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In a Fracturing UK, Nigel Farage Emerges as Nationalist Nemesis
With the UK government in crisis, the specter of a Reform leadership one day is shifting the political dynamic in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
New bipartisan Senate bill backed by White House set to be NCAA's best chance yet for college sports reform
A bipartisan Senate bill backed by the White House offers the NCAA its best chance to secure antitrust protection and codify rules
A political dynasty heiress and a former trade minister advance to Peru’s presidential runoff
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian voters will choose their next president between a political dynasty heiress and a former trade minister who has promised to reform Peru’s mining sector, after advancing on Friday to Peru’s June presidential runoff election.
Chartbook 449: Voldemort on Threadneedle street. The Bank of England and the "haunted house" of English politics.
Imagine the scene: In some Harry Potter version of 21st-century London, a group of deathless UK Treasury officials gathered from across the last century huddle over warm pints and glasses of Chardonnay. Around the table there are officials from the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1970s, 2022 and today. Inevitably, in May 2026, the subject of conversation is the disintegration of the current Labour government. Despite its huge majority in parliament, it has been reduced to tatters by catastrophic local election result. These exposed the fact that rather than having a government with a clear popular majority, the UK is like most other modern societies divided into 5 segments each of which commands between 26 and 16 percent of the vote. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the leadership at Nos 10 and 11 Downing Street - where the Prime Minister and the Chancellor (Treasury Secretary) work - seem paralyzed. They are caught between mounting discontent over unfairness and the cost of living, and tough fiscal strictures that push them into making unpopular spending decisions. In the London pub, the Treasury officials from across the ages, can barely hide their satisfaction at the latest display of democratic politics caught in the vice-grip of financial logic. “Remember the mur d’argent and the banker’s ramp?” “Just like yesterday!” There are smirks around the table. Then the representative of 2026 pipes up: “One thing you have to say about the current lot (referring to the latest hapless Labour government), you don’t have to teach them about the bond market!” There is a murmur of ascent from the Treasury Mandarins. The trauma of the fiscal crisis of September-October 2022 sits deep. Back then, in the final stages of Tory decay, a ‘mini budget’ that challenged fiscal orthodoxy led to a brief but fierce panic in one of the oldest government bond markets in the world (aka gilt market). Now all you have to do is to mention the “bond market” to hush debate. [ Paul Mason@paulmasonnews In the name of public service, and as ex-economics editor of BBC Newsnight, I offer to do a zoom call, tonight, with any Labour MP who wants to understand why bond markets do not "fall into line" with governments. 1/ 3:57 PM · May 12, 2026 · 466K Views 224 Replies · 674 Reposts · 3.93K Likes ](https://x.com/paulmasonnews/status/2054229532404519082?s=20) “And the funny thing is”, the young man in the huddle continues, “they don’t even want to talk about … ”. There is a sudden hush. Significant looks are exchanged around the table. About? One of the senior figures puts down his glass with a decisive “clink”. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has entered their thoughts. Meanwhile, a few miles away in a grubby pub in Bloomsbury, two conspirators from the camp of Critical Macrofinance huddle over cans of low-alcohol IPA. They look at each other and blurt out loud: “The Bank!” “Everyone in the bloody Labour party is talking about the bond market. But why aren’t they even mentioning … the Bank of England!?” “Why is no one talking about Voldemort?” In Paul Mason’s blogpost, after much chest-thumping about basic fiscal logic, the basic point about the Bank of England is buried in the fine print at #3 in his list of suggestions as to what a radical Labour government might actually be able to do! [ Conflict & Democracy Down with the bond market! Down with gravity! It may seem unfair to focus on Labour MP Paula Barker for her off-the-cuff assertion that the bond market would have to “fall in line” with Andy Burnham, should he replace Keir Starmer as prime minister. But Burnham himself told the New Statesman that Labour had to “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets… Read more 2 days ago · 100 likes · 3 comments · Paul Mason ](https://htsf.substack.com/p/down-with-the-bond-market-down-with?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) Back in Bloomsbury they shake their heads and ask: “Didn’t we learn anything from the Eurozone crisis?” Meanwhile, as if summoned to the conversation by some higher force, the “pink pages” announce: “The days of ultra-cheap government borrowing have come to an end” and Martin “Whizzard” Wolf publishes the graph of the season Look at the UK in 2026, perilously positioned on the upper edge of the pack. No wonder no one in London needs any lessons about the “bond market”. But, look again. Imagine how they feel in Rome. What is London’s nightmare in 2026? The nightmare is that you end up like Italy in the early 2010s during the Eurozone crisis. Once comfortably situated in the middle of the pack, watching with horror as your ten-year yields explode to 7 percent and “spreads” become a national nightmare. One of the largest economies in Europe, a founding member of the euro, stigmatized. But the message of the Italian experience is ambiguous. After all, the stigma didn’t last. In 2026, Italy borrows