[Joseph Stiglitz was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1993-95, and chairman of the CEA from 1995 through February 1997.] Today, I want to share with you some of my thoughts about the possibilities and limitations of government. These thoughts are focused around a simple...

Are state and local government workers overcompensated? In this paper, we step back from the highly charged rhetoric and address this question with the two primary data sources for looking at compensation of state and local government workers: the Current Population Survey conducted by the...

The main effects of No Child Left Behind on the quality of teaching are likely to come through two provisions of the act. First, NCLB establishes benchmarks based on test score pass rates that schools must meet in order to remain in good standing and avoid sanctions. Since teachers are central...

In this article, we describe teachers' views of the behavioral responses the No Child Left Behind legislation has elicited and the extent to which research reveals evidence of these responses and their effects on the distribution of student achievement. We focus on teachers' reactions to three...

Over the past four decades, empirical researchers -- many of them economists -- have accumulated an impressive amount of evidence on teachers. In this paper, we ask what the existing evidence implies for how school leaders might recruit, evaluate, and retain teachers. We begin by summarizing the...

From the onset of World War II until July 1973, the draft was a fact of life for male youth in the United States. Since then, America's armed forces have been staffed by volunteers. Recent recruiting difficulties have precipitated calls from some quarters for a return to conscription. This paper...

With superior data on compensation and productivity, as well as the occurrence of abrupt, dramatic market structure and player allocation rules changes, sports labor markets offer an excellent setting in which to test economic hypotheses. This paper reviews evidence from sports in four areas:...

The authors advance a new perspective in the study of federalism. Their approach views federalism as a governance solution of the state to credibly preserving market incentives. Market incentives are preserved if the state is credibly prevented from compromising on future economic success and...

This lecture brings together two subjects that are not often discussed together: national economic policy and the structure of American federalism. My thesis is that the policies needed to improve the health of the U.S. economy over the next decade or two require a new look at the division of...

Following half a century of fiscal activism and federal leadership, the call now is for downsizing the federal budget and a devolution of fiscal responsibilities to states and localities. The call for "federalism," meant to secure a stronger center in James Madison's time, now seeks to...