PublicPolicy

In an article published September 23 in The Conversation, School of Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short argued that a number of current federal policies, economic practices, and social issues are having a dramatic impact on the growing number of wildfires in the western part of the country. “More than eight million acres have burned in six of the years since 2000. There are two main reasons behind the growing conflagrations. The first is the legacy of fire suppression polices that snuff out fires as they appear, but leads to the build-up of fuel that is the raw material for larger,… Continue Reading John Rennie Short analyzes policy basis of increasing costs and damage of wildfires

In a new column in The Conversation, School of Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short revealed how immigrants can be treated differently based on wealth. Short wrote about how Canada’s Immigrant Investor Program and the UK’s Tier 1 investor visa are among many programs that provide economic incentives for wealthy immigrants. Short also focused on how such policies play out in the United States: “Since 1990, the US has an employment-based program tailored for the wealthy entitled EB5. Under this program, 10,000 visas each year are reserved for investors to receive permanent residence status if they invest at least US$1 million (only… Continue Reading John Rennie Short, School of Public Policy, Explains the Impact of Wealth on Immigration Policy in The Conversation

F. Chris Curran, a new assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, recently wrote a letter to the editor about including teachers in overtime pay discussions that was published in Education Week. In the letter, Curran referenced President Obama’s announcement of plans for changes in overtime-pay regulations, noting that provisions of the proposal would prevent teachers from seeing benefits from the policy. “While teachers hoping for an extra paycheck may be disappointed, the national conversation on what President Obama calls a ‘fair day’s pay’ should not be allowed to pass the schoolhouse by. It is an opportunity to recognize, and… Continue Reading F. Chris Curran, School of Public Policy, Writes About Teacher Overtime Policy in Education Week

Tim Brennan, professor of public policy and economics, was quoted in a recent Brisbane Times article about the possibility of proposed net neutrality rules in Australia. Brennan, who served as chief economist of the FCC last year, was interviewed after presenting a talk about attempts to create net neutrality rules for U.S. carriers at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) annual regulatory conference in Brisbane earlier this month. Brennan urged regulators to take a cautious approach to net neutrality in Australia: “Before Australia embarks on net neutrality, it should have evidence of a problem and not merely presumptions that there could be a… Continue Reading Tim Brennan, School of Public Policy and Economics, Comments on Net Neutrality in the Brisbane Times

In a July 28 Washington Post op-ed, School of Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short argued that a permanent island location should be established to host the Summer Olympic Games. He wrote that with the current hefty price tag and with thousands of residents being displaced by construction in host cities each time, holding the games in the same place every four years would save money and benefit residents. “Instead of investing billions of dollars for a new city every four years, we could create a permanent Olympics city, with facilities and athlete housing. Though any city could take this one, I’d… Continue Reading John Rennie Short, School of Public Policy, Proposes Permanent Venue for the Summer Olympics