Defines the concept of direct job creation and identifies primary government activities in this area during the l970s. Discusses the political and economic rationale for direct job creation measures and possible unintended side effects of such policy interventions. Suggests alternative approaches to the problems of direct public provision of jobs.…

Society's preference for dependency reduction over poverty reduction in dealing with the lower classes stands in the way of greater anti-poverty impact of social policy. Discusses four approaches to poverty policy, their effectiveness, and the poverty assumptions they are based on. Examines why a workfare strategy could be effective. (PS)

An indication of the rearrangements of power, privilege, income and wealth distribution that are necessary for the establishment of full employment with price stability; involving policies of guaranteed public service jobs, income maintenance, prices and wages controls, a redistributive taxation system, and the eventual "socialization of…

Triage policy is the exclusion of severely declining urban areas from services and programs on the grounds that the intensity of their needs cannot be met and the provision of services is therefore inefficient. Community groups must insist that severity of need, human benefits, and community protection be the priorities for allocation of funds.…

After arguing that the burdens of environmental policy are carried by the middle and lower classes in the United States, this paper discusses three more socially equitable approaches to dealing with environmental problems. (EB)

In spite of prevailing opinion, U.S. cities are alive and well and continue to play a major role in the nation's social fabric. The federal policies of recent years must be reversed to keep cities functioning as the place where the United States reimagines itself and learns to manage difference. (SLD)

There is little likelihood of significant new funding for cities. The future may require real decentralization in the ways we live, with fundamental restructuring of political and economic institutions. A system of communities structured locally around new institutions and supported by regional planning might sustain a different culture. (SLD)