Brookings Today, 7/29/14

A roundup of some of the content published today by Brookings.

• Human response to robots. Heather Knight explains the relationship between humans and robots and suggests how proactive policy-making and ethical design can help shape the future of robot development.

• Improving transportation infrastructure through private sector. Clifford Winston suggests how private sector firms can potentially contribute to the goal of improving infrastructure performance.

• Skill mismatch not enough to explain unemployment. Gary Burtless argues that missing skill sets as a cause of unemployment is unpersuasive.

• Place matters in fight against poverty. Elizabeth Kneebone responds to Rep. Paul Ryan’s poverty reduction proposal, arguing that place matters.

• Increasing America’s role in African conflict zones. Michael O’Hanlon makes a case that the U.S. should do more in Congo and support the momentum of African countries moving toward peace.

• Difficulties in making long-term projections for Medicare . Louise Sheiner and Brendan Mochoruk argue that the Congressional Budget Office’s recent emphasis on the 25-year outlook for Medicare spending makes sense due to the difficulty of long-term assumptions.

• Asset-based policies to promote mobility. Richard Reeves recommends asset-based welfare policies with funds used only for mobility-enhancing investments.

Elina Saxena contributed to this post.