li Raikkonen needs time to acclimatise, says Watson By en.espnf1.com Published On :: Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:19:17 GMT Former grand prix winner John Watson says that Kimi Raikkonen will need time to familiarise himself with the new technicalities of the sport when he returns to drive for Lotus Renault for the 2012 season Full Article
li Liuzzi optimistic despite crash By en.espnf1.com Published On :: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:09:16 GMT Tonio Liuzzi is optimistic he can still have a good race despite crashing out of qualifying for the German Grand Prix Full Article
li Damage limitation for Mercedes By en.espnf1.com Published On :: Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:01:29 GMT Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher admitted there was not much more they could have done after a frustrating German Grand Prix saw them finish in 8th and 9th respectively on home soil Full Article
li Force India draws a line under Hockenheim By en.espnf1.com Published On :: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:25:12 GMT Force India is ready to "draw a line" under its disastrous German Grand Prix after a pit stop mix up saw its drivers finish 16th and 17th Full Article
li Oil Markets Provide a Glimpse of the Post-Pandemic Future By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 7, 2020 Apr 7, 2020Henry Kissinger warns that many existing domestic and international institutions that have helped govern the past decades will not survive the Covid-19 crisis. He is surely correct. Full Article
li There's No Such Thing as Good Liberal Hegemony By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 21, 2020 Apr 21, 2020Stephen Walt argues that as democracies falter, it's worth considering whether the United States made the right call in attempting to create a liberal world order. Full Article
li So Do Morals Matter in U.S. Foreign Policy? I Asked the Expert. By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 24, 2020 Apr 24, 2020In his new book, Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump, Joseph S. Nye developed a scorecard to determine how U.S. presidents since 1945 factored questions of ethics and morality into their foreign policy. In an interview, Henry Farrell asked him a few questions to get to the heart of his findings. Full Article
li Oil's Collapse Is a Geopolitical Reset In Disguise By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 29, 2020 Apr 29, 2020The world is on the cusp of a geopolitical reset. The global pandemic could well undermine international institutions, reinforce nationalism and spur de-globalization. But far-sighted leadership could also rekindle cooperation, glimmers of which appeared in the G-20’s offer of debt relief for some of the world’s poorest countries, a joint plea from more than 200 former national leaders for a more coordinated pandemic response and an unprecedented multinational pact to arrest the crash in oil markets. Full Article
li Maxwell Taylor's Cold War: From Berlin to Vietnam By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: May 6, 2020 May 6, 2020Nathaniel Moir reviews Maxwell Taylor's Cold War: From Berlin to Vietnam by Ingo Trauschweizer. Full Article
li Next Moves on Climate Policy: A Conversation with Sue Biniaz By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: May 8, 2020 May 8, 2020Sue Biniaz, former lead climate negotiator for the United States, shared her thoughts on the postponement of COP-26, and on the possible re-engagement of the U.S. in the international effort to address climate change in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Full Article
li Africa in the news: The Uganda-EU deal, politics, airlines, and COVID-19 updates By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Sat, 21 Mar 2020 11:30:42 +0000 Uganda and the European Union strengthen trade and business relationship Earlier this month, Uganda hosted a delegation from the European Union (EU) for the first-ever Uganda-Europe Business Forum. The forum is a part of a larger effort to “facilitate collaboration between private and public actors and partnership between Ugandan and European companies, in the framework… Full Article
li Africa in the news: Debt relief in Somalia, government efforts to combat COVID-19, and new Boko Haram attacks By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Sat, 28 Mar 2020 11:30:13 +0000 Debt relief in Somalia and other African countries On Wednesday, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) jointly announced that Somalia is now eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Successfully completing the HIPC program will reduce Somalia’s external debt from $5.2 billion currently to $557 million in about… Full Article
li Africa in the news: COVID-19 impacts African economies and daily lives; clashes in the Sahel By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Sat, 11 Apr 2020 11:30:53 +0000 African governments begin borrowing from IMF, World Bank to soften hit from COVID-19 This week, several countries and multilateral organizations announced additional measures to combat the economic fallout from COVID-19 in Africa. Among the actions taken by countries, Uganda’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point to 8 percent and directed… Full Article
li From “Western education is forbidden” to the world’s deadliest terrorist group By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 16 Apr 2020 15:15:10 +0000 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Boko Haram — which translates literally to “Western education is forbidden” — has, since 2009, killed tens of thousands of people in Nigeria, and has displaced more than two million others. This paper uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the relationship between education and Boko Haram. It consists of i) a quantitative analysis… Full Article
