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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

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

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

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

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

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