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Call for Nominations Extended to Sept. 10, 2010:
The Peter A. A. Berle Environmental Integrity Award

The Century Foundation established, in cooperation with the National Audubon Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, and former colleagues of Peter A. A. Berle, a new award intended to recognize environmental integrity demonstrated by public officials and private citizens in the United States. Read more about the award and download the nomination application (PDF). The nomination application deadline has been extended to September 10, 2010. Photo Courtesy
Social Security at 75
This month marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of Social Security Act. Throughout the years, The Century Foundation has closely examined this important policy and the debates over reform. In a recent news and commentary series, Social Security’s Fiscal Fitness, TCF contributors looked at whether Social Security will still be around for the baby boomer's children and why deficit hawks should listen to the public when it comes to Social Security. For more TCF research on Social Security, view The Basics: Public Policy in an Older America, recent Taking Note posts and the Fiscal High Road Project.
The Impact of Housing and Investment Market Declines On the Wealth of Baby Boomers
As baby boomers head toward retirement, many are facing a financial bust. Those retirees could face a grim future without the support of strong social insurance programs, according to "The Impact of Housing and Investment Market Declines on the Wealth of Baby Boomers,” a new issue brief by Greg Anrig and Millie Parekh. The brief shows how the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007, the financial meltdown in 2008, and the most severe recession since the Great Depression have destabilized the economic security of the baby boom generation of Americans. The brief compliments a recent report by TCF's Bernard Wasow, “How to Reduce the Deficit and Improve the Tax System without Hurting Most Families." For more on the federal budget, visit The Fiscal High Road, a project sponsored by TCF, Demos and the Economic Policy Institute. Photo Courtesy.
Health Beat: If Health Care Reform Fails
Since the passing of the health care reform bill, health care expert Maggie Mahar continues her watchdog efforts. On Health Beat Blog, Maggie Mahar and Naomi Freundlich discuss current health care issues. In Mahar's most recent series, she responds and debates The Cato Institute's new report on health care reform titled: Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law. In a recent post, Mahar discusses what might happen if health care reform fails. For more from Maggie Mahar, follow her daily at Healthbeatblog.org and on Twitter.
Dream On
by: Richard C. Leone
9/2/2010
Though most of us are all sobered up, there remains in the minds of many investors the whispered questions: “Is it time to get back in?” “Will I miss the big move that gets me back to even?” We’re often still susceptible to the siren call of the markets, despite the costly lesson of believing in the “The wisdom of crowds,”  “Dow 36000,” or the so-called “the risk-free premium.” We want these things to be true. Who wouldn’t want to live in a time of endless prosperity – in a world where all problems vanish as the magic of the market provides the plenty from which flows more jobs and goods? This yearning – this uncritical belief system – underpinned the conviction that the magic of markets could lead to wealth for all (see privatized Social Security), and the less regulation the better (see your daily newspaper, if you still have one).  More...
Rewarding Strivers
Helping Low-Income Students Succeed in College

Today, higher education is a major force in promoting social mobility, yet colleges and universities seem more concerned with prestige than finding ways to make higher learning more accessible. Rewarding Strivers outlines two high-profile models that colleges and universities can follow in making the American Dream a realistic one for all students.  More...
Ideas that Matter
A compilation of recent work from The Century Foundation's The Century Institute. More...
A New New Deal
How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement

In A New New Deal, the labor movement leaders Amy B. Dean and David B. Reynolds offer a bold new plan to revitalize American labor activism and build a sense of common purpose between labor and community organizations. Dean and Reynolds demonstrate how alliances organized at the regional level are the most effective tool to build a voice for working people in the workplace, community, and halls of government. The authors draw on their own successes to offer in-depth, contemporary case studies of effective labor-community coalitions. They also outline a concrete strategy for building power at the regional level. This pioneering model presents the regional building blocks for national change.  More...
Improving On No Child Left Behind: Getting Education Reform Back on Track
In Improving On No Child Left Behind: Getting Education Reform Back on Track, a new book from The Century Foundation edited by Senior Fellow Richard D. Kahlenberg, some of the nation’s most respected authorities on education reform examine three central defects of the act: the under-funding of NCLB; the flawed implementation of the standards, testing, and accountability provisions; and major difficulties with the provisions that are designed to allow students to transfer out of failing public schools. The authors detail what needs to be addressed in each of these areas, and propose ways to fix the problems.  More...
New From TCF
Afghanistan: As Tough as Reporting Gets
The Platform by Peter Osnos.
Diplomas or Deportation? Interpreting Mixed Signals in Immigration Reform
New highlight video of the August intern event.
Sky World News interviews Arash Aramesh.
Let’s Hear it for Government Regulation!
The Snapshot by Ruy Texiera.
Guidance Counselors
Richard Kahlenberg reviewsHigher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids – And What We Can Do About It in The New Republic.
Patrick Radden Keefe speaks to the Congressional Executive Commission on China about human trafficking and human smuggling in China.
Facing the Pakistan Flood
Morton Abramowitz published in Huffington Post.
Ranking the Rankings.
Richard Kahlenberg's latest Chronicle of Higher Learning blog post.
Four Lessons From New York's Test Results
A new issue brief by Gordon MacInnes
Poll: Favorable Opinion among Iranians on Nuclear Program Declines
The latest from insideIRAN.
False Impression:How A Widely Cited Study Vastly Overstates The Benefits Of Charter Schools
A new issue brief by Marco Basile.
The Widening Rift Among Iran's Clerics
Geneive Abdo and Arash Aramesh's op-ed published in the New York Times.
Project on Afghanistan in its Regional and Multilateral Dimensions: Negotiating with the Taliban
View information and video from this project sponsored by The Century Foundation.
Issues in Depth
Budget Deficits
The Obama administration's newly released budget, its proposal for a freeze on non-security discretionary spending, and the planned commission on the federal debt have raised widespread alarm about federal deficits. But the much more urgent and severe problems relate to the poor condition of the U.S. economy, which is responsible for the spike in the deficit. See the articles below for perspective and clarity on this often confusing subject.
Project on Democracy and U.S. Foreign Policy
Should the U.S. continue to support individuals and groups working to establish democracy in non-democratic countries?
Working Group on U.S. Policy Toward Russia
Identifying a new framework for U.S.-Russian relations and policy alternatives.
View All Issues
Media Hits
Jeffrey Laurenti interviewed in Turtle Bay.
Genieve Abdo featured in Turkish daily, Today's Zaman.
Richard Kahlenberg appeared as a guest on Colorado Public Radio show on Turnaround Schools.
View All Hits


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