at rates lower not only than the UK but the US. The US, which, as everyone knows, enjoys the “exorbitant privilege” of being the issuer of reserve, safe asets. What kind of magic is this? How did Italy, in the space of fifteen years, go from being good, to bad and back again? Which brings us back to our dissident friends in their Bloombury boozer and their memories of the Eurozone crisis. Italy never was Britain - with its ongoing fiscal deficits. Without interest payments, on primary balance, from 2000 to 2020 Italy ran a tight fiscal ship. Even in 2008 it barely went into deficit and when it was being put on the rack in the early 20210s its primary surplus matched that of austere Germany. So, what happened? How did it end up stigmatized? Of course Italian politics didn’t help. Berlusconi was at the helm and he had legal issues. But amongst friends in the Bloomsbury pub, Berlusconi is a sideshow, the name we whisper to each other is “Trichet”. From 2004 to 2011 the ECB was headed by Jean-Claude Trichet, ex of the French Treasury, more German than the Germans. After 2009 as the news of the Greek fiscal disaster broke, the European bond markets wento into panic mode and Trichet began a brutal game of cat and mouse. Between 2009 and 2011, Trichet intervened in the bond market to help, only when he thought he had compliance with austerity. When he thought they were uncooperative, he withdrew. In the summer of 2011, he even made direct suggestions to his Italian counterparts in Rome, as to how Italy should be governed. It was this cat and mouse game that drove the bond markets crazy and exposed Italy to a violent squeeze. When Mario Draghi took over the ECB at the end of 2011 and declared “whatever it takes”, the pressure on Italy, gradually eased. It is that starring role that has made Draghi into the towering figure in European politics that he remains today. So now you see why voices in London hush when it comes to the Bank of England. “The bond market” isn’t an irresistible objective force like the weather or an avalanche. It can appear like that. But that depends on the way it is being handled, or not handled by the central bank. Which is why the silence about the Bank of England in London right now is so significant. If you think this all sounds a bit fishy, coming from a left-liberal Keynesian like myself, well, let me introduce you to Robin Brooks, who, to put it mildly, plays on a different quidditch team to me. Here, from the position of a fiscal hawk is Robin’s celebratory account of the Bank of England’s role since 2022; In October 2022, at the height of the bond market blow-up in the UK, something incredible happened. Governor Andrew Bailey told British pension funds the Bank of England would end its support program for the country’s fragile gilt market, drawing a line under how much help the central bank was willing to give to exposed pension funds and - implicitly - the government. By the end of that week, Kwasi Kwarteng - the finance minister - had resigned. Prime Minister Liz Truss would soon follow. This episode is so incredible because it contrasts with what happened in the Euro zone earlier that year. Bond markets in Spain and Italy were under pressure amid high inflation and rising interest rates. In the middle of this, Mario Draghi - Italy’s Prime Minister - resigned, compounding pressure on bond markets of high-debt countries on the Euro periphery. Unlike the Bank of England, the ECB caved. It bought Italian and Spanish government bonds in an effort to cap yields and introduced a new tool that signaled to markets it might do such caps more frequently going forward. Faced with pressure on bond markets, the ECB capitulated to political pressure from high-debt countries like Italy and Spain. The Bank of England stood its ground and toppled the Truss government. This kind of thing has long-lasting consequences. It means markets price a higher probability of yield caps in the Euro zone, which keeps Italian and Spanish yields artificially low, while markets feel free to push up UK yields without fear of central bank intervention. As I flagged in yesterday’s post, this means you really can’t compare UK yields to those of other high-debt countries. The UK looks worse, but only because its central bank isn’t interfering with markets. There’s more to this than just that 2022 episode. The Bank of England has also been much more aggressive in its quantitative tightening (QT) than other central banks. If one motivation for quantitative easing (QE) is to lower bond yields - especially longer-dated ones - then it stands to reason QT pushes yields up. The left chart above shows a four-quarter moving average of UK government debt issuance (black line) in percent of GDP and which sectors absorb this issuance, including the Bank of England (blue bars). The right chart above compares the Bank of England’s accumulation or run-off of government bonds (blue line) with that of other central banks, where this blue line is the same as the blue bars in the left chart. The Bank of England was quicker and more aggressive than other central banks in downsizing its bond holdings, so UK yields will have risen more than elsewhere also for this reason, not just because of Governor Andrew Bailey’s remarks in October 2022. Back in October 2025, after a conversation in New York with friends in British politics, my sense of dysphoria was such that I raised the issue of the Bank of England openly in the FT Since 2008, the UK has slid into a deep economic and political predicament. Growth has stagnated to a degree far worse even than in the 1970s. The Tory leadership’s wager on the Brexit referendum spectacularly backfired, leaving the UK isolated from Europe and at the mercy of its special relationship with the US, many of whose political class regard the UK as a basket case. After years of austerity, the Labour party lurched to the left and then back to the centre. The