Recent Policy Studies

• Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
  

  Seven Theories of Climate Change

  By Joseph L. Bast, Heartland Institute
  
  Essay, 04/29/2010
  

  The theory of climate change that most people are familiar with is commonly called anthropogenic (man-made) global warming, or AGW for short. That theory holds that man-made greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), are the predominant cause of the global warming that occurred during the past 50 years. The object of this essay is not to say which of these seven theories is right or “best,” but only to present them to the reader in a format that allows reflection and balanced consideration. Such dispassionate interest in the subject has been lacking in recent years, and the scientific debate has suffered for it.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  Covenants without Swords?

  By Bruce Thornton, Hoover Institution
  
  Hoover Digest, 04/29/2010
  

  Idealistic internationalism could be tested empirically by examining the historical record of the past hundred years or the achievements of institutions such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, and various other intergovernmental agencies. By this test, these ideals have been a failure, given that in the twentieth century 200 million people were killed by war, genocide, civil war, gulags, ethnic cleansing, concentration camps, and various other forms of state violence and interstate conflict. The League of Nations and later the United Nations were able to prevent none of those deaths and in some instances––Kosovo and Rwanda, for example––inadvertently facilitated them. More important, however, is a critique of the underlying philosophy on which this ideal, which we can call “utopian internationalism,” is based.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Cronyism and Corruption Are Killing Economic Freedom in Argentina

  By James M. Roberts, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 04/29/2010
  

  Argentina’s economic freedom ranking has plummeted. Here are several steps that might revitalize this floundering nation.

  
  
  
• Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
  

  Senator Dodd’s Regulation Plan: 14 Fatal Flaws

  By James Gattuso, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 04/29/2010
  

  Senator Chris Dodd’s financial reform bill would make another financial crisis or bailout more likely to occur.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Hearing on the Weapons of Mass Destruction Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2010

  By Bob Graham, Jim Talent, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Testimony, 04/29/2010
  

  In 2009, the Commission was authorized for an additional year of work, to assist Congress and the Administration to improve understanding of its findings and turn its concrete recommendations into actions. In accordance with that authorization, and based upon close consultation with Commissioners, we submitted a report card assessing the U.S. Government’s progress in protecting the United States from weapons of mass destruction proliferation and terrorism.

  
  
  
• Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
  

  Elections Exclusively by Mail: A Terrible Idea Whose Time Should Never Come

  By Hans von Spakovsky, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Legal Memorandum, 04/29/2010
  

  Trading the security, integrity, and shared experience of the in-person election process for all-mail elections is a bad idea for a number of reasons. An examination of voter fraud cases over the past two decades reveals that ballots requested and sent through the mail are vote thieves’ tool of choice. Despite claims that voting by mail will increase voter turnout, the evidence leads to the exact opposite conclusion. Such elections, while possibly less expensive for election administrators, can be more expensive for candidates, thereby increasing the costs of campaigns for ordinary citizens who want to run for office. Mail elections put voters at the mercy of the postal service: If their ballots are delayed or misdirected, their votes will not count. Also, voters could be casting their ballots without the same access to timely information about candidates. Finally, elections conducted through the mail destroy the communal act of voting in a way that is damaging to America’s voting traditions and the inculcation of civic virtues.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel: Joint Statement of Jim Talent and Eric Edelman

  By Jim Talent, Eric Edelman, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Testimony, 04/29/2010
  

  Thank you for the opportunity to share our preliminary observations regarding the Department of Defense’s 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) as participants of the Independent Panel.

  
  
  
• Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
  

  Dodd Bill: Bailouts, Taxes, and Overregulation

  By John Berlau, Competitive Enterprise Institute
  
  Policy Report, 04/29/2010
  

  As Congress prepares to vote on debating Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd’s Restoring American Financial Stability Act — and speculation is rampant as to whether Republican can hold together a filibuster to force changes to the bill — a broad spectrum of conservative and free-market groups are expressing “grave concerns” about the financial regulation bill and its negative impact on Main Street. A letter compiled by grassroots organizations such as CEI has been signed by many others in protest. The letter, included below, highlights what it calls a “by-no-means exclusive” list of major concerns with the bill.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Put Arizona on a Real Budget: New Spending Limit Can Restore State’s Fiscal Health

