Background
Rivlin, Alice Mitchell was born on March 4, 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Daughter of Allan C. G. and Georgianna (Fales) Mitchell.
( In January 1970 Alice M. Rivlin spoke to an audience at...)
In January 1970 Alice M. Rivlin spoke to an audience at the University of California-Berkeley. The topic was developing a more rational approach to decisionmaking in government. If digital video, YouTube, and TED Talks had been inventions of the 1960s, Rivlin's talk would have been a viral hit. As it was, the resulting book, Systematic Thinking for Social Action, spent years on the Brookings Press bestseller list. Is is a very personal and conversational volume about the dawn of new ways of thinking about government. As deputy assistant secretary for program coordination, and later as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare from 1966 to 1969, Rivlin was an early advocate of systems analysis, which had been introduced by Robert McNamara at the Department of Defense as PPBS (planning-programming-budgeting-system). While Rivlin brushes aside the jargon, she digs into the substance of systematic analysis and a 'quiet revolution in government. In an evaluation of the evaluators, she issues mixed grades, pointing out where analysts had been helpful in finding solutions and where―because of inadequate data or methods―they had been no help at all. Systematic Thinking for Social Action offers important insights for anyone interested in working to find the smartest ways to allocate scarce funds to promote the maximum well-being of all citizens.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815726449/?tag=2022091-20
(How can we identify who benefits from government programs...)
How can we identify who benefits from government programs aimed at solving our social problem and who pays for them? With so many problems, how can we allocate scarce funds to promote the maximum well-being of our citizens? In this book, originally presented as the third series of H. Rowan Gaither Lectures in Systems Science at the University of California (Berkeley). Alice M. Rivlin examines the contributions that systematic analysis has made to decisionmaking in the governments social action programseducation, health, manpower training, and income maintenance. Drawing on her own experience in government, Mrs. Rivlin indicates where the analysts have been helpful in finding solutions and wherebecause of inadequate data or methodsthey have been no help at all. Mrs. Rivlin concludes by urging the widespread implementation of social experimentation and acceptability by the federal government. The first in such a way as to permit valid conclusions about their effectiveness; the second would encourage the adoption of better ways of delivering services by making those who administer programs responsive to their clients. Underlying both is the requirement from comprehensive, reliable performance measures.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081577477X/?tag=2022091-20
(The Federal government, while displaying strong competenc...)
The Federal government, while displaying strong competence and leadership in the international arena appears unable to cope with the domestic problems that worry most Americans. For nearly two decades, the US economy has been performing below par; wage earners have found their take home pay buying less; young people wonder if they will do as well as their parents and whether they will be able to afford a house; banks are crumbling and must be bailed out with taxpayers' money; governments, companies, and families struggle with high levels of debt. In this book for everyone concerned about the future of the country, Alice Rivlin asserts that Americans must ask themselves why the government is so paralyzed on the domestic front and what they can do about it. Bringing together economic and political issues, she raises questions about what economic policy should be and which level of our federal system should be responsible for carrying it out. In a controversial new proposal, she contends that the productivity of the economy would increase if many responsibilities of the federal government were passed to the states. Rivlin explains that the federal government should be charged with carrying out tasks for which national uniformity is essential, such as social insurance. But there are many tasks, such as education and housing, for which states should have clear responsibility. In order for states to do this, however, they will need adequate revenues, so Rivlin proposes a system of common shared taxes. The book offers a new vision of a more productive US economy and a more effective government structure. Rivlin stresses that unless a substantial number of citizens begin to think and talk about what kind of economy they want and what their elected leaders should do, realizing the American dream may become an impossible dream.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815774761/?tag=2022091-20
( In just a few years, the Internet has had a visible imp...)
In just a few years, the Internet has had a visible impact on the daily lives of many Americans. But the recent demise of many of the "dot coms" that symbolized the Internet revolution has raised warning flags about its future. Until now, discussion of the impact of the Internet on the economy has been mostly speculation. In Beyond the Dot.coms, two of the nation's most respected economists articulate the anticipated economic impact of the Internet over the next five years. Drawing from detailed research conducted by the Brookings Task Force on the Internet and the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE) Internet Task Force (see page 10), Robert Litan and Alice Rivlin address the Internet's potential impacts on productivity, prices, and market structure. The research suggests that the most significant economic impact of the Internet will be its potential to increase productivity growth in the existing economy —with cheaper transactions, greater management efficiency, increased competition and broadened markets, more effective marketing and pricing, and increased consumer choice, convenience, and satisfaction. The greatest impact may not be felt in e-commerce, but rather in a wide range of "old economy" arenas, including health care and government.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815700024/?tag=2022091-20
( The retirement of the baby boom generation will create ...)
