and International Studies Center for Economic, Governance – författare

Today, the nation faces an array of housing and urban policy challenges. No federal department other than HUD focuses explicitly on the well-being of urban places or on the spatial relationships among people and economic activities in urban areas. If HUD, Congress, mayors, and other policy makers are to respond effectively to urban issues, they need a much more robust and effective Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R).PD&R conducts independent research and program evaluation, funds data collection and research by outside organizations, and provides policy advice to the Secretary and to other offices in HUD. Most of PD&R’s work is of high quality, relevant, timely, and useful. With adequate resources, PD&R could lead the nation’s ongoing process of learning, debate, and experimentation about critical housing and urban development challenges. Rebuilding the Research Capacity at HUD makes seven major recommendations about PD&R’s resources and responsibilities, including more active engagement with policy makers, formalizing various informal practices, strengthening surveys and data sets, and more. Acknowledging that the current level of funding for PD&R is inadequate, the book also makes several additional recommendations to help enable PD&R to reach its full potential.

Aging populations are generating both challenges and opportunities for societies around the globe. Increases in longevity and improvements in health raise many questions. What steps can be taken to optimize physical and cognitive health and productivity across the life span? How will older people finance their retirement and health care? What will be the macroeconomic implications of an aging population? How will communities be shaped by the shift in age structure? What global interconnections will affect how each society handles the aging of its population?To address these questions, the National Academies organized a symposium, summarized in the present volume, to determine how best to contribute to an evidence-based dialogue on population aging that will shape policies and programs. Presentations in the fields of biology, public health, medicine, informatics, macroeconomics, finance, urban planning, and engineering approached the challenges of aging from many different angles. The presenters reviewed the current state of knowledge in their respective fields, identifying areas of consensus and controversy and delineating the priority questions for further research and policy development.

Aging populations are generating both challenges and opportunities for societies around the globe. Increases in longevity and improvements in health raise many questions. What steps can be taken to optimize physical and cognitive health and productivity across the life span? How will older people finance their retirement and health care? What will be the macroeconomic implications of an aging population? How will communities be shaped by the shift in age structure? What global interconnections will affect how each society handles the aging of its population?To address these questions, the National Academies organized a symposium, summarized in the present volume, to determine how best to contribute to an evidence-based dialogue on population aging that will shape policies and programs. Presentations in the fields of biology, public health, medicine, informatics, macroeconomics, finance, urban planning, and engineering approached the challenges of aging from many different angles. The presenters reviewed the current state of knowledge in their respective fields, identifying areas of consensus and controversy and delineating the priority questions for further research and policy development.

Today, the nation faces an array of housing and urban policy challenges. No federal department other than HUD focuses explicitly on the well-being of urban places or on the spatial relationships among people and economic activities in urban areas. If HUD, Congress, mayors, and other policy makers are to respond effectively to urban issues, they need a much more robust and effective Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R).PD&R conducts independent research and program evaluation, funds data collection and research by outside organizations, and provides policy advice to the Secretary and to other offices in HUD. Most of PD&R’s work is of high quality, relevant, timely, and useful. With adequate resources, PD&R could lead the nation’s ongoing process of learning, debate, and experimentation about critical housing and urban development challenges. Rebuilding the Research Capacity at HUD makes seven major recommendations about PD&R’s resources and responsibilities, including more active engagement with policy makers, formalizing various informal practices, strengthening surveys and data sets, and more. Acknowledging that the current level of funding for PD&R is inadequate, the book also makes several additional recommendations to help enable PD&R to reach its full potential.

Mass media has frequently covered stories concerning "outsourcing" or the moving of U.S. jobs to foreign locations by U.S. multinational companies. More often than not this "outsourcing" is of benefit to the companies'' owners and managers. The discussion has spilled over into the political debate with candidates for national office making statements and suggesting policies for dealing with the issue.

Due to the fact that many companies have fragmented the production process, however, it is difficult to examine the effect of "outsourcing"— the transfer of a business function from inside a firm to an outside source, with no reference to borders of countries— and "offshoring"—the movement of jobs that had been in the United States to a foreign location, without regard to business ownership— on the U.S. as many imports contain U.S. parts and many exports contain foreign parts.

In the current situation, Congress mandated a study by the National Research Council, which was undertaken by the Committee on Analyzing the U.S. Content of Imports and the Foreign Content of Exports under a contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Analyzing the U.S. Content of Imports and the Foreign Content of Exports presents the findings of the committee.The committee refers to the availability and quality of data on the foreign content of U.S. exports and the domestic content of U.S. imports as "the content question." This was not been an easy task as data on actual content simply do not exist.

Mass media has frequently covered stories concerning "outsourcing" or the moving of U.S. jobs to foreign locations by U.S. multinational companies. More often than not this "outsourcing" is of benefit to the companies'' owners and managers. The discussion has spilled over into the political debate with candidates for national office making statements and suggesting policies for dealing with the issue.

Due to the fact that many companies have fragmented the production process, however, it is difficult to examine the effect of "outsourcing"— the transfer of a business function from inside a firm to an outside source, with no reference to borders of countries— and "offshoring"—the movement of jobs that had been in the United States to a foreign location, without regard to business ownership— on the U.S. as many imports contain U.S. parts and many exports contain foreign parts.

In the current situation, Congress mandated a study by the National Research Council, which was undertaken by the Committee on Analyzing the U.S. Content of Imports and the Foreign Content of Exports under a contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Analyzing the U.S. Content of Imports and the Foreign Content of Exports presents the findings of the committee.The committee refers to the availability and quality of data on the foreign content of U.S. exports and the domestic content of U.S. imports as "the content question." This was not been an easy task as data on actual content simply do not exist.