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NEWS: Summer 2006
Chinn, co-author call for U.S. to reduce federal budget deficit
La Follette School professor Menzie Chinn and Benn Steil of the Council on Foreign Relations argue that deficits hurt the U.S. economy in an article in The International Economy's summer 2006 issue. The authors criticize the Bush administration for ignoring the "twin deficits" of the current account and federal budget, which combine to weaken the U.S. dollar. Rather than acting to address its deficits, the United States is looking to China and a revaluation of its currency as the solution to deficit growth at home. Revaluation will not address the trade deficit and it won't increase factory production in the United States, the article says.
"Textile factories that have closed over the past decade wont reopen even after a steep dollar decline," the authors say. "A significant Chinese revaluation will lead to higher imported sock prices at Wal-Mart, not a sprouting of new American sock plants."
The United States needs to attack its federal budget deficit, which will help reduce the trade deficit, Chinn and Steil say. "Washington can prevent a dollar-driven decline of U.S. global power by demonstrating that it has the political leadership and will to make the hard decisions necessary to sustain American economic strength."Why Deficits Matter, The International Economy, summer 2006
Economist warns of dangers of federal budget deficits, University of Wisconsin-Madison news service, Aug. 25, 2006; Wisconsin Week Wire, Aug. 30, 2006
-- posted Aug. 22, 2006; updated Aug. 25, 2006
Dresang discusses management training, trends in state government
La Follette School professor Dennis Dresang provided management training for 60 officials from 12 post-Soviet countries at the Summer Public Management Institute in Liepaja, Latvia, June 26-30. The event was sponsored, in part, by the Soros Foundation, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State
He presented "State Governments Today: National Trends and Applications" to the Council of State Library Administrators Executive Leadership Institute on July 24.
In October, he will address the Midwest Legislative Staff officers at their annual meeting in Chicago.-- posted Aug. 21, 2006
Two join La Follette School staff
Elisabeth McInnis and Mary Treleven have joined the La Follette School's student services staff.
McInnis is the new career development coordinator, replacing Mary Woodward, who has retired from the university. Treleven is the new student services coordinator, replacing Joanne Chapin, who also retired.
"Mary Treleven and Elisabeth McInnis offer a great deal of experience in serving graduate students and enthusiasm for advancing the reputation of La Follette," says 2006 graduate Jenna Griffin, who served on the search committees. "I am grateful for the support and encouragement I received from Mary and Joanne. I anticipate that the professionalism, creativity, approachability and dedication of Elisabeth and Mary will continue that tradition."
McInnis advises students on résumé and cover-letter writing, interviewing and networking skills, and domestic and international internship opportunities as they plan their careers in public affairs. She connects alumni and students and develops internship opportunities.
Elisabeths most important role in will be helping students appreciate how their graduate training translates into being highly competitive for public policy positions, says Associate Director Karen Holden. "The La Follette School will be expanding opportunities students have for jobs and internships in the United States and abroad.
Prior to joining the La Follette School, McInnis was the career coordinator in graduate student career development at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. She has also worked in international student services, study abroad and counseling and student development at the University of Delaware. She has a master's degree in student affairs practice and college counseling from the University of Delaware and a bachelor's degree in hotel management from SUNY Plattsburgh in New York. She has studied and worked in Britain and is proficient in German.
In addition to providing information to prospective students, Treleven advises students on course requirements and focus fields, coordinates with faculty on curriculum development, and works with the associate director on recruitment, admissions and enrollment.
Treleven worked as associate director of admissions at the Wheelock College Graduate School in Boston. There she advised and recruited for a multi-campus program. More recently she was program administrator for the Lawyering Skills Program, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. She has a bachelor's degree in communication arts from UW-Madison and master's degree in English as a second language studies from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. She has taught in Cali, Colombia, and is proficient in Spanish."Though there were many fine candidates, Mary Treleven and Elisabeth McInnis stood out," Griffin says. "They both offer a great deal of experience in serving graduate students and enthusiasm for advancing the reputation of La Follette. I am confident that they will work well with the staff and faculty to build on the legacies of Mary Woodward and Joanne Chapin."
