Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Making College Worth It: Inequalities In Higher Education And How To Solve Them, Katharine Meyer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Most students who graduate from college go on to earn higher wages, have more employment stability, and enjoy better health. While posted tuitions are high, a “high price, high aid” approach to college pricing means that the average cost of college has actually declined in recent years. Yet, public confidence in higher education is at an all-time low. What explains this tension? Who gains from going to college and who does not? What can colleges do to change perceptions about the value of a college education? This lecture by Brookings Institution scholar Katharine Meyer highlights trends in college enrollment and …

The Safety Net Should Work For Working Age Adults, Lauren Bauer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture focuses attention on a population that is ill-served by the safety net but rarely acknowledged: low-income, working-age adults without dependents or government-determined disabilities. In this lecture, Brookings Scholar Lauren Bauer, a former Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary at the US Department of Education, argues that a safety net that is inaccessible to ABAWDs (able-bodied adults without dependents) fails to recognize the precarious state of the low-wage labor market or how safety-net programs allow these workers to remain in the workforce. By modernizing the parameters of who qualifies for access to safety-net programs, assistance can be …

Payments As A Tool For Policy, Aaron Klein

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

What are the implications of using payment systems to enforce foreign policy (against Russia, Iran, Cuba, etc...) and domestic policy (on-line poker, cannabis, etc..)? What are the long-term ramifications for the United States, with its dominant status as a global financial system and home to the world reserve currency, using payment systems to achieve its political objectives? In this lecture, Brookings Institution scholar and former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Department of Treasury, Aaron Klein discusses the pros, cons, and intended and unintended consequences of our current system. He proposes a path forward to maximize economic growth …

Headwinds And Tailwinds: The Present And Future Of Work For Women, Molly Kinder

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled "Headwinds and Tailwinds: The Present and Future of Work for Women” by Brookings fellow in the Brookings Metro, Molly Kinder. Women comprise nearly half of the US labor force, and today outnumber men on college campuses. Yet the gender pay gap persists and women are overrepresented in the lowest paying occupations. In what ways are jobs and economic opportunities changing for women in the labor force? Over the next decade, how will demographic changes like the aging of the baby boom generation and technological changes …

Of Boys And Men: Why The Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, And What To Do About It, Richard Reeves

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace, and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even deteriorated. Our attitudes, our institutions, and our laws have failed to keep up. Conservative and progressive politicians, mired in their own ideological warfare, fail to provide thoughtful solutions.

The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His …

Artificial Intelligence & Personal Finance: Legal And Ethical Implications, Aaron Klein

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled "Artificial Intelligence and Personal Finance: Legal and Ethical Implications" by Brookings fellow in economic studies, Aaron Klein. The rise of big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence herald great promise in making our financial system safer, fairer, and more inclusive. However, the legacy of the use of credit as a tool to enforce and promote discrimination means these same tools can recreate and reinforce biases in ways that challenge basic ethics and the law. This lecture explores how data is used to make financial decisions, …

Migrants And Refugees: Are They Holding Us Back Or Pushing Us Forward?, Dany Bahar

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled "Migrants and Refugees: Are they holding us back or pushing us forward?" by Brookings Fellow in Global Economy and Development, Dany Bahar. It is often cited that human mobility is key to economic growth and productivity. Evidence also points to the economic costs and benefits of international migration for both the sending and receiving countries. This lecture explores if roads to economic growth and prosperity require restrictions to migration, or quite the contrary.

Payday Lenders And Credit Cards: A Hidden Driver Of Income Inequality, Aaron Klein

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled "Payday Lenders and Credit Cards: A Hidden Driver of Income Inequality" by Brookings Fellow in Economic Studies, Aaron Klein. This lecture examines how, for millions of working families, America’s slow payment system costs billions of dollars. The system needs technological innovation, but incumbency, economies of scale, and government may counter technological advancement. This lecture explores if the U.S. remains the dominant global standards setter for payment instruments.

"The Great Debate" 2019 - Brookings V. Unlv Debate Team, Brookings Mountain West, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Brookings Mountain West, in partnership with the UNLV Debate Team, was proud to host the inaugural UNLV - Brookings Institution event, “The Great Debate.” Representatives from the nationally ranked UNLV Debate Team engaged colleagues from the Brookings Institution in a battle of ideas and policy positions destined to be remembered as one of the great intellectual forums of the 21st century. Featured speakers participated in a modified format of intercollegiate debate rules that allowed teams and individual members the opportunity to craft their arguments and responses in an open and respectful exchange of information to persuade, inform, and entertain audience …

The Devaluation Of Assets In Black Neighborhoods: How Racism Robs Homeowner Of The American Dream, Andre Perry

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Homeownership lies at the heart of the American Dream, representing success, opportunity, and wealth. However, for many of its citizens, America deferred that dream. For much of the 20th century, the devaluing of black lives led to segregation and racist federal housing policy through redlining that shut out chances for black people to purchase homes and build wealth, making it more difficult to start and invest in businesses and afford college tuition. This lecture explained how much money majority-black communities are losing in the housing market stemming from racial bias, finding that owner-occupied homes in black neighborhoods are undervalued by …

