community. Unfortunately, we often take this miracle and ecosystem of life for granted. When, however, we take the ecosystem of life too much for granted, Mother Earth "speaks," reflecting imbalances and dis-harmonies. When Mother Earth "speaks," her message is …

Archetypal Energies, "Psychic Politics", And The Transformative Potential Of The Health Care Debate, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

In a previous message, I spoke of “Archetypal Energies, The Emergence of Obama As A Practical Idealist, and Global Transformation” (February/March 2009). I suggested that at issue is what I called “psychic politics for global transformation, nurtured by practical idealism and the Archetypal Energies.” To reiterate, I have described Archetypal Energies as Higher Vibrational Energies, operating deep within our individual and collective psyches, which have their own transcendent value, purpose, quality, and “voice” unique to the individual. We experience them as “creative urges” to move us toward our Highest Good or Optimal Realities. I use easily recognized terms to evoke …

Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Environmental Projects: A Plethora Of Systematic Biases, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

There are many reasons to suspect that benefit-cost analysis applied to environmental policies will result in policy decisions that will reject those environmental policies. The important question, of course, is whether those rejections are based on proper science. The present paper explores sources of bias in the methods used to evaluate environmental policy in the United States, although most of the arguments translate immediately to decision-making in other countries. There are some “big picture” considerations that have gone unrecognized, and there are numerous more minor, yet cumulatively important, technical details that point to potentially large biases against acceptance on benefit-cost …

Black Tuesday And Graying The Legitimacy Line For Governmental Intervention: When Tomorrow Is Just A Future Yesterday, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Black Tuesday in October 1929 marked a major crisis in American history. As we face current economic woes, it is appropriate to recall not only the event but also reflect on how it altered the legal landscape and the change it precipitated in the acceptance of governmental intervention into the marketplace. Perceived or real crises can cause us to dance between free markets and regulatory power. Much like the events of 1929, current financial concerns have led to new, unprecedented governmental intervention into the private sector. This Article seeks caution, on the basis of history, arguing that fear and crisis …

Predicting Life Expectancy: A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis, Audrey B. Hendricks, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

Most economic research on life expectancy focuses on building forecasting models using mortality trends or constructing parameter life expectancy models with samples of individuals. We here provide a cross-sectional model of life expectancy, using a comprehensive worldwide sample, which analyses the impact of country level variables on average life expectancy. The model variants suggest robustly that proxies for technology, education, disposable income and healthcare all have a significant and positive effect on country variation in average life expectancy, at all income levels. A proxy for the health risks/epidemics factor is significantly negative. This analysis provides information of use to governments, …

Congestion Pricing: The Answer To America's Traffic Woes?, Ryan Yeung

Ryan Yeung

Congestion results in losses in productivity, added delivery time, extra costs for consumers, as well as damage to the environment. The most obvious solution to traffic congestion is to build more roads, but the prevailing thought among experts is that adding supply is not an effective long-term solution. Another approach is congestion pricing, where motorists are charged different prices based on demand. A literature review supports congestion pricing’s effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. Perhaps most importantly, a number of case studies suggest that congestion pricing is politically feasible.