li As conflict intensifies in Nigeria’s North East, so too does a reliance on troubled militias By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 13:58:17 +0000 Since 2009, Boko Haram has caused devastating insecurity, impoverishment, displacement, and other suffering in Nigeria’s poor and arid North East region. Although the Nigerian government and military mobilized against the group between 2015 and 2018, intense insecurity and violence not only persist, but have actually increased since 2018. In the past two years, the Nigerian… Full Article
li How the AfCFTA will improve access to ‘essential products’ and bolster Africa’s resilience to respond to future pandemics By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 30 Apr 2020 22:10:14 +0000 Africa’s extreme vulnerability to the disruption of international supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to reduce the continent’s dependence on non-African trading partners and unlock Africa’s business potential. While African countries are right to focus their energy on managing the immediate health crisis, they must not lose sight of finalizing the Africa… Full Article
li Why the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord is a Mistake By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Dec 4, 2019 Dec 4, 2019The authors explain why the Trump administration's reiteration of its intent to finalize U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is a tragic mistake that will weaken us as a nation. Full Article
li Creating Subnational Climate Institutions in China By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Dec 18, 2019 Dec 18, 2019This discussion paper (available in English and Chinese) describes the evolution of decentralization over the reform period that began in China in 1978, different theories of institutional change in China, and how the empirical and theoretical literatures help scholars and policymakers understand the development of institutions for governing GHG-emitting activities. Full Article
li The Value of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mar 4, 2020 Mar 4, 2020Growing concern around climate change has ignited recent interest in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies and generated a series of studies on its global market potential. Full Article
li Geopolitical and Market Implications of Renewable Hydrogen: New Dependencies in a Low-Carbon Energy World By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mar 4, 2020 Mar 4, 2020To accelerate the global transition to a low-carbon economy, all energy systems and sectors must be actively decarbonized. While hydrogen has been a staple in the energy and chemical industries for decades, renewable hydrogen is drawing increased attention today as a versatile and sustainable energy carrier with the potential to play an important piece in the carbon-free energy puzzle. Countries around the world are piloting new projects and policies, yet adopting hydrogen at scale will require innovating along the value chains; scaling technologies while significantly reducing costs; deploying enabling infrastructure; and defining appropriate national and international policies and market structures. What are the general principles of how renewable hydrogen may reshape the structure of global energy markets? What are the likely geopolitical consequences such changes would cause? A deeper understanding of these nascent dynamics will allow policy makers and corporate investors to better navigate the challenges and maximize the opportunities that decarbonization will bring, without falling into the inefficient behaviors of the past. Full Article
li Green Ambitions, Brown Realities: Making Sense of Renewable Investment Strategies in the Gulf By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mar 13, 2020 Mar 13, 2020Gulf countries have hailed their investments in renewable energy, but some basic questions remain about the extent to which it makes sense for GCC states to invest aggressively in renewables. The sheer magnitude of such investments will require these countries to mobilize significant public resources. Therefore, such an assessment requires these countries to focus on national interests, not just a desire to be perceived as constructive participants in the global transition away from carbon energy. This report starts by identifying four common strategic justifications for investing in renewable energy in GCC countries. Each of these rationales highlights a different aspect of renewable energy investments. In addition, each rationale is based on different assumptions about the underlying drivers of such investments, and each rationale is based on different assumptions about the future of energy. Full Article
li Harvard Business School Professor Rebecca Henderson Outlines Ways Organizations are Changing in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic and Climate Change in New Edition of "Environmental Insights" By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 8, 2020 Apr 8, 2020Rebecca Henderson, the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University, shared her perspectives on how large organizations are changing in response to the coronavirus pandemic and climate change in the newest episode of "Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program," a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Listen to the interview here. Listen to the interview here. Full Article