The experience they bring to public affairs is especially important for our newer Master of International Public Affairs program, Holden adds.
"I'm excited about the La Follette Schools student services staff, which also includes Mary Mead, who handles processing the timetable and admissions, Holden says. They make up an experienced, professional and creative team that will respond to professional developments in the ever-changing policy world and ensure our students are ready to to engage in public affairs.
.-- posted Aug. 10, 2006; updated Oct. 8, 2006
Student puts La Follette experience to work at home in Denmark
Former La Follette School student Maja Bejbro Andersen reports she is back home in Denmark, working for the Danish Ministry of Finance's Division of Administration Policy and Modernization of the Public Sector.
Andersen spent the 2005-06 school year as a special student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison taking La Follette School courses.
"I really loved my stay in Madison, and I have only positive things to say about La Follette, the program as well as the people," she says. "I can highly recommend other Danish students to take a semester or two at La Follette."Andersen is willing to connect La Follette students, faculty and staff with people at the Ministry of Finance and the University of Copenhagen, where is is completing her master's degree program in political science.
At her job, Andersen is involved with deregulation and simplification of governmental rules, policies and outsourcing proposals. She is working on the goals agencies set as part of their annual contracts with ministries and how those goals will be achieved.
"My division is in charge of the government's new modernization program," Andersen says. "In short, our work will be a guide to how the public sector should look in the future."The La Follette School gave her a taste of this vision through her courses in public personnel administration, social welfare policy and management, policymaking process, public management, and political economy of corruption and good governance.
Andersen says she applied for the new job while she was still in Madison. Within a week of being back in Denmark she had her first and second interviews. "The work is a great challenge," she says, "but I feel that I have been well equipped by all the courses I took at La Follette."
-- posted Aug. 10, 2006
Soss, co-authors win award for best public policy paper
La Follette School associate professor Joe Soss will receive an award for the best public policy paper presented at the American Political Science Association's 2005 annual meeting.
Soss and his co-authors, Richard C. Fording and Sanford F. Schram, will accept the award in September at APSA's annual conference for their paper "Race and Devolution: The Politics of Local Punishment in the New World of Welfare."
The three authors edited the 2003 book "Race and the Politics of Welfare Reform." Fording is associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky. Schram is visiting professor of social work and social research at Bryn Mawr College.
-- posted Aug. 9, 2006
Reschovsky presents on Texas school finance reform
La Follette School professor Andrew Reschovsky spoke at a July 26 meeting of the National Center for Education Statistics in Washington, D.C. The conference brought together state and local educators, members of associations, employees of government agencies and others to share information about developments and issues in the collection, reporting and use of education data.
Reschovsky presented the paper "The Legacy of Rodriguez: Assessing Three Decades of School Finance Reform in Texas," which he wrote with Jennifer Imazeki of San Diego State University. The paper explored whether Texas has achieved the equity and fiscal neutrality objectives that were at the core of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Rodriquez ruling that said Texas's heavy reliance on the local property tax to fund public education did not violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The authors asked whether the current funding system provides school districts with sufficient revenues to meet the state's student performance standards, identify which school districts are underfunded and estimate the amount of money needed to close the funding gap.
A July 22 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article quoted Reschovsky about property taxes and whether communities in southeastern Wisconsin are "tax havens." A study by the Public Policy Forum defined the city of Milwaukee as a "tax haven," a first, since traditionally urban areas are often considered to have higher taxes than suburbs.
Reschovsky said the study used the term in a manner different from how economists usually use it: Tax havens are usually defined as places with low taxes relative to the income of residents and the value of public services delivered. Reschovsky told the Journal Sentinel that the Forum's report "examines neither services nor income."
"'While a $4,000 bill is a real burden to a family that ekes out a $35,000 income, a $4,000 property tax bill to a multimillionaire isn't a burden at all,' he said."
The Journal Sentinel also quoted Reschovsky in a June 23 story about Wisconsin having the sixth highest state and local taxes as a percentage of personal income in 2004. The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance study of U.S. Census data found that Wisconsin's average per capita taxes ranked the state 12th.
