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Social Finance: A Primer Report
Early Childhood Coordinator Jacki Wimmer reads to pre-K students at Iaeger Elementary School in West Virginia. Early childhood education is one program that could be supported using social finance mechanisms. (AP/Randy Snyder)

Social Finance: A Primer

Sonal Shah and Kristina Costa consider three prominent social financing mechanisms with the potential of unlocking new sources of capital and revolutionizing how an array of social issues are addressed.

Sonal Shah, Kristina Costa

White House Budget Drives Pay for Success and Social Impact Bonds Forward Article
Gov. Pat Quinn (D-Il) speaks to reporters in his office at the Illinois State Capitol. In the fiscal year 2014 budget, Gov. Quinn outlined plans for Illinois to become the second state to launch a Social Impact Bond program. (AP/ Seth Perlman)

White House Budget Drives Pay for Success and Social Impact Bonds Forward

New proposals in the Obama administration’s budget will help promote an innovative method to changing the way government does business and will provide a new approach to financing social programs.

Sonal Shah, Kristina Costa

Broken Budgeting Report
Copies of President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2013 federal budget at the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Broken Budgeting

Scott Lilly and Eleanor Hill interview budget policy staff to get inside perspectives on the federal government's budgeting process.

Scott Lilly, Eleanor Hill

Getting America’s Freight Back on the Move Report
Investing in our freight infrastructure system would not only help American businesses remain competitive but would also immediately produce hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the construction and manufacturing industries, which are among those hardest hit by the recession. (AP/Rick Bowmer)

Getting America’s Freight Back on the Move

Keith Miller, Kristina Costa, and Donna Cooper offer recommendations for boosting investment in our economically critical freight infrastructure.

Keith Miller, Kristina Costa, Donna Cooper

A New Approach to Budgeting Article
Office of Management and Budget Director Jeff Zients briefs reporters at the White House in Washington regarding the budget. (AP/Charles Dharapak)

A New Approach to Budgeting

Jitinder Kohli weighs in on the potential of a recent Office of Management and Budget memorandum to spur agencies to focus on evidence and research in budgeting decisions.

Jitinder Kohli

Not the Ceiling, but the Floor Report
Geoffrey Canada, left, head of Harlem Children's Zone and the new Promise Academy, talks to a participant of the HCZ Summer Olympics in New York City. HCZ grapples with a problem familiar to those educating pre-schoolers nationwide: the cost and complexity of complying with different sets of requirements. (AP/Mary Altaffer)

Not the Ceiling, but the Floor

Kristina Costa explores why conflicting government rules and expectations are hampering the efforts of an innovative early childhood program in Harlem.

Kristina Costa

The American Community Survey Is Under Attack Article
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) was a prominent supporter of the GOP-led House of Representatives short-sighted vote to eliminate the American Community Survey. (AP/ Charlie Neibergall)

The American Community Survey Is Under Attack

The short-sighted vote in the House of Representatives to eliminate the American Community Survey is an antibusiness vote against informed government, writes Kristina Costa.

Kristina Costa

Improving Customer Service at the Federal Government Article
The Government Customer Service Improvement Act would require agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration to solicit and publish customer feedback as part of an effort to push the federal government toward a more customer-friendly orientation. (AP/ David Goldman)

Improving Customer Service at the Federal Government

Gadi Dechter examines the Government Customer Service Improvement Act to highlight its strengths and suggest further steps to boost confidence in our government.

Gadi Dechter

Managing Taxpayer Risk Report
The U.S. Treasury building is shown in Washington. When you look at all loans issued or guaranteed by the government over the past 20 years, one fact is clear: Uncle Sam has proven to be a safe and responsible lender. (Flickr/<a href=kidneybingos)" data-srcset="https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/05/treasury_building_onpage.jpg?w=450 450w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/05/treasury_building_onpage.jpg?w=450 450w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/05/treasury_building_onpage.jpg?w=450 450w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/05/treasury_building_onpage.jpg?w=450 450w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/05/treasury_building_onpage.jpg?w=250 250w" data-sizes="auto" />

Managing Taxpayer Risk

John Griffith and Richard Caperton assess the federal government's record in handling risks to taxpayers in its loans and loan guarantees.

John Griffith, Richard W. Caperton

How Sunlight Can Improve Federal Contracting Report
With open access to information, genuine competition will increase because the emphasis will be on quality of production and value to taxpayers, which is ultimately key in an era of budget shortfalls. (AP/Aijaz Rahi)

How Sunlight Can Improve Federal Contracting

A single, streamlined database that tracks fraud, waste, and abuse in federal government contracts will help save taxpayers money and reward good companies, writes Pratap Chatterjee.

Pratap Chatterjee

Insourcing Report
Insourcing not only saves money by eliminating the need to pay for the additional layer of corporate bureaucracy that comes with the hiring of a contractor, but it can also improve services to the taxpayer if done wisely. (AP/Bill Waugh)

Insourcing

Pratap Chatterjee explains how insourcing can not only save money but can also improve services to the taxpayer if done wisely.

