Price Transparency: How the FTC is Tackling Bait-and-Switch Pricing
Politics

Price Transparency: How the FTC is Tackling Bait-and-Switch Pricing

Executive Overview – There is a recurring practice of firms failing to disclose upfront mandatory charges in the advertised price of their goods or services, leading to an unexpected higher final cost for consumers (e.g. “resort fees” in hotel bookings and “processing fees” in ticket purchases).  – Misleading pricing threatens competition in the market, as … Continue reading

Politics

Bracing for Impact: FEMA’s Strategy for Natural Disasters and Economic Fallout 

Executive Summary  Introduction  According to the Fifth National Climate Assessment (2023), climate change is increasing the risk of multiple disasters occurring simultaneously resulting in ‘compound extremes,’ as seen during the landfalls of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in Florida within a span of several weeks in 2022 similarly to the landfalls of Hurricanes Helene and Milton … Continue reading

Politics

An Analysis of AI’s Impact on Terrorism

Executive Summary:   • ISIS released an Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated misinformation video following a bombing attack on a Russian concert venue, which prompted fears about the depth of AI use in terrorist activities.  • Generative AI has cut time, automated recruitment and information dissemination, as well as decreased the need for highly skilled members in … Continue reading

Tax / Taxes

The Possible Effects of Pillar Two Taxation on the United States

Executive Summary  Introduction  The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) proposed a two-pillar international taxation agreement aimed at taxing digital companies and reducing profit shifting. Pillar two aims to create a minimum international corporate tax of 15% on multinational companies that bring in revenue of over €750m a year ($810 million). This tax can … Continue reading

Healthcare / Medicare

Inhaler Pricing: A Lack of Market Competition 

Executive Summary: Introduction: On January 8th, 2024 the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) sent letters to the CEOs of the four largest manufacturers of inhalers sold in the United States (AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Teva) launching an investigation into the high price of inhalers used for Asthma and Chronic … Continue reading

Economy / Tax

The OECD and UN International Tax Proposals

Executive Summary  Introduction  The Orginisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has proposed and revised an international tax agreement that contains two pillars. Pillar one aims to reallocate taxation of digital multinational companies and multinational companies with intangible assets. Pillar two aims to impose a minimum global tax on multi-national companies, while preventing double taxation. … Continue reading

Healthcare / Medicaid

Housing as Healthcare: Medicaid’s New Program Sparks Debate

Executive Summary: Introduction: On November 16th, 2023, The Biden Administration released a press statement in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announcing the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Framework, a framework that sets up states to use appropriate interventions to support housing efforts for certain Medicaid … Continue reading