Public Administration and International Affairs Department News, Media Commentary and Research

As he completes his deanship, James Steinberg reflects on the Maxwell School, its strengths and accomplishments, and his own priorities as a dean and teacher.

At a time when America is sorting out its larger role in the world, experts remind us that U.S. aid is often much appreciated.

William C. Banks, professor emeritus, of public administration and international affairs, spoke with several media outlets about the Nunes memo, how the FISA process works, and what the controversy means for the Trump presidency and the U.S. intelligence community.

"If widely adopted and successful, the plans could significantly reduce federal revenue and most of the benefits would go to taxpayers with high incomes," says Len Burman, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics.

"We’re seeing a lot of different players trying to change the healthcare system," says Tom Dennison, director of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion.

"Carter Page was doing business in Russia, talking to Russian diplomats who may have been involved in intelligence activities directed at the United States," says William C. Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. "Game over. The standards are incredibly open-ended." 

"Executive privilege is an amorphous concept," Professor Emeritus William C. Banks says. "It has never been tested the way it could soon be tested."

William C. Banks, professor of practice of public administration and international affairs says, "Trump has already said certain things that support at least a serious inquiry into whether obstruction has been committed. Whether [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions tries to stonewall with the privilege claims or some other, the facts are going to be discovered by the Mueller team in the not-too-distant future."

According to Tom Dennison, director of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, the migration of profitable procedures to free-standing surgery centers makes it more difficult for hospitals to cover the cost of 24/7 emergency care and other "safety net" services that are not profitable. 

Yilin Hou, professor of public administration and international affairs, believes that a good tax system should generally comply with five major design principles, namely fair tax burden, focus on efficiency, appropriate tax administration, sufficient tax revenue and openness and transparency.

William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, discusses the House’s passage of an extension to the Foreign intelligence Surveillance Act.

"It is fair to wonder about the [Christopher] Steele dossier and how it came into the hands of our intelligence community," said William Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. "The bottom line, however, is that whatever role this dossier has played, our intelligence community had other sources that would have led them to the information about the Russian interference in the election even if Steele had never tried to share his dossier with the United States."