Tory party has been eclipsed by the populist nationalism of Reform. Any British government should be worrying first and foremost about how to restart growth. Instead, Keir Starmer is beset by shades of the gilt market panic triggered by the Liz Truss government in 2022. The debt level is higher than in recent years, but there is no cause for panic. UK debt is at far from critical levels and of long duration. Whether you want to “take back control” or launch progressive economic policy, a democracy dogged by fear of bond market vigilantes is unhealthy. In a country that is a monetary sovereign, this climate points to one thing: a disconnect between the government and the central bank. Since 1997, the independence of the Bank of England has become a sacred cow. But independence is what you make of it. And in the wake of the gilt market crisis of September 2022, relations between the Bank of England and the UK government need a reset. In normal times, there is no doubt that an inflation-targeting independent central bank can serve a country well. But since 2008, the UK and other advanced economies have not had the luxury of such simple problems. To their credit, central bankers around the world have not stood on orthodoxy. After 2008, the US Federal Reserve rescued the global banking system and, through quantitative easing, it stabilised the Treasury market in the face of huge deficits. In Europe, things were trickier. Both the Bank of England under Mervyn King and Jean-Claude Trichet’s European Central Bank played cat and mouse with national governments. This was a high stakes wager that between 2010 and 2012 escalated bond market tension and triggered a disastrous turn to austerity. Shaken by the impact of those shocks, their successors, Mark Carney and Mario Draghi adopted a more protective stance (assuming you were not the government of Greece). Recall that Draghi’s legendary slogan, “Whatever it takes”, was uttered to face down the City of London’s bond vigilantes. In 2015, Draghi launched QE — financial repression by another name. In 2016, Carney used the authority of the Bank of England to stabilise markets following the vote for Brexit, an exemplary demonstration of how central banks can underpin democratic choice, even when those choices are wrong headed. All these were independent central bankers steeped in the best practice of the 1990s, who recognised that historic crises demanded radical action. It was the price surge of 2021-2023 that poisoned the atmosphere. Though the shock came mainly from the supply side, central banks ended up in the dock. Nowhere more so than in the UK. The Bank of England reacted with aggressive normalisation. Faced with a cost of living crisis, the governor called for workers to accept real wage cuts. In early 2022, as gas prices were at record levels and Russia’s army was poised to invade Ukraine, the Bank adopted a stringent programme of quantitative tightening, elevating interest rates. When the Truss government got itself in trouble, the Bank took almost a week to come to the rescue. Rather than enacting a charade of normality, it is time to recognise that in 2025 the UK faces a period of historic transition. To meet this challenge, what is needed is a new concordat with the Bank. This should not ignore inflationary pressures or the long-run trajectory of debt, but should affirm the priority of reviving investment-led growth. One could follow Donald Trump in demanding interest rate cuts. The Bank could shadow the ECB in its commitment to capping Eurozone yields. But the top priority should be to lay the ghost of September 2022. The Bank’s slowing of QT last month was a concession. An immediate and complete end would send the right signal. Such a concordat will not by itself restore sanity to politics, solve the housing problem or rebuild the NHS. But it would help to lift the fear of bond market crisis, which is paralysing the effort by democratic politicians to answer the fundamental questions facing the nation. Now, that call for a new concordat between government and Bank of Englands seems more urgent than ever. The problem is that in October 2025, Starmer still had some authority. Today the government is in tatters. And when you are the “under the harrow” - to echo a phrase of Montagu Norman’s from the 1920s - it is the worst possible time to consider institutional change. To make general arguments at a time of crisis can only seem like special pleading rather than a general argument for long-term change. The same, unfortunately, is also true for the other basic institutional reform that Britain urgently needs i.e. the abolition of the out-dated first past the post electoral system and its replacement by a moderated form of proportional representation. And thirdly - whilst we are saying the quiet parts out loud - Britain needs to reopen the question of EU membership. What the local election results of 2026 show is that this remains a key issue. And what they also show is that there is a clear majority that would favor a return. Until these basic features of Britain’s political economy are addressed the country will carry on its politics as though in a haunted house, governed by governments that lack actual majorities, conjuring up false constraints whilst ignoring the real ones. This one is for DG and MI. I love writing the newsletter. If you enjoy it too and fancy buying me a coffee once a month, you know what to do. Click below! Subscribe
Reform donor and crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne takes sixth place in UK Rich List as wealthiest people grow richer
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Johnson and Jeffries appoint bipartisan task force to reform sexual harassment reporting process on Capitol Hill
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appointed a bipartisan task force that will work to reform the way sexual harassment claims are handled in Congress.
