Richard H. Thaler, professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago, won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences this year “for his contributions to behavioral economics.” This is a relatively new field that combines the idea of psychology and economics. Standard economic models assume that humans are rational actors. However, behavioral economists … Continue reading
America has a drug problem that goes well beyond opiates and abuse. Pharmaceutical drug prices have skyrocketed in the last decade and fueled an overall increase in health care costs and spending[1]. The top ten most prescribed medications have all risen more than 50% since 2011, with four out of ten having doubled in cost. … Continue reading
The Paris Agreement serves as the bridge between existing policies and the low-carbon development economy needed to sustain our future. Although the agreement is non-binding, 160 Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have ratified the agreement, and hope to transition into the low-carbon pathway needed to keep warming below 2oC (3.6o … Continue reading
How a Holistic Approach to Pain Management can Solve the Nation’s Opioid Epidemic In 2017 drug overdoses became the leading cause of death for Americans less than 50 years old (Reynolds, 2017). Fueling this statistic is the opioid epidemic, which is responsible for 63% of all drug overdoses in the … Continue reading
Is the Skills Gap Real? On July 28th, Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta announced in his blog that there are about 6 million open jobs in the U.S, and it is estimated that American companies are missing out on nearly USD 250 billion due to these unfilled jobs. This number is large compared to 6.9 … Continue reading
The United States is currently the most attractive destination for international students, hosting over a million students from around the world in colleges and universities across the country. While some foreign students are awarded merit-based scholarships and fellowships to pursue an education in the United States, nearly two-thirds of international students rely on personal finances … Continue reading
This might very well be the busiest year of the Atlantic hurricane season, and with two months left the Americas shudder at the thought of what next, who’s next, and when. Three major hurricanes—Harvey, Irma, and most recently Maria—all made landfall roughly one week apart, and caused widespread devastation across several U.S. cities and total … Continue reading
On September 13th the House subcommittee on Worker Protection and the subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a congressional joint hearing to consider the Save Local Business Act. The proposed bill seeks to define joint employers as those who have “actual, direct, and immediate control” over employees and to roll back the Obama … Continue reading
Rural America is struggling. As blue-collar jobs move overseas and people flock to major cities in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, rural America is being left behind in the next wave of economic growth. President Donald Trump broke the Democratic “blue wall” in the 2016 presidential election by appealing to rural voters, running on a platform … Continue reading
Overview As the cost of healthcare rises, the government is pouring money into the current health insurance system to find a way to counteract this rise, and lower costs for patients. Progressive Democrats propose expanding upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and implementing a single payer system. The key issue with a single payer system … Continue reading
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