li Organizational Responses to COVID-19 and Climate Change: A Conversation with Rebecca Henderson By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 8, 2020 Apr 8, 2020Rebecca Henderson, the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University, shared her perspectives on how large organizations are changing in response to the coronavirus pandemic and climate change in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” Full Article
li Transatlantic Dialogue: The Missing Link in Europe’s Post-Covid-19 Green Deal? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 10, 2020 Apr 10, 2020This policy brief emphasizes that the European Green Deal's effectiveness in a post Covid-19 world will require the involvement of strategic partners, especially the US. In the context of a potential US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the consequential vacuum, it will be even more important to engage the US in implementing the GD. In light of divergence between the US and the EU during past climate negotiations (e.g. Kyoto, Copenhagen, and Paris), we suggest a gradual approach to US engagement with GD initiatives and objectives. Full Article
li New Committee to Advise Bacow on Sustainability Goals By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 20, 2020 Apr 20, 2020Harvard University has created a Presidential Committee on Sustainability (PCS) to advise President Larry Bacow and the University's leadership on sustainability vision, goals, strategy, and partnerships. The Harvard Gazette spoke with committee chairs Rebecca Henderson, the John and Natty McArthur University Professor; John Holdren, the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard Kennedy School; and Katie Lapp, executive vice president, about why it is so important to act now; the role of the PCS in developing collaborative and innovative projects; and how the campus community can get involved. Full Article
li Oil's Collapse Is a Geopolitical Reset In Disguise By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 29, 2020 Apr 29, 2020The world is on the cusp of a geopolitical reset. The global pandemic could well undermine international institutions, reinforce nationalism and spur de-globalization. But far-sighted leadership could also rekindle cooperation, glimmers of which appeared in the G-20’s offer of debt relief for some of the world’s poorest countries, a joint plea from more than 200 former national leaders for a more coordinated pandemic response and an unprecedented multinational pact to arrest the crash in oil markets. Full Article
li Designing Thoughtful Minimum Wage Policy at the State and Local Levels By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 00:00:00 -0400 Rising wage inequality and stagnant real wages have contributed to inequality in family incomes during the past three decades. While the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have helped mitigate the impact on low-income families (Bitler and Hoynes 2010), federal minimum wage policy has not contributed to the solution. The federal minimum wage has failed to keep pace with both the cost of living and the median wage in the labor market. As a consequence, working full-time at the minimum wage does not allow many families to escape poverty, or to attain economic self-sufficiency. State and local governments can set minimum wages in excess of the statutory federal minimum wage. Indeed, state and local governments have played an important role in establishing minimum wages across the country; as a result, thirty-seven states had state minimum wages exceeding the federal level in 2007 prior to the most recent federal increase. Cities, too, have begun setting higher minimum wages, as evidenced by city-level wage minimums in Albuquerque, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Washington, DC; other cities are actively exploring possibilities of raising minimum wages. In this policy memo, I propose a framework for effective state and local minimum wage policy. First, I propose using half the local-area median wage as an important gauge for setting an appropriate level of the minimum wage. Second, I propose that state and local governments take into account the local cost of living as a relevant consideration in setting a minimum wage, and I provide estimates of how state minimum wages would vary if they reflected cost-of-living differences. I also recommend the use of regional consumer price indexes (CPIs) to index the local minimum wage. Finally, I propose that cities and counties coordinate regional wage setting to mitigate possible negative effects of local mandates. The implementation of the state and local framework does not override the need for reform at the federal level. Thoughtful reforms to the federal minimum wage can help reduce poverty and mitigate inequality. The federal minimum wage has been the focus of substantial debate by academics and policymakers; this proposal focuses on state and local reforms that have received substantially less attention. These state and local reforms can be an important part of the policy portfolio for reducing the incidence of poverty and for helping low-income families support themselves as they strive toward the middle class. In particular, although the federal minimum wage serves as a floor in the labor market, there is some room for additional increases in higher-wage areas. Downloads Designing Thoughtful Minimum Wage Policy at the State and Local Levels - Full Text Authors Arindrajit Dube Publication: The Hamilton Project Image Source: Hero Images Full Article
