Setting National Priorities

Henry Aaron; Robert D. Reischauer

doi:10.5771/9780815719465

Summary

"If the subject of influence in Washington interests you, this series of books deserves your respectful attention...it has changed the ways in which American politicians think about the budget." - The Washington Post For the first time in more than four decades, the federal budget has registered two consecutive surpluses, and the need to reduce the deficit is not casting a pall over the policy debate. This new, highly accessible book examines the policy options that are available in this new environment to address the new and recurring challenges that face the nation. The book, which continues the Brookings Institution's highly acclaimed and influential Setting National Priorities series, will serve as a guide for understanding many of the complex issues that will be discussed during the presidential and congressional campaigns of 2000. The book centers around three themes: providing opportunity in the domestic arena, restoring confidence in government, and adapting to the post-Cold War international environment. It tackles such critical issues as Medicare and social security, tax reform, and foreign policy spending, as well as many areas not included in previous editions; namely, education, urban problems, the environment, trade, government renewal and reform, crime and drugs, and families. In addition to the editors, the contributers are Gary Burtless, I. M. Destler, John J. DiIulio Jr., William Gale, Bruce Katz, Donald F. Kettl, Paul C. Light, Thomas E. Mann, Michael O'Hanlon, Paul R. Portney, Diane Ravitch, Isabel V. Sawhill, and James Sly.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2011
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8157-7402-0
ISBN-Online: 978-0-8157-1946-5
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 496
Product type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
1. The Economy No access
2. The Budget No access
3. The Issues No access
4. Chapter Summaries No access
1. 1. The Budget Facts No access
  2. U.S. Military Strategy Today No access
  3. The U.S. Military Today No access
  4. Buying Adequate National Defense on $275 Billion a Year No access
  5. International Affairs No access
  6. Conclusion No access
2. 1. Trade and Economic Performance, 1974–99 No access
  2. Success after Success: NAFTA, the Uruguay Round, and Beyond No access
  3. The Failure to Extend Fast Track No access
  4. Anxiety over Globalization No access
  5. Trade Liberalization: Multiple Reasons to Persist No access
  6. Breaking the Stalemate No access
1. 1. Families under Stress No access
  2. What Can Be Done? No access
2. 1. Why Should We Care? No access
  2. Why Has Inequality Increased? No access
  3. Policy Responses No access
  4. Future Directions No access
  5. Conclusion No access
  6. Appendix: Measuring Income Inequality No access
3. 1. Darling, We Are Growing Older No access
  2. The Economic Burden of Dependents No access
  3. Public Budgets No access
  4. Social Security No access
  5. Medicare No access
  6. Medicaid No access
  7. Conclusion No access
4. 1. Federal Taxes: An Overview No access
  2. Effects of Federal Taxes No access
  3. Does the Budget Surplus Justify Large Tax Cuts? No access
  4. Strategies for Modifying the Current Tax System No access
  5. Specific Reforms No access
  6. Fundamental Tax Reform No access
  7. Conclusion No access
1. 1. Student Performance No access
  2. The Problem of Teacher Quality No access
  3. Reforming the Governance of Education No access
  4. The Need to Reform Categorical Programs No access
2. 1. The Patterns of Metropolitan Growth No access
  2. The Dark Side of Metropolitan Growth No access
  3. The Challenges Facing Metropolitan Communities No access
  4. The Impact of Federal and State Policies on Patterns of Metropolitan Growth No access
  5. The Rise of Metropolitan Politics No access
  6. The Federal Metropolitan Agenda No access
  7. The Promise and the Challenge No access
3. 1. Public Concern Keeps the Focus on Crime No access
  2. Counting Crime Victims No access
  3. Sentencing Violent Felons No access
  4. Treating Drug-Only Offenders No access
  5. Handling Juvenile Offenders No access
4. 1. Trends in Environmental Quality and Public Opinion No access
  2. The Environmental Protection Agency and Environmental Regulation No access
  3. New Directions in Environmental Policy No access
  4. Global Climate Change No access
  5. Conclusion No access
1. 1. An Inventory of Change No access
  2. Accidents and Confusion No access
  3. Reshaping by Other Means No access
  4. Conclusion No access
2. 1. Three Faces No access
  2. Phase One: Works Better, Costs Less No access
  3. Phase Two: What Should Government Do? No access
  4. Phase Three: Search for Political Relevance No access
  5. The Effects of Reinvention No access
  6. The Lessons of Government Reform No access
  7. Reforming the Reforms No access
  8. The Government Performance and Results Act No access
  9. Information Technology No access
  10. Civil Service Reform No access
  11. Conclusion No access
3. 1. Campaign Finance Law: Theory versus Practice No access
  2. Ailments: Chronic and Acute No access
  3. Comparative Perspectives No access
  4. Alternative Approaches to Reform No access
  5. The Politics of Campaign Finance Reform No access
Contributors No access Pages 479 - 482
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7. G No access
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12. L No access
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18. R No access
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21. U No access
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23. W No access
24. Z No access