View Research by Author - Robert D. Reischauer

Publications

On the eve of his departure from the Institute, president Bob Reischauer sits down with UI trustee and PBS Newshour correspondent Judy Woodruff to reflect on his time at UI, the role of think tanks, and what he considers the Institute's most significant accomplishments.

Urban Institute scholars from diverse disciplines tackle a simple-to-state, hard-to-answer question: How can solutions to our national and state budget crises fit the facts about children in the United States? In their responses, the contributors wrestle with recent and approaching economic and demographic challenges in different ways and bring very different experiences to bear.

On July 27, 2011, Urban Institute President Robert Reischauer gave testimony to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on how fiscal rules can restrain federal overspending.

Urban Institute President Robert Reischauer and Institute Fellow Rudolph Penner testify before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Penner contends that stabilizing the national budget will require sweeping policy changes Americans are not used to, but offers four packages of reform options that can be used to achieve fiscal stability. Reischauer advises, "First, don't waste time looking for silver bullets or new approaches that hold out the promise of painless sacrifice. There are none to be found." Instead, he recommends mining wisdom from government agencies and think tanks to forge a long-term plan.

Urban Institute President Robert Reischauer advises the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform: "First, don't waste time looking for silver bullets or new approaches that hold out the promise of painless sacrifice. There are none to be found." Instead, he recommends mining wisdom from government agencies and think tanks to forge a long-term plan. The catch, he says, will be finding the political will to enact the sacrifices required across all sectors of society. Reischauer's ultimate caveat is that spending cuts and tax increases must be viewed by the electorate as credible and effective.

Health care reform advocates will and should celebrate their history-making legislative success. But major challenges lie ahead, and hard work remains to be done. Opponents will continue their opposition and legal challenges are promised. Formidable implementation hurdles must be surmounted if health care reform is to achieve its goals. Winning the war will require administrative determination and imagination and as much political resolve as was needed to pass the legislation.

Two former directors of the Congressional Budget Office now at the Urban Institute join scholars from other organizations in a memo advising President Obama on how to balance the nation’s short- and long-term economic needs. To reduce escalating future deficits without endangering near-term recovery, the authors’ recommendations include action to stem the growth of Social Security and Medicare.

In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, UI's president and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, discusses remedies for the nation's two serious --and diametrically opposed --fiscal challenges: the immediate, short-run problems of economic recession, and the issue of long-term fiscal sustainability.

The authors of this paper—longtime federal budget and policy experts—were drawn together by a deep concern about the nation's long-term fiscal outlook. Despite diverse philosophies and political leanings, they found solid common ground and agree that unsustainable deficits in the federal budget threaten the health and vigor of the American economy and the first step toward establishing budget responsibility is to reform the budget decision process so that the major drivers of escalating deficits—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—are no longer on autopilot. The paper provides specific policy recommendations and outlines the reasons action is critical.

The presidents of three research organizations, including the Urban Institute, dispel misinformation about the methodology to be used in a study of the Upward Bound program.

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