Analyzing the same Census data, Reschovsky calculated own-source general revenue by adding government fees and services charges and miscellaneous revenues to taxes. He finds that Wisconsin ranks 16th in per capita general revenue and 13th in general revenue as a percentage of personal income.
"In Wisconsin, we have made a choice to finance government by relying more heavily on taxes and less heavily on fees and charges than the average state," Reschovsky said in the Journal Sentinel.
"Thus, university tuition is relatively low in Wisconsin, automobile license and registration fees are much lower than in many other states, and we don't charge tolls on our highways."
Reschovsky gave a presentation to the Committee on National Statistics of the National Research Council (part of the National Academies) in Washington, D.C., on June 22. He suggested possible improvements in the collection and dissemination of census fiscal data to the "Panel on Research and Development Priorities for the U.S. Census Bureau's State and Local Government Statistical Program."
The Legacy of Rodriguez: Three Decades of School Finance Reform in Texas / La Follette School Working Paper No. 2006-010
Study rebuilds property tax view, July 22, 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin dips to No. 6 in tax burden, June 23, 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-- posted August 1, 2006
First Nano Café identifies nanotechnology issues for discussion
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| La Follette School professor Clark Miller, standing, leads discussion about nanotechnology at the first Nano Café. |
Nanotechnology and its effects on the environment, society, health, computer industry, food and international regulation are some of the themes that about 50 community members want to focus on at public science forums.Madison's first Nano Café on July 18 featured La Follette School of Public Affairs associate professor Clark Miller. He led the discussion about different issues raised by applications of nanotechnology.
The Nano Café provides a casual atmosphere in which people who don't know a lot about nanotechnology can listen to experts, ask questions and share concerns. UW-Madison experts will explain their work, answer questions and address concerns from members of the public.
The event is sponsored by members of the Citizens' Coalition on Nanotechnology, in cooperation with faculty in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center.
Information: www.nanocafes.org Maria Powell, (608) 240-1485.-- posted July 21, 2006
Chinn presents on current account deficit, global finance
La Follette School professor Menzie D. Chinn is traveling the globe to speak on international finance and monetary policy, in addition to spending time with the Federal Reserve Board and the International Monetary Fund.
In July Chinn presented a paper on current account balances, financial development and institutions at a conference in Frankfurt, Germany, and served as a discussant for another. He chaired a session, presented one paper and discussed another at the International Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy conference given by the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research July 13-14. La Follette School professor Charles Engel was the keynote speaker at the Hong Kong conference. Chinn traveled to Croatia for the 12th Dubrovnik Economic Conference June 28-July 1.
Chinn earlier presented in Delphi, Greece, at the CESIFO-Delphi conference on Global Economic Imbalances: Prospectives and Remedies, June 2-3. He presented at a conference on the euro and the dollar in a globalized economy in Santa Cruz, California, on May 27.
In September, Chinn returns to California for the Santa Cruz Center for International Economics conference on Financial and Commercial Integrations. In August, he will spend one week at the International Finance Division of the Federal Reserve Board and another week at the research department of the International Monetary Fund.
-- posted July 20, 2006; revised July 31, 2006
Wolfe leads La Follette School as director
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| Barbara Wolfe |
Health economist Barbara (Bobbi) Wolfe has succeeded the retiring Donald Nichols as director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs.
Wolfe, a professor of public affairs, economics and population health sciences, takes over leadership of a highly regarded graduate program that offers domestic and international degrees in public policy and administration.
"Bobbi is a nationally known expert in the economics of health care and a talented researcher with the administrative skills to build on La Follette's excellent reputation," says Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Science. "We're also tremendously thankful to have had Don Nichols lead the school and enrich its national prominence during his tenure."
Wolfe, who has served on the UW-Madison faculty since 1977 and a member of the La Follette faculty since 1990, plans to heighten the awareness of the school's hands-on work with Wisconsin communities and its pioneering research in public policy.
