The Brookings Cafeteria

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Taxes and the IRS Apr 13, 2015

Show notes

“Anger at the IRS for the complexity of the tax system is misplaced,” says Senior Fellow Bill Gale in this podcast. “The IRS does not legislate the tax code; Congress does. And if the tax code is complicated, that is Congress’s fault.” Gale, co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, explains one reason why the complicated tax code might be a good thing. Gale also addresses a variety of issues, including: what tax reform means; whether reform is good for economic growth; what are meant by a flat tax and consumption tax; and political rhetoric about abolishing the IRS. "You can argue about whether you want lower taxes or higher taxes, but I don’t think there should be an argument about whether we want an effective enforcement agency. It’s just a good government thing." - Bill Gale Show Notes: Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center How do IRS budget cuts affect taxpayers and the tax system? (event w/ IRS Commissioner Koskinen) Rubio-Lee hints at tax reform's troubling direction Tax Policy in 2014: Two Developments That May Set The Table For the Future Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

Vegas water czar on West's water crisis Apr 09, 2015

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“I know that California has got a nightmare on [its] hands right now,” says Pat Mulroy, former general manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and now a Brookings nonresident senior fellow, in this podcast taped just as California announced statewide water restrictions. Mulroy, who has been called “the water empress of Vegas,” discusses a path forward in California’s crisis; explains why criticizing the Bellagio fountain’s water use is misplaced; reflects on how she got into the water business in the first place; and offers insights from her experience on how communities can cooperate on water issues. “We in this country have no idea how fortunate we are,” she says. “We are a small minority around the world that actually has reliable 24/7 water.” (Hoover Dam photo by Sareen Hairabedian) Show Notes: Video about Pat Mulroy (YouTube) Longtime Vegas water czar warns other cities to brace for climate change Pat Mulroy’s bio at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

Robert Putnam on "Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis" Apr 02, 2015

Show notes

Brookings Fellows E.J. Dionne and Richard Reeves speak with noted political scientist and author Robert Putnam, professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, about his new book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. Putnam explains how an “opportunity gap” has emerged over the past twenty-five years between education for wealthy and poor children in America, and how differences in politics, class, and race are impacting the American dream. Also in this episode, Governance Studies Fellow John Hudak explains "What's Happening in Congress." Show Notes: - Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, by Robert D. Putnam- Social Mobility Memos Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

Julia Gillard on the power of universal education Mar 19, 2015

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“The forces of darkness, the terrorists, know that education is a powerful change agent,” says former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in this podcast about her commitment to global education. Ms. Gillard, now a distinguished fellow with the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and chair of the Global Partnership for Education, discusses a variety of topics, including her path to becoming Australia’s 27th prime minister; overcoming barriers to achieving universal education; why quality of education matters as much, or more, than getting children into school; and what needs to be done in the post-2015 development agenda to achieve gender equity in education. Show Notes: - Brookings Center for Universal Education- Global Partnership for Education- The future of global education: What is the role of non-state actors?- #GirlsEdu: The Value of Girls’ Education in 2014 and Beyond- The Life of an Australian Prime Minister: A Conversation with Julia Gillard on "My Story" Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

The Federal Reserve and "Audit the Fed" Mar 03, 2015

Show notes

“The real question is, are the proponents of ‘Audit the Fed’ legislation seeking to make the Fed more accountable …? Or are they basically people who don’t like what the Fed is doing and see ‘Audit the Fed’ as a lever to change the Fed?” asks Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy Director David Wessel in this podcast. Listen to find out why Wessel calls “Audit the Fed” a misnomer, but also how he explains why we are asking the Fed to do too much in the economy. He also offers ideas on useful reforms to Fed accountability and transparency. Plus, find out why he describes a return to the gold standard as “snake oil.” Wessel is also a senior fellow in Economic Studies and former economics editor of the Wall Street Journal. Show Notes: - The Fed in the 21st century: Independence, governance, and accountability- The Hutchins Center Explains: Audit the Fed- Congress vs. Yellen: Partisanship or accountability?- Central Banking After the Financial Crisis- The Global Financial Crisis: Lessons from History- Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

North and South Korea: Pride, Prejudice and Unification Challenges Feb 20, 2015

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"We have a deficit of knowledge about the Koreas" in both the academy and public discourse, says Kathy Moon, the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies and a senior fellow in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings. In this podcast, Moon, who is also a political science professor at Wellesley College, describes her own journey to becoming a scholar with a focus on Asia and the Koreas; talks about what she observed during her trip to North Korea; explains the sources of North Koreans' national pride; and offers her thoughts on the very serious challenges for Korean reunification. Also in the podcast, a discussion between John Hudak of Governance Studies and Michael O'Hanlon in Foreign Policy about President Obama's request to Congress for an Authorization for Use of Military Force against ISIS. Show Notes: - Shared Challenges and Cooperation for Korea, China and the U.S. - Protesting America: Democracy and the U.S.-Korea Alliance - Ethnicity and U.S. Foreign Policy: Korean Americans - Sandalwood Death, by Mo Yan - The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson ---- Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

