New Blog Posts

  • Getting Small with Microgrids: Standards for Cybersecurity and Efficiency

    By Charles Landau, MPA & Kevin Sullivan, MPA Winter Blockbuster It’s an overused Hollywood trope: somewhere in a filthy bungalow, a punkish, brooding twentysomething math genius is typing inscrutable white lines of gobbledygook onto a black background. A questionable selection of metal or electronic dance music plays in the background while the young cyberwarrior aggressively sucks…

  • Behavioral Insights for Policy Design: Education in the Developing World

    Shiva Chakravarti Sharma, MPP, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives  During the 2010 meeting on the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations asserted that education is a major catalyst for human development. Delegates argued that rapid advances in education can help achieve other millennium goals, like reducing child mortality and eradicating extreme poverty. Education budgets form an…

  • If it ain’t broke, don’t repeal it

    Steve Bruns, MPP, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives In 1977, Bert Lance, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Jimmy Carter, urged the federal government to operate using a simple motto: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Lance explained, “That’s the trouble with government: Fixing things that aren’t broken and not fixing…

  • A Voice to be Heard: The Role of Women of Color in U.S. Elections

    A Voice to be Heard: The Role of Women of Color in U.S. Elections

    By Elizabeth Morehead, MPP, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives Throughout history, black women have played a large role in U.S. elections. From the women’s suffrage movement to the past election in 2016, black women have made their voices heard across the nation. The stories surrounding their historical imprint are twofold: one shines a light on…

  • Can You Put a Price on American Beauty?

    Can You Put a Price on American Beauty?

    By Charles Landau, MPP, Staff Writer, Brief Policy Perspectives  Teddy Roosevelt wrote in 1912, “the establishment of the National Park Service is justified by considerations of good administration, of the value of natural beauty as a National asset, and of the effectiveness of outdoor life and recreation in the production of good citizenship.” In the context…