Washington, DC – October 30, 2008 – The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution announced the winners of the 2008 Hamilton Project Policy Innovation Prize. Nathan Punwani, a recent graduate of Lehigh University, is the winner of the undergraduate prize and Robert Nelb, a student at Yale University, is the winner of the graduate-level prize.

Punwani will be awarded $7,500 for his proposal, “Medicare & Medicaid Reform: Ensuring Long-Term Solvency,” in which he proposes a comprehensive policy regime to curtail excess cost growth in health care. Punwani is a native of Newport Beach, California.

Nelb will be awarded $12,500 for his proposal, “Opportunity Options: Using Tax Information to Increase Health Insurance Coverage.” He proposes the creation of a system in which Americans can choose to allow the federal and state governments to share tax information and other existing databases to help inform choices about their health insurance options. Nelb is a native of West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Kaitlyn Murphy of the University of Maryland and James Coan of Princeton University were chosen as runners-up in the competition and will each be awarded $2,500 for their proposals.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, a founding member of The Hamilton Project Advisory Council, will award the prizes to Punwani and Nelb at an event in Washington, DC on December 5th.

The goal of The Hamilton Project Policy Innovation Prize is to encourage the next generation of leaders to rigorously pursue innovative policy solutions to the pressing economic issues facing our nation. The Prize was announced in December 2007 with both an undergraduate and graduate-level competition and is in its second year. It is open to students at all accredited United States institutions.

The Project worked closely with the Roosevelt Institution, a network of campus-based student think tanks, to encourage broad student participation in the 2008 competition.

“It was a pleasure to work with the Roosevelt Institution to involve a diverse group of students from across the country in thinking about new policy solutions to some of our nation’s most pressing economic challenges,” said Doug Elmendorf, director of The Hamilton Project.

The 2008 policy submissions were evaluated by select members of The Hamilton Project Advisory Council and based on three key factors: (1) the relevance of the problem and proposed solution; (2) the rigor of evidence used; and (3) the originality of the proposed solution. The selection committee was chaired by Robert Cumby of Georgetown University and Suzanne Nora Johnson, formerly of The Goldman Sachs Group.

“It was a true pleasure to be a part of this process and to be reminded of the creative thinking that is taking place in schools around the country today,” said Nora Johnson.

“It is inspiring to see students at both the graduate and undergraduate-levels engaged in serious public policy issues,” added Cumby. “Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders and we will need new talent to face our future challenges.”

The two winning proposals will go through a full review process by the Project and will be published on-line as Hamilton Project discussion papers in early 2009.

Learn More About the Innovation Prize »

About The Hamilton Project
The Hamilton Project produces research and policy proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans. The Hamilton Project’s economic strategy reflects a judgment that long term prosperity is best achieved by making economic growth broad-based, by enhancing individual economic security, and by embracing a role for effective government in making needed public investments.