li Policies to Address Poverty in America By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 00:00:00 -0400 Brookings Institution Press 2014 196pp. One-in-seven adults and one-in-five children in the United States live in poverty. Individuals and families living in poverty not only lack basic, material necessities, but they are also disproportionally afflicted by many social and economic challenges. Some of these challenges include the increased possibility of an unstable home situation, inadequate education opportunities at all levels, and a high chance of crime and victimization. Given this growing social, economic, and political concern, The Hamilton Project at Brookings asked academic experts to develop policy proposals confronting the various challenges of America's poorest citizens, and to introduce innovative approaches to addressing poverty. When combined, the scope and impact of these proposals has the potential to vastly improve the lives of the poor. The resulting 14 policy memos are included in The Hamilton Project's Policies to Address Poverty in America. The main areas of focus include promoting early childhood development, supporting disadvantaged youth, building worker skills, and improving safety net and work support. ABOUT THE EDITORS Benjamin H. Harris Melissa S. Kearney Downloads Policies to Address Poverty in America -- Full Book Full Article
li Challenges Facing Low-Income Individuals and Families By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 00:00:00 -0500 Thanks for inviting me to testify on the important topic of challenges facing low-income families. It is an honor to testify before the Human Resources Subcommittee. I applaud your purposes and hope that I can help the Subcommittee members understand our current circumstances regarding work, benefits, and poverty by single mothers a little better. For well over a decade, my Brookings colleague Isabel Sawhill, a Democrat and former member of the Clinton administration, and I have been analyzing data and writing about the factors that influence both poverty rates and economic mobility.[i] We long ago concluded that education, work, and marriage are major keys to reducing poverty and increasing economic opportunity. We also emphasize the role of personal responsibility in all three of these vital components of building a path to the American Dream. But government programs to help low-income American parents escape poverty and build opportunity for themselves and their children are also important. In today’s hearing, the Subcommittee is taking testimony about marriage and work, two of these three keys to reducing poverty and increasing opportunity. Brad Wilcox from the University of Virginia will discuss the decline of married-couple families, the explosion of births outside marriage, and the consequent increase in the number of the nation’s children being reared by single (and often never-married) mothers. The increase in the proportion of children in female-headed families contributes to substantial increases in poverty by virtue of the fact that poverty rates in female-headed families are four to five times as great as poverty rates in married-couple families.[ii] If the share of the nation’s children in female-headed families continues to increase as it has been doing for four decades, policies to reduce poverty will be fighting an uphill battle because the rising rates of single-parent families will exert strong upward pressure on the poverty rate.[iii] But perhaps of even greater consequence, children reared in single-parent families are more likely to drop out of school, more likely to be arrested, less likely to go to college, more likely to be involved in a nonmarital birth, and more likely to be idle (not in school, not employed) than children from married-couple families.[iv] In this way, a disproportionate number of children from single-parent families carry poverty into the next generation and thereby minimize intergenerational mobility. So far public and nongovernmental programs have not been able to reverse falling marriage rates or rising nonmarital birth rates, but there is a lot we have done and can do to increase work rates, especially the work rates of low-income mothers. The goal of my testimony today is to explain the government policies that have been adopted in recent decades to increase work rates and subsidize earnings, which in turn have led to substantial declines in poverty. I make two points and a small number of recommendations. The first point is that the employment of low-income single mothers has increased over the two decades, in large part because of work requirements in federal programs, especially Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The recessions of 2001 and 2007-2009 caused the employment rate of single mothers to fall (as well as nearly every other demographic group), but after both recessions work rates began to rise again. The second point is that the work-based safety net is an effective way to boost the income of working families with children that would be poor without the work supports. In my view, this combination of work requirements and work supports is the most successful approach the nation has yet developed to fight poverty in single-parent families with children. Here’s the essence of the policy approach: first, encourage or cajole single mothers to work by establishing work requirements in federal welfare programs; second, subsidize the earnings of low-income workers, both to increase their work incentive and to help them escape poverty. The primary work-based safety-net programs are the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Additional Child Tax Credit, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child care, and Medicaid. [i] Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill, Work and Marriage: The Way to End Poverty and Welfare (Washington: Brookings Institution, 2003); Haskins and Sawhill, Creating an Opportunity Society (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2009) [ii] Ron Haskins, “The Family is Here to Stay,” Future of Children 25, no. 2 (forthcoming); Kaye