Research Analysis
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How Rising Property Taxes Engender Regressive Taxation
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As the old adage goes, two things in life are guaranteed: death and taxes. While it may not be lethal, some Cook County residents are in for a surprise when they open their next property tax bill. Reports indicate that between 2015-2016, the average property tax rate for a Chicago…
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What are the True Costs of Natural Disasters?
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With a year that included severe monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, earthquakes in Mexico, and hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 2017 was an exceptionally bad year for natural disasters. Policies can help mitigate these tragedies, but to start we must better understand a disaster’s true costs. Conventional metrics consider…
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How Jurisprudence Encouraged Whites to ‘Reverse Pass’ as Black
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Remember Rachel Dolezal? An instructor of Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University and president of the Spokane chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Dolezal hid her racial origin until 2015 when an intrepid reporter unmasked her. A follow-up with her parents revealed the truth:…
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A Dissonant Fantasy: Why Authoritarians on the Left Disengage from Politics
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From the United States to France, from Turkey to the Philippines, the rising specter of authoritarianism across the globe has frightened proponents of liberal democracy. Among those invested in the current world order, the discourse now confronts whether democratic norms and institutions will be enough to maintain the status quo.…
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The Deteriorating Impact of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program in Chicago
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Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) was launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2002 to reduce gun violence across 94 federal districts. The City of Chicago adopted this program the same year, targeting neighborhoods inflicted with high rates of poverty, unemployment, gang membership, and high school dropouts. Initial evaluations determined…
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Does Economic Growth Help or Hinder Poverty Alleviation? A Case Study From Mexico
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The uneven distribution of globalization-driven economic growth has led researchers to question whether growth actually decreases poverty and inequality. They have tried to answer questions such as: Does growth affect poverty at all? Is growth sufficient to reduce poverty? What conditions must exist for the growth of a country to be pro-poor?…
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Can Vehicle Automation Help Us Save Energy?
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Technology for automated vehicles has developed rapidly over the past few years. The vehicles’ safety and convenience make them increasingly popular. At the same time, it has necessitated the introduction of new legislation to regulate an expanding market. On September 12, 2017, the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA)…
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Strategic Motivations of Foreign Aid in a Changing World
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Gauging developed countries’ motivations for providing development assistance is complex. One theory suggests that governments of developed countries see foreign aid as a tool of realpolitik, using foreign aid to improve relations with recipient countries and prevent political destabilization. In a recent paper, political scientist Sarah Blodgett Bermeo examines the…
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Baby Boomers Are Crowding Out Millennial Scientists
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Scientific innovation has positioned the United States as the global economic leader in the 21st century. However, a 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics report suggests a problem for the future of STEM in the U.S. The report found that after years of pushing young people to study the sciences, there is a significant…
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Black Births Matter: Institutional Racism and Infant Mortality Rates in the United States
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Infant mortality is a common indicator of a country’s overall health and economic progress. In the United States, an African American baby is twice as likely as a White baby to die during their first year of life. This fact embodies the country’s struggle with racism. While the U.S. rate…
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The Effect of Decriminalizing Prostitution on Public Health and Safety
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In the United States, prostitution has long been declared illegal for moral, safety, and public health concerns. Recently, states like New Hampshire and California are challenging these laws, opening the topic for public debate. The effects of legalizing prostitution are still largely unknown because they have primarily been studied in…