Nobel laureate economist Robert Solow, currently working on a Russell Sage Foundation study comparing low-wage work in Europe and America, believes that upgrading service-sector work is crucial for the American economy. Pessimistic about the future of domestic manufacturing, Solow notes that some European nations make civil servants of child-care and elderly care workers, and pay them accordingly. "We usually think of a revived WPA creating employment in construction and manufacturing work," he says, "but if it's not focused on the service sector, it won't be that useful. That's where the demand is." One such neo-WPA proposal, appearing on California's primary ballot this June, is Rob Reiner's initiative to create universal preschool for the state's four-year-olds, funded by a tax on the wealthiest Californians. The measure includes $700 million to provide college training and credentials to child-care providers, and provisions that would enable them to form unions.