Health Hearing: Examining the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, MACRA, and Opportunities for Payment Reforms
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee.
Science is under attack and Minnesota politicians are asleep at the wheel
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar recently rolled out some preliminary plans for Minnesota in her campaign for governor with a focus on fraud. Notably absent from her list of priorities: science. Leaders in Washington have gutted our crown jewel — the U.S. research enterprise. Many will argue that state government isn’t responsible for fixing the crisis […]
Maine's mental health system is failing families and taxpayers
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. But for Maine families living alongside severe mental illness, awareness is not enough. We need action, accountability, and reform. I am a nurse and a professor. More importantly, I am a mother. Our adult son lives with schizoaffective disorder, causing paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, and profound instability. Compounding his illness […]
UK bond market on edge amid political turmoil
Political instability, fears of drawn-out Labour leadership campaign, and possibility of Reform government all blamed for jump in UK borrowing costs
UK bond market on edge amid political turmoil
Political instability, fears of drawn-out Labour leadership campaign, and possibility of Reform government all blamed for jump in UK borrowing costs
All sides of politics backed ambitious gambling reforms. The government’s response is half-hearted at best
Australia’s gambling epidemic will likely continue because the government has only half-heartedly agreed to do more to protect Australians.
Readers dismayed by Tennessee politics, urge reform
Concerns about gerrymandering and racial and political oppression spark calls for reform.
Victorian politics still exposed to ‘dark money’ and foreign donations as MPs struggle to agree on urgent reforms
Exclusive: state is now without caps on political donations or disclosure requirements, months out from November election
As Colorado debates sports betting reform, Kalshi operates outside state rules
One of the largest prediction market platforms operates in Colorado essentially as a sportsbook outside the regulated system.
We can't afford to let Democrats lead health care 'reform'
Obama's Affordable Care Act created incentives for insurers to grow larger, consolidate and control more of the health care system. The GOP can fix it
Minority groups brace for surge in racism after Reform UK election gains
Many members of minority communities fear results in Birmingham and elsewhere could lead to rise in hostile rhetoric
“We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For”: Bhatti’s Vision for a Different Politics
Virginia congressional candidate Salaam Bhatti discusses campaign finance reform, redistricting, and his policy vision rooted in community and structural change. In this interview, Bhatti outlines his approach to welfare reform, donor influence, and the role of local engagement in shaping a more responsive and representative government.
Tories are still biggest party on the right, claims James Cleverly
Leading Tory brands Reform a "cult of personality" but Reform deputy leader says its electoral success has shaken up politics.
Farage trying to avoid scrutiny over £5m gift from crypto billionaire, Labour says
Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, seeks to present issue as irrelevant in interview with Laura Kuenssberg
Renters’ rights: ‘a regulatory avalanche’
Labour has presented reforms as a ‘moral crusade’ against rogue landlords, but risks shrinking the rental market
Germany’s Healthcare Reforms Herald More Pain for Big Pharma
Donald Trump’s push to bring down drug prices in the US has rattled the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Now, they’re confronting a new menace as Germany seeks to plug a ballooning deficit in its public health-insurance funds.
Salary caps, a Group of Six playoff, antitrust shield: The White House's early ideas for college sports reform
A draft document obtained by CBS Sports details the most concrete federal reform plan yet for college athletics, including salary caps for coaches and the creation of a new entity empowered to act without litigation risk
During Small Business Month, Reform CIPA Coalition Says Best Way to Support Small Businesses Is to Reform CIPA
One of the best ways to celebrate and support small businesses this May is to protect them from abusive litigation tied to outdated interpretations of a 1960s law. In recognition of Small Business Month, the Reform CIPA Coalition today called on California policymakers to modernize the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), by passing SB 690. The Reform CIPA Coalition continues to grow. Among its 146 coalition members, more than 30 individual small businesses and over 40 organizations repres
MHA Leaders Present at Michigan State of Reform Health Policy Conference
The 2026 Michigan State of Reform Health Policy Conference convened May 5 in East Lansing, MI, to discuss the most pressing challenges across the healthcare continuum.