  By Byron Schlomach, Goldwater Institute
  
  Policy Report, 04/29/2010
  

  Arizona’s current spending limit of 7.41 percent of personal income is ineffective. State spending, which has ballooned recently, has still never met this too-generous limit. This has left Arizona with a structural budget deficit projected to be as large as $5 billion by fiscal year 2014.52. Arizona should adopt a spending limit based on the sum of inflation and population growth. The base year for spending, however, must be carefully chosen. That base year should be chosen based on the adequacy of government services and the likelihood that government spending would be limited to a share of the state’s economy more in line with the national average. Taking these steps would put Arizona on a path to fiscal stability. The current recession has deeply affected Arizona’s state revenues but had a spending limit been put in place based on 1994 levels of spending, the current fiscal crisis could have been managed with a great deal more ease.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  The Canadian Consumer Tax Index: 2010

  By Niels Veldhuis, Milagros Palacios, Fraser Institute
  
  Fraser Alert, 04/29/2010
  

  The Canadian Consumer Tax Index tracks the total tax bill paid by a Canadian family with average income from 1961 to 2009. The results show that the average Canadian family’s tax bur den has been rising steadily for the better part of 48 years. Indeed, the aver age Canadian family’s total tax bill, including all types of taxes, has increased by 1,624 per cent since 1961 and taxes have grown more rapidly than any other single expenditure item.

  
  
  
• Information Technology
  

  The FCC’S Internet Power Surge: The Constitutional and Statutory Limits on the FCC’s Authority to Promulgate Internet Traffic Rules

  By Gregory G. Garre, Federalist Society
  
  Studies, 04/29/2010
  

  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established authority over the regulation of virtually all television, radio, satellite, and cable services in America. Recently, the FCC has proposed an expansion of its authority into a new arena—broadband Internet access service. In October 2009, the Commission noticed its intent to adopt rules governing traffic over the Internet. Proponents of the FCC’s so-called “net neutrality” rules maintain that they would allow Internet traffic to flow more freely, while opponents claim that federal regulation in this area could stifle the innovation and growth that has been the hallmark of the Internet since it became a household word less than two decades ago. Whatever the proper resolution of that important policy debate, there is a critical threshold question that must be answered—whether Congress has authorized the FCC to regulate at all in this area. And upon examination, the FCC’s broad new assertion of power over the Internet is unsound.

  
  
  
• Crime, Justice & the Law
  

  The Crimes Against Humanity Act: Another Step Toward “Universal Jurisdiction”

  By Brian W. Walsh, Steven Groves, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 04/28/2010
  

  When the title of proposed legislation declares that it protects against something all reasonable persons abhor, such as genocide or crimes against humanity, it can be daunting to peel back the rhetoric and see what the real effects of the law would be. Indeed, the Crimes Against Humanity Act includes provisions addressing inherently dangerous and wrongful conduct such as murder, kidnapping, forced labor, and sex trafficking. But in addition to trying to extend U.S. law enforcement power to the four corners of the globe, the act defines new criminal offenses (punishable in certain instances by up to life imprisonment) using such vague, overbroad language that they could put U.S. soldiers and military officials at risk of criminal prosecution.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Strengthen the Pentagon’s Programs for Sea-Based Missile Defense

  By Baker Spring, Mackenzie Eaglen, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Backgrounder, 04/28/2010
  

  The Administration’s new “phased adaptive approach” for missile defense in Europe and the Pentagon’s wider sea-based Aegis BMD program have the potential to provide robust missile defense coverage and to operate from advantageous locations at sea. In support of these efforts, Congress needs to ensure that the Aegis BMD program is adequately funded, including funding for increased procurement of interceptors and accelerated development of critical Aegis components to expand its capabilities. Congress also needs to exercise proper oversight to prevent the Administration’s arms control agenda from limiting U.S. missile defense options or cooperation with friends and allies.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  The Solution to FEMA’s Budget Woes Is Not More Money

  By Jena Baker McNeill, Matt A. Mayer, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 04/28/2010
  

  Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator W. Craig Fugate recently sent a letter to Congress indicating serious budget shortfalls that could jeopardize FEMA’s ability to respond to disasters. It is expected that this letter will be followed by a request for $5.1 billion in emergency supplemental funding from Congress. Addressing budget shortfalls by pumping additional dollars into the agency will only waste more taxpayer money without actually solving the fiscal problems plaguing FEMA. For too long, FEMA has federalized disaster response to the point where every routine disaster receives an onslaught of federal funds. FEMA should look to radically redefine what it does and what it doesn’t, thereby putting states and locals back in the driver’s seat of disaster response.

  
  
  
• National Security
  

  Terrorist on Your Street?

  By Jack Park, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 04/28/2010
  

  On March 22, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ordered that Mohamedou Ould Slahi, one of the most dangerous terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay, be released. Although the Obama Administration has decided to appeal the decision, if the court’s order stands several issues will have to be addressed, including where Slahi will go, and, if no other country will take him, whether Slahi will eventually be released inside the United States. The Administration and Congress need to address this issue by providing legislation specifically authorizing prolonged detention and common-sense definitions of the word enemy so federal judges will not be able to make up the rules and definitions of terrorist detention on the fly—like they have been doing for some time.

  
  
  
• Foreign Policy/International Affairs
  

  United Nations Human Rights Council: Universal Periodic Review for the United States of America

  By Steven Groves, Brett Schaefer, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Testimony, 04/28/2010
  

  The actions of individuals, civil society organizations, and government working individually or collectively under the principles of the Constitution and U.S. law establish the best practice for the protection of fundamental human rights in the United States. Indeed, while admittedly not perfect, the U.S. system of government and its judicial system are on the whole exemplary in observing and protecting human rights and serve as a model of best practices.

  
  
  
• Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
  

  Nuclear Power Federal Loan Guarantees: The Next Multi-Billion Dollar Bailout?

  By Jack Spencer, The Heritage Foundation
  
  Testimony, 04/28/2010
  

  Limited loan guarantees can help overcome some near-term financing obstacles, but they are subsidies. If not used prudently, they will only act to prop up non-competitive industries.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  Obamacare: Impact on the Uninsured

  By Kathryn Nix, The Heritage Foundation
  
  WebMemo, 04/28/2010
  

  The Administration’s health policy agenda—embodied in Congress’s two giant health care bills (H.R.3590 and H.R.4872)—is now law. The justification for the new law’s burdensome taxes, unprecedented mandates, deficit spending, and stifling government regulation is that millions of Americans will now be insured. But the real impact Obamacare will have on the uninsured is not what many Americans might have expected.

  
  
  
• Economic and Political Thought
  

  Ludwig von Mises – a Primer

  By Eamonn Butler, Institute of Economic Affairs
  
  Book, 04/28/2010
  

  The fact that liberalism does not promise income equality makes some critics worry about the fate of those who end up poor. Critics misunderstand the nature of inequality under liberalism, which is quite different from inequality in the pre-capitalist world. In the market society, wealth is not a privilege, but comes only through benefiting consumers. And it lasts only as long as producers continue to provide those benefits. Moreover, the luxuries that rich people enjoy are not permanently closed off to the rest of us. The market economy is dynamic. All innovations – cars, sanitation, electricity – begin as luxuries for the well off, says Mises: but before long they become ‘necessities’ for all. But then, that steady rise in the well being of all humanity must, surely, be the primary goal of economic policy, and the reason why we need to understand the true nature and ultimate foundation of economic science.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  Fighting for Opportunity: School Choice Yearbook

  By Andrew Campanella, Ashley Ehrenreich, Alliance for School Choice
  
  Report, 04/28/2010
  

  The past year presented the school choice movement with unprecedented challenges and unique opportunities. Because of state-level budget crises and electorally emboldened adversaries, the school choice movement fought a seven-theatre war to protect educational opportunities for low income children. It was a rollercoaster ride of strong advocacy, emotion, uncertainty, and nonstop hard work for school choice supporters in every state. As we begin 2010, we encourage all supporters to recommit to the continuing effort to advance the promise of educational opportunity. If 2009 has taught us anything, it’s that if we’re willing to fight hard for what we believe in, most of the time, we will win.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  The Attrition Tradition in American Higher Education

