Weekly Round Up: March 23 -27, 2009

Afghanistan

Crafting an Effective and Responsible Strategy for Afghanistan

The Center continued its focus on Afghanistan this week with a report from Lawrence Korb, Caroline Wadhams, Colin Cookman, and Sean Duggan on achieving a lasting security in Afghanistan, “Sustainable Security in Afghanistan: Crafting an Effective and Responsible Strategy for the Forgotten Front.” And a column examined “Seven Reasons Why We Need to Engage in Afghanistan.”
 

Health reform

The Inefficient Health Insurance Market

CAP Action put out several pieces on health reform this week. “The Inefficient Individual Health Insurance Market” by Peter Harbage discussed the high costs of the individual market while “Health Care’s Efficiency Dividend,” also by Harbage, looked at how eliminating inefficiency in the health care system would reduce costs. Ben Furnas and Harbage examined how the lack of universal coverage raises costs for all families in “The Cost Shift from the Uninsured,” and Harbage and Karen Davenport introduced a public insurance plan, Public Plan Choice, which would deliver market discipline to the health insurance market.

CAP Action’s Judy Feder and Professor Harriet L. Komisar also testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on “The Role of Long-Term Care in Health Reform” on Wednesday.
 

Economy

More Job Losses in Every State

New data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that job losses continue to increase in every state. Heather Boushey and Nayla Kazzi provided analysis of these numbers along with an interactive map illustrating the nationwide rise in unemployment. Amanda Logan and Christian Weller gave insight into who borrows from payday lenders and why. And Michael Ettlinger and David Min evaluated the Obama administration’s new Public-Private Investment Plan to get the financial sector moving again.
 

Energy and environment

Cash for Clunkers

In “Retiring Old Cars, Creating New Jobs,” Bracken Hendricks and Benjamin Goldstein argued why recently introduced legislation creating incentives for consumers to trade in older cars for new, fuel-efficient models would be good for the economy, the environment, and national security. Kari Manlove broke down the basics of a cap-and-trade system in this week’s “Ask the Expert” video, and new organic trends in the winemaking business were explored in “It’s Easy Being Green.”