Hymowitz, Jason S. Carroll, W. Bradford Wilcox, and Kelleen Kaye, Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America (Charlottesville, VA: The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and The Relate Institute, 2013). For an explanation of the central role of family structure in the continuing black-white income gap, see Deirdra Bloome, “Racial Inequality Trends and the Intergenerational Persistence of Income and Family Structure,” American Sociological Review 79 (December 2014): 1196-1225. [iii] Maria Cancian and Ron Haskins, “Changes in Family Composition: Implications for Income, Poverty, and Public Policy,” ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 654 (2014): 31-47. [iv] Sara McLanahan, Laura Tach, and Daniel Schneider, “The Causal Effect of Father Absence,” Annual Review of Sociology 29 (2013): 399-427. Downloads Full Testimony Authors Ron Haskins Publication: Subcommittee on Human Resources and Committee on Ways and Means Image Source: © Lucy Nicholson / Reuters Full Article
li Can we take the politics out of the federal minimum wage? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 15 Apr 2015 17:00:00 -0400 At 77 years of age, the federal minimum wage deserves a respite from the day-to-day combat of political life. Today, protestors around the country are demanding a $15 minimum. But few observers think this level is economically desirable: even fewer think that it is likely. Democrats want a higher minimum, and say so loudly. Republicans of a free-market persuasion mostly do not—but tend to stay silent because they know that swing voters look positively at raising the wages of low-earners. The minimum wage is lagging… Congressional political stalemate has meant the U.S. wage floor has lagged behind median earnings. In contrast wage growth in other OECD countries has performed much better, as this graph produced by the Hamilton Project shows: Advanced nations have de-politicized minimum wage decisions The federal minimum wage is an established piece of the U.S. policy furniture—and one that is quite dated. It now makes sense to consider taking some of the power and responsibility for setting the wage rate out of the hands of politicians—just as interest rates are set by the Federal Reserve. This is not a novel proposal in international terms. In most advanced economies, minimum wage decisions are not purely political. Out of 66 countries studied by Tito Boeri in 2009, 24 delegate the determination the minimum wage level to a tripartite body; 26 countries set the minimum wage after taking advice following formal consultation between the Government and representatives of employers and workers; and just 16 countries (including the U.S.) set the minimum wage through a simple legislative vote. Over in the U.K., the Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron just jacked up the national minimum wage by 3% up to £6.70, with barely a squeak of protest from employers or the right wing of his own party. Why? Because, like his two predecessors, he simply followed the advice of the Low Pay Commission, which is comprised of nine commissioners—three each from trade unions, employer organizations and academia. Two options for taking the political heat out of the U.S. minimum wage Can the U.S. follow suit? And if it can, what might the new system look like? Two options at least are worth considering. 1. A Federal Minimum Wage Advisory Board. This could be made up (like the U.K. version) of nine members: three representatives of employer organizations, three from labor organizations, and three independent labor economists. The Board would recommend a rate for the national minimum wage each year, which would then be enacted by Congress in the usual manner. The Board would have a strong incentive to set a rate likely to be adopted by Congress, in order to establish and maintain its reputation: there is, after all, little point in sitting on a Board that is ignored. The Board’s recommendation would not be binding and would not become the legal ‘default’ level. But because the advice is likely to be sensible, Congress would likely be inclined to follow it. 2. Wage Indexation. An alternative—favored by my Brookings colleague Gary Burtless—would be to simultaneously raise the minimum wage and introduce automatic indexing, lifting the minimum wage at the same rate as either consumer prices or the median wage—preferably the latter. In effect, this would do for the minimum wage what President Nixon did for Social Security. Congress would have the power to suspend a rise—perhaps if unemployment reached a certain threshold—but the default position would be to link changes in the minimum wage to changes in the median wage or in the broader consumer economy. Policy commitment devices in action These are both examples of what I have called policy commitment devices—in a new paper, Ulysses Goes to Washington—that help to overcome political myopia in order to support longer-term policy objectives. In the first case, taking advice from an independent commission, the commitment is somewhat less binding, although as James Madison knew, ‘the counsels and checks of friends’ can carry plenty of weight. Indexation would be a tighter form of binding, since inaction on the part of politicians would lead to an uprating of minimum wage, rather than the current stasis. For both sides, there are political attractions to sub-contracting some decision-making power over the minimum wage. By accepting the advice of an independent body or allowing indexation to do its silent work, Republicans can keep their business donors and right-wing critics at bay; Democrats can do the same for unions and the political left. Sometimes the most powerful thing politicians can do is give some power away. The minimum wage is now perhaps a case in point. Authors Richard V. Reeves Image Source: © Brian Snyder / Reuters Full Article