  By John R. Thelin, American Enterprise Institute
  
  Studies, 04/28/2010
  

  John R. Thelin reevaluates the idyllic image of university life in an earlier period and uncovers the historical roots of America’s “attrition tradition.” Thelin finds that not only did university students often drop out at a high rate in the early 1900s, but also that college attrition was largely ignored until the last few decades. If we are to tackle the challenge of raising graduation rates in an era of increased access—a strikingly modern goal—it will require fine-grained, institution-level analysis, Thelin argues, in addition to significant investments in improved data systems for America’s colleges and universities. Using detailed cohort tracking data and a seasoned historical perspective on the origins of today’s “war on attrition,” this AEI working paper should give pause to ambitious completion promises and prod university leaders to reflect on their own performance data to map a better course for serving students.

  
  
  
• Health Care
  

  Rethinking HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Has Response Been Overmedicalized?

  By Nicholas Eberstadt, Laura M. Kelley, American Enterprise Institute
  
  04/28/2010
  

  This paper examines the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on different levels of South African society (individual, household, and national) over time. Using differences in demographic projections to guide the analysis, the prospective implications of HIV/AIDS on households, society, economy and nation are discussed and issues that could influence or mitigate those possible impacts are examined. We outline the challenges that South Africa will likely face due to the effects of its AIDS-related excess mortality and conclude that programs delivering a broader variety of services than are currently offered are needed for South Africa to emerge a prosperous, regional power by mid-century. Inadequacies of current HIV/AIDS relief programs are broadly considered and suggestions are offered for improvement. We argue that a fundamental shift in the focus of HIV/AIDS strategies to include consideration of the needs of the survivors of this pandemic, and the world they will live in, is urgently necessary.

  
  
  
• Retirement/Social Security
  

  The Russian Federation in an Era of Demographic Crisis

  By Nicholas Eberstadt, Hans Groth, American Enterprise Institute
  
  Paper, 04/28/2010
  

  All countries in the “more developed regions” face major challenges in coming to grips with the social security and social protection challenges that await their societies in the decades immediately ahead. By and large, these challenges are being driven by a common set of demographic trends. Russia’s faces these same challenges—but additional ones as well. For the Russian Federation must attempt to provide for the prospective support of a growing pensionage population that stands to be far more frail and infirm than its counterparts in affluent Western societies—and to do so on the basis of a workforce that is unusually debilitated, constrained by relatively low levels of labor productivity, and set to shrink in absolute size quite rapidly over the next several decades. In planning to meet the retirement needs of an aging population over the coming generation, the Russian Federation’s options are there much more limited—and perhaps unpleasant—than those available for many other countries in the “more developed regions”.

  
  
  
• Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
  

  Addressing Corruption in Haiti

  By Robert Klitgaard, American Enterprise Institute
  
  Paper, 04/28/2010
  

  In the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake of January 12, 2010, Haiti will receive unprecedented aid for reconstruction and for its promising economic strategy. But given the country’s legacy of corruption, massive aid could simply result in another massive Haitian failure. Success hinges on facing corruption squarely and developing a hard-headed, politically sensitive anticorruption strategy. How this could be done, given Haiti’s realities and lessons from fighting corruption around the world, is the subject of this paper.

  
  
  
• Labor
  

  The Impact of the Employee Free Choice Act on the U.S. Economy

  By Lee E. Ohanian, American Enterprise Institute
  
  Studies, 04/28/2010
  

  The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is one of the most significant proposed changes to labor law of the last half century. If passed, EFCA, at least in its current form, will change how a union is recognized and significantly amend bargaining between a union and employer if an initial agreement cannot be reached. This report analyzes the economic implications of EFCA on the U.S. economy. In this increasingly globally competitive economy, increasing wages and expanding the pool of high paying jobs requires increasing worker productivity, not suppressing competition through increased unionization. Alternative policies, including subsidies for education and job training, can promote wage growth for lower-skilled workers more efficiently than unionization.

