Robert D. Reischauer - Böcker

The federal policy changes that Congress and the President will have to make as we approach the 21st century will be among the most far-reaching since the enactment of the New Deal. The scope of legislation before policymakers as they continue their efforts to balance the budget will be vast and many of its elements very technical. This new, highly accessible book examines the nature of the challenges confronting policymakers, the options that are available to address these challenges, and the ramifications of the various options.This new book, which continues Brookings' highly acclaimed and influential Setting National Priorities series, will serve as a guide for understanding and evaluating proposals of the next Congress and the new administration. It is also designed to inform the policy debate during the presidential election. Edited by Robert Reischauer, one of the nation's most noted budget experts, the book covers such critical issues as prospects for economic growth, how to reduce domestic discretionary spending, how to restructure Medicare; how much to lower the safety net, how to reshape national security for the post-Cold War world, whether to transform the tax system, and how to prepare for the retirement of the baby boom generation.This book will be extremely useful for citizens anxious to make sense out of the campaign rhetoric, journalists attempting to explain the issues at play, and students of public policy, public health, political science, and economics.In addition to Reischauer, the contributors include Henry J. Aaron, Barry Bosworth, Gary Burtless, David Cutler, William G. Gale, Thomas E. Mann, Charles L. Schultze, John D. Steinbruner, R. Kent Weaver, and Joshua M. Wiener.

In this cross-cutting analysis, some of the nation's most prominent social insurance experts go beyond recent budget debates to examine the fundamental and technical choices Medicare poses for the American people in the next century. The book begins with a consideration of the underlying social contract between Medicare's beneficiaries and workers. Pointing out that Medicare historically has had particular significance for civil rights and women's economic security in addition to providing health security, the authors debate the appropriate social contract for the future. The book also lays out the challenges in financing Medicare as health care costs rise and the population ages.Several authors explore how the growth in managed care is likely to affect Medicare beneficiaries with particular emphasis on beneficiaries with chronic illness, and they address some of the policy changes needed to make managed care better. In addition, they also look at how managed-care tools could be applied to the fee-for-service sector. The book concludes with an examination of how public opinion, politics, and leadership affect the prospects for significant Medicare restructuring in the near and long term.Copublished with the National Academy of Social Insurance

""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.

A Brookings Institution Press, Committee for Economic Development, and Urban Institute Press publicationFor decades, the use of vouchers has been widely debated. But often lost in the heat of debate is the fact that vouchers are just another tool in the government's tool chest, a restricted subsidy that falls somewhere between the extremes of cash and direct government provision of services. The instrument itself is not new—the 1944 GI Bill of Rights was a voucher, and vouchers for food, college aid, and housing have been in place for decades. Until now, however, the study of vouchers has been restricted to a few controversial applications.This volume, which grew out of a conference sponsored by the Brookings Institution, the Urban Institute, and the Committee for Economic Development, fills the gap, offering a framework for comparative analysis of specific policy issues related to vouchers. Its 16 essays address the economics, politics, and legal issues of voucher use and explore how vouchers are currently employed in the United States and abroad for education, child care, job training, housing, and health care. C. Eugene Steuerle is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and has worked under four different U.S. presidents on a variety of reform issues in such areas as social security, budget, tax, and health policy. Robert D. Reischauer, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, was director of the Congressional Budget Office from 1989 to 1995. George Peterson is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute; from 1976 to 1985 he directed the Institute's Public Finance Research Center. Van Doorn Ooms, senior vice president and director of research at the Committee for Economic Development, was formerly executive director for policy and chief economist of the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives, 1989-1990, and was the Budget Committee's chief economist from 1981 to 1988.

Financing the New Federalism is the fifth in a series on the governance of metropolitan areas which aimed to improve the political organisation of metropolitan regions in America. Originally published in 1975, this particular study focusses on federal revenue sharing exploring its effects and implications with the purpose of providing a breadth of views on the subject for policy-makers. This title will be of interest to students of environmental studies.