The Hamilton Project Blog

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The Worse the Economy Gets, the Longer People Live

February 22, 2012 • The Hamilton Project • Economic Security, Employment & Wages

Advisory Council member Peter Orszag writes in Bloomberg about the rise in life expectancy during recessions. Read his full piece here.

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What College Students Need to Know

February 21, 2012 • The Hamilton Project • Education, Effective Government

An editorial in The New York Times applauds several of the Obama administration’s education initiatives, including the Department of Education’s “college scorecard,” which will help students compare the value of colleges.  The proposal draws from a joint Hamilton Project and Center for American Progress proposal by Bridget Terry Long, which called for the federal government to expand the types of information available to students, and allow users to compare indicators like cost, financial aid, student debt, employment outcomes, and average salaries following graduation. Read Terry Long’s full proposal here.

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Congress Will Auction Public Airwaves to Pay for Benefits

February 17, 2012 • The Hamilton Project • Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure

President Barack Obama is expected to sign legislation to authorize the auction of public spectrum now used for television broadcasts to create more wireless Internet systems.  The revenue from these auctions will be used to offset the costs of the payroll tax cuts and extending unemployment benefits.  This legislation draws from a 2008 Hamilton Project discussion paper  focused on ways to reform spectrum policy to ensure the most efficient use of wireless spectrum.  Among other proposals in the paper, author Philip Weiser suggests Congress facilitate an auction of remaining spectrum used for UHF broadcasting. Read more on Weiser’s proposal here.

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The rule of more

February 16, 2012 • The Hamilton Project • Economic Security, Effective Government

Hamilton Project Director Michael Greenstone is cited in a new piece for the Economist, describing his proposal for ensuring that more consistent and objective cost-benefit analysis is applied to regulations.  Greenstone has also testified before the Senate Budget Committee on ways to improve the use of cost benefit analysis in federal rule making.  Read his testimony here, and read the full Economist piece here.

Hamilton Project Ideas in Education

February 15, 2012 • The Hamilton Project • Education

The core concepts from several Hamilton Project discussion papers have influenced education proposals being discussed by the Obama administration. The President’s newly announced "College Scorecard," which will allow prospective college students and their parents to compare the value and affordability of colleges and universities, draws directly from a joint Hamilton Project and Center for American Progress proposal by Bridget Terry Long.  In her proposal, Long called for the federal government to expand the types of information that are available and allow users to compare indicators like cost, financial aid, student debt, employment outcomes, and average salaries following graduation, across peer institutions. 

 The Hamilton Project’s influence can also be seen in the Department of Education's focus on improving teacher quality through incentives to hire and retain the best teachers. A 2006 paper by Robert Gordon, Thomas J. Kane and Douglas O. Staiger would eliminate requirements for teachers to hold a master's degree and would provide teachers with good evaluations bonuses to teacher in high-poverty schools. A more recent proposal by Derek Neal would create a new student assesment to evaluate teacher performance.