Public Policy Commons^™

China: A New Force In The Global Marketplace, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

Even with problems such as energy shortages, environmental degradation, infrastructure, corruption, and crime, the Chinese economy is a force to be reckoned with. If current trends continue, China could end up being number 2, after the United States, in terms of economic output.

What Should We Do About Global Warming? Weighing The Pros And Cons, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The most controversial environmental issue facing the country today is how to respond to the pressure to fight global warming by substantially reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the leading greenhouse gas. The United States has reached a point where it is personally and professionally dangerous, if not foolhardy, to criticize in any way any proposal to "do more for the environment." Nevertheless, in advance of the massive UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, this paper suggests that we should examine the seriousness of the problem and the feasibility of the suggested solution.

The Economic And Fiscal Impact Of Lake Remediation On Onondaga County, William Duncombe, Shannon Felt, James R. Follain, Bernard Jump Jr.

Center for Policy Research

This is the fourth and final report to the Onondaga Lake Management Conference about the economic and fiscal implications for Onondaga County of court-mandated expenditures for sewer-related remediation of Onondaga Lake. Exactly how much remediation will cost and what, precisely, will be the technical specifications of the plan that is finally approved by the court are both still to be decided. Yet, there is little doubt that an undertaking of the dollar magnitude contemplated for lake remediation has the potential to affect the fiscal condition of the county and the future health of the local economy.

How The Fruits Of Growth Were Distributed Among Working-Age Families In The United States And Germany In The 1980s, Richard V. Burkhauser, Amy D. Crews, Mary C. Daly

Center for Policy Research

We use cross-sectional and longitudinal data from Germany (Socio-Economic Panel) and the United States (Panel Study on Income Dynamics) to show how the income distribution changed over the 1980s business cycle in these two countries. Consistent with other researchers we find income inequality in the United States increased over the peak years of the 1980s business cycle and that the middle of the income distribution shrank. However, we also find that the great bulk of the disappearing middle shifted to the right— became richer— over the period. Hence, it was disproportionate gains from growth rather than the “immiseration” of the …

Placing A Lid On Marginal Tax Rates: A New Way To Simplify The Income Tax Structure, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

Thanks to the phasing out of exemptions and excess itemized deductions and to the alternative minimum tax, the federal income tax rate schedule is difficult to draw, to understand, and to connect with any tax principle. Moreover, some taxpayers now face unreasonably high marginal tax rates. This paper proposes a new approach that simplifies the income tax system at its point of intersection with taxpayers; sets absolute upper and lower bounds on true marginal tax rates; and allows for the phasing out of any or all exemptions, deductions, or other tax preferences according to clear principles. This approach can achieve …

The Outlook For Onondaga County's Finances: Baseline Scenario, William Duncombe, Bernard Jump Jr.

Center for Policy Research

This is the third of four reports to the Onondaga Lake Management Conference about the economic and fiscal implications for Onondaga County of court-mandated expenditures for sewer-related remediation of Onondaga Lake.

Expensive Children In Poor Families: Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures For The Care Of Disabled And Chronically Ill Children And Welfare Reform, Anna Lukemeyer, Marcia K. Meyers, Timothy M. Smeeding

Center for Policy Research

This study explores one aspect of the costs experienced by low-income families with one or more special needs children: direct, out-of-pocket expenses for items related to the child’s disability, such as special foods, transportation to medical clinics, or medical costs not covered by insurance. We find that almost half (46 percent) of a sample of California AFDC families with special needs children experienced some special expenses in the preceding month. About 20 percent of these low-income families experienced total costs exceeding $100. Families with severely disabled children were more likely to experience costs and tended to experience higher costs. While …

The Cost Of Caring: Childhood Disability And Poor Families, Marcia K. Meyers, Anna Lukemeyer, Timothy M. Smeeding

Center for Policy Research

Children in poor families are at heightened risk for disabilities and chronic health problems, and care for these children can impose substantial costs on families and public programs. Although the prevalence and costs of disabilities among poor children have important policy implications, they have been largely overlooked in research on poverty and welfare and on the costs of childhood disabilities. This paper analyzes the prevalence of childhood disabilities and chronic illness among welfare recipient families in California and the probability families caring for these children experience higher out-of-pocket costs and material hardship then do other similar families.

Greener And More Equitable: A Vision For Dams And Other Western Water Issues, Bruce C. Driver

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

10 pages.

Contains 1 page of references.

Damming The West: Development Of Western Water Resources, Gilbert F. White

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

8 pages.

Patterns Of Demographic And Economic Change In The Western United States, Pamela Case

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

17 pages.

Contains footnotes.

Agenda: Dams: Water And Power In The New West, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Conference organizers and/or speakers included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Douglas S. Kenney, Kathryn M. Mutz, Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Rieke, Charles F. Wilkinson and Lawrence J. MacDonnell.

