Daniel M. Rothschild

Managing Director, State and Local Policy Project

Daniel Rothschild is the managing director of the Mercatus Center's State and Local Policy Project, where he coordinates Mercatus's research on state and local economic policy and directs the Gulf Coast Recovery Project. Previously, he managed international economic development programs at the Mercatus Center.

A relative rarity in Washington, Dan was born in our nation’s capital and grew up in Houston. His popular writing and articles and reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reason, Slate, the Chicago Policy Review, the Michigan Journal of Public Affairs, and Economic Affairs. He has appeared on television and radio in the United States and abroad discussing Mercatus research and its application to current policy debates.

Prior to joining Mercatus, Mr. Rothschild was an Eben Tisdale Fellow in Washington, DC. He earned his BA in history from Grinnell College, his MA in modern British history from the University of Manchester, and his Masters in Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

Research Paper/Study

Local Knowledge: Caring Communities: The Role of Nonprofits in Rebuilding the Gulf Coast

Daniel M. Rothschild, Emily Chamlee-Wright, Jennifer Zambone, Jerry Brito, Lenore Ealy, Veronique de Rugy, Virgil Storr, Peter J. Boettke | Aug 2009

This issue of Local Knowledge focuses on the role of nonprofits and social entrepreneurs in rebuilding the Gulf Coast. In this issue you can read research articles that explain what social entrepreneurship is; that discuss how social entrepreneurs and nonprofits play a critical role in the response to and recovery after disasters; and that detail where and when nonprofits have played key parts in rebuilding.

Research Paper/Study

Local Knowledge

Bruce Yandle, Curtis Melvin, Daniel M. Rothschild, Daniel Sutter, Frederic Sautet, Peter J. Boettke, Steven Horwitz, Tim Roemer, Veronique de Rugy | Jul 29, 2008

This issue of Local Knowledge focuses on the role of entrepreneurs in rebuilding the Gulf Coast. In this issue you can read research articles that explain what entrepreneurship is; that discuss how entrepreneurs and their businesses play a critical role in the response to and recovery after disasters; and that detail where and when entrepreneurs have played key parts in rebuilding.

Mercatus Policy Series

Disastrous Uncertainty: How Government Disaster Policy Undermines Community Rebound

Daniel M. Rothschild, Emily Chamlee-Wright | Jan 15, 2007

This Policy Comment looks at the ways in which public policy has had negative unintended consequences on the ability of communities to make informed decisions about sustainable rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.

MORE PUBLISHED RESEARCH

POLICY BRIEFS

Seven Key Aspects of Governing During Crisis

Maurice P. McTigue, Daniel M. Rothschild | May 18, 2010

This paper presents a toolkit of seven ideas and procedures for state policy makers to evaluate budget shortfalls and find opportunities for reform. Drawing on domestic and international experiences, we believe the current gap between revenues and expenditures presents policy makers with an opportunity to reevaluate the functions and business practices of their state governments, not only to survive the current economic downturn, but in order to thrive in its aftermath.

Perverse Incentives of Economic "Stimulus"

Mercatus On Policy no. 66

Daniel M. Rothschild, Emily Washington | Jan 25, 2010

The Federal Government's recent "stimulus" package allocated $140 billion to help states' budgets, but it hasn't been nearly enough to prop up the unsustainable spending states are engaged in. The authors detail the fiscal crisis still looming in state budgets.

Mercatus on Policy: Hosting a Disaster

Daniel M. Rothschild, Emily Chamlee-Wright | Jun 2008

Professor Emily Chamlee-Wright and Associate Director Daniel Rothschild examine policies that can prepare cities to host an evacuee population.

MORE POLICY BRIEFS

TESTIMONY & COMMENTS

Congressional Testimony

Written Testimony on Rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

Daniel M. Rothschild, Emily Chamlee-Wright, Mario Villarreal-Diaz | Jun 26, 2007

This written testimony was delivered to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Domestic Policy as part of the June 26, 2007 hearing on labor law enforcement and regulation in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Public Interest Comment

Strengthening Economic Freedom: Natural Resource Indicators and Economic Growth

Daniel M. Rothschild, Frederic Sautet, Kyle McKenzie | Oct 26, 2006

In this policy comment submitted to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Mercatus Center reflects on the first three years of the MCC and evaluates the potential of two proposed "natural resource indicators" as criteria for awarding aid grants to developing countries. The MCC was created in 2003 by policy makers who saw potential to go beyond the failed programs that had characterized sixty years of American international assistance.

MEDIA CLIPPINGS

The Daily Caller

New Jersey’s first step forward on pensions

Daniel M. Rothschild, Eileen Norcross | Mar 16, 2010

The only way for New Jersey to make its pension system sustainable, and to keep its promise to public sector workers, is to follow the private sector’s lead and move to a defined contribution pension system.

Reason Magazine

Whitewashing FDR

Daniel M. Rothschild | Apr 01, 2009

Forbes.com

Katrina Response And The Bailout: Twin Disasters

Garett Jones, Daniel M. Rothschild | Feb 25, 2009

Garett Jones and Daniel Rothschild discuss similarities between the Katrina recovery and the bailout on Forbes.com. On the surface, Hurricane Katrina and the financial crisis might not seem to have much in common. One was a natural disaster, the other a story of man-made markets collapsing. One struck the poor and defenseless, the other, the hubristic…

MORE MEDIA CLIPPINGS

Mercatus Center

Daniel M. Rothschild