February 9, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the World Bank signed an agreement designed to merge scholarly research and specific program initiatives to address sustainable development in the East Asia and Pacific Region. The signing ceremony took place during a conference in Washington, D.C., focusing on challenges facing megacities in the developing world.
January 26, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development marked its 80th anniversary by hosting a special colloquium Jan. 16 at the Davidson Conference Center. During the conference, Dean Jack H. Knott noted that SPPD remains dedicated to advancing academic theory and making a vital impact in the world.
January 20, 2009
La Opinion quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about former President George W. Bush's role in tarnishing America's image in the world. Bush's policies generated the ill will abroad, Jeffe said.
December 22, 2008
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development signed a formal agreement to participate in Fellows/USA, the Peace Corps' graduate fellowship program. This agreement will enable former volunteers to pursue a graduate education in public administration, public policy, urban planning, health administration and real estate development.
October 14, 2008
A panel of preeminent financial experts, including USC faculty, weighed in with their insights on how Wall Street plunged into a tailspin -- and also how to remedy the ailing markets. "Multi-party greed" drove the downturn, says Raphael Bostic, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development.
October 1, 2008
Professor Harry Pachon was quoted in the Los Angeles Times about the new citizenship test being phased in by U.S. immigration authorities. Some fear that the new format, which emphasizes concepts rather than facts, could result in examiners denying citizenship based on whims or prejudices, the story stated. For that reason, the new test is a "step backward," Pachon said. "There's latitude in answering the questions and that's where the problem lies," he explained. "There's potential for abuse and not knowing what to prepare for." Pachon is president of the Tomas River Policy Institute.
This past summer, more than 40 master's students representing all programs of study with the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development took part in the school's international lab program, doing research in Foshan, China, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
September 18, 2008
Professor Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, was quoted in Forbesabout the types of houses one can buy these days with $1 million. In many U.S. cities, inflated real estate prices can hold firm or slide only slightly in the city center, even as they collapse in the surrounding areas, Green said. "In the inland areas of Los Angeles, you can get a 4,000-square-foot house -- a huge house," he noted. But in popular Santa Monica or Marina Del Rey, "You'll get a shack."
September 14, 2008
SPPD Professor Yongheng Deng was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle about China's mortgage market. "[T]he mortgage market in China does resemble the U.S.," Deng said. "In the last two to three years, the mortgage market has grown in China," he added. Before that, people would just show up with cash, he explained. "In 1998, the first mortgages were written. Three years ago, the mortgage terms became standard. And now a range of mortgage types is available." Deng is a specialist in China's real estate and mortgage markets, the story noted.
June 29, 2008
Dowell Myers was quoted the USA Today about baby boomers and Latino immigrants. For a nation bracing to support 79 million baby boomers in their old age, the growing and younger population of Latinos should be viewed as economic salvation, Myers said. "Children are always a fiscal burden, yet children are also the lifeblood of every community," he explained. "What's killing Japan and threatening the economic future of Europe is that they don't have enough kids, and that's what's depriving these rural areas in America," he added. Myers is the author of Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America, the story noted.
May 15, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers was quoted in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about immigration policy. Public discourse on the subject can be colored by what Myers calls the "Peter Pan Fallacy," the story stated. "Many of us assume, unwittingly, that immigrants are like Peter Pan, forever frozen in their status as newcomers, never aging, never advancing economically, and never assimilating," Myers said. In this naive view, "the mounting numbers of foreign-born residents imply that our nation is becoming dominated by growing numbers of people who perpetually resemble newcomers," he said.
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development signed a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean government to provide graduate education and training for selected officials from Korea's Ministry of Public Administration and Security.