Recent News

Like many Americans, I took my kids to see the new Jackie Robinson bio-pic “42."  They were appropriately shocked and appalled by the vile way he was treated by the bigots he faced in the streets and on the field.  On the way home, I warned them to “brace yourselves – sometime very soon we’re going to see a major sports figure coming out of the closet and announcing he’s…

Assistant Adjunct Professor of Public Policy Larry Rosenthal serves on the research board the City of Vallejo's participatory budget project. PB Vallejo brings the budgeting process directly to residents, allowing them to debate, discuss and vote on city projects, from street lights to senior centers. Orville Thomas (MPP '13) recently completed his Advanced Policy Analysis (APA) project with Vallejo Councilwoman Marti Brown on questions of representativeness, process design, the role of administrative structures and sustainability across annual budget…

As a result of the internet and financial challenges, higher education might become unbundled in the next decade as its functions are separated into different pieces and markets. The decline of newspapers in the past 20 years provides an object lesson about what can happen, but higher education has strengths that newspapers lacked. Since the late-19th century and through much of the 20th century, newspapers profitably bundled often lurid, and sometimes thoughtful, news coverage with advertising and classifieds printed on…

Ever heard of California’s “Low Carbon Fuel Standard”? UC Berkeley prof Dan Kammen co-wrote it. What about the terms “cap and trade” and “carbon offsets”? Kammen helped popularize these concepts for the American public and transform the way we view energy consumption. As director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab at the University of California, Berkeley — where he also holds appointments in the Environmental Resources Group and the Department of…

Listen to Professor David Kirp on KQED's Forum as he discusses strategies to rebuild our public schools. His latest book is Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools. 

Solomon Hsiang studies how climate change affects people in the Caribbean, Central America, the Philippines, and around the world. This summer, he will join the faculty of the Goldman School. You have a science and urban planning background. how did you come into the world of public policy? I know that because of my background, it might look like I “stumbled” into public policy — but that couldn’t be further from the truth. From the very…

On Friday 4/17, Senators Dan Coats (R-Ind.), and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), introduced legislation that would take nationwide a pilot program that removes restrictions on growing fruits and vegetables from farmers who receive federal subsidies. First implemented in the 2008 Farm Bill, the planting flexibility pilot program allows farmers more freedom to respond to market signals when making planting decisions. However, a big question for the existing specialty crop growers and public health stakeholders remains: will removing these restrictions have a substantial impact…