  
  
  
• Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
  

  Crisis and Ideology: The Administration’s Financial Reform Legislation

  By Peter J. Wallison, American Enterprise Institute
  
  Financial Services Outlook, 04/28/2010
  

  The Obama administration’s financial regulation plan, faithfully replicated in Senator Christopher Dodd’s bill, raises the question of whether its purpose is actually to address the causes of the financial crisis or—like ObamaCare—to put the government in control of yet another sector of the U.S. economy. Federal Reserve regulation of all large, nonbank financial institutions—as required by the Dodd bill—would signal to the market that these institutions are too big to fail. Meanwhile, the creation of a $50 billion rescue fund to be managed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will assure creditors that they will be bailed out if one or more of these large institutions are in danger of failing. Both provisions will substantially restructure the financial markets and the U.S. economy by favoring large financial institutions over their small competitors. This makes sense only if the administration is pursuing an ideological objective instead of striving to ensure a healthy and competitive U.S. financial system in the future.

  
  
  
• Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
  

  The Case for Auditing the Fed Is Obvious

  By Arnold Kling, Cato Institute
  
  Brief Analysis, 04/27/2010
  

  Recently, the Federal Reserve has significantly altered the procedures and goals that it had followed for decades. It has more than doubled its balance sheet, paid interest to banks on reserves held as deposits with the Fed, made decisions about which institutions to prop up and which should be allowed to fail, invested in assets that expose taxpayers to large losses, and raised questions about how it will avoid inflation despite an unprecedented increase in the monetary base. This paper has three main sections. The first section looks at opposition to the audit. The second section looks at the processes on which an audit should focus. The third section looks at the outcomes on which an audit should focus.

  
  
  
• Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
  

  The State of Liberal Democracy in Africa: Resurgence or Retreat?

  By Tony Leon, Cato Institute
  
  Policy Analysis, 04/27/2010
  

  For much of the post-colonial period, Africans tended to live under one-party dictatorships. Today, even the most despotic of African leaders wish to have their leadership affirmed by elections. Democracy is increasingly seen as the only legitimate form of government in Africa, but regular multiparty elections are not synonymous with good government, rule of law, and economic development. Indeed, corruption, repression, and underdevelopment continue to scar much of Africa. Instead of paying attention only to the trappings of democracy, African reformers should focus on building free societies characterized by the separation of powers, checks and balances, an independent media and judiciary, restriction on presidential power, term limits, and so on.

  
  
  
• Economic and Political Thought
  

  The Social Philosophies of the Ostroms’ Institutionalism

  By Paul Dragos Aligica, Peter J. Boettke, Mercatus Center
  
  Working Paper, 04/27/2010
  

  The main objective of this paper is to explore what we call the “social theory” or the “social philosophy” that presumably shapes, inspires and defines the Ostroms’ research program. Our argument is that what we have called the “social theory” behind the Bloomington School’s research agenda has in fact two facets that may or may not be consistent with each other. Even more, they may or may not be necessarily and inseparably connected with the rest of the program. The first is built around the concept of “polycentricity” and a series of Public Choice insights, and is a challenge to two of the deepest assumptions of political and economic sciences in the 20th century: the monocentric vision of social order and the “market” versus “state” dichotomy. The second is built around a view of social order seen as a knowledge and learning process, along with a series of observations about the human condition, fallibility, coercion and error as well as about the factors engendering institutional order as a response to the challenges posed by them.

  
  
  
• Economic and Political Thought
  

  The Political Economy of Corporate Charters

  By Molly J. Cohn, Mercatus Center
  
  Working Paper, 04/27/2010
  

  This paper provides a theoretical framework to explain how inter state competition contributed to the wave of general incorporation in the U.S. during the 19th century, and quantitatively tests the hypotheses at the core of this theory. I argue that the move from special to general incorporation can be understood as a tipping model perpetuated by inter-state competition. The states that were the first to “tip” were those most adversely affected by the financial crisis in the late 1830s, and who subsequently faced political pressure to curb systematic corruption; to appease their constituents, legislators opened access to the corporate form by legislating general incorporation. Subsequently, their competitor states feared that their own businesses would vote with their feet, moving to take advantage of the newly implemented general incorporation procedures. The threat of exit motivated these competitor states (that were less hurt by the financial crisis) to abandon special incorporation. Once this next wave of states adopted general incorporation, their competitors were motivated to do so, and so on until all states legislated general incorporation.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Stimulus Facts