Pratap Chatterjee

Better Auditing for Better Contracting Report
Defense Contract Audit Agency recruiters Gregory Brooks and Jarolyn Snyder, second from right, talk with job fair participants during a 2009 job fair at Roosevelt University in Chicago. <br /> (AP/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Better Auditing for Better Contracting

Pratap Chatterjee outlines the different reasons audits by the Defense Contract Audit Agency sometimes fail, what’s been done to correct these failures in the past, and what should be done in the future.

Pratap Chatterjee

Slow Progress Toward a Representative Federal Workforce Article
Lilly Ledbetter is applauded by Vice President Joe Biden and Senior White House Advisor Valerie Jarrett at an event on solutions for families balancing the dual demands of work and caring for family in July 2010. Women have made positive strides in the federal workforce, but much still needs to be done to diversify government employment opportunities. <br /> (AP/Charles Dharapak)

Slow Progress Toward a Representative Federal Workforce

James Hairston and Vanessa Cárdenas argue that the federal government must do more to increase the number of people of color, particularly Hispanics, throughout its workforce.

James Hairston, Vanessa Cárdenas

Putting Big Oil Subsidies to Work Article
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), center, accompanied by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), right, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), gestures during a news conference to discuss President Barack Obama's decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline.  (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Putting Big Oil Subsidies to Work

Donna Cooper, Richard Caperton, Kate Gordon, and Daniel J. Weiss detail a plan to redirect billions of dollars in giveaways to Big Oil toward building infrastructure to put Americans back on the job.

Donna Cooper, Richard W. Caperton, Kate Gordon, 1 More Daniel J. Weiss

Meeting the Infrastructure Imperative Report
Investing in our freight infrastructure system would not only help American businesses remain competitive but would also immediately produce hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the construction and manufacturing industries, which are among those hardest hit by the recession. (AP/Rick Bowmer)

Meeting the Infrastructure Imperative

Donna Cooper takes a look at our nation's infrastructure spending needs, and explains how we can pay for them and put Americans back to work.

Donna Cooper

Washington State Shows What Works Article
The Legislative Building at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy, which was created by the state legislature in 1983, provides a proven model for data-driven legislative decision-making. (AP/ Ted S. Warren)

Washington State Shows What Works

Kristina Costa explores the state’s telling investment in an institute that judges the effectiveness of programs for beneficiaries and taxpayers.

Kristina Costa

Finding ‘What Works’ in Education Article
Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. There are several

Finding ‘What Works’ in Education

Kristina Costa explores “what works” platforms in education, pointing out their current limitations and also their importance in times of tight budgets.

Kristina Costa

Doing What Doesn’t Work Article
Research shows that Scared Straight programs, which bring at-risk teens to prisons in an effort to deter them from potential criminal behavior, have no positive effect and can actually lead to a greater likelihood of offending actions. (AP/ Ted S. Warren)

Doing What Doesn’t Work

Jitinder Kohli outlines the importance of government agencies focusing resources on programs that work, not ones like this criminal-justice program run amok.

Jitinder Kohli

The State of Our Tax Code Is Weak Article
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's analysis that tax expenditures are spending—with the implication that they should be subject to the same level of scrutiny as other federal spending—is correct. (AP/Lawrence Jackson)

The State of Our Tax Code Is Weak

Seth Hanlon argues for trimming wasteful tax expenditures as Congress heads into the 2012 legislative session.

Seth Hanlon

Series on U.S. Science, Innovation, and Economic Competitiveness Report
Giving the innovation engine a tuneup is the first step to ensuring a prosperous and broadly shared economic future for all Americans. (AP/ Charles Krupa)

Series on U.S. Science, Innovation, and Economic Competitiveness

Two CAP teams, one from Science Progress and the other from the Doing What Works project, release a series of reports focusing on different building blocks of our national competitiveness.

Five Canards About Job-Killing Regulations Article
Among the regulations that conservatives claim are killing jobs are those on the interstate transportation of invasive foreign snakes, like the Burmese python, shown here. (Flickr/<a href=San Diego Shooter)" data-srcset="https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/10/regulation_canards_onpage.jpg?w=610 610w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/10/regulation_canards_onpage.jpg?w=610 610w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/10/regulation_canards_onpage.jpg?w=610 610w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/10/regulation_canards_onpage.jpg?w=500 500w, https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/10/regulation_canards_onpage.jpg?w=250 250w" data-sizes="auto" />

Five Canards About Job-Killing Regulations

Kristina Costa and Michael Linden point out the absurdities in conservative arguments that regulations are holding back our economy, not lack of demand.

Kristina Costa, Michael Linden

Six Principles for Tax Expenditure Reform Report
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction meets on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, September 13, 2011. Under the so-called super committee’s mandate, the next round of deficit reduction can come from any source. And so it is appropriate that tax expenditures be on the table in the super committee’s deliberations and in future budget debates. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Six Principles for Tax Expenditure Reform

Fixing the excessive and expensive system of tax breaks, credits, and loopholes is key to any deficit reduction plan. Seth Hanlon suggests six principles to guide Congress’s work in this area.

Seth Hanlon

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