Suchergebnisse

What is the real goal of welfare reform? During the push to "end welfare as we know it," many agreed that the policy that had been in place for over 31 years needed to be replaced. The major goal of reform was to help recipients become self-sufficient by enabling them to find stable jobs with sufficient earnings, thereby breaking the cycle of dependency. In formulating such a sweeping policy, many factors must be considered; yet the perceptions, and the experiences and realities of recipients that impact their progress toward self-sufficiency were not included in the policy debate. This paper presents data from a study conducted in Summit County (Akron, OH) that gathered demographic data and data on JOBS Program participants' experiences and perceptions. It also presents results from focus groups and focused interviews that provide a picture of recipients' feelings about being on welfare, finding jobs, and understanding of welfare reform.

Industrial consolidation, digital platforms, and changing political views have spurred debate about the interplay between public and private power in the United States and have created a bipartisan appetite for potential antitrust reform that would mark the most profound shift in US competition policy in the past half-century. While neo-Brandeisians call for a reawakening of antitrust in the form of a return to structuralism and a concomitant rejection of economic analysis founded on competitive effects, proponents of the status quo look on this state of affairs with alarm. Scrutinizing the latest evidence, Alan J. Devlin finds a middle ground. US antitrust laws warrant revision, he argues, but with far more nuance than current debates suggest. He offers a new vision of antitrust reform, achieved by refining our enforcement policies and jettisoning an unwarranted obsession with minimizing errors of economic analysis.

The debate over federal regulation has long been at the center of political contests. But surprisingly, the degree of agreement about regulation is considerable. No serious commentator denies that regulation is essential to ensuring well-functioning markets; protecting the health and safety of workers and families; and preventing fraud, corruption, and theft. Smart regulation is what makes cars safe to drive, lakes and rivers safe to swim in, and food safe to eat. At the same time, every serious commentator recognizes that poorly designed regulations can be detrimental; they can stack the deck in favor of special interests, prevent competition, and inhibit innovation.

This essay argues that concerns regarding the impact of work/family balance on gender inequality should be extended to broader analysis of all care work. Paid or unpaid care devoted to all dependents (including the sick and elderly as well as children) has distinctive characteristics that contribute to disempowerment and underpayment. Expenditures of money as well as time increase economic vulnerability. Public policies should provide greater support for caregiving outside the market, improve the supply and quality of purchased care services, and challenge conventional accounting systems that mismeasure economic welfare.