  By Veronique de Rugy, Mercatus Center
  
  Working Paper, 04/27/2010
  

  This paper analyzes the disbursement of funds authorized through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Using recipient report data from Recovery.gov and economic and political data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, GovTrack.us, and others, we have compiled a series of facts about stimulus spending. This report is simply to make use of the tens of thousands of stimulus recipient reports recently published on Recovery.gov, and to put the aggregate information contained in those reports in a larger context. This report will become part of a regular series as new recipient reports are released each quarter.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Understanding The New Hampshire State Budget: Measuring The Revenue Shortfall

  By Charles M. Arlinghaus, Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy
  
  Policy Analysis, 04/27/2010
  

  Using a historical projection model, state revenues can be projected to fall $84.8 million short of the amount budgeted to balance spending in the first year of the two-year budget. Revenues in the second year of the budget are built off the first year’s projection plus 2.2% growth over that base. At that rate of growth, revenues would be an additional $86 million out of balance in the second of the two budget years. The combined revenue shortfall of $171 million is the largest component of a budget deficit greater than $250 million that legislators must resolve to balance the state’s finances.

  
  
  
• Budget & Taxation
  

  Facing the Economic Crisis Challenges for Massachusetts Police Chiefs

  By Brenda J. Bond, Gabrielle Aydnwylde, Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research
  
  White Paper, 04/27/2010
  

  Police chiefs across Massachusetts are embroiled in an extraordinary management struggle – balancing unrelenting public safety demands while adapting to drastic reductions in resources. The general public may not instinctively think of local police chiefs as executive-level managers engulfed by the financial and operational effectiveness of their organizations, but the exceptional financial state of the Commonwealth and municipalities requires a new level of human and financial management by police chiefs and local administrators. This paper provides a brief account of experiences and challenges facing police chiefs in several midsized cities in Massachusetts, the factors which impact their decision making and the strategies they utilize, and discusses the various ways in which chiefs are adapting to changing financial and social contexts.

  
  
  
• Economic Growth
  

  Voting With Their Feet

  By J. Scott Moody, Wendy P. Warcholik, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
  
  Current Perspective, 04/27/2010
  

  Economists have long studied migration between the states because migration is the ultimate expression of “voting with your feet.” In other words, more people moving into a state is a good sign of social and economic progress whereas more people leaving a state is not a good sign. In recent research people are most inclined to move to Oklahoma from places where state and local taxes are higher (including income taxes), union membership is higher, population density is higher, the cost of housing is higher, and temperatures are a bit colder. Or, to put it another way, people come to Oklahoma for lower taxes, fewer unions, more space, and more affordable housing. Oklahoma is doing something right to attract the migration.

  
  
  
• Regulation & Deregulation
  

  Preservation Follies

  By Edward L. Glaeser, Manhattan Institute
  
  City Journal, 04/27/2010
  

  It’s hard to fault the Landmarks Preservation Commission for stopping development in historic districts. That’s its job: to “safeguard the city’s historic, aesthetic and cultural heritage,” as the city’s administrative code puts it. The real question is whether these vast districts should ever have been created and whether they should remain protected ground in the years ahead. No living city’s future should become a prisoner to its past.

  
  
  
• Education
  

  Black and Hispanic Charter Students More Likely to Gain Admission to Selective NYC High Schools

  By Marcus A. Winters, Manhattan Institute
  
  Issue Brief, 04/27/2010
  

  A recent review of data provided by the New York City Department of Education reveals that African-American charter school students were 60 percent more likely than their public school counterparts to earn a seat in one of New York City ‘s specialized high schools in 2009. For Hispanics, the rate of acceptance was twice as high for charter school graduates than for students from traditional public schools. This research suggests that on average students benefit substantially academically from attending one of the city’s charter schools.