Papers: Effective Government

NEW PAPER

A Dozen Economic Facts About Tax Reform

May 2012 • Michael Greenstone, Adam Looney, Leslie B. Samuels • Tax Policy, Effective Government, Employment & Wages

To provide an economic context for tax reform, The Hamilton Project has a new paper focusing on the role of our tax system in the long-run budget deficit, global competitiveness, and rising income inequality.

A Strategy for America’s Energy Future: Illuminating Energy’s Full Costs

May 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Energy & Environment, Effective Government

America’s energy choices are built on the prices we see at the pump and our utility bills. Yet these prices mask the social costs arising from those energy choices, including shorter lives, higher health care expenses, a changing climate, and weakened national security. Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney provide four principles for reforming America’s energy policies to help level the playing field for all energy sources — moving away from a system that favors energy sources with lower prices at the pump but higher costs to society through health impacts and our ongoing reliance on foreign oil.

Air Support: Creating a Safer and More Reliable Air Traffic Control System

July 2008 • Dorothy Robyn • Infrastructure, Effective Government

Dorothy Robyn argues that there are fundamental problems with the way the federal government manages the air traffic control system and proposes policy changes to improve the system’s safety and reliability.

An Opt-Out Home Mortgage System

September 2008 • Michael S. Barr, Sendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir • Economic Security, Effective Government

This paper develops a new framework for understanding the mortgage markets based on behavioral economic insights and proposes a ‘sticky’ opt-out mortgage system.

Bringing Jobs to People: How Federal Policy Can Target Job Creation for Economically Distressed Areas

October 2010 • Timothy J. Bartik • Employment & Wages, State & Local, Effective Government

This paper proposes three solutions to bring jobs to distressed areas: customized job training programs for businesses and employees, advice and consulting services through the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, and a package of grants for local services and tax breaks through a reformed and revitalized Empowerment Zone program.

College Grants on a Postcard: A Proposal for Simple and Predictable Federal Student Aid

February 2007 • Susan M. Dynarski, Judith Scott-Clayton • Education, Effective Government

This paper analyzes the federal student aid system and finds that the level of complexity makes it ineffective at increasing college enrollment. The paper then outlines a simplified system to address this issue.

Fix It First, Expand It Second, Reward It Third: A New Strategy for America’s Highways

February 2011 • David M. Levinson, Matthew E. Kahn • Infrastructure, State & Local, Effective Government

Matthew Kahn and David Levinson propose a reorganization of our national highway infrastructure priorities to preserve, maintain, and enhance existing infrastructure and the creation of the Federal Highway Bank to meet these goals.

From Prison to Work: A Proposal for a National Prisoner Reentry Program

December 2008 • Bruce Western • Employment & Wages, Poverty, Effective Government

This paper proposes a national prisoner reentry program whose core element is up to a year of transitional employment available to all parolees in need of work.

Grading Higher Education: Giving Consumers the Information They Need

December 2010 • Bridget Terry Long • Education, Effective Government

Potential students and their families must navigate a labyrinth of incomplete and uncertain information when deciding where to go to college, what to study, or what career to pursue, resulting in an arrrray of poor choices being made every day. This proposal calls 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.

Lowering Borrowing Costs for States and Municipalities Through CommonMuni

February 2011 • Andrew Ang, Rick Green • Infrastructure, Effective Government, State & Local

Andrew Ang and Richard Green propose the establishment of CommonMuni, a not-for-profit advisory firm designed to reduce borrowing costs for municipalities by overcoming the difficulty individual municipalities and investors have coordinating with one another.

Mending the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: Improving Consumer Choices and Restructuring Purchasing

April 2007 • Richard G. Frank, Joseph P. Newhouse • Health Care, Effective Government

This paper proposes a series of reforms to address the challenges facing Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit. These reforms include creating a standardized set of plans, increasing competition, and lowering prices paid for drugs. 

Public-Private Partnerships to Revamp U.S. Infrastructure

February 2011 • Eduardo Engel, Alexander Galetovic, Ronald Fischer • Infrastructure, Effective Government, State & Local

Eduardo Engel, Ronald Fischer, and Alexander Galetovic propose a series of best practices for state and local governments to follow when using public–private partnerships to provide infrastructure.

The Simple Return: Reducing America’s Tax Burden Through Return-Free Filing

July 2006 • Austan Goolsbee • Tax Policy, Effective Government

In this paper, Austan Goolsbee proposes a program known as the "Simple Return," which would make it much easier for the millions of taxpayers with a relatively simple tax status to file their taxes.