Readings in Urban Economics or Debating Globalization

Readings in Urban Economics

Author: Robert W Wassmer

Readings in Urban Economics: Issues and Public Policy gathers popular press articles, reviews of applied economics literature, and regression-based empirical studies to examine pressing public policy issues in urban areas.

Table of Contents:

	Notes on Editor and Authors
	Acknowledgments
1	Introduction	3
Pt. I	Urban Growth	19
2	The Draw of Downtown: Big Growth Predicted for Many U.S. Cities	21
3	The State of the Cities: Downtown is Up	22
4	Urban Diversity and Economic Growth	24
5	Projecting Growth of Metropolitan Areas	36
Pt. II	Location, Land Use, and Urban Sprawl	57
6	Dreams of Fields: The New Politics of Urban Sprawl	59
7	Al Gore Has a New Worry: "Smart Growth" to cure "suburban sprawl" is the newest rationale for government growth	62
8	Urban Spatial Structure	65
9	How America's Cities are Growing: The Big Picture	107
10	Prove It: The Costs and Benefits of Sprawl	114
11	Comment on Carl Abbott's "The Portland Region: Where Cities and Suburbs Talk to Each Other - and Often Agree"	118
12	Do Suburbs Need Cities?	125
Pt. III	Local Economic Development Incentives	149
13	Ohio Looks Hard at What's Lost Through Business Subsidies	151
14	Jobs, Productivity, and Local Economic Development: What Implications Does Economic Research Have for the Role of Government	153
15	Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: Are New Stadiums Worth the Cost?	169
16	Can Local Incentives Alter a Metropolitan City's Economic Development?	176
Pt. IV	Race, Employment, and Poverty in Urban Areas	213
17	Big U.S. Cities Carry Welfare Burden: Deep Poverty, Isolation from Suburbs Keep Many from Independence	215
18	Race Panel Divided Over Poverty: Experts Disagree on Causes, Cures of Urban Problems	217
19	No Easy Way Out: Study Finds Urban Poverty Digs Heels In	219
20	Inner Cities	221
21	Information on the Spatial Distribution of Job Opportunities within Metropolitan Areas	252
Pt. V	Urban Public Education	279
22	Why I'm Reluctantly Backing Vouchers	281
23	Current Issues in Public Urban Education	283
24	Why is it So Hard to Help Central City Schools?	295
Pt. VI	Urban Public Housing	327
25	Miracle in New Orleans: What Do a Bunch of College Professors Know About Fixing Public-housing Projects? A Lot, it Turns Out	329
26	Urban Housing Policy in the 1990s	331
27	The Dynamics of Housing Assistance Spells	346
Pt. VII	Urban Crime	363
28	The Mystery of the Falling Crime Rate	365
29	Bright Lights, Big City, and Safe Streets: Urban Dwellers Bask in Greater Sense of Security, as Crime Rates Drop Even Further	367
30	Urban Crime: Issues and Policies	369
31	Estimating the Economic Model of Crime with Panel Data	382
Pt. VIII	Urban Transportation	397
32	Or, Why Motorists Always Outsmart Planners, Economists, and Traffic Engineers: The Unbridgeable Gap	399
33	You Ride, I'll Pay: Social Benefits and Transit Subsidies	403
34	Urban Traffic Congestion: A New Approach to the Gordian Knot	409
35	Infrastructure Services and the Productivity of Public Capital: The Case of Streets and Highways	417
Pt. IX	Local Government	441
36	Why I Love the Suburbs	443
37	Metropolitan Fiscal Disparities	445
38	Economic Influences on the Structure of Local Government in U.S. Metropolitan Areas	458
App	Academic Journals in applied and Policy Orientated Urban Economics	484
	Index	490

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Debating Globalization

Author: Anthony Barnett

Debating Globalization is a short, accessible introduction to the debate about globalization written by many of the most prominent figures in the field. The book is notable not just for focusing on the pressing difficulties facing our world, but also on solutions. Rich and positive suggestions are made for reshaping globalization into a force that will work for humans everywhere. In an extended analysis, David Held provides a robust critique of the present order and sets out his alternative vision. Building on arguments he made in Global Covenant, he calls for a new global political agenda, informed by social democratic political values. His analysis has been criticized by leading figures and their responses follow in this book. There are chapters by, among others, Martin Wolf, Roger Scruton, Grahame Thompson, David Mepham, Meghnad Desai, Maria Livanos Cattaui, Patrick Bond, Benjamin Barber, John Elkington, Takashi Inoguchi, Narcнs Serra, and Anne-Marie Slaughter and Thomas N. Hale. The volume ends with David Held's reply to his critics. The book provides a fascinating introduction to the debate about globalization today.