Alan Berube
@berubea1.bsky.social
SVP, Policy & Innovation Center (http://thinkpic.org), helping government and community leaders act on smart ideas; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Metro (www.brookings.edu/metro). Likes: Vibrant cities, women's basketball. Dislikes: fascism, spiders.
Very happy to hear my @brookings.edu colleague @suzannemaloney.bsky.social in my feed this morning - even if i was distressed by her insights. Hope you’ll give it a listen podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Why Iran Believes It Has the Upper Hand
Podcast Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · April 3 · 1h 2m
podcasts.apple.com
If the federal government passes a housing bill in the forest, will it make a sound in San Diego? My thoughts on the 21st Century Road to Housing Act in the latest installement of "D.C. Explained" in @voiceofsandiego.org cc: @thinkpic.bsky.social voiceofsandiego.org/2026/03/25/d...
DC Explained: The Biggest Federal Housing Bill in Decades Just Passed the Senate. Should San Diego Care?
A new federal housing law would change housing finance in a number of ways. Here's how it could affect San Diego.
voiceofsandiego.org
Despite a rolling set of crises—funding freezes, threats to universities, grant cancellations and agency closures—the San Diego region managed to preserve much of its federal funding relationship last fiscal year. Read more in my @voiceofsandiego.org column: voiceofsandiego.org/2026/02/10/d...
DC Explained: Tracking San Diego’s Federal Funding Performance, by the Numbers
The events of the past year reminded San Diego-area leaders and citizens that, to paraphrase former President Barack Obama, elections have consequences. Among the myriad changes roiling the San Diego ...
voiceofsandiego.org
At University of San Diego this morning for the Economic Roundtable for my @thinkpic.bsky.social colleague @denemark.bsky.social keynote on the San Diego economy and the key forces shaping it
Subscribing to the WaPo made me feel like a real Washingtonian when I arrived 30 years ago. Sad and angry today, holding out hope someone will see an opportunity to hire world-class writers/journalists and serve our hometown.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 6mo agoBreaking News: The Washington Post began sweeping layoffs that were slated to shrink the scope of the publication.
This will be a great event featuring my brilliant @thinkpic.bsky.social colleague @denemark.bsky.social! If you are near USD on Thursday morning, please come check us out: bit.ly/2026EconomicRoundtable
Economic Roundtable 2026
Building Solutions: How Policy, Funding and Opportunity Shape San Diego’s Economy
bit.ly
Policy & Innovation Center@thinkpic.bsky.social · 6mo agoThurs, 2/5 📅 The Economic Roundtable gathers leaders & experts throughout SD and is hosted by PIC, SD Workforce Partnership & University of San Diego’s School of Business. Keynote speaker @denemark.bsky.social will share his expertise in SD region’s economy. Register: bit.ly/2026EconomicRoundtable
Thurs, 2/5 📅 The Economic Roundtable gathers leaders & experts throughout SD and is hosted by PIC, SD Workforce Partnership & University of San Diego’s School of Business. Keynote speaker @denemark.bsky.social will share his expertise in SD region’s economy. Register: bit.ly/2026EconomicRoundtable
This is such an important and overlooked consequence of increasingly byzantine eligibility rules for public programs - more taxpayer dollars lining the pockets of monopolistic data system providers. Short of repealing the rules altogether, there are better options open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
The Means-Testing Industrial Complex
The vendors getting rich from putting administrative burdens on the poor
open.substack.com
Great to see @henrygrabar.bsky.social @theatlantic.com, digging into the question of what explains broadly declining crime rates. One answer: ARPA grants to local governments. Federal revenue sharing had lots of unexpected positive impacts. @lohplaces.bsky.social @patricksharkey.bsky.social
Henry Grabar@henrygrabar.bsky.social · 7mo agoAmerica likely just recorded its lowest homicide rate in more than 100 years. How did this happen? New from me: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
This fist person account of a Guardsman in the DC surge rings true. NG volunteers want to help the country + community. He’s frustrated by “counterproductive directives” and our @brookings.edu research confirms: the surge has hurt rather than helped the city. washingtonian.com/2026/01/21/a...
An Anonymous DC National Guardsman Tells All
“This is not what I signed up to do.”
washingtonian.com
This 1943 U.S. Army film warned about fascism in America
The Make America White Again agenda also happens to make America smaller and poorer.
Brookings Institution@brookings.edu · 7mo agoU.S. net migration turned negative in 2025—a first in at least 50 years. Wendy Edelberg, Stan Veuger, and Tara Watson explores what this means for growth in jobs, spending, and GDP—and what’s ahead for 2026.
"Lemon, it's year one." In my latest @voiceofsandiego.org "D.C. Explained" column, I take a snapshot of the policy, budget, administrative, and economic developments that upended the San Diego region's relationship with Washington, D.C. each month in 2025. voiceofsandiego.org/2025/12/19/d...
