I thank various workshop/seminar participants and colleagues for their comments. Insurance market intelligence was generously provided by former colleagues at Liberty Mutual Insurance and UnitedHealth. Special thanks to Jim MacPhee who is particularly unstinting with his time despite having to run a Fortune 100 insurance company. Funding was provided by the Stanford Institute for Economic…
UnitedHealth’s leadership pointed to “product design changes, improved medical management and better aligned pricing.”
Pro-government supporters stand next to a banner depicting a portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a nightly rally in Tehran, Iran, on July 12, 2026. Morteza Nikoubazl | Nurphoto | Getty Images Iran warned Thursday that it would “crush” key targets in the Middle East if U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats…
Is Parliament no more than a democracy theme park? beng Mon, 07/13/2026 – 08:59 EST. READ TIME 5 MIN. In her critique of the spring parliamentary session, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May argued that democracy and Parliament, by extension, are being disrespected by the current Liberal majority—declaring that Parliament is no more than a theme…
At a Global Government Forum webinar, experts in public sector digital resilience discussed how governments can boost cybersecurity at scale, develop more robust systems, and adapt and recover when things go wrong The transformation from analogue to digital has seen huge benefits for governments and society, but it also presents challenges – not least the…
A logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is seen during the TSMC global RnD Center opening ceremony in Hsinchu on July 28, 2023 Amber Wang | Afp | Getty Images Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co reported a 23.4% jump in second-quarter profit on Thursday, shattering estimates as the world’s largest contract-chipmaker continues to set consecutive…
Texas built model on economic freedom beng Mon, 07/13/2026 – 10:01 EST. READ TIME 3 MIN. Texas ranks fourth nationally with an overall score of 8.15 in the Economic Freedom of North America report published by the Fraser Institute. The ranking, based on 2023 data, places Texas firmly among the most economically free states in the country….
To date, the seminal achievement of the 119th session of Congress was to fund the defense budget the nation needs. The momentum started by this success is now in jeopardy. Three issues frame the budgetary situation for the Pentagon during the last quarter of the fiscal year. Initially slow release and execution of the $150…
en English Politics Jul 15, 2026 Anne O. Krueger Few countries better illustrate the difficult trade-off between democratic principles and strategic necessity than Turkey. As the country’s geopolitical and economic importance grows, NATO allies are becoming increasingly willing to overlook President…
Medicare part D, which covers outpatient prescription drugs, is undergoing a planned transformation from multiple policy interventions, most of which were advertised as relieving financial pressure by lowering the prices charged by the manufacturers. What was not signaled as a possible outcome was a significant net increase in federal part D costs, but that is what is now occurring. Figure 1…