How Technology Will Change Our Built Environment, Adie Tomer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the ongoing Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presented a lecture titled, "Digital Place: How Technology Will Change Our Built Environment" by Fellow in Metropolitan Policy, Adie Tomer on February 6, 2019. Digital technologies promise to upend nearly every component of the economy, including how we work, shop, travel, and even live inside our homes. There is too little conversation about how adoption of various technologies will interact with the current built environment and the policies that guide future investment. This lecture explores how the economy currently functions, where technology will transform economic functions, and how …

Using Global Goals To Drive Progress In Mountain West, Anthony Pipa

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West invites you to a lecture titled "Using Global Goals to Drive Progress in the Mountain West" by Senior Fellow in Global Economy and Development, Anthony Pipa. This lecture will examine the state of inclusive economic progress and environmental sustainability in the Mountain West, as measured against the globally adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). What cities and states are making progress? Who is being left behind? How can outcome-based goals help address the region’s challenges and spur economic progress?

Challenges Facing Youth Entering The Labor Market, Martha Ross

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West invites you to a lecture titled "Challenges Facing Youth Entering the Labor Market" by Fellow in Metropolitan Policy, Martha Ross. Labor force participation and employment are declining among teens and young adults, suggesting that fewer young people are having the kinds of work experiences that prepare them for the world of full-time employment. Not everyone is equally affected, as there are marked differences by race/ethnicity, income, and education. This lecture will discuss employment trends among young people and the various strategies that cities and specific programs are using to …

What Drives Economic Growth? A Look Into Structural Transformation And Export Diversification, Dany Bahar

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West invites you to a lecture titled "What drives economic growth? A look into structural transformation and export diversification" by Brookings Fellow in Global Economy and Development, Dany Bahar.

About 60 percent of cross-country income differences can be explained by productivity differences. In the long-run, productivity is what best explains economic growth and welfare. This lecture seeks to understand the drivers of economic and productivity growth for countries, and in particular, the role of structural transformation and diversification. The lecture will draw on work by other scholars as well as …

Dream Hoarders: The Dangerous Separation Of The American Upper Middle Class, Richard Reeves

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture blends economics, philosophy and policy analysis to examine the growing gap between the upper middle class (broadly the top 20 percent) and the majority of Americans. In terms of dollars, but also education and skills, social capital, health, lifestyle and leisure attitude and zip code - not just by standard of living, but a way of life. The inheritance of upper middle class status in the next generation results from a growing gap in human capital formation, or ‘market merit’, and from a degree of ‘opportunity hoarding’. What changes are required to ensure that the American Dream is …

The Great Recession And U.S. Safety Nets: The Case Of Temporary Assistance To Needy Families (Tanf), Vicky Albert

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The Great Recession

• Officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009
• Most severe recession since Great Depression
• In the first quarter of 2012 about 30% of jobless workers had been unemployed for a year or longer
• From 2007 to 2009, real personal income per capita fell by 8.3 percentage points and many individuals dropped from the labor force

The Safety Nets for Families with Children

• Unemployment Insurance
• Medicaid
• Earned Income Tax Credit
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Subsidized Housing
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF)

Public Procurement: The Achilles Heel Of Good Governance, Jeffrey Gutman

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Development aid is defined as the financial aid given by governments and agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political needs of developing countries. With the government acquisition of goods, civil works, and services representing between 15-20 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for most countries, the value of procurement policy and its application are very high. Recent high profile cases in the news, ranging from the military purchase of clothing from foreign sources that raise human rights issues, to the criticism of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act website, to a range of corruption cases around the …

Mega-Regional Trade, Joshua Meltzer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture will discuss the impact of the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on U.S. economic competitiveness and leadership in Asia and Europe. This will lead into a discussion of large Free Trade Areas (FTA), or groups of countries that have few or no price controls in the form of tariffs or quotas between each other. FTAs allow the agreeing nations to focus on their comparative advantages and to produce the goods they are comparatively more efficient at making, thus increasing the efficiency and profitability of each country. We will explore the impact …

Climate Change, Disasters & Displacement, Elizabeth Ferris

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture examines trends in natural disasters, the effects of climate change, and their impact on human rights, including economic costs, the displacement/migration of people, and the likelihood that the poor and marginalized are most likely to be affected by natural disasters and climate change.

Power America's — And Nevada's — Advanced Industries: State By State, Region By Region, Mark Muro

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

With the U.S. economy still flat, economic experts and leaders continue to search for the next source of U.S. and regional growth. One key component of the next era of prosperity can be projected: It is what the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program calls the advanced industry (AI) sector. The nation’s most strategic R&D — and STEM worker intensive industries, AIs like aerospace and IT are prime movers of regional and national prosperity, because they are key sources of technology innovation and generate domestic and international exports. Accordingly, the AI swatch of 50 discrete industries has emerged as an important new …

The Shortage Of Skilled Workers: Quality Jobs For A Trained Workforce, Jonathan Rothwell

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The Great Recession of 2008 temporarily solved employer workforce needs by lowering demand and increasing the number of unemployed skilled workers. After a few years of modest but sustained economic growth, the labor market for skilled workers has once again tightened and positions are going unfilled. This research helps national and regional leaders understand which skills are in short supply and offers policy advice on how to redress the imbalance between supply and demand. In addition to offering a national perspective on this topic, the lecture will examine the situation in Nevada.

