For those who may not have been paying attention, “A small group of developing countries are transforming the global economic landscape,” the Congressional Research Service observed in a report last month. “Led by China, India, and Brazil, these rising economic powers pose varied challenges and opportunities for U.S. economic interests and leadership of the global economy.” See “Rising Economic Powers and the Global Economy: Trends and Issues for Congress” (pdf), August 22, 2011.
Other new reports from CRS that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf).
“Cost-Benefit and Other Analysis Requirements in the Rulemaking Process,” August 30, 2011
“Climate Change: Conceptual Approaches and Policy Tools,” August 29, 2011
“Financing Recovery After a Catastrophic Earthquake or Nuclear Power Incident,” August 25, 2011
“Addressing the Long-Run Budget Deficit: A Comparison of Approaches,” August 25, 2011
“Homeland Security Department: FY2012 Appropriations,” September 2, 2011
“Congressional Primer on Major Disasters and Emergencies,” August 31, 2011
There is no question this is a Big Deal. If you are a university or research lab, or aspire to work in one, or are simply an enthusiast of federally-funded research, what’s next will matter.
The emerging federal metascience community is asking fascinating questions that are equally vital for democratic legitimacy: beyond “did this program work” to “how does the federal R&D enterprise itself work, and how could it work better?”
If you’re new to the climate intervention space, welcome! The TL;DR: if we can’t stop the most catastrophic impacts of climate change with current tools quickly enough, then we need a bigger toolbox.
After months of delay, the council tasked by President Trump to review the FEMA released its final report. Our disaster policy nerds have thoughts.