Economic Policy

CBO Data

Where the data are pointing

Prop. 29: Cigarette Tax in California

Proposition 29 plans to increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes in California by a dollar to use the tax-generated revenue on cancer research.

David F. Veneziano of the San Fransisco Chronicle supports Prop. 29 because he feels that increasing the price of tobacco would reduce the number of people consuming it, and thus reduce smoking. He feels that it is important to spend on cancer research because of its potential to save lives.

This editorial from the LA Times opposes Prop. 29 arguing that the National Institute of Health (NIH) already spends enough on cancer research. In addition California has more pressing areas to spend on, such as: retaining K-12 teachers, keeping parks open, public college education, health care for the infirm, and medical care for the poor.  

Birth rates and class divides

An interesting, and different, perspective on the issue of birth rates affecting government decisions and social structure: http://alvinology.com/2012/04/03/singapores-fertility-rate-is-now-the-lowest-in-the-world-will-singapore-born-singaporeans-become-extinct-soon/

This article cites the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) website, showing that 2012 estimates place Singapore as the country with the lowest fertility rate in the world. Singapore averages at 0.78 children born per woman. This article also cites the CIA website and shows that Singapore has the sixth highest net migration rate (the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country within a year per 1,000 persons) in the world. This is a big issue, and it is creating a great class divide in Singapore. In order to compensate for a decreasing labor force, the government is allowing vast inflows of foreign workers – changing Singapore’s social landscape. People worry, understandably, that the amount of “Singaporean” Singaporeans in Singapore is quickly dwindling with respect to the total population. Just found it interesting that in another part of the world, class divides are being created due to sharp declines in the fertility rate – and there’s really not much the government can do to target the root of this problem.

American Domestic Policy

Bloomberg reports:


The underlying data on age

Data on births outside marriage

Health

• Medicare for seniors, disabled people, and kidney patients
• Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California)
• White House summary of health bill.
• Report on financial effects
• Vaccine court

Social Welfare

• Social Security
• TANF
• Births ou

Education

• Education Stats on spending and performance (who's on top?)
• Creationism

Pell grants, student loans, the POTUS, Jimmy Fallon, and The Roots. It's pretty funny, and possibly relevant to students too. The video is of "the Barack-ness monster" appearing on late night TV to talk about his plan to keep the interest rates on stafford student loans low-- and he does it in an interesting way.

Entitlement spending compared to defense spending

I came across this chart, which I found quite interesting:

http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook/defense-entitlement-spending

I was just wondering how spending on entitlements, such as Social Security, has interacted with spending on military defense. I also researched mandatory and discretionary spending; do these concepts factor into the relationship the graph portrays?

Bureaucracy and the Administrative State

IN RESPONSE TO VIKRANT'S QUESTION

Public Sector Unions

• Largest is AFSCME
• Largest federal is AFGE
• Others
• Political role

Regulation

• Administrative rules
• Instructions for IRS Form 1
• Growth of regulation:

Organizational Culture and Organizational Complexity

• The special case of the military
• DHS Organization Chart

The Citizen's Perspective

• A spaghetti chart
• Services for kids on the spectrum