Robert W. Wassmer is Associate Professor in the Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Sacramento. As Director of the system-wide California State University Faculty Fellows Applied Research Program, he heads a group of public policy consultants to the state of California. His research in urban economic development and state/local public finance has appeared in numerous prestigious journals such as the Journal of Urban Economics and Urban Studies. He has taught at Wayne State University's Department of Economics and College of Urban, Labor, and Metropolitan Affairs, and holds a PhD from Michigan State University.