New America Policy Papers

Asset ownership plays a central role in the economic security of American families and the broader economy. Assets can be deployed productively, such as to pay for a college education, or tapped to help individuals and families weather unexpected events. Additionally, assets have behavioral effects that can change the manner in which people think about and plan for the future.

Despite its aim, the European Trading Scheme (ETS) for carbon is widely regarded as an inefficient market. The initial design of the scheme has caused trading reactions that do not follow the pricing patterns of other, more efficient commodities.

Within ETS, it isn’t carbon’s price volatility that makes its market seem uncharacteristic of other commodities markets; commodity markets are often characterized by volatility. Instead, it is the fact that carbon’s price drivers are not so easily pinpointed and, therefore, its… more

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Each year, the federal government guarantees billions of dollars in loans disbursed through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, a public-private partnership that provides financial aid to students attending institutions of higher education. Despite the significant investment of taxpayer dollars, the actual  administration of the FFEL Program is largely handled by participating lenders and a group of 35 non-federal guaranty agencies across the country. Guaranty agencies perform a number of administrative functions, such as disbursing federal default insurance provided… more

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has just completed her first official visit to Washington since President Barack Obama took up office. At home Mrs. Merkel has only a few months left to go until an upcoming general election will determine her own political future. This was surely one more reason to send a message of harmony with President Obama back home, as the new U.S. president, much in contrast to his predecessor, enjoys great popularity among German voters. Elections aside, such harmonious gestures can hardly deflect

Executive Summary

This memorandum provides analysis, strategic guidance, and policy concerns and recommendations with regard to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).[1] 

This memorandum includes:

1.      A summary of the latest developments in the BTOP and how they will impact many would-be applicants;

What does the bill do? Why is a bill to promote asset building for children necessary? Who is eligible? Will illegal immigrants or children who become citizens get accounts? Will children born before the bill takes effect get accounts? Why do wealthy people get these accounts? Why do poor people who don't pay taxes get accounts? Is it unrealistic to expect those with low incomes to save when they already struggle to get by? How

In recent weeks, new signs of an economic recovery have emerged in the form of stock market rallies, surprisingly high bank profits, and better-than-feared official unemployment and economic growth reports. But accompanying these so-called green shoots is worrying evidence of a recovery that could be compromised if not cut short altogether by high levels of unemployment and by a long period of unusually weak and uneven job creation.   Not only is actual unemployment more severe than is reflected in official measures, it is also concentrated in those

Recently, discussions around health care reform have begun in earnest among politicians and policymakers in Washington, D.C. and beyond. President Obama has spent the month of June hitting the trail and the airwaves making the case for reform,  and legislators are now aiming to pass a health care reform bill sometime this summer. With the possibility of comprehensive changes to health care on the horizon, it is important for leaders and policymakers—as well as citizens—to understand the full argument for… more

With California's fiscal woes mounting, and the government in Sacramento seemingly frozen in place, a constitutional convention has been proposed as a way to fix the Golden State's deeply entrenched structural problems.  But as more people have begun considering this option, several important questions have arisen about some of the details of the Convention, specifically:  1) how would the delegates to the Convention be chosen; 2) how would a Convention of delegates chosen by random selection function, and how would the delegates be educated;

Wireless is the most cost-effective and rapid means to bring broadband access to under-served rural and urban residents. Even after high-capacity Internet access becomes universal, wireless remains as the complementary infrastructure needed to achieve the larger goal of pervasive connectivity. Within a few short years, most Americans are likely to spend more hours each week on mobile than on wired Internet connections. Demand for spectrum will outpace availability under current spectrum man-management policies. Meanwhile, in every… more

Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) Systems are one of the most promising technologies available to increase the range and efficiency of spectrum dependent services. DSA systems locate unused spectrum, and organize their users to operate within the spectrum they have identified. DSA systems ensure no interference to other users by scanning and sensing the environment, as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) NeXt Generation spectrum sharing field tests have established, or through pre-existing knowledge, such as the geolocation database… more

As the U.S. economy and society becomes more and more information-centric and mobile, wireless systems are becoming a major factor in the efficient functioning of our society. Radio spectrum is a key economic input into wireless systems that power our information society and economy and enhance public safety and national security. Since the earliest days of radio regulation in the United States; federal government use of spectrum has been handled independently of other users’ access to spectrum. … more

The time has arrived for the unmet potentials of federal white spaces to receive some well-deserved attention. While many policy analysts have focused on the fate of the 700 MHz auctions, the digital TV transition, and the promise of television white space devices, the best available data suggests that the majority of federal spectrum capacity is left unused (McHenry, 2003; McHenry, 2004) – a situation that has gone largely unexamined. Strategic reuse of this spectrum could help obviate the need… more

The following chart lists the price, download and upload speeds of residential Internet services in the U.S. and Japan.

Green investment is a major pillar of the president's economic recovery plan.  Yet, America's dependence on foreign countries to produce green technologies may undermine this recovery strategy.  Using a list of green goods derived from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), we have determined that the United States ran an overall green trade deficit of -$8.9 billion in 2008, including a deficit of -$6.4 billion in the critical category of renewable energy,… more

Davos Man, by all accounts, is worried. The severity of the global economic recession has alarmed many of the architects of the global economy. Fears of resurgent economic nationalism are rampant. At the same time, some world leaders - most prominently, French President Nikolas Sarkozy, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel - argue for instituting a new regime of regulation for the financial sector that will be global rather than merely national in scale.

Our Vision for Health System Reform:

The United States now confronts its greatest economic challenges since the Great Depression. In addition to resolving crises in financial and housing markets, trade deficits with China and on oil must be addressed for the U.S. economy to achieve robust growth.

Executive Summary

San Jose uses a two-round runoff system to elect its mayor and city council, with the first election in June and a runoff election in November if no candidate wins a majority of votes in June. Voter turnout in the June general election is about half that of the November election, with turnout disproportionately lower among traditionally disenfranchised communities.  With most elections being decided in a low turnout June election, a small and unrepresentative segment of the community is having an oversized effect