Though it has often been overshadowed by other diseases, the ancient scourge of leprosy is still afflicting humanity—but we have all the tools we need to end it, notes Dr. Ann Aerts, head of the Novartis Foundation, in a new article published by Health Affairs, titled “One Step Closer To Ending Leprosy.” […]
Author: Erik Sass
Post-Brexit, Imperiled Transatlantic Relationship More Important Than Ever
By Dr. Alexander Görlach, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs The UK’s impending departure from the European Union on January 31 creates at least one certainty. Following the Tories’ resounding victory in the December parliamentary elections, any further talk of a second referendum is empty rhetoric; the idea was rejected […]
Ich muss, selbst ohne meinen fuss: Germans go to work sick in “presentism” plague
“Sick to work? Presentism is widespread in Germany” Courtesy of IAB In Germany, many employees go to work despite illness. This has to do with working conditions and fear of job loss. It therefore makes sense to work more towards appropriate health behavior. Illness-related absence from work is a not insignificant problem for the […]
Anti-EU sentiment simmering in Central Europe
“Czechs and the EU Brand: How do Czechs feel about the EU and what could change their mind?” By Vit Havelka, courtesy of EUROPEUM This study is mainly based on a series of 12 brief surveys by Behavio research agency and on longitudinal research by STEM Institute for Empirical Research. The expert’s inputs […]
Franco-German relationship needs a reboot
“Rebooting Franco-German cooperation” By Sophie Pornschlegel, courtesy of EPC The alliance between France and Germany has significantly deteriorated in 2019, with little to no hope for improvement in 2020. They have no one to blame but themselves: Germany has shown a lack of ambition and vision in European policy, while Macron made tactical errors with […]
The Sake-Scotch Pact: New EU-Japan alliance forming
“A Surprising New Alliance: Europe and Japan” Courtesy of CEPS Almost surreptitiously, Europe and Japan are discovering they have a great deal in common, joining up to defend free trade, democracy and the rule of law. For decades, low-grade commercial friction and political indifference marked the relationship. Japan’s powerful car industry frightened […]
Don’t loosen bank rules for Green New Deal
“European green finance is expanding, a discount on bank capital would discredit it” By Alexander Lehmann, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute The Commission’s ‘European Green Deal’ sets out massive investment needs in a variety of areas, amounting to potentially 1.5 per cent of the EU’s annual GDP. If these targets are to be […]
Beware AMLO’s authoritarian tendencies
“AMLO and the “Fourth Transformation” in Mexico” By Roberto Salinas-León, courtesy of the Cato Institute According to Enrique Krauze, Mexico’s prominent classical‐liberal intellectual, new “winds of authoritarianism” are sweeping across Latin America, characterized by all‐mighty caudillos who ascend to political power via democratic means, but who then seek to concentrate control over a tightly knit polity […]
Don’t buy the Treasury’s Chinese currency hype – then or now
“US Treasury’s Currency Report on China is a Case Study in Political Manipulation” By Daniel Griswold, courtesy of Mercatus Center The US Treasury’s semi-annual report issued this week on the exchange rate policies of China and other major trading partners is an exercise in intellectual gymnastics. The report reiterates that China was indeed a currency […]
Washington Beyond The Headlines: New Trade Deals Will Bolster Strong U.S. Economy
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor January 16, 2020 A BIG week in Washington! Impeachment staggers forward as the House finally sends articles of impeachment to the Senate. Of course, this is the government at work, so it’s all about process and now this will drag on for an indeterminate amount of time. […]