There are three elections right now where center-right parties look to be doing well: Norway, Germany, Australia. We won’t know what happens for sure until the votes are in, but there are some interesting aspects of their campaigns that might hint at what center-right parties need to do to win in the 21st century.First, all […]

Municipal bond markets suffered their worst losses since the turn of the century as the markets responded to fallout in Detroit over the past two months. Ordinarily, the late summer months are a time when these funds tend to pick up steam, but as Detroit considers cutting its general-obligation bonds, the market has become increasingly […]

Taiwan will spend $106 million over the next three years to construct a naval outpost on Taiping Island in the heart of the disputed Spratly archipelago, according to a member of the country’s foreign affairs committee. Taiping (also known as Itu Aba) is the largest of the Spratly Islands and currently features an airstrip and […]

The Center for Education Reform has created a new “Parent Power Index“—a state-by-state ranking of parents’ ability to control their children’s education.States are graded on five criteria: the prominence of charter schools, the availability of school choice, state efforts to remove barriers to entry for high-quality teachers, the transparency of school data, and enthusiasm for […]

The BRICS are continuing their summer crumble. Tumult in credit markets and a roller-coaster ride in emerging market currencies has upended growth expectations and sent a number of emerging economies tumbling. Now even the IMF is beginning to face up to reality. In a confidential note, the IMF backtracked on its optimistic projections for emerging […]

The data on Obamacare has started to flow hard and fast into the public square. Three new resources out this week should be very helpful in piecing together the law’s effects. Avik Roy has a comprehensive analysis of state-by-state premium shifts under Obamacare, including an interactive map and revised estimates. Across the 13 states currently reporting rates, […]

Germany’s green energy revolution—it’s energiewende—has been a disaster. The solar panels and wind turbines meant to replace the nuclear reactors and fossil fuels the country previously relied on have come at a premium, and these costs have been passed on to consumers. Both industries and households are struggling under the yoke of high electricity prices, and […]

Apologies for another Syria post after this morning’s essay, but sometimes the news gives you no choice. From the Times this morning, we see that the President is still floundering, unwilling or unable to level with himself or the public about just how ugly his self-created Syria predicament has become: “I didn’t set a red line; the […]

Colleges are facing a problem they haven’t faced in nearly a decade: declining enrollment. New Census Bureau data reports that college enrollment dropped by about a half-million last year for the first time since 2006. Some of this may simply be a result of students who went to school in the late 2000s to avoid […]

The tea leaves aren’t easy to read, but at this point Congress appears to be inching reluctantly towards granting President Obama some manner of authorization to bomb Syria. But even as they come closer to authorizing acts of war, our elected representatives seem to be trying to evade the harsh truth about what they are […]