The End of Yemen, Video Games and Public Policy, and More

March 27, 2021

In 2015, Saudi Arabia started its military operation to push rebel Houthis out of Yemen's capital city of Sanaa. Six years of bombing, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the world's worst humanitarian crisis later, Yemen has been fractured beyond recognition, says Gregory Johnsen.

US immigration policy: A classic, unappreciated example of structural racism

"Examining immigration policy through a systemic racism lens reveals that today's largely Latino undocumented immigrants face far harsher consequences than white Europeans of years past for the same exact offense of unauthorized entry. A system that treats immigrants differently solely to their race is essentially the textbook definition of structural racism," writes Charles Kamasaki.

Video games are the new contested space for public policy

Video games are not just an enormous media market, they've become an inescapable part of public discourse. From "Call of Duty" developers working with a Pentagon advisor to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez livestreaming "Among Us" to get out the vote, Joshua Foust discusses the policy implications of this interactive medium.

New Brookings Papers on Economic Activity

Whether it's the COVID-19 recession or the costs of pre-trial detention, the latest set of Brookings Papers on Economic Activity cover a wide range of macroeconomic topics. See highlights below from the Spring 2021 conference or view all the papers here.

The fiscal policy response to COVID-19. Pandemic-related legislation has had a budgetary cost of over $5 trillion. As a share of GDP, that is nearly equivalent to what the United States spent on war production in 1943. Christina Romer assesses the effectiveness of this spending.

Advanced cognitive skill deserts in America. Middle schoolers in U.S. counties where fewer adults have advanced cognitive skills appear less likely to develop advanced skills themselves. Caroline Hoxby discusses the implications for these students' future economic security.

The economic costs of pre-trial detention. If money bail were eliminated, Will Dobbie and Crystal Yang estimate that up to 2.8 million fewer people would be detained per year. This move could also increase aggregate U.S. income by up to $80.9 billion per year.

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