Small Business Deduction Shouldn't Exclude Independent Financial Advisors - Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform urges the Trump Treasury Department to issue guidance allowing independent financial advisors to fully qualify for the 20 percent
Nigel Farage: Reform election gains show historic shift in British politics
Labour and the Conservatives suffer losses at the expense of Reform across England.
NFIB Urges Congressional Leaders to Include Small Business Priorities in Additional Reconciliation Bill
New package should further unleash small business success with targeted tax, regulatory, and healthcare reforms
John Curtice: Election results show politics in the UK has fragmented
Reform are the winners so far, with more results still to be declared.
U.K. election results: Starmer’s Labour suffer huge losses as hard-right Reform gains
Early results Friday suggested sweeping losses that will heap pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He said the results were “very tough,” but signaled he had no plans to step aside.
Emerging picture shows Reform gains as Labour counts losses in heartland seats
So far, we have a chunk of the results around the parts of England that have had contests and no results yet from Scotland or Wales.
As Colorado debates sports betting reform, Kalshi operates outside state rules
Prediction markets are able to operate largely free of the state laws governing sports gambling in Colorado
Election results so far at a glance - and what's still to come
Reform UK has made gains at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives in early council election results overnight.
German Business Leader Criticizes Merz for Poor Reform Record
The head of Germany’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry sharply criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his poor reform record, calling the conservative leader’s ruling coalition dysfunctional and unreliable.
Starmer Braces for Local Election Losses Amid New Era of UK Politics
Polls predict historic losses for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on Thursday as anti-immigrant Reform U.K. makes gains, and a new era of multiparty politics takes shape.
Economic reforms could help pull Thailand away from China
The prime minister is angry about how hard it is to import a chainsaw.
McKinsey Small Business Report Shows Need for Indexing Cap Gains Amid $5 Trillion in Ownership Transfer - Americans for Tax Reform
A new report from the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility focuses on an unprecedented wave of small-business ownership transitions. By 2035, about 6
Cameo, speeches, pushing gold bullion: how Farage has made millions since becoming an MP
After two years in parliament, Reform UK leader has brought in £1.8m on top of his Commons salary
UK voters need to hear battle over bills and climate crisis are linked, green experts say
As Reform vows to block solar and windfarms, energy leaders say renewables offer most secure future, insulating UK from hostile forces
Lawmakers break ground on Wyoming Business Council reform effort
by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile The Wyoming Business Council survived a Freedom Caucus-led effort to dismantle it earlier this year. Now, lawmakers are
Restore Britain: is new far-right party a threat to Farage?
Rupert Lowe’s upstart outfit could cost Reform UK crucial votes or drag it even further to the right
Romanian Government Collapses, Sowing Doubts Over Fiscal Reforms
Romania’s minority government collapsed after losing a no-confidence vote, throwing the country into renewed political turmoil and potentially stalling reforms needed to narrow the widest budget shortfall in the European Union.
‘Starmer’s referendum’: How local elections could expose a fractured UK
Thursday’s polls could deliver a sharp setback for Labour, with Reform UK and the Greens expected to gain, analysts say.
Education Is a Fault Line In U.S. Politics. Democrats Are on the Wrong Side
Elorza & Austin: The party has been protecting schools rather than questioning whether they are working. 4 ways to get back on track for families.
Lawmakers break ground on Wyoming Business Council reform effort
The state's top economic development shop narrowly avoided a legislative effort to defund and dismantle it earlier this year.
AI platforms reference Nigel Farage more than other leaders when prompted on UK politics, study shows
Reform UK is ‘doing something right when it comes to visibility’ on multiple AI systems, say researchers
Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden welcome third baby: 'Welcome to the world' Nautas
Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden expanded their family via surrogate for the third time, the musician revealed on Monday.
Independent Evidence Reviews Overturn Insurer Denials Of Healthcare Coverage
Policy experts suggest reform of prior authorization that would require coverage decisions be supported solely by evidence being reviewed by independent clinicians.
