About every five years, the Bureau of Economic Analysis re-evaluates its metrics for measuring various aspects of the economy as data and tools change and improve. This upcoming Wednesday, the NY Times reports, Bureau officials will be undertaking one such re-evaluation. And the revisions this time around are a pretty big deal: [The Bureau] plans to […]

As cost increases in China and concerns over labor conditions in Bangladesh push manufacturing firms away, India is gearing up its own garment industry to try to capitalize on the opportunity and boost its faltering economy. India has so far failed to fully take advantage of its huge potential labor force living out in the countryside. […]

Here’s a humdinger: despite everything that’s happened, Detroit is still going ahead with its plan to build a $450 million taxpayer-funded sports arena. One might might think that the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in US history might put Detroit’s leaders into a period of modesty and introspection.One would be wrong. CNN reports that even Michigan Governor […]

In Stephen Davidson, Obamacare has found a convinced, but not necessary convincing, defender. Over on the American Interest main site, VM staff writer on health care Peter Blair offers a detailed look at Davidson’s new book on the Affordable Care Act entitled A New Era in US Health Care.The book is a helpful guide to Obamacare’s provisions, but […]

This week saw some of the best economic news out of Britain that we’ve heard about that country in a long time. The BBC reports that Jane Austen will be the new face on the UK’s ten pound note. The decision to put Austen on the note came after protests over the under-representation of women on UK […]

Is John Kerry making progress on peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians? Good analysis of his efforts has been mostly speculative and hard to come by because, remarkably, there have been no leaks from the negotiating teams. Adam Garfinkle, one of the most astute and persistent analysts of Israeli-Palestinian affairs, wonders why, and where […]

Bill Gates chairs a company called TerraPower that is keen on taking nuclear power technology into the 21st century. The company primarily focuses on a so-called fast reactor that would produce nuclear waste with relatively low toxicity and a much shorter lifetime. But it’s also making inroads on a type of nuclear power with tremendous […]

With clashes overnight between police and Muslim Brotherhood protesters killing ‘scores’ of people in the streets of Cairo, it’s worth taking a step back and remembering exactly how we got here. This excellent Reuters special report on the very recent history of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt serves that purpose.The authors argue that the Brotherhood’s actual downfall […]

Those eager to legalize weed and other drugs should look to Colorado, where the state’s legalized medical marijuana industry is creating serious problems. The Verge reports on the alarming findings of a recent audit of Colorado’s marijuana marketplace:  Despite an influx of weed tax revenue, local agencies remain understaffed, underfunded, and woefully disorganized. Records on […]

A new defense paper published by Japan’s government today urges Tokyo to set up a rapid marine deployment force to counter threats to its territory and acquire offensive weapons, like surveillance drones and missiles that could strike enemy bases. Shinzo Abe’s government is clearly trucking on with plans to revamp Japan’s military and even considering changing […]