The keynote address by Charles F. Wilkinson is titled Coming to Grips with Growth in the West: Traditional Communities, Free Rivers and the New Megalopoli, and it will be held on Monday, June 2, at 12:30 p.m. in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom of the law school. Wilkinson is a noted law professor, writer and authority on Western issues.

The conference will begin by providing historical context for the …

Coming To Grips With Growth In The West: Traditional Communities, Free Rivers, And The New Megalopolises, Charles Wilkinson

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

25 pages.

Contains 2 pages of references.

The U.S. Defense Industry After The Cold War, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The U.S. defense industry is adjusting to the end of the Cold War far more rapidly and effectively than was generally expected. Current security decision-makers can count on the presence of a strong defense industrial base. But that situation cannot be taken for granted in the years ahead and judging the industrial base capacity is challenging. It requires us to deal with international issues during a time of domestic concern, to consider military outlays in a period of budgetary austerity, and to worry about the competition for the production of weapons systems when the economy is undergoing a wave of …

A Review And Forecast Of The Onondaga County Economy, Shannon Felt, James R. Follain, Suzanne Mccoskey

Center for Policy Research

The purpose of this paper is to review the economy of Onondaga County and to offer a forecast of its future until the year 2035. This information will be used in forming a plan to improve the quality of Onondaga Lake. Understanding the past and the forecastable future is crucial to the formation of this plan and to anyone with a stake in the county’s future economic growth. To create this review and forecast, we used the REMI model, a multi-equation model of a local or regional economy and is a tool that is widely used in studies of this …

Science--The Endless Frontier: A Half Century Later, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

In July 1945, Vannevar Bush wrote the treatise that outlined federal science policy for the next 50 years: Science - The Endless Frontier. Given that the government had not financed in any significant way any non-agricultural research prior to WWII, Bush's report fundamentally altered the federal government's approach to scientific research. The report also strongly influenced the congressional decision to establish the National Science Foundation. Nevertheless, federal government did not implement Bush's policy recommendations, and today there is a shortness of vision to science policy planners. Just as private industry faces an enlarged need for the fruits of R&D, the …

Onondaga County's Economic Performance Since 1980 And Prospects For The Next Decade, William Duncombe, Wilson Wong

Center for Policy Research

The last three decades have been a time of transition for the economy of Onondaga County. After its poor performance in the 1970s, it rebounded during most of the 1980s. Since then the county economy has stagnated and even declined in key sectors. This report probes behind these aggregate trends to shed light on the nature of the changing county economy. To put these trends in perspective, the county's performance is compared to that of other metropolitan areas and regions in New York State and several fast growing metropolitan areas in the South. Understanding the reasons for Onondaga County's current …

Relativism, Reflective Equilibrium, And Justice, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

THIS PAPER IS THE CO-WINNER OF THE FRED BERGER PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY OF LAW FOR THE 1999 AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BEST PUBLISHED PAPER IN THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS.

The conflict between liberal legal theory and critical legal studies (CLS) is often framed as a matter of whether there is a theory of justice that the law should embody which all rational people could or must accept. In a divided society, the CLS critique of this view is overwhelming: there is no such justice that can command universal assent. But the liberal critique of CLS, that it degenerates into …

Toward A Healthier Environment And A Stronger Economy: How To Achieve Common Ground, Murray L. Weidenbaum, Christopher Douglass, Michael Orlando

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

Economic and environmental interests are typically opponents in the public arena. Most efforts to bridge intellectual differences involve economists trying to get environmentalists to develop an "economic way of thinking" while conversely, ecologists attempt to sway economists toward kinder environmental values. It is time for a new approach to public policy that takes advantage of the middle ground between these two ideologies. This study presents six specific reforms that make both sound economic and environmental sense. These reforms occur within selected government spending programs, special federal tax provisions, and particular regulatory requirements.

Stochastic Modeling Of Active Life And Its Expectancy, Douglas A. Wolf, Sarah B. Laditka

Center for Policy Research

The concept of “active” (or “disability-free”) life, and its average value, has proven to be a useful index of public health and of quality of life for populations. A question of great interest in recent years is whether recent trends towards longer life expectancy have been accompanied by comparable increases in active life expectancy. Past research on patterns and trends of active and “inactive” life has focused almost exclusively on the expectancy—or, the average value—of years spent with and without disability. This measure is useful for actuarial calculations, for example analysis of the insurance value of programs that provide long-term …

Who Minimum Wage Increases Bite: An Analysis Using Monthly Data From The Sipp And Cps, Richard V. Burkhauser, Kenneth A. Couch, David C. Wittenburg

Center for Policy Research

In this paper we use an estimating equation from the research of leading proponents of the view that minimum wage increases do not cause employment losses. Rather than using annual data from the May Current Population Survey (CPS), we test this hypothesis using monthly data from both the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the CPS. We find the traditional result that neoclassical theory would predict: minimum wage increases create employment losses that are concentrated among less valued workers. Minimum wage increases have an insignificant effect on the employment of prime age workers (aged 25 to 61), but …