Download reports in the series by clicking the links below

Can Separate Be Equal? The Overlooked Flaw at the Center of No Child Left Behind (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Richard D. Kahlenberg
NCLB's failure to recognize the effects of concentrated poverty in American schools.

Left Behind: Unequal Opportunity in Higher Education (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Richard D. Kahlenberg
America has failed to make good on the promise of equal opportunity in higher education, even though the benefits of having a college education are greater than ever.

Why It’s Good to Be Rich – and Getting Better All the Time (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Greg Anrig
By greatly reducing taxes on wealth the recent tax law significantly benefited only a small number of high-income Americans, in ways that are unlikely to do the rest of the country any good.

Legions Stretched Thin: The U.S. Army's Manpower Crisis (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Jeremy Barnicle and Leif Wellington Haase
The U.S. military is facing the most pressing demands on its resources in a generation. Can it keep up?

Scare Tactics: Why Social Security Is Not in Crisis (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Bernard Wasow
The "crisis" in Social Security is actually quite manageable, despite the alarmism voiced by those who favor replacing all or part of the program with private investment accounts.

The New American Economy: A Rising Tide that Lifts Only Yachts (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Bernard Wasow
Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the fruits of economic growth are flowing to a small percentage of the population.

Going Nowhere: Workers' Wages Since the Mid-1970s (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Bernard Wasow
In marked contrast to the postwar period—when wages for almost all workers were rising steadily and faster than the inflation rate—average wages today are only slighty higher than they were in the mid-1970s.

Poor Excuses: How Neglecting Poverty Costs All Americans (Updated in 2008, PDF)
By Martha Paskoff and Libby Pearl
After strong economic growth in the 1990s, poverty in America has been on the rise since 2000.

Over A Barrel? Myths and Facts about U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil (PDF)
By Reid Detchon
The facts about American oil consumption—where it comes from and what we can do to ensure the need for oil doesn't jeopardize security.

Life and Debt: Why American Families are Borrowing to the Hilt (PDF)
By Alex Baker
American families are borrowing more than ever just to make ends meet, buy a house, or educate their children.

Rags to Riches: The American Dream is Less Common in the United States than Elsewhere (PDF)
By Bernard Wasow
How easy is it for the children of poor parents to become prosperous? Recent evidence shows that there is much less mobility in the United States than most people assume.

America's Achilles Heel: Job-Based Health Coverage and the Uninsured (PDF)
By Leif Wellington Haase and Cari Reiner
America’s system of employment-based health insurance has many disadvantages.

Turning Gold into Straw: How Huge Federal Surpluses Quickly became Equally Massive Deficits (PDF)
By Bernard Wasow
Just two and a half years ago, the budget outlook was as good as it had been in a half century. Now, the federal budget is poised to run its biggest deficit since the end of World War II.

The "Red" States: How Governors Ended Up with Huge Deficits (PDF)
By Thad Hall
Unfunded mandates and reduced income from federal tax policies are the real culprits behind states' budget shortfalls in 2004.