Recent News
Goldman Students Participate in Berkeley’s Inaugural Palestine Trek
Emnet Almedom, Christopher Dokko, Robyn Levinson, Pauline Miller, and Anthony Rodriguez Palestine Trek (PalTrek) is a student-led venture designed to enrich the perspectives of the next generation of legal, business, political, and civil society leaders and advocates in the U.S. For the first time, graduate students from UC Berkeley—from, the Goldman School of Public Policy, Berkeley Law, Haas Business School, the School of Journalism, and the School of Social Welfare, among others—traveled throughout the West…
Commencement 2019 Live Stream
Children of the Dream
From Basic Books FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Kait Howard | 212-364-0663 | kait.howard@hbgusa.com “In a highly diverse society and world like ours, integration matters. Most of us learn to live integrated lives through integrated schools. Rucker C. Johnson’s ground-breaking research should raise alarms for policy makers, educators, parents, and any other citizen concerned about America’s future in the face of classrooms that look today as segregated as they were when that practice was…
The Massive Cost of the “New Normal” in Wildfires & Climate Change Era
California Governor Gavin Newsom's office released this memo, authored by Goldman School lecturer and energy expert Steve Weissman. MEMORANDUM To: Ana Matosantos, Cabinet Secretary for Governor Gavin Newsom From: Steven Weissman, Lecturer at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy Date: April 10, 2019 As California policy makers deliberate on the most constructive approach to wildfire policy, it is important to understand potential costs associated with the new normal of increased wildfire risk and climate change. Without fundamental…
Child Poverty Rate Could Be Cut in Half in Next Decade Following Proposals in New Expert Report
Professor Hilary Hoynes was a part of the expert committee that drafted this comprehensive report on reducing child poverty. In light of the many costs generated by child poverty for the United States, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides evidence-based policy and program packages that could cut the child poverty rate by as much as 50 percent while at the same time increasing employment and earnings among adults living in low-income families. …
Professor Eugene Bardach on Lessons From a Former Student
In February 2002, a recent alum, Al Fitzpayne (MPP '98) wrote me a delicious letter describing his success in a job search. He was one of two finalists for the position of tax and budget adviser to a US Senator. The decisive round of the selection contest was to be a mock memo to the Senator on an obscure question of US tax policy, about which he, of course, new nothing. “Panic.” But then: “The experience of having…
Shutting Down the Government—A Very Bad Idea
It’s been more than a month (Tuesday, January 22, is day 32) since the partial government shutdown with 800,000 federal workers not getting paid. Economists predict that the closure will shave as much as one-tenth off economic growth for every week that it lasts. Airports are becoming clogged with travelers as TSA workers call in sick. Food stamp funding may run out in the next month. The IRS is recalling workers (without pay) to start processing tax returns. Small business…
State Budgeting—How’s California Doing?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sarah Swanbeck, Executive Director Berkeley Institute for the Future of Young Americans 510-642-0891 swanbeck@berkeley.edu Dec 12, 2018 The Volcker Alliance released its second annual report comparing state budgeting practices across all 50 U.S. states. The report, Truth and Integrity in State Budgeting: Preventing the Next Fiscal Crisis, grades states on a scale of A to D- across five categories that measure their ability to maintain balanced and sustainable budgets. As partners of the alliance, researchers…
Sol Hsiang Awarded NatGeo AI for Earth Innovation Grant
Solomon Hsiang, Chancellor’s Associate Professor of Public Policy, is one of eleven changemakers selected to receive a Microsoft and National Geographic AI for Earth Innovation Grant to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to help understand and protect the planet. Each AI for Earth Innovation Grant recipient will be awarded between $45,000 and $200,000 to support their innovative projects. Professor Hsiang and his team will use 1.6 million historical aerial photographs to discern the effect of major droughts and climate change…
Food and Agriculture Policy Group
The Food & Agriculture Policy Group’s mission is to explore how policy can achieve equity, justice, and economic and environmental sustainability within food and agriculture systems. By providing resources, convening conversations, and facilitating collaboration within the UC Berkeley community and beyond, the Food & Agriculture Policy Group examines the intersections of issues such as food justice and equity, the environmental impacts of food systems, the role of food and agriculture subsidies, access to and affordability of nutritious food,…