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Friday Facts: August 30, 2013

posted 5 years ago on August 30th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s Friday! Quotes of Note “Workmen’s compensation, hours and conditions of labor are cold consolations, if there be no employment.” – Calvin Coolidge “The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King Jr. “A talented con man, or a slick politician, does not waste his time trying to convince knowledgeable skeptics. His job is to keep the true believers believing. He is not going to convince the others anyway.” – Thomas Sowell Events Mark your calendar: Georgia’s Digital Economy is the focus of a half-day event on Monday, September 16, at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. The discussions, hosted by the Foundation and Google, include an all-star entrepreneurship panel, a discussion of… View Article

Sept. 16 Event Focuses on ‘Georgia’s Digital Economy’

posted 5 years ago on August 29th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

GEORGIA PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION EVENT August 29, 2013 Contact Benita Dodd at 404-256-4050 or benitadodd@georgiapolicy.org Foundation, Google host Event Sept. 16 on Georgia’s Digital Economy Atlanta – You are invited to join us for “Georgia’s Digital Economy,” a half-day event on Monday, September 16, 2013, at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. The discussions, hosted by Georgia Public Policy Foundation and Google, include an all-star entrepreneurship panel, a discussion of the patent troll problem and how Georgia is leading the way in digital learning. The event begins with some fun Google product demos, breakfast and networking at 8 a.m. This event is open to the public and free to attend, but requires registration as space is limited. Register online by… View Article

New Ga. Transportation Study Released at Foundation Event

posted 5 years ago on August 28th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

At today’s Georgia Public Policy Foundation Policy Briefing Luncheon in Atlanta, Reason Foundation Transportation Policy Analyst and Foundation Senior Fellow Baruch Feigenbaum unveiled his new study, “Practical Strategies for Increasing Mobility in Georgia.” The PowerPoint presentation used at the event can be downloaded here: http://www.georgiapolicy.org/ftp_files/Increasing%20Mobility%20in%20Atlanta.pdf The full Reason Foundation study is available here: http://reason.org/files/atlanta_transportation_plan.pdf YouTube Video from the Foundation leadership luncheon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFDjWf3SW3o&feature=c4-verview&list=UU4uOlfbFbDHf2h6wCgOEDxQ YouTube Video: Feigenbaum discusses bus rapid transit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhzGbcEhfJI&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4uOlfbFbDHf2h6wCgOEDxQ … View Article

Reason Foundation Proposes New Northern East-West Bypass

posted 5 years ago on August 28th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Mike Klein MIKE KLEINEditor, Georgia Public Policy Foundation It is somewhat understandable that the Atlanta highway system was built like a wheel with the city at the center and interstates fanning out from the core. Think about our regional rail lines as they existed before and after the Civil War: a few rail lines primarily destined for Terminus as it was known before the city’s name became Atlanta. The folly was to design 20th Century highways on a 19th Century rail model. Flush everything and everyone directly into the core and you get gridlock. Know it, feel it, own it. Well-meaning politicians and planners have spent decades chasing whatever the current view was of the best balance between interstates,… View Article

Checking up on Health: August 27, 2013

posted 5 years ago on August 27th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Health Policy News and Views Compiled by Benita M. Dodd Benita DoddVice President, Georgia Public Policy Foundation Self-diagnosis? It can save you a trip to the pediatrician and help ensure that health care resources are used more effectively. It’s the online symptom-checker, available on more than a dozen children’s hospital Web sites. And it’s the brainchild of Dr. Barton Schmitt, medical director of the pediatrics call center at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. He keeps the symptom-checker platform updated with the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and other organizations. In 2009 it was rebuilt as an app. In a survey of users of the platform as it appears on a… View Article

Friday Facts: August 23, 2013

posted 5 years ago on August 23rd, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

August 23, 2013 It’s Friday! The deadline is MONDAY to register for “Georgia Transportation: The Next Frontier,” a noon Policy Briefing Luncheon at the Georgian Club on Wednesday, August 28. Senior Fellow Baruch Feigenbaum, Reason Foundation transportation analyst, will unveil a new study on transportation proposals for metro Atlanta and Georgia. $30. Information: http://tinyurl.com/msf7j3z. Registration: http://tinyurl.com/ln9lmhv. Quotes of Note “When the government goes into business it lays a tax on everybody else in that business, and uses the money that it collects from its competitors to establish a monopoly and drive them out of business.” – Calvin Coolidge “A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. There is a… View Article

Transportation Needs Innovation, Especially in Funding

posted 5 years ago on August 23rd, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Benita M. Dodd Benita DoddVice President, Georgia Public Policy Foundation Money talks, especially at the Georgia General Assembly, where the state’s ongoing funding challenges and growing needs inspired separate Senate committee hearings this week, one investigating public-private partnerships (PPPs) for Georgia infrastructure and the other working on integrating metro Atlanta’s public transportation services. Several challenges are encouraging governments to think outside the box. There continues to be talk about “federal” funds – otherwise referred to as taxpayer dollars – coming to the states, but the partisan divide in federal budget negotiations has left states pessimistic. In addition, it’s increasingly evident that states’ needs outstrip federal largesse, that federal largesse is shrinking and that local governments have to do more… View Article

Foundation Publishes Common Core Background Analysis

posted 5 years ago on August 21st, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Georgia families, educators and policy makers are of many views about the impact of Common Core State Standards and whether Georgia should continue to participate. This discussion is likely to become a topic for possible legislation during the 2014 General Assembly. Therefore, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation has published a data-driven Common Core analysis to bring clarity to a controversial subject without making a policy recommendation. “We understand this is an extremely hot topic,” said Foundation President Kelly McCutchen. “We believe it is important in every policy discussion to dig down into the real background and data so that we can provide the information people need to make their own decisions.” Analysis sections include control of what is taught in… View Article

Checking Up On Health: August 20, 2013

posted 5 years ago on August 20th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Health Policy News and Views Compiled by Benita M. Dodd Benita DoddVice President, Georgia Public Policy Foundation Reducing office visits through mobile health: At the end of 2012, there were 2.8 million patients worldwide using a dedicated home health monitoring device with integrated connectivity, according to a report from Research and Markets. The number of these dedicated devices is expected to reach 9.4 million by 2017, according to the report. The number does not include patients using their personal mobile phone, tablet or PC ; that number rose from 0.73 million in 2011 to about 1.03 million in 2012. This remote approach “enables more efficient care delivery, decreased costs and improved sustainability of the health care system,” the report noted.… View Article

Lower Salaries Are Not The Formula To Improve Higher Ed

posted 5 years ago on August 19th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Michael Horn MICHAEL HORNEducation Executive DirectorClayton Christensen Institute One of the insights in The Innovator’s Prescription, a book about solving the problems afflicting the nation’s health-care system by Clayton Christensen, Dr. Jason Hwang, and Dr. Jerome Grossman, is that we won’t get more affordable health care by asking high-salary individuals to take lower salaries. Instead, the way to make health care affordable is to push care and treatment out of the hospital to less expensive professionals in lower-cost venues whenever possible. An example of what this means in health care is to have nurse practitioners in retail health clinics treat patients that have precisely diagnosable diseases with rules-based treatments instead of having pricey doctors in expensive hospitals… View Article