The Affordable Care Act, America's health, and leading the CBO Feb 06, 2015

Show notes

"I think the Affordable Care Act is actually doing quite well," says Senior Fellow Alice Rivlin in this podcast. Rivlin, the Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies and director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings, cited the expansion of medical insurance coverage, declining cost growth, and other positive factors for the ACA. She also reflects on continued political opposition to the law, the impending King v. Burwell Supreme Court case, and what it was like to stand up a new federal agency, the Congressional Budget Office, in 1975. Also in the podcast, Senior Fellow David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, offers his regular "Wessel's Economic Update." Show Notes: • Improving Health While Reducing Cost Growth, What is Possible? (with Mark McClellan) • People Who Wanted Market-Driven Health Care Now Have it in the Affordable Care Act • Health360: The latest views on health policy Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

Bruce Katz on the 21st Century Metro: Innovative, Powerful, and Leading the Country Forward Jan 20, 2015

Show notes

“Cities and metro areas are networks, they are not governments; therefore we need to put them central to the debate of how the country moves forward,” Bruce Katz says in this podcast on the metropolitan revolution—metro areas’ recognition that they are where change does and should happen, especially in an era of congressional gridlock. Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program and also the Adeline M. and Alfred I. Johnson Chair in Urban and Metropolitan Policy, explains that the nation’s 388 metropolitan areas are “the true organic economies”; discusses why metro areas are at the “vanguard of policy innovation”; describes why the traditional federalism pyramid should be flipped to feature cities and metros on top; and offers insights into the new spatial geography of innovation that is spurring production-oriented economic growth. Also in the podcast, Governance Studies Fellow John Hudak offers his regular update, "What's Happening in Congress." Show Notes: • The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy (with Jennifer Bradley)• The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America (with Julie Wagner)• Mapping Freight: The Highly Concentrated Nature of Goods Trade in the United States (Adie Tomer and Joseph Kane)• What Should the Role of the Federal Government Be in Supporting Innovation Districts? • What the United States Can Teach the U.K. About Federalism• The Global Cities Initiative Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

Strobe Talbott on His Life, the World, and Everything Jan 09, 2015

Show notes

In this podcast, Brookings President Strobe Talbott reflects on growing up in Cleveland, his career—as a journalist, State Department Official, and think tank leader—and today’s challenges for governance and stability. Learn how a career in journalism prepared him for State Department diplomacy; about his role in defusing two international crises in one dangerous week in June 1999; what he thinks about Vladimir Putin and Russia’s course; and why nuclear proliferation and climate change are “existential threats.” And also listen to his reflections on Brookings’s centenary next year. Also at the top of the podcast, David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy, offers his economic update and previews two important upcoming events. Show Notes: • Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin, by Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy (2d edition)• The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century, by Angela Stent• Fast Forward: Ethics and Politics in the Age of Global Warming, by Strobe Talbott and William Antholis (revised edition)• Brookings India Initiative• "Monnet's Brandy and Europe's Fate: A determined Frenchman's vision of integration serves as a guide to ending the eurozone crisis," Brookings Essay by Strobe Talbott Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

Nixon and Moynihan: White House Odd Couple Dec 18, 2014

Show notes

In 1969, a conservative president made a liberal professor his urban affairs adviser in the White House. When Richard Nixon brought Daniel Patrick Moynihan onto the White House staff, the consequences for both would be tremendous, as recounted by Stephen Hess in this podcast based on his fascinating tale of those years, The Professor and the President: Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the Nixon White House (Brookings, 2014). Hess, a senior fellow emeritus at Brookings who was not only Moynihan’s deputy on the Urban Affairs Council but also a close friend, offers vivid anecdotes of what he witnessed, including: why “in a strange way Nixon fell in love with [Moynihan]”; a visit from actor Kirk Douglas; how Moynihan invented the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and the White House jazz concert led by Duke Ellington, the award’s first recipient. Also in the podcast, Governance Studies Fellow John Hudak, in his "What's Happening in Congress" commentary, reviews the end of the 113th Congress and looks ahead to the next; and Bruce Jones, deputy director of Foreign Policy at Brookings, talks about his new book, with David Steven, The Risk Pivot: Great Powers, International Security, and the Energy Revolution, which is about the "revolutionary changes in the supply, demand, and flow of energy" worldwide. Show Notes: • The Professor and the President: Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the Nixon White House• The Nixon Sightings, a series in which Hess recalls five key moments of his time working with Richard M. Nixon• The "Benign Neglect" memo, Moynihan to Nixon (January 16, 1970) (pdf)• A New Revelation From the Nixon White House, story of the 1969 jazz all-star concert (Len Garment, The New York Times, Aug. 25, 2002)• Watch this video of Hess Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu.

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