In the last semester alone, graduate students and faculty were involved with analyzing the state's shared revenue program, evaluating the Department of Natural Resources' Green Tier environmental program and studying billing practices at Milwaukee Health Department clinics, as well as other projects, including internationally focused projects.
"I think it's important that people recognize the real-world projects that our faculty and students are regularly involved with as an extension of the Wisconsin Idea, and the solutions they are finding to problems in government," Wolfe says.
It's that sort of hands-on approach that has become a trademark of the school. Wolfe says the practical experience is vital to students hoping to make careers in public policy fields.
"It's an exciting place," she says. "The students here are special because they are going into an area that doesn't traditionally pay well. There is something unique about their enthusiasm and commitment. We specialize in personal attention to our students, and we're quite proud of that."
To emphasize the work that the school and its affiliates are doing, Wolfe would like to create a seminar series and periodically offer a larger symposium to address topical issues.
Wolfe's research focuses broadly on poverty and health issues, and includes analysis of the effect of expansions of public health insurance on health-care coverage and the labor force, the association of income with health, and trends in health among various U.S. populations. She is also a faculty affiliate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Institute for Research on Poverty.
Because of the importance of health issues in society, she would like to see the school place more emphasis on the study of health care.
"I really hope to build up the health policy component of the program, because we're all grappling with issues involving health policy, the high cost of health care and the concerns that arise from it," she says. "The health care area needs increasing numbers of people who do high quality health care analysis."Health economist takes over as director of La Follette School, July 13, 2006, UW-Madison news service
Directors and Associate Directors of the La Follette School-- posted July 17, 2006; updated July 18, Aug. 3, 2006
Group recognizes La Follette School for role in international internship
The Multi State Working Group recognized the La Follette School with a plaque At its meeting in Park City, Utah, in June, for the school's work creating MSWGs internship program.
The Multi State Working Group is composed of representatives of federal and state environmental regulatory agencies, business representatives and public interest groups. MSWG is a network that works with partners to improve environmental performance, economic sustainability, social responsibility and quality of life. It serves local, state, regional, national and international communities.
The group's first intern, University of Wisconsin-Madison political science major Tony Campos worked in London with the FTSE Group, the British equivalent of Dow Jones, on the FTSE For Good Program that encourages environmental activism in the financial community expressed through their investment decisions. Campos is now in London as a full-time, permanent employee of FTSE working on corporate responsibility.
The internship was linked to the Baldwin Endowment award to the Wisconsin Style: New Approaches to Regulatory Innovation research project headed up by La Follette School professor Graham Wilson to spread new thinking about environmental regulation in government and business circles.
-- posted July 17, 2006
La Follette School trains legislators in partnership with Council of State Governments
Thirty-seven legislators from 11 states and three Canadian provinces gathered in Madison for five days in July of intensive leadership and professional development training offered by the La Follette School of Public Affairs in partnership with the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments.
The Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD) is the only leadership training program exclusively for Midwestern legislators. It helps newer legislators develop the skills necessary to become effective leaders, informed decision-makers and astute policy analysts.
Every year we look forward to bringing together lawmakers from around the Midwest, says Dennis Dresang, the main La Follette School faculty member involved in the institute. They learn about policy initiatives underway in other states and provinces, share ideas and give us academics insight into research to conduct.
Through the program, lawmakers explore issues with nationally renowned scholars, professional development experts, and legislative leaders and colleagues from across the region.
This year, fellows heard from Professor Walter Dickey, the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law, on ways to ease the corrections problems many states face, and from Professor Michael Sussman, director of the UW Biotechnology Center, on the energy future of the Midwest and its biofuels.
The political and cultural characteristics of the Midwest were the focus of a presentation by Dresang, who also addressed leadership types, legislative decision-making and legislators as change agents.
Another session helped lawmakers understand the basics of ethics, work on practical applications in the legislative workplace, and recognize, navigate and resolve ethical dilemmas.
This is the 12th year that the La Follette School and the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments have offered the institute. New La Follette School Director Barbara (Bobbi) Wolfe and Outreach Director Terry Shelton greeted the lawmakers at the opening reception at the governor's mansion.
