New America Policy Papers

In undertaking the task of rebuilding a viable financial system in the aftermath of the 2008-09 Wall Street meltdown, the principle that should guide all discussions should be straightforward:  how to design measures that are capable of promoting both financial stability and broadly-shared social welfare. 

Executive Summary

When the Federal Communications Commission delivers a National Broadband Plan to Congress in February 2010 the United States will not be among the first countries to implement a national broadband strategy. Taiwan, Japan, and Korea all introduced national broadband strategies in the beginning of this decade and fifteen European Union Member states proposed National Broadband Strategies in 2003. This report reviews successful strategies and goals from six of these countries: Japan, Korea, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Taiwan.

Fiscal conservatives are opportunistically looking to use the recession induced spike in the budget deficit to revive their crusade for fiscal austerity. The case for fiscal austerity is based on flawed economic analysis and it is not supported by thoughtful budget analysis. It was the wrong agenda before the crisis and it is even more wrong now.

It might be called the "World's Scariest Chart."  It is a snapshot of the fragile foundations of the American economy and the epic boulder it now finds itself trapped beneath. The graph shows total debt outstanding in the United States, both secured and unsecured, as a percentage of GDP. In 1981 it was a manageable 168 percent, in 1996 253 percent, and by the first quarter of 2009 with the collapse of the housing and credit bubbles it had reached a staggering 373 percent of GDP.

 

There are 40 million persons living in the U.S. who lack a bank account. Many of these "unbanked" individuals lack sufficient identification necessary to meet banks' customer identification verification procedures, which are required by the Bank Secrecy (BSA) and USA PATRIOT Acts. Research shows that insufficient identification is one of the top three reasons for account denial and that customers who are denied a bank account once often do not return to a bank again.

The Passageway Account Proposal

Determining an appropriate definition of broadband is a critical part of the Commission's development of a National Broadband Plan. An appropriate definition is essential not only for establishing "what is broadband" and "where is it available," but also for shaping the future trajectory of telecommunications innovation in the United States.  The Open Technology Initiative of the New America Foundation makes the following recommendations for the Commission to consider in defining broadband:  

"The Koizumi reforms" was one of the portmanteau concepts most commonly bandied about in Japanese political debates in the summer of 2009 as the parties geared up for the August election. Japan had in fact embarked on its neo-liberal agenda of deregulation and privatization well before the charismatic Mr. Koizumi laconically offered his "no gain without pain" recipes, but it was pushed with most enthusiasm during his premiership from 2001 to 2006.

As part of the Open Technology Initiative's continuing research to compare international broadband capabilities and policies, we have completed this report comparing bandwidth or usage cap policies between Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the United States and Japan. Bandwidth caps are imposed limits on the amount of data or traffic a subscriber can consume over their Internet connection.

If you are interested in applying for Federal stimulus money for broadband related programs but are unsure where to start, the attached zine is a great place to start. Print it, pass it out, use it to spread the information in your community.

Asset ownership is seen as having an increasingly influential link to a variety of social outcomes. While the UK has experienced increases in economic wealth and improvements in overall living standards over the past 40 years, trends in asset ownership have reversed. More recently, 15 years of economic stability led to a feeling of increased financial security and individual savings were eroded in a boom of consumerism. The distribution of this increase in wealth has been unequal… more

This document has been prepared by the New America Foundation's Open Technology initiative as an application guide for the State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program outlined in the July 1, 2009 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

As President Obama receives formal recommendations in the coming months on issues surrounding the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it is crucial that policymakers and the public have an accurate picture of the threat to the United States posed by those detainees already released. Contrary to recent assertions that one in seven, or 14 percent, of the former prisoners had "returned to the battlefield," our analysis of Pentagon reports, news stories, and other public records indicates that the number who were confirmed or suspected to… more

“Every man, and every body of men on earth, possesses the right of self-government…I am not among those who fear the people.”  --Thomas Jefferson “This representative assembly should be in miniature an exact portrait of the people at large.  It should think, feel, reason, and act like them.”  -- John Adams “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”  - Alexis… more

This guide has been prepared by the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative as a reference guide for applications for the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP).  In addition to general information about the application process and eligibility requirements outlined in the July 1, 2009 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), this guide breaks down the application into categories of responsibility and a sample timeline.  While not intended as a replacement for the

This guide has been prepared by the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative as a reference guide for applications for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). In addition to general information about the application process and eligibility requirements outlined in the July 1, 2009 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), this guide breaks down the application into categories of responsibility and a sample timeline. While not intended as

This guide has been prepared by the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative as a reference guide for applicants for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). In addition to general information about the application process and eligibility requirements outlined in the July 1, 2009 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), this guide breaks down the application into categories of responsibility and a sample timeline. While not intended as

This guide has been prepared by the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative as a reference guide for applicants for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). In addition to general information about the application process and eligibility requirements outlined in the July 1, 2009 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), this guide breaks down the application into categories of responsibility and a sample timeline. While not intended as