Low job growth and earnings reduce local tax revenues, which strains the ability of local governments to fund essential services like health care and education. To disrupt this harmful cycle, the federal government is pursuing place-based policies to boost job growth in distressed counties—places where a low percentage of residents aged 25 to 54 are employed.
Have recent federal policies achieved this goal? What is the employment rate gap between distressed counties and the national average? Timothy J. Bartik, Kathleen Bolter, and Kyle Huisman outline what the data reveals in their new report.
What to do with Russia’s nuclear threats. Vladimir Putin does not want a nuclear war, but he does want Ukraine and the West to believe that he is prepared to risk one in order to undermine their resolve and determination. Though this is a worrisome situation, Ukraine and the West can choose to keep their nerve, argues Steven Pifer.
Climate change and public health in Africa. “Climate change is having increasingly disastrous effects on human health and well-being, especially in Africa, and protecting and promoting health is a powerful argument for climate action. Ultimately, the climate crisis is a health crisis,” World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom-Ghebreyesus writes.
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