At the Federal Games Guild, video games and public policy play together

Feb 14, 2023
Want to balance the federal budget? A video game lets you do it. Elizabeth Newbury of the Federal Games Guild and Wilson Center explains.
"You're not going to get the same thing from reading a 25-page policy brief as you'll get from a game, but more people — I bet — will play my game," the FGG's Elizabeth Newbury says.
Courtesy Department of Education

There's little public consensus on how to tackle inflation, new poll shows

Jul 4, 2022
The public is "at odds with expert opinion and traditional policymaking," says Eric Plutzer of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy.
When pressed about fighting inflation, survey participants say they want to hold the line on prices for essentials, says Eric Plutzer of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy. But "those policies require the Congress and the president to work together."
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

When economists changed the world

Sep 4, 2019
Sometime in the middle of the 20th century, economists came to play a much bigger role in shaping public policy in America. It's had far-reaching consequences.
Thirty-thousand protesters march against Nixon's involvement in the Vietnam War in New York City in 1972. Economists helped to end the draft that so many Americans opposed.
Peter Keegan/Keystone/Getty Images

Trump's infrastructure czar steps down

Apr 3, 2018
The departure of DJ Gribbin is the latest sign that the president's plan is going nowhere fast.
DJ Gribbin with President Donald Trump speaking to CEOs about the regulatory process to build a highway, April 4, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

How mental illness has become a ticket to jail

Apr 3, 2018
Author Alisa Roth looks at the problems in our country's criminal justice system.

Now we can measure economic policy uncertainty

Jul 12, 2017
"As economic policy becomes less clear and more uncertain, small businesses are more hesitant to invest," economist says.
Traders monitor prices in the Volatility Index (VIX) pit at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Why homeless kids are harder to count

Jul 30, 2013
The Urban Institute looks to make counting homeless youth more effective.

Cutting government waste by crunching the numbers

Jul 29, 2013
What if you could apply the same techniques to government spending that investment advisers use to pick stocks? A Pew-MacArthur report looks at how states are using cost-benefit analysis.

Want better government? Use cost-benefit analysis

Jul 29, 2013
Non-profits are working with state governments to increase use of cost-benefit analyses to learn whether programs and policies are worth it.