In the public sector, no tool adjusts spending to changing conditions. In the current recession, many states have decreased revenues, but little decreased spending has been seen. This pattern raises a difficult question: How do states correct for the inflexibility in spending cuts?

Senior Research Fellow Jerry Brito presents his ideas on transparency in the stimulus bill in this testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Instead of attempting a short-term fix of amplifying the grant system through an emergency stimulus package, the federal government should work to make state and local governments accountable for their own spending decisions. This means reducing states’ and localities’ reliance on federal funding for local priorities and allowing local activities to be addressed by the appropriate mechanisms: state and local governments and the private and philanthropic sectors.

The State Scorecard Evaluation for Louisiana scores how well, before November 2007,  the state of Louisiana informs the public with regard to transparency and accountability.

This paper empirically evaluates two competing theories of electoral accountability in the context of New Orleans’ 2006 mayoral election.

Section 1815 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 established an interagency task force to conduct a study and analysis of competition within the wholesale markets and retail markets for electric energy in the United States. This Draft Report presents the results of this analysis for public comment.