The US is alone among industrialized countries in having no broad-based consumption tax at the national level. Yet, consumption taxation is superior to income taxation because it does not penalize saving and investment. Sets forth solutions to commonly perceived problems concerning the taxation of pensions and fringe benefits, business firms, financial intermediaries, international transactions, owner-occupied housing, state and local governments, and nonprofit institutions. Advocates adopting these approaches, so that the US can move to a more progressive tax system. (also as e-book)

(GOVERNMENT * CONSUMPTION TAX * TAXATION: CONSUMPTION VS. SAVING)

Provides a comprehensive survey of past low-income housing programs to conclude that 1) affordability, not quality, is the most pressing challenge for housing policy today; 2) of all the housing programs, vouchers have provided the most choice for the poor at the lowest cost to the taxpayer; 3) future subsidized projects would be an inefficient use of resources, because vouchers are much less expensive than public or subsidized housing; and 4) vouchers should be offered only to the poorest members of society, ensuring that aid is available to those who need it most. (also as e-book)

(HOUSING * GOVERNMENT: HOUSING PROGRAMS * LOW-INCOME HOUSING)

A two-year study of top political appointees in the Obama administration reveals the challenges of political leadership and how top executives succeed in accomplishing an administration’s objectives. Deputy secretaries and agency heads provide case studies of how each approaches the management challenges and achieves the mission of their organization. Offers insight to current and prospective political appointees and everyone interested in understanding how leaders work to make government agencies more effective. (also as e-book)

(GOVERNMENT * PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION)

For over a century, Americans have created laws, processes, objectives, priorities, and rules for federal land management that often conflict, contradict, and undermine each other. The overall result is a loss of public benefits and undesirable impact on natural resources. Advocates major changes and offers new ideas for how those changes can be accomplished.

(LAND MANAGEMENT * FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT: REFORM NEEDED)

In the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession, the health of state and local pension plans has emerged as a front burner policy issue. Many officials and experts express concern that pension promises are unsustainable or will squeeze out other pressing government priorities. A few local governments have even filed for bankruptcy, with pensions cited as a major cause. Munnell draws on both her practical experience and prior research to provide a broad perspective on the challenge of state and local pensions and debunks the notion that all plans are in trouble. While a few plans are basket cases, many are functioning reasonably well. She shows that plans in serious trouble need a major overhaul. Even the relatively healthy plans face three challenges: 1) an excessive concentration of plan assets in equities; 2) the risk that steep benefit cuts for new hires will harm workforce quality; and 3) the constraints plans face in adjusting future benefits for current employees.

(GOVERNMENT * ECONOMY * PENSIONS AND GOVERNMENT * STATE AND LOCAL PENSIONS)

The federal government’s 100 most significant investigations since World War II cover various topics, including communist infiltration of government and the Sputnik launch during the 1950s, the Ku Klux Klan and Vietnam War during the 1960s; Watergate and Central Intelligence Agency abuses during the 1970s; the Social Security crisis, Challenger disaster, and the Iran-Contra scheme during the 1980s; the back-to-back sieges at Waco and Ruby Ridge and Bill Clinton’s impeachment in the 1990s; and the 9/11 attacks, collapse of Enron, and the financial meltdown in the 2000s. Light shows why some great investigations succeeded, while others failed, and what investigators can do to increase the odds that their work will pay off in improved government performance and more effective public policy.

(GOVERNMENT * GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS)

The US spends more on programs for the elderly than it does on programs that enhance child development and improve child welfare. A key explanation is the limited mass media coverage of strong arguments in support of children’s programs. Some “issue frames” are more effective than others (such as “moralistic” ones) in persuading voters to support children’s programs; for instance, independent voters are especially responsive to economic frames. Gormley offers a fresh perspective on raging debates over child health, child poverty, child welfare, and education programs at the federal and state levels.

(CHILDREN: PUBLIC PROGRAMS * GOVERNMENT * CHILDREN)

America’s nonprofit organizations are caught in a force field, buffeted by four rather different impulses—voluntarism, professionalism, civic activism, and commercialism—that are pulling it in different directions. Economic woes and cutbacks in public services have put additional burdens squarely on the nonprofit sector’s shoulders, exacerbating the sector’s longstanding “conflicting multiple identities” as not-for-profit organizations operating in a for-profit market economy, relying heavily on volunteers but expected to meet often-exacting professional standards.

(GOVERNMENT * NONPROFIT SECTOR * SOCIETY)

In 1933 Franklin Roosevelt created America’s first, largest, and most highly esteemed domestic national service program. As part of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Americans worked to rehabilitate, protect, and build the nation’s natural resources. Despite its success, the CCC was short lived. Why did this program die while later and more controversial national service programs, such as Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and AmeriCorps, survive? And why—given the hard won continuation and expansion of AmeriCorps—is national service less available as an option today than it was in 1933? Bass compares programs founded during three distinct political eras—the New Deal, the Great Society, and the early Clinton years—and traces them over time to show they reflect the policymaking ethos and political controversies of their times.

(NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS: U.S. * GOVERNMENT)

Boilerplate—the fine-print terms and conditions that we become subject to when we click “I agree” online, rent an apartment, enter an employment contract, sign up for a cellphone carrier, or buy travel tickets—pervades all aspects of modern lives. Use of boilerplate provisions has degraded traditional notions of consent, agreement, and contract, and sacrificed core rights whose loss threatens the democratic order. Some claim either that recipients freely consent to them or that economic efficiency demands them. Radin argues that our courts, legislatures, and regulatory agencies have fallen short in their evaluation and oversight of the use of boilerplate clauses.

(LAW * BOILERPLATE * CONTRACTS: FINE PRINT)