Book excerpt: Large deficits, increased military and social security expenditures, and the "New Federalism" have put the future of many domestic programs in doubt. How would further cuts in federal funding for these programs affect our society? Can such cuts significantly reduce the federal deficit? Can Administration attempts to transfer public functions form the federal government to the states succeed? In this volume, a group of prominent economists, many of whom have served in Republican or Democratic administrations, raise and answer questions fundamental to the design of domestic policy. They scrutinize the effects of recent policies on poverty, urban transportation systems, the supply of qualified teachers, the cost--and continuing racial segregation--of housing, and efforts to control pollution and improve the environment. tehy describe the likely results of further funding cuts in each area and propose imaginative alternatives for reducing the federal deficit. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1985.