Three African Futures, John Page

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Africa has experienced a remarkable turn-around in economic performance since 1995. It grew at around 4.6 percent per year during the first decade of the 21st century, and the region boasts three of the world’s ten fastest-growing countries. Cheerleaders as diverse as the Economist and the World Bank have branded Africa the developing world’s next “frontier market”. But beneath the headlines lie some disturbing realities. Africa is not creating enough good jobs – those capable of paying decent wages and providing opportunities to develop skills – and it is not reducing poverty at the same rate as other parts of …

International Migration And Economic Development Of Global Metropolitan Areas, Neil Ruiz

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

International migration is a global and local development issue. Migrants across international borders are transformative agents with economic, social, and political ties to origins and destinations. Migrants are the agents that link local economies through global flows of knowledge, trade, capital, and production. Through their networks, international migrants serve as valuable bridges between U.S. metropolitan areas and regional economies in other countries, and can facilitate trade networks through exports, imports, or the circulation of knowledge and the production process.

Is College A Good Investment?: An Economic And Policy Analysis, Beth Akers

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture provides a theoretical framework for thinking about the financial returns on the investment in higher education degrees and will present the latest empirical finding on this question. The discussion will touch on the topics of rapid tuition inflation, for-profit colleges, student loan debt, and the potential for a fiscal crisis in the market for student loans.

The Hidden Stem Economy: The Surprising Diversity Of Jobs Requiring Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math Knowledge, Jonathan Rothwell

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Policy and businesses leaders have argued that there is a shortage of highly educated workers in professional occupations related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Critics have countered that Ph.D scientists often face a difficult academic labor market and do not necessarily earn higher wages than other professionals. Yet, both sides of the STEM debate have been relying on an ill-defined definition of STEM work. Using a detailed survey of worker knowledge requirements, this research project redefines STEM jobs based on the level of knowledge required in STEM fields to perform occupations. The results uncover two facts previously unrecognized …

By Choice Or By Chance? Why Is Nevada Last In Federal Funding And What Can Be Done About It?, Tracy M. Gordon

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The federal government spends more than $600 billion or 17 percent of its budget each year on grants to states and localities. Nevada consistently ranks at the bottom among states in its allocation of federal dollars per capita. This presentation will examine the reasons for Nevada’s “donor state” status including state demographics, federal funding formulas, and state policy decisions. It will focus especially on Medicaid, the largest federal grant program, and Governor Brian Sandoval’s recent decision to participate in the program expansion scheduled for 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. The presentation will also discuss reasons for intergovernmental grants and …

Game Change: What Have We Learned? Pt. 1, William J. Antholis, Robert E. Lang, William E. Brown, David F. Damore, Helen R. Neill, Bradley S. Wimmer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Who We Are, What We Do, Where Are We Going

Brookings Mountain West is a partnership between UNLV and the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution.

Goals and Objectives

Create high-quality, independent, impactful programs, publications, and activities that address issues of critical importance to greater Las Vegas and the Intermountain West region.

Serve as a platform to bring ideas and expertise together and facilitate local, metropolitan, and state discussions about the West’s future.

Enhance local, regional, and state research and public policy discussions.

The Euro Area Crisis: Origins, Prospects And Implication For The World Economy And Global Governance, Domenico Lombardi

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

European nations have adopted a common currency and created regional institutions but they are also undergoing the greatest crisis in the integration since the end of World War II. This presentation will explore Europe’s regional integration, assess this process in light of the current crisis, and consider lessons to be learned for other regions, notably Asia.

Applying Well-Being Metrics To Public Policy: Lessons From Experiments Around The World, Carol Graham

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The ongoing research activity of economists who study what constitutes happiness and make recommendations to governments about how best to increase it continues to receive global attention. The recent publication of the first World Happiness Report, commissioned for the United Nations General Assembly, argues that happiness can be measured objectively; that it differs systematically across societies and over time; that happiness has predictable causes and is correlated to specific things (such as wealth, income distribution, health, and political institutions); and government has the ability to create the right conditions for happiness to flourish. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, meanwhile, …

Clean Energy: The Economics Of Why And How, Adele C. Morris

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

One rationale for large public investments in clean energy technology points to concerns that have not been addressed by other policies, most notably greenhouse gas emissions and energy security. Another inspiration for clean energy policy suggests that strategic government investments would increase domestic firms' market share of a growing industry and thus help domestic firms and workers. This lecture examines the economic case for clean energy policy in the United States and addresses the issues state and local governments confront in building a clean energy industry.