Categories for Decision Making

The Dawn of the Evidence-Based Budget

June 11, 2012

An interesting commentary published on May 30, 2012 in the New York Times written by David Bornstein examines implications for a memorandum released in May from the federal Office of Management and Budget. This document called on federal agencies to include along with their 2014 budgets a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and to link expenditures to evidence. This change has the potential to be a game changer when one considers the vast dollars government spends with many of these funds going to practices that offer little in return to the tax payer. A requirement for agencies to back programs backed by evidence is a step forward in efforts to improve the effectiveness of government services.

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