li Helping Americans work more and gain skills for higher-paying jobs is vital for boosting mobility By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 03 Dec 2015 00:01:00 -0500 Improving the labor market and encouraging work are central to our goals of achieving greater responsibility and opportunity in America. The private economy is the arena where most Americans work hard to realize their dreams. But employment today is failing to achieve the promise it did a few decades ago. Wages of unskilled workers have been fairly stagnant in real terms (especially among men) and have fallen relative to those of more-educated workers; and some groups of Americans (like less-educated men generally and black men, specifically) are working considerably less than they once did. Stagnant wages and low work participation among some groups of workers are blocking progress. Both must be addressed. In Chapter 4 of a new report from the AEI-Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity, the Working Group recommends policies that: Expand opportunities for the disadvantaged by improving their skills; Make work pay better than it does now for the less educated; Expand both work requirements and opportunities for the hard-to-employ while maintaining an effective work-based safety net for the most vulnerable members of our society, especially children; and Make more jobs available. Downloads Download Chapter 4: WorkExplore the full report Authors AEI-Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity Full Article
li Class Notes: Selective College Admissions, Early Life Mortality, and More By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:36:42 +0000 This week in Class Notes: The Texas Top Ten Percent rule increased equity and economic efficiency. There are big gaps in U.S. early-life mortality rates by family structure. Locally-concentrated income shocks can persistently change the distribution of poverty within a city. Our top chart shows how income inequality changed in the United States between 2007 and 2016. Tammy Kim describes the effect of the… Full Article
li COVID-19 has thrust universities into online learning—how should they adapt? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 17:13:44 +0000 There is one golden rule for flying with an infant or toddler: Do whatever it takes to get through the flight peacefully with no harm done. Every parent knows this means relaxing their standards. Planting your kid in front of an iPad screen or giving them not so healthy treats might not win you a… Full Article
li Class Notes: Harvard Discrimination, California’s Shelter-in-Place Order, and More By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 19:21:40 +0000 This week in Class Notes: California's shelter-in-place order was effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Asian Americans experience significant discrimination in the Harvard admissions process. The U.S. tax system is biased against labor in favor of capital, which has resulted in inefficiently high levels of automation. Our top chart shows that poor workers are much more likely to keep commuting in… Full Article
li Why is the United States So Bad at Foreign Policy? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Jan 13, 2020 Jan 13, 2020Stephen Walt writes that the United States' unusual historical experience, geographic isolation, large domestic market, and general ignorance have weakened its ability to make viable foreign-policy strategies. Full Article
li What Makes for a Moral Foreign Policy? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Jan 21, 2020 Jan 21, 2020Joseph Nye's new book rates the efforts of presidents from FDR to Trump. Full Article
li Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
li The Need for Creative and Effective Nuclear Security Vulnerability Assessment and Testing By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 10, 2020 Feb 10, 2020Realistic, creative vulnerability assessment and testing are critical to finding and fixing nuclear security weaknesses and avoiding over-confidence. Both vulnerability assessment and realistic testing are needed to ensure that nuclear security systems are providing the level of protection required. Systems must be challenged by experts thinking like adversaries, trying to find ways to overcome them. Effective vulnerability assessment and realistic testing are more difficult in the case of insider threats, and special attention is needed. Organizations need to find ways to give people the mission and the incentives to find nuclear security weaknesses and suggest ways they might be fixed. With the right approaches and incentives in place, effective vulnerability assessment and testing can be a key part of achieving and sustaining high levels of nuclear security. Full Article
li How Do Past Presidents Rank in Foreign Policy? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mar 2, 2020 Mar 2, 2020How do presidents incorporate morality into decisions involving the national interest? Moral considerations explain why Truman, who authorized the use of nuclear weapons in Japan during World War II, later refused General MacArthur's request to use them in China during the Korean War. What is contextual intelligence, and how does it explain why Bush 41 is ranked first in foreign policy, but Bush 43 is found wanting? Is it possible for a president to lie in the service of the public interest? In this episode, Professor Joseph S. Nye considers these questions as he explores the role of morality in presidential decision-making from FDR to Trump. Full Article