DC Explained: An Eventful Year for San Diego’s Relationship with Washington
Alan Berube is senior vice president at the Policy & Innovation Center (PIC), a think tank and social impact incubator headquartered in San Diego. In this new monthly column, DC Explained, Berube […]
voiceofsandiego.org
Agree with Paul’s assessment, though for slightly different reason: private interests have extracted and devalued this community’s assets for decades. To lay blame at the feet of government—and programs that address basic needs, no less—is a bit rich (no pun intended).
Paul Waldman@paulwaldman.bsky.social · 8mo agoThis is a vivid, well-reported story about poverty in McDowell County, WV, but there's a problem with the framing, and what's left out. The story talks about some of the ways the Trump administration has cut off funds to the place, but... www.wsj.com/us-news/pove...
As a DC resident I feel like I should say: This is a complete and utter lie. My kid, under age 12, walked to school last year into an area close to downtown. Telling the truth is an important thing.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 12mo agoStephen Miller on DC residents: "For the first time in their lives, they can use the parks, they can walk on the streets. You have people who can walk freely at night without having to worry about being robbed or mugged. They are wearing their watches again."
I love my D.C. home, but lack of congressional representation and being constantly subjected to GOP policy experiments is a bug, not a feature. As for today's fascist rhetoric, here's all you need to know. Don't get distracted. jasher.substack.com/p/assessing-...
Assessing DC's Violent Crime Trends
Murder is plunging in DC but what about overall violent crime?
jasher.substack.com
Already lots of well-placed outrage at the dismissal of the BLS Commissioner late last week; just want to add how much I have appreciated and relied on BLS data for the past 25 years to tell the story of regional economies. Hope their vital, non-political work continues. cc: @markmuro1.bsky.social
“America First” immigration policy in action
Matthew Hay Brown@matthewhaybrown.bsky.social · last yr.The Trump administration has barred a team of 15- and 16-year-olds from Venezuela from entering the United States to compete in the Little League Senior League World Series. The team from Maracaibo won the Latin America tournament to qualify for the World Series in South Carolina wapo.st/4o8DKmS
This is one nonstop falsehood, start to finish.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last yr.Stephen Miller: "We have communities all across this nation that 20 years ago, before the era of open borders, were completely peaceful, completely stable. Look at a place like Minneapolis. Post mass migration they're unsafe, they're violent, you cannot use the public parks."
Who are Greater San Diego's immigrants? What role do they play in the region's economy and society? And what do the Trump administration's policy and enforcement changes mean for them, their families, and the wider community? Learn more in my latest Pulse on Policy: thinkpic.org/pic-intel/pu...
Pulse on Policy: Understanding Greater San Diego’s Immigrants at a Challenging Moment | Policy & Innovation Center
Pulse on Policy: Understanding Greater San Diego’s Immigrants at a Challenging Moment
thinkpic.org
This makes sense once you accept that the point of the regime is to rid the United States of immigrants. www.mississippifreepress.org/ice-arrests-...
ICE Arrests Mississippi Father at His Citizenship Hearing
ICE arrested Kasper Eriksen, a Mississippi father, at his citizenship hearing, imprisoning him and threatening him with deportation.
mississippifreepress.org
A barrage of executive orders, agency shutterings, fundings freezes and recissions, and reimbursements cuts are buffeting nonprofit organizations around the country. In my latest "Pulse on Policy" column I break down what this might mean for San Diego-area nonprofits: thinkpic.org/pic-intel/pu...
Pulse on Policy: Assessing and Addressing Emerging Risks Facing Greater San Diego’s Nonprofits | Policy & Innovation Center
Pulse on Policy: Assessing and Addressing Emerging Risks Facing Greater San Diego’s Nonprofits
thinkpic.org
By far the most memorable of the legendary Val Kilmer’s roles (for me at 13, at least) clip.cafe/real-genius-...
'You didn't touch anything, did you? No. Good. Because all of my filth is arranged in...' - Real Genius
Chris Knight: You didn't touch anything, did you? Mitch: No. Chris Knight: Good. Because all of my filth is arranged in alphabetical order. This, for instance, is under 'H' for "toy." Mitch: What i...
clip.cafe
Haven't made a habit (yet) of posting on here, but figure it couldn't hurt to share what I'm working on from time to time. Today, it's the potential impact of federal spending changes on Greater San Diego, which received $36.5B in grants and contracts in FY24: thinkpic.org/pic-intel/wh...
What New Leadership in Washington Could Mean for the San Diego Economy | Policy & Innovation Center
What New Leadership in Washington Could Mean for the San Diego Economy
thinkpic.org
The OMB impoundment memo's consequences aren't just about disrupting, in a profound way, *current* funds. It also makes it extremely hard to negotiate *future* spending deals if no one at the table can trust that the executive branch will actually stick to the deal at the execution phase.
