Reporter Alex Goldmark looks into the motivations behind social impact bonds, which are allocated $100 million in President Obama's proposed budget.

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"Buried deep within President Obama's $3.7 trillion budget is a tiny little item that might just change public finance forever... if it works.

"Well it's tiny by comparison anyway. President Obama is asking for up to $100 million — less than 0.003 percent of his overall proposed budget — to pilot a brand new way to pay for public services called the Social Impact Bond. The plan uses private, profit-motivated investment money to fund public services up-front. The government only pays if the services deliver as promised, and only out of government cost savings. No taxpayer money wasted on failed programs in this plan...

"...'There are a whole range of social issues, where if we get better at preventing them, then prevention is cheaper than cure,' Eccles says. 'That's something that is hard for government to commit to,' especially in tight fiscal times like the current ones, but private investors are used to paying up front and waiting for results."

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