Recent News

Goldman students (from left): Emory Wolf, Emily McCaffrey, Daniel Lao-Talens, Henriette Ruhrmann, Joseph Monardo, Joony Moon, Randall Tran, Chenchen Zhang Now is a fascinating time to study policy. As the US and the global community are searching for policy approaches to the future, we at GSPP are discussing how we can advocate for the future we want as policy professionals. Our thoughts and conversations with current and previous students at GSPP shape our perspective on the world. For us, the…

Rarely do new companies burst into the transportation picture the way that Uber, Lyft and other app-based ride services have done since 2012. These two companies now transport 6.6 million passengers per day, roughly triple traditional taxicabs and about one-half the number of passengers traveling by local bus in the United States. What are they? How are they transforming urban transportation? What public policy responses, if any, are needed? To understand what is happening, it's important to set aside the hype.…

Author, Gaelan Ash (MPP '19). You can reach him at gaelan.ash@gmail.com Derided as utopian in the 19th century, the co-operative movement is experiencing a modern renaissance, popping up in low-income communities to address bread and butter issues like income inequality and economic exclusion. For Taye McGee, a worker-owner at Rich City Rides, a bike shop in Richmond, California, co-operatives are anything but utopian. His job in the co-op has enabled him to make a positive impact in his…

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished members of faculty, staff members, families, and fellow graduates. Good morning. On behalf of the graduating class of 2018 I would like to say welcome and thank you for celebrating this special day with us as we begin this exciting and exuberant post-graduation chapter. We are all filled with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, a deep pride in the work we've put in with these last super-accelerated 12 months, and a self-assured confidence that we will be…

In the latest contribution to the Democracy Papers, Kay Schlozman, Henry Brady, and Sidney Verba give an authoritative overview of inequalities of political voice in the United States. Drawing on their recently published book, Unequal and Unrepresented: Political Inequality and the People’s Voice in the New Gilded Age, they show that not only has American political life long been dominated by inequalities of political voice, but also that these inequalities have been further accentuated by the…

As global temperatures rise because of climate change, suicide rates are likely to rise as well, according to a new analysis by Stanford University and UC Berkeley researchers. The study, published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, concluded that projected temperature increases over the next few decades could lead to an additional 21,000 suicides in the United States and Mexico by 2050. That’s an increase of several percentage points over rates today, which are actually rising as other…

College students and young adults are more anxious now than ever before. A new study launched by the Berkeley Institute for the Future of Young Americans (BIFYA) at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy aims to find out why and what -- from a public policy standpoint -- can be done about it. According to a policy brief from BIFYA, 32% of 13- to 17-year olds have “met criteria for an anxiety disorder at least one point…

A discussion about Japanese healthcare.  A ride on a bullet train.  A conversation with a Hiroshima survivor.  And more. The student-led Goldman School trip to Japan gave participants the unique opportunity to compare and contrast policy approaches while enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Himeji. The trip was organized and led by Naoyuki Komada, a first-year MPP student from Japan, and was funded by the generous support of the Goldman School community,…

Clockwise from top left: Betsy Baum Block, Corey Newhouse, Justine Wolitzer, Jamie Allison.   It started with shopping for hats. Betsy Block (MPP ‘06) first met Jamie Allison the week before the start of classes for their first year at GSPP. They bonded as they shopped for hats along Telegraph Avenue. Later, Betsy met Corey Newhouse (MPP ‘03) at a gathering for new students that Corey hosted with Debra Solomon (MPP ‘03) and others. Betsy and Jamie went on to…

By Charlotte Hill (MPP ‘17) It seems poetic that the antithesis of Washington, DC’s political corruption and ineptitude can be found in Washington State, 2,493 miles away. Maybe the physical distance between the two jurisdictions helps Washington State’s legislators resist politics as usual. Maybe the shared name imbues them with an outsize sense of responsibility over the nation’s political system — a desire to fix our broken democracy and get government right. Whatever the reason,…