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, […]

There’s been no shortage of news this week about energy developments in the eastern Mediterranean. But while Israel still mulls over its decision of where to pipe or ship its new bounty of natural gas, the nearby island of Cyprus is moving forward with a plan to build a liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal. […]

Obamacare might be the newest force working against marriage. In The Atlantic, Garance Franke-Ruta reports on the subtle anti-marriage incentives in the Affordable Care Act. Franke-Ruta first caught on to the subject when an acquaintance mentioned she was getting divorced in order to maximize the subsidies she could get under the Affordable Care Act. Franke-Ruta then […]

Melting ice is exposing a bounty of oil and gas in the Arctic, and Alaska gives the US a stake in the game. Earlier this week, oil major Royal Dutch Shell submitted a plan to drill off the northwest coast of Alaska. The FT reports: The plan for multiple wells in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest […]

Democratic alarm over the fortunes of the Affordable Care Act is becoming more and more visible every day. The last sign of panic is that Hill Democrats have acquiesced to the conservative narrative about Tuesday’s Virginia governor’s race. In the fight between GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli and Democratic victor Terry McAuliffe, nearly everyone expected Cuccinelli to […]