Special Commentary

In recent installments of this series, we have employed the metaphor of horse racing’s Triple Crown to describe the challenges faced by the Affordable Care Act. The ACA, known perhaps more widely as ObamaCare, became law in 2010, but in many ways it has faced even greater challenges over the past twelve months. The first test… full story HERE »

Well after midnight in the early hours of November 7, 2012, President Barack Obama strode on stage at McCormick Place in Chicago. America’s First Lady was radiant. Their daughters, having grown so much and so beautifully in four years, joined them with grace and poise. His audience, representing the new diversity of the nation, felt relief…. full story HERE »

The impact of violence is usually calculated by the number of deaths per every 100,000 inhabitants. Those merely wounded by gunfire rarely make the headlines. The news often reports on how a bullet ends a life, but seldom on how one can change a life forever.

In Guatemala, nearly 4,500 people were wounded by gunfire in 2011… full story HERE »

When this series of commentaries began, almost four years ago, there was no specific conclusion in sight, just a challenge to tell the story of a major public policy debate in America, as it unfolded, from the perspectives of competitive politics and through an analysis of policy choices, hopefully comprehensible to the informed reader.

We found more… full story HERE »

On June 28, 2012, two dozen colleagues were gathered in a Washington conference room to await the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. There were Democrats, independents, and disaffected Republicans gathered together in the knowledge that history was to happen in the next hour. A few friends of the group had… full story HERE »

For the balance of 2012, health care reform in the United States has to run a political Triple Crown. The Affordable Care Act or ACA, though the term “ObamaCare” is now generally accepted by both sides, is a remarkable beast, but each leg of the race will test its strength and endurance. The first test will… full story HERE »

This series of commentaries now enters its fourth year in a continuing effort to achieve two goals. First, we hope that lay readers are provided insight on the latest efforts toward health care reform in the United States. Second, we hope that through the lens of health care reform those same readers can contextualize the competing… full story HERE »

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? –T.S. Eliot

On, in my case, do I dare take on the Honorable Kevin Casas-Zamora, the former Vice-President of Costa Rica and Director of the Latin American Initiative at the Brookings Institution, whose article, Guatemala: Between a Rock and  Hard Place, was reprinted in… full story HERE »

In this ongoing analysis of health care reform, we took a brief diversion (La Cuadra, Volume V, Issue 4, July / August 2011) to look at the political context in which the debate takes place. And we’re proud to note that we spotted the ascendant Herman Cain phenomenon early on (slightly after Jon Stewart, but… full story HERE »

When considering the unexpected consequences in development work around the world, Farley Mowat recorded a cautionary and relevant tale. It is worth describing in detail.

The year is 1947. The place is the Barren Lands of North-Central Canada, a half-day’s flight from the end of any railroad track. Two children, five and ten years old, are found… full story HERE »