Policy Papers
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Pay More, Get Less
How American Socio-Economic Policy Is Falling Short
The American middle class faces an uncertain future. Staring headlong into a difficult – and changing – world economy that has yet to fully recover... -
Strategic Empathy
The Afghanistan intervention shows why the U.S. must empathize with its adversaries
Matt WaldmanAs the United States withdraws from Afghanistan, it leaves violence and uncertainty in its wake. The election of a new Afghan president gives some ... -
Envisioning a Digital Age Architecture for Early Education
The young children of today will soon grow into the middle-schoolers of the next decade, the high school graduates of the late 2020s, and the citiz... -
The Graduate Student Debt Review
New America analysis of recently available Department of Education data reveals that much of America’s student debt problem may be a result of expe... -
Driving Out of the Red with Greener Cars
Policies for Cheaper, Cleaner Auto Transportation in California's Central Valley
Lisa MargonelliIncome inequality in California is already high, and it continues to increase. This income inequality is exacerbated by unequal access to jobs, cre... -
Time to Improve
How Federal Policy Can Promote Better Prepared Teachers and School Leaders
While educator preparation has always been important, it is now more important than ever. Currently, there are more first year teachers in the Unit... - policy paper | March 19, 2014 | Asset Building
Rebalancing the Scales
The 2015 Assets Budget
The 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty naturally prompts reflection on how much progress has been made and how to chart a path forward. While t... -
College Blackout
How the Higher Education Lobby Fought to Keep Students in the Dark
Ever-rising college costs, more than $1 trillion in outstanding federal student loan debt, and graduates doubtful that they’ll be able to earn enou... -
Key Questions: Education Policy in the President's Fiscal Year 2015 Budget
New AmericaPresident Barack Obama submitted his fiscal year 2015 budget request to Congress on March 4, 2014. The proposal, which includes $1.014 trillion in ... -
The U.S. Economy After The Great Recession
America's Deleveraging and Recovery Experience
Samuel Sherraden Sherle R. SchwenningerThe bursting of the housing bubble in 2008 plunged the U.S. economy into a serious crisis, leaving American households with a huge debt overhang an... - policy paper | March 03, 2014 | Asset Building
The Financial Health Check
A Behavioral Approach to Financial Coaching
Antoinette Schoar Piyush TantiaManaging day-to-day finances is about as complex as changing the oil in a car – with some skill and instruction we can manage it, but there’s a goo... -
Connected Communities in an Age of Digital Learning
The need to upgrade America’s Internet infrastructure to support innovative digital learning tools and services has never been greater. In the past... - policy paper | February 25, 2014 | Asset Building
Connecting Tax Time to Financial Security
Designing Public Policy with Evidence from the Field
The ability to accumulate and access savings is a fundamental determinant of economic security for many families, especially those with low incomes... -
Raising Arizona: Lessons for the Nation from a State’s Experience with Full-Day Kindergarten
CJ LibassiThough recently much attention has been given to the importance of early childhood education, one stubborn shortcoming of education in the early gr... -
The Student Debt Review
Student debt is not a new concern. But it is a complex story, the details of which vary greatly depending on the type of college a student attends,... -
Federal Education Budget Update
Fiscal Year 2014 Appropriations
Congress completed the fiscal year 2014 appropriations process on January 17, 2014, finalizing annual funding for Department of Education programs ... -
Subprime Learning
Early Education in America since the Great Recession
Five years ago, the United States was in the thick of the Great Recession, coping with a stock market crash and loss of jobs that would send afters... -
Reining in the Cost of Connectivity
Policies for Better Broadband in 2014
Below you will find the text of Reining in the Cost of Connectivity: Policies for Better Broadband in 2014, a policy paper from the Open Technology... -
Do NSA's Bulk Surveillance Programs Stop Terrorists?
On June 5, 2013, the Guardian broke the first story in what would become a flood of revelations regarding the extent and nature of the NSA’s survei... -
The Parent Trap
Early Education in America since the Great Recession
In fall 2011, the U.S. Department of Education quietly tightened the credit check criteria for Parent PLUS loans, a federal program that provides l... -
It's All Relative
How NCLB Waivers Did—and Did Not—Transform School Accountability
After years of arguing against No Child Left Behind (NCLB), over forty states are now taking a different approach to improving their low-performing... - policy paper | December 05, 2013 | Asset Building
Asset-Oriented Rental Assistance
Next Generation Reforms for HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program
Federally funded rental assistance programs in the U.S. address housing-related hardship for participants, but are unable to reach a majority of el...