The retirement of the baby boom generation will create spiraling costs for health care and pension programs. Combined with lower revenues, these developments will lead to a decline in economic growth if nothing is done. In this second volume of Restoring Fiscal Sanity, a group of policy experts focus on how to bring spending and revenues in line over the next decade, and even more important, how to balance them over the longer term. They suggest reforms in the tax system, Social Security, and Medicare that might close this looming gap and put the nation on a sounder fiscal footing. Contributors include Henry J. Aaron, William G. Gale, Ron Haskins, Jack Meyer, and Peter R. Orszag (Brookings Institution), Rudolph G. Penner and C. Eugene Steuerle (Urban Institute), and John B. Shoven (Stanford University).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815774915/?tag=2022091-20
federal official economics professor
Rivlin, Alice Mitchell was born on March 4, 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Daughter of Allan C. G. and Georgianna (Fales) Mitchell.
AB, Bryn Mawr College, 1952. Master of Arts, Radcliffe College, 1955. Doctor of Philosophy, Radcliffe College, 1958.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), University Michigan, 1975. Doctor of Laws (honorary), University Maryland, 1975. Doctor of Science (honorary), University Indiana, 1976.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), Yale University, 1984. Doctor of Science (honorary), New Jersey Institute of Technology, 1998. Doctor of Laws (honorary), University District of Columbia, 1999.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), Harvard University, 2001.
Member staff Brookings Institution, 1957-1966, 69-75, 83-93, director economic studies, 1983-1987, senior fellow, economic studies program Washington, since 1999, director Greater Washington Research Program, since 2001. Deputy assistant secretary for program coordination United States Department Health Education & Welfare (Department of Health), Washington, 1966—1968, assistant secretary for planning & evaluation, 1968—1969. Director Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 1975-1983.
Professor public policy George Mason University, 1992—1993. Deputy director Office Management & Budget, Executive Office of the President, Washington, 1993-1994, director, 1994-1996. Member board governors Federal Reserve Systems, 1996—1999, vice chairman Washington, 1996-1999.
Chair District of Columbia Finance Assistance and Management Authority, 1998—2001. Henry J. Cohen professor New School University, 2001—2003. Member Staff Advisory Commission on Intergovtl.
Relations, 1961-1962. Board directors BearingPoint, Inc., 2001-2006, The Washington Post Company, 2002-2006, New York Stock Exchange, 2005-2006, New York Stock Exchange Group, Inc., 2006-2007, New York Stock Exchange Euronext, Inc., since 2007. Visiting professor Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, since 2003.
Commissioner National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform, since 2010.
(How can we identify who benefits from government programs...)
(The Federal government, while displaying strong competenc...)
( The retirement of the baby boom generation will create ...)
( In just a few years, the Internet has had a visible imp...)
( In January 1970 Alice M. Rivlin spoke to an audience at...)
Author: The Role of the Federal Governemnt in Financing Higher Education, 1961, Microanalysis of Socioeconomic Systems, 1961, Systematic Thinking for Social Action, 1971, Caring for the Disabled Elderly: Who Will Pay?, 1988, Reviving the American Dream, 1992. Co-author: (with Robert E. Litan), Beyond the Dot. Coms: The Economic Promise of the Internet, 2001.Co-editor: (with Robert E. Litan) The Economic Payoff from the Internet Revolution, 2001, (with Isabel Saawhill) Restoring Fiscal Sanity: How to Balance the Budget, 2004, Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2005: Meeting the Long-Run Challenges, 2005, (with Joseph Antos) Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2007: The Health Spending Challenge, 2007.
Academic career devoted to policy analysis of federal budgetary problems in United States and two tours of duty in the government, managing analytical staffs devoted to improving the budgetary decision process — principal contributions, the organisation of the Congressional Budget Office to improve the analysis and information available to Congress for budget decisions.
Member American Economic Association (national president 1986), National Academy Public Administrn., National Academy of Social Insurance, Council on Foreign Relations, Women's Economic Roundtable.
Married Lewis Allen Rivlin, 1955 (divorced 1977). Children: Catherine Amy, Allan Mitchell, Douglas Gray. Married Sidney Graham Winter, 1989.