HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was back on the Hill this week to testify about the Affordable Care Act exchanges, and her words were not reassuring to those who hoped the website would soon be functional. According to the WSJ, Sebelius said “contractors need to fix a couple of hundred problems and ‘we’re not where we […]

It’s been a dramatic week in the long-running nuclear talks between Iran and the six major powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany). With Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers flocking to Geneva, there is a possibility that at least a partial and temporary agreement between Iran […]

A major meeting of the Commonwealth of Nations—mostly former British colonies—will take place later this month in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, but one important member state won’t be represented: India. The decision by New Delhi on wether or not Manmohan Singh should attend has exposed internal divisions within India and highlighted a wider […]

Anti-semitism is reaching terrifyingly high levels in Europe. According to a new survey by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency, almost half of the Jews in some European countries have considered emigration due to anti-semitism. The BBC has more: The survey of 5,847 Jewish people said 66% of those who responded considered anti-Semitism to be a problem.Three […]

It looks like the Wall Street-blue model axis that has plundered cities like Detroit and Stockton is also one of the major forces sinking Puerto Rico. The Washington Post reports that the US territory’s $70 billion public debt and collapsing economy have been fueled by the codependence of spendthrift blue politicians and Wall Street investment […]

“America spends more on its health care system than any other country, but has worse health outcomes.” It’s a familiar tune, a variation on which involves Americans’ relatively lower life expectancy. Think again, says Avik Roy, offering several reasons why life expectancy isn’t a good metric by which to compare national health care systems. For example: […]

By most accounts, Abenomics is working tremendously well for Japan. Analysts and policymakers can debate the financial impact (some say it is working wonders while others deride it as “asset-bubble economics”), but there’s no question that after years of economic stagnation Abenomics is leading a resurgence in Japanese national pride.Shinzo Abe’s political home, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was an […]

This week’s elections brought headlines dominated by big-ticket races along the East Coast, but a more interesting result came further down the ballot in Colorado: voters shot down a $1 billion tax hike to raise money for schools, and backed a number of education reformers in their bids to retain their seats in one of […]

John Kerry is in Geneva today hashing out a “first step” toward an eventual deal with Iran over its nuke program, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is none too pleased with the leaked contours of the deal. The New York Times reports: “The deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal,” […]

President Obama has finally come clean about his “if you like your insurance plan, you can keep it” promise. Instead of the hair-splitting and revisionist histories the administration has been offering since the plan cancellations started coming, Obama is now admitted that, in effect, he mislead the American people. NYT: In an interview with NBC News, […]