li Secrecy, Public Relations and the British Nuclear Debate By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mar 5, 2020 Mar 5, 2020The opening of the British archives has seen historians uncover the secrets of the UK's nuclear weapons programme since the 1990s. While a growing number have sought to expose these former secrets, there has been less effort to consider government secrecy itself. What was kept a secret, when and why? And how and why, notably from the 1980s, did the British government decide to officially disclose greater information about the British nuclear weapons programme to Members of Parliament, journalists, defence academics and the tax-paying general public. Full Article
li Public Testimony on Trump Administration Funding for Nuclear Theft Preventing Programs By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mar 31, 2020 Mar 31, 2020A nuclear explosion detonated anywhere by a terrorist group would be a global humanitarian, economic, and political catastrophe. The current COVID-19 pandemic reminds us not to ignore prevention of and preparation for low-probability, high-consequence disasters. For nuclear terrorism, while preparation is important, prevention must be the top priority. The most effective strategy for keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists is to ensure that nuclear materials and facilities around the world have strong and sustainable security. Every president for more than two decades has made strengthening nuclear security around the globe a priority. This includes the Trump administration, whose 2018 Nuclear Posture Review states: “[n]uclear terrorism remains among the most significant threats to the security of the United States, allies, and partners.” Full Article
li Living with Uncertainty: Modeling China's Nuclear Survivability By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 11, 2020 Apr 11, 2020A simplified nuclear exchange model demonstrates that China’s ability to launch a successful nuclear retaliatory strike in response to an adversary’s nuclear first strike has been and remains far from assured. This study suggests that China’s criterion for effective nuclear deterrence is very low. Full Article
li So Do Morals Matter in U.S. Foreign Policy? I Asked the Expert. By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 24, 2020 Apr 24, 2020In his new book, Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump, Joseph S. Nye developed a scorecard to determine how U.S. presidents since 1945 factored questions of ethics and morality into their foreign policy. In an interview, Henry Farrell asked him a few questions to get to the heart of his findings. Full Article
li Poll: What the American Public Likes and Hates about Trump's Nuclear Policies By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Apr 27, 2020 Apr 27, 2020The authors conducted a study which highlights how the U.S. public as a whole and various demographic groups view President Donald Trump's positions on nuclear weapons. Full Article
li Maxwell Taylor's Cold War: From Berlin to Vietnam By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: May 6, 2020 May 6, 2020Nathaniel Moir reviews Maxwell Taylor's Cold War: From Berlin to Vietnam by Ingo Trauschweizer. Full Article
li Highlights: New transportation technologies bring rewards and risks By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 13 Sep 2019 18:09:47 +0000 New technologies are transforming the transportation sector. These include autonomous vehicles, ride-sharing services, remote sensors, and unmanned aerial systems, among other developments. As is true with many technologies, however, the products have advanced faster than the policies and regulations surrounding them. On September 10, The Center for Technology Innovation hosted a panel discussion featuring Brookings… Full Article
li Remaking urban transportation and service delivery By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 18 Dec 2019 05:01:29 +0000 Major changes are taking place in urban transportation and service delivery. There are shifts in car ownership, the development of ride-sharing services, investments in autonomous vehicles, the use of remote sensors for mobile applications, and changes in package and service delivery. New tools are being deployed to transport people, deliver products, and respond to a… Full Article
li Extending soldiers’ assignments may help the military maintain readiness By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2020 17:12:35 +0000 Following President Trump’s mid-March declaration that the COVID-19 outbreak constituted a “national emergency,” the Department of Defense (DoD) moved swiftly to implement travel restrictions for DoD employees intended to “preserve force readiness, limit the continuing spread of the virus, and preserve the health and welfare” of military service members, their families and DoD civilians. In… Full Article
li COVID-19 and military readiness: Preparing for the long game By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 12:56:42 +0000 With the saga over the U.S.S. Teddy Roosevelt aircraft carrier starting to fade from the headlines, a larger question about the American armed forces and COVID-19 remains. How will we keep our military combat-ready, and thus fully capable of deterrence globally, until a vaccine is available to our troops? It will also be crucial to… Full Article
li Webinar: Policing in the era of COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: The consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic stretch across the entirety of government services. Major police agencies have reported absentee rates as high as 20% due to officers who are either themselves afflicted with the virus or in need of self-quarantine. Reported crimes are generally down in America’s cities as a result of the many… Full Article