The institute was started by Virginia Thrall, then director of the Midwestern Office of the Council of State Governments, and Professor Peter Eisinger, then director of the La Follette Institute. Since then, BILLD has graduated more than 350 alumni. The 2006 alumni include these Wisconsin lawmakers: Rep. Barbara Toles of Milwaukee; Rep. Donna Seidel of Wausau; Rep. Pat Strachota of West Bend; and Rep. Chuck Benedict of Beloit.
Many BILLD alumni have moved into top leadership positions within their legislatures, Dresang says. Others have become lieutenant governors, members of Congress and heads of executive agencies. The institute graduates some of the most promising new legislators in the region to share knowledge and learn from each other.
-- posted July 13, 2006
First Nano Café to identify nanotechnology issues for discussion
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People can learn more about nanotechnology at Madison's first Nano Café on Tuesday, July 18, at 7 p.m. at Fair Trade Coffee, 418 State St.The Nano Café provides a casual atmosphere in which people who don't know a lot about nanotechnology can listen to experts, ask questions and share concerns. UW-Madison experts will explain their work, answer questions and address concerns from members of the public.
At the July 18 event, La Follette School of Public Affairs associate professor Clark Miller will give an overview of issues raised by applications of nanotechnology. The ensuing discussion will tease out themes participants will want to hear more about at subsequent Nano Cafés.
"Most people don't always know how much science affects their lives, and scientists and policymakers rarely ask them what they think about it," Miller says. "The Nano Cafés will give people access to the normally somewhat mysterious realm of science research and bring them into a lively conversation about the impact of recent research."
-- posted July 7, 2006
Witte comments on campaign finance reform
La Follette School professor John Witte tells the Green Bay Press Gazette that campaign finance reform would be a good outcome of the conviction of a state employee who funneled a travel contract to a major campaign contributor to Gov. Jim Doyle.
"You've got this money floating around in general that is simply destroying the political system, both at the state level and at the federal level," Witte says. "The amount of private money that you have to have to run your campaign is just ridiculous. If this leads to some kind of reform of that sort, I would be very happy."
State worker's trial blurs campaign finance debate, June 18, 2006, Green Bay Press Gazette.
-- posted July 7, 2006
Journals edited by La Follette School of Public Affairs faculty earn high rankings
Two journals edited by La Follette School of Public Affairs faculty are the two top ranked journals in public policy and administration, while a third is highly ranked for economics.
The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, edited by Carolyn Heinrich, ranked No. 1 in terms of citation impact in 2005 in the field of public administration. Governance, co-edited by Graham Wilson, ranked No. 2.
In addition, the Journal of International Economics, co-edited by Professor of Public Affairs and Economics Charles Engel, ranked first in international economics and 17th among all economics journals, regardless of field.
Having three top-ranked journals affiliated with a single school of public affairs is very unusual, says incoming La Follette School Director Barbara Wolfe. Were very pleased that these three journals call the La Follette School home.
The ranking places JPART at the top of 26 journals in the field of public policy and administration. A citation impact rating system measures the number of times authors cited articles from the journal within the past two years. Citations of published research are key indicators of the influence of scholarly work.
In 2004, Governance ranked No. 1 and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory ranked No. 7 in public administration. For that same year, the Journal of International Economics ranked first in international economics and 19th among all economics journals regardless of field.
Wilson congratulated Heinrich on JPART's achievement. Governance has held the No. 1 slot for several years, Wilson noted. As an international journal, Governance focuses on the study of executive politics, public policy, administration and the organization of the state.
JPART is a newer journal, established in 1990 to bridge public policy studies and public administration scholarship. Its multidisciplinary aim is to embrace the organizational, administrative, and policy sciences as they apply to government and governance. For 2004, it edged out the Public Administration Review, which has been described as "the premier journal in the field of public administration research, theory, and practice for more than 60 years."
The journal's success is a tribute to the public management and policy scholars who have committed to advancing the highest standards for theory-based, empirical research in this area, Heinrich says.UW-Madison news story, June 20, 2006
-- posted June 16, 2006; updated June 19, July 7, 2006