Setting National Priorities: The 2000 Election and BeyondHenry J. Aaron, Robert Danton Reischauer " 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. |
Contents
The Dawning of a New Era | 1 |
The Economy | 2 |
The Budget | 3 |
The Issues | 14 |
Chapter Summaries | 16 |
Defense and Foreign Policy Time to End the Budget Cuts | 37 |
The Budget Facts | 38 |
US Military Strategy Today | 40 |
The Need to Reform Categorical Programs | 282 |
Beyond City Limits A New Metropolitan Agenda | 303 |
The Patterns of Metropolitan Growth | 304 |
The Dark Side of Metropolitan Growth | 306 |
The Challenges Facing Metropolitan Communities | 308 |
The Impact of Federal and State Policies on Patterns of Metropolitan Growth | 310 |
The Rise of Metropolitan Politics | 316 |
The Federal Metropolitan Agenda | 324 |
The US Military Today | 43 |
Buying Adequate National Defense on 275 Billion a Year | 52 |
International Affairs | 64 |
Conclusion | 69 |
Trade Policy at a Crossroads | 73 |
NAFTA the Uruguay Round and Beyond | 75 |
The Failure to Extend Fast Track | 76 |
Anxiety over Globalization | 81 |
Multiple Reasons to Persist | 84 |
Breaking the Stalemate | 87 |
Families at Risk | 97 |
Families under Stress | 98 |
What Can Be Done? | 110 |
Growing American Inequality Sources and Remedies | 137 |
Why Should We Care? | 140 |
Why Has Inequality Increased? | 144 |
Policy Responses | 152 |
Future Directions | 158 |
Conclusion | 161 |
Measuring Income Inequality | 162 |
Paying for an Aging Population | 167 |
Darling We Are Growing Older | 168 |
The Economic Burden of Dependents | 169 |
Public Budgets | 171 |
Social Security | 172 |
Medicare | 189 |
Medicaid | 203 |
Conclusion | 207 |
The Rocky Road to Tax Reform | 211 |
An Overview | 212 |
Effects of Federal Taxes | 220 |
Does the Budget Surplus Justify Large Tax Cuts? | 232 |
Strategies for Modifying the Current Tax System | 235 |
Specific Reforms | 240 |
Fundamental Tax Reform | 248 |
Conclusion | 261 |
The National Agenda in Elementary and Secondary Education | 269 |
Student Performance | 270 |
The Problem of Teacher Quality | 275 |
Reforming the Governance of Education | 277 |
The Promise and the Challenge | 327 |
Federal Crime Policy Declare a Moratorium | 333 |
Public Concern Keeps the Focus on Crime | 335 |
Counting Crime Victims | 338 |
Sentencing Violent Felons | 341 |
Treating DrugOnly Offenders | 348 |
Handling Juvenile Offenders | 350 |
Environmental Policy in the Next Century | 359 |
Trends in Environmental Quality and Public Opinion | 360 |
The Environmental Protection Agency and Environmental Regulation | 365 |
New Directions in Environmental Policy | 373 |
Global Climate Change | 381 |
Conclusion | 385 |
Changing the Shape of Government | 393 |
An Inventory of Change | 395 |
Accidents and Confusion | 402 |
Reshaping by Other Means | 413 |
Conclusion | 416 |
The Three Faces of Reinvention | 421 |
Three Faces | 422 |
Works Better Costs Less | 423 |
What Should Government Do? | 425 |
Search for Political Relevance | 426 |
The Effects of Reinvention | 428 |
The Lessons of Government Reform | 435 |
Reforming the Reforms | 438 |
The Government Performance and Results Act | 439 |
Information Technology | 441 |
Civil Service Reform | 442 |
Conclusion | 444 |
The US Campaign Finance System under Strain | 449 |
Theory versus Practice | 450 |
Chronic and Acute | 457 |
Comparative Perspectives | 460 |
Alternative Approaches to Reform | 462 |
The Politics of Campaign Finance Reform | 474 |
Contributors | 479 |
483 | |
Other editions - View all
Setting National Priorities: The 2000 Election and Beyond Henry Aaron,Robert D. Reischauer Limited preview - 2011 |
Setting National Priorities: The 2000 Election and Beyond Henry Aaron,Robert D. Reischauer Limited preview - 2011 |
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