Flaws in Kenya’s AI-driven health reforms driving up costs for the poorest
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Dig Deep! Reform frontbench promotes JCBs after £200,000 donation from firm
Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Robert Jenrick, among others, have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro
Lawmakers put the pressure on the Business Council, eyeing reform
The Wyoming Business Council, safe from dissolution for now, faces reforms after lawmakers spent days picking apart the agency.
FRESH and Affordable Foods Act Would Rightly Establish a Uniform, Science-Based Standard for Food Safety - Americans for Tax Reform
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Political donations are poison to our democracy – but there’s an easy antidote to that
As revelations about Reform UK’s donors emerge, it’s clear that increasingly complex forms of patronage can’t be regulated effectively. We need a clean sweep, says columnist George Monbiot
Health Care Affordability in the United States, From Crisis to Action
U.S. health care costs exceed $5T yearly, driving delayed care and debt. Experts urge reforms to improve affordability, access, and health outcomes. delivery of health care; financial stress; health care costs; health policy; patient advocacy
Board Approves Horvath Barger Motion To Reform Mental Health Care in LA County - Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath
The Board unanimously approved a motion by Supervisors Horvath & Barger to reform and better integrate mental health care within the County’s homeless services system.
Mayor Bass Directs Permitting Reforms to Streamline Housing and Business Development Across Los Angeles
*This news release was originally published and distributed by the Office of Mayor Karen Bass. LOS ANGELES (April 27, 2026) – Today, Mayor Karen Bass announced a sweeping set of changes designed to make it faster and easier to build housing and open businesses in Los Angeles. The reforms will reduce delays in City approval […]
Germany: Merz hails 'historic' health care reform
The Cabinet has greenlit a health care draft law designed to lower insurance rates. The bill heads to parliament next, but doctors' associations and patient protection advocates say it amounts to austerity measures.
What did Scottish party leaders do before politics?
Reform's Malcolm Offord bought six boats with a fortune made in banking - but other leaders had a life before politics too.
German cabinet approves health insurance reform to curb costs
Germany's cabinet approved a draft bill to reform the statutory health insurance system on Wednesday, aiming to save 16.3 billion euros ($19.08 billion) next year amid mounting costs.
Romania Finance Chief Urges Continued Reforms to Avert Junk Risk
Romania’s finance minister warned that the current political turmoil is increasing funding costs and may raise the risk of the country losing its investment grade credit score.
Radiation oncologists converge on Capitol Hill to push for payment reform
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Africa CDC Launches African High-Level Ministerial Committee to Shape Global Health Architecture Reform
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Use tariffs to pay for health reform
A former Trump health adviser proposes using tariff revenue to fund health care reform, shifting subsidies to patients and expanding HSAs.
UAE Employment and Social Reforms 2026: Modernization or Business as Usual?
A flurry of employment law reforms in the United Arab Emirates—a business-friendly area that remains firmly rooted in traditional values and national identity—in recent years has caught the attention of multinational employers and expatriates alike, but do these changes represent a genuine shift toward Western-style liberalization, or are they pragmatic adjustments designed to maintain competitiveness while preserving the status quo? Below are some of the key developments and what they mean for employers operating in the region.
Britain Politics
Richard Tice, Deputy Leader of Reform UK poses with campaigner Joseph Afrane as Reform UK holds a 'national fuel tax protest' to protest against the Government's plans to raise fuel
Britain Politics
A campaigner with a Pinocchio puppet as Reform UK holds a 'national fuel tax protest' to protest against the Government's plans to raise fuel duty for the first time in
Will this be the year CT lawmakers curb private equity in health care?
Legislators will try for the third year in a row to address the fallout from private equity ownership of three Connecticut hospitals. Despite years of bipartisan calls for reform, proposals […]
Congress must deliver substantive health care reform in 2026
Lawmakers are attempting to address the rising health care costs by redirecting funds from insurance companies and hospital systems to patients, as supported by the organization Fund The Patient an…
Sexual misconduct scandals in Washington spark scramble for reforms, expedited investigations
Scandals and resignations have reignited a debate about whether Washington’s rules and institutions for self-oversight can keep pace with the unfolding misconduct.
Bend residents weigh in on push for universal health care in Oregon
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Veronique De Rugy: America’s spending problem is a health care problem
Reforming this cronyism requires no new spending or bureaucracy.
Florida hospital leaders advocate for healthcare accessibility and affordability in Washington
Floridians deserve timely, accessible care, and hospitals are continually working to deliver it.
Hochul pushes lawmakers to back car insurance reforms
