Chairman Womack, Ranking Member Yarmuth, and members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting me to present my views at the wrap-up hearing of your series on Oversight of CBO. Forty-three years ago, I had the good fortune to be chosen as the first director of CBO. It was a chance to launch a much-needed…

The modern age poses many questions about the nature of privacy and civil liberties. Data flows across borders and through the hands of private companies, governments, and non-state actors. For the U.S. intelligence community, what do civil liberties protections look like in this digital age? These kinds of questions are on top of longstanding ones…

When it became clear in 2009 that Kim Jong Un was being groomed to be the leader of North Korea, Jung Pak was a new analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. Her job was to analyze this then little-known young man who would take over a nuclear-armed country and keep the highest levels of the…

Contents Introduction The Real Problem Coping With the Mobility Problem The Principle of Triple Convergence Triple Convergence and Other Proposals How Population Growth Can Swamp Transportation Capacity Low-Density Settlements Possible Improvements Conclusion Rising traffic congestion is an inescapable condition in large and growing metropolitan areas across the world, from Los Angeles to Tokyo, from Cairo…

Congested roads waste commuters' time, cost them money, and degrade the environment. Most Americans agree that traffic congestion is the major problem in their communities—and it only seems to be getting worse. In this revised and expanded edition of his landmark work Stuck in Traffic, Anthony Downs examines the benefits and costs of various anticongestion…

"'Summertime, and the drivin' is easy" ought to be the theme song for drivers in our nation's capital region. Traffic is lighter here in the summer for three reasons: School buses are off the roads, Congress is often out of session and many Washingtonians are on vacation. Yet summer is also a time when road…

The Bush Administration recently launched a new "National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network." This new policy deals with both air and ground travel, but focuses mainly on highway traffic congestion. But does this strategy show an understanding of what really causes traffic congestion and what might be done effectively in response?According to…

Today, the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate, a central feature of the Affordable Care Act, under the federal government’s power to tax. I attended the Supreme Court oral arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, and I noticed that the legal relationship between mandates and taxes relies very little on the economic relationship…

There are few silver linings to the COVID-19 pandemic, but free-flowing traffic is certainly one of them. For the essential workers who still must commute each day, driving to work has suddenly become much easier. The same applies to the trucks delivering our surging e-commerce orders. Removing so many cars from the roads has even…

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown America into a coast-to-coast lockdown, spurring ubiquitous economic impacts. Data on smartphone movement indicate that virtually all regions of the nation are practicing some degree of social distancing, resulting in less foot traffic and sales for businesses. Meanwhile, last week’s release of unemployment insurance claims confirms that every state is seeing a significant…

Chairman Johnson, ranking member Carper, members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am Richard Bejtlich, Chief Security Strategist at FireEye. I am also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and I am pursuing a PhD in war studies from King’s College London. I began my security career as…

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions tried to prepare for social isolation like they would for a blizzard—stocking up not just on toilet paper and sanitizer, but also on pantry basics like milk, eggs, flour, and beans. Faced with this sudden surge in demand, grocery stores across the country were completely overwhelmed. Not just shelves but entire stores were cleared out, so “one-per-customer” rules were established on select items and notices were posted detailing which were out of stock. As we have written elsewhere, the capitalists can’t efficiently sustain supply chains through a crisis such as this.

Work from your driveway or your site with this cute little workspace.

Facebook just opened their newest data center, which they've pushed to make as energy efficient as possible. In fact, it even inspired the Open Compute project in which they open source every last detail about the data

Photo Courtesy of Millionaire-Maker PackageOh how we love to hate the filthy rich--even more so in these tough economic times. While the rest of us mere mortals are struggling to make ends meet, the hyper-rich live by the motto "if you've got it,

We are just beginning to see how changes in the way we work are affecting the designs of where we work

Among the hundreds of animals seized were 5 tigers, 13 white lions, three pumas, three kangaroos, four flamingos, two crowned cranes, 66 marmosets, two orangutans, and two red pandas.

A new video from the Ecologist Film Unit shows how baby elephants are being smuggled into Thailand from Burma for tourism.

There is a lot of buzz about it, but what you really want is a window.

New NASA study offers first direct proof that the ozone hole is recovering thanks to the Montreal Protocol treaty and the international ban on CFCs.

An old warehouse is transformed into a three-level open office with lots of shared spaces for a tech company in Vancouver.

The UN Environment Programme kicks off its official celebration of World Environment Day in Milan.

Normally you can't have it both ways, unless you have a member of congress in your pocket.

Citizen persistence at measuring and publicizing pollution levels results in a major turnaround by Beijing.

This office system has been adapted to be flexible, fun and comfortable.

As Barbara Hendricks leaves the Environment Ministry, we look at the success of meatless meetings in a country with a strong meat culture

This proposed home for a young family incorporates an efficient roof garden.

This furniture designer's stealth van conversion has been created as a "test lab" for mobile, "democratic" small space design.

Steven M. Johnson shows how the well-equipped mobile worker got around twenty-five years ago.

Work/life balance is over-rated anyway.

And Steven M. Johnson has the answer to the problem.

And the Seattle housing shortage problem at the same time.

We have been showing these for years, but the artist/inventor beats us to the punch again

The internet company thinks it is better if people work at the office rather than on the internet. Is this a good idea?

Is she trying to "put together a 21st Century technology company using 19th Century workplace mentalities"? Or is this a smart move?

Yanaizu Town, Kawanuma District, Fukushima Prefecture is rural-at-best and about as far away as you can get from the big cities. The town recently made the news when Chiba

Can panda poo prevent cancer? We also have sad rhino news, fish lawnmowers, and more.

Which really, is how every building and office should be designed.

Photo via StringBike The Bike, Unchained A group of designers in Hungary have done away with what has long been a staple of bicycle design, those oily old chains, with their creation, the StringBike. Instead of being propelled forward the traditional

People want big SUVs and pickups, not little fuelsippers. What's a car maker to do?

I used to think that this kind of furniture would become a very big deal. I was wrong.

Who says the motto "to protect and serve" only applies to people?

A Today Show bit today is perhaps the grossest example yet.

Design like you give a damn with the second edition of Monadnock Paper Mills' how-to guide for creating more-sustainable print materials. A Field Guide: Eco-Friendly, Efficient and Effective Print, accompanied by luscious illustrations by the

University of New Hampshire researchers have analyzed the economic impact of their State's locally-produced food system. The good news: farm market sales - known as 'direct marketing' of food -

Image: allaboutgeorge, Flickr, CC BY The Digital Migration Continues to Change the Face of Consumption A new study from the Ponyter Institute reveals that by the end of 2010, more people were reading their news online than in traditional newspapers. 34%

Looking to tiny houses for design inspiration, these new student housing units have been constructed in a former Rotterdam office.

The wheels on the desk go round and round.