Could Obamacare self-destruct? We’ve previously written about the possibility that companies would respond to the Affordable Care Act by self-insuring, using a form of coverage called stop-loss insurance to take direct responsibility for their employees’ health care costs. This scheme lets companies escape the new taxes that Obamacare imposes, as well as giving them more flexibility […]

This could get ugly. The New York Times is reporting that the Senate is close to deciding on whether to include a provision in an upcoming resolution to keep the United States Postal Service delivering mail six days a week—against the wishes of the postmaster general. This provision, echoing one passed last week by the House, would ratchet […]

Shinzo Abe has signalled that Japan will join talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade group that includes the US and 10 other nations. The BBC reports: Japan’s decision to enter the talks comes at a time when its economy has been struggling to gain momentum.Its growth has been hurt by a decline in […]

A hidden Obamacare provision could bury US businesses under a large new health care fee. According to the WSJ, the Affordable Care Act will charge employers an extra $63 for each person they insure. This tax will raise $25 billion dollars from companies and other providers over the next three years. As we’ve come to […]

How times have changed in China. In Mao’s era, a traveler visiting Beijing might have heard people singing the famous song “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China” with such patriotic, socialist lyrics as “The Communist Party toiled for the nation / The Communist Party of one mind saved China!”Not today. As Evan […]

On the eve of President Obama’s trip to the Middle East, this Gallup favorability poll highlights some of the challenges he will face. Most startling is the fact that Americans’ dislike of Egypt has increased to a twenty year high, with 53 percent holding an unfavorable view. That’s the highest percentage since Gallup starting asking […]

As the shock of the recession fades and the US energy miracle gets underway, Americans are migrating south and west in search of opportunity. The US Census Bureau reports that the Great Plains and Texas are experiencing the country’s most rapid population growth. Thanks to the energy boom, strong hiring growth, rising home prices, and […]

Readers will be forgiven for rolling their eyes as Greece resurfaces yet again as a major concern for European policymakers, Groundhog’s Day-style. Yet so it does, with the FT reporting today that the next tranche of bailout funds has been delayed due to a dispute over structural reforms—namely, the Greek government’s dragging its feet over laying off  several […]

Will we soon be producing our energy with waste water? A new study has found that cellulosic biofuel, a fuel produced by breaking down woody plant matter, can be produced with extremely low environmental impact using waste water. This may not sound like much, but the use of this kind of water could have a […]

The new Netanyahu government reflects the confluence of two revolutions, one religious the other social, that is embodied by the unexpected rise to power of two political novices, Yair Lapid and Nafali Bennet. Both campaigned on a program that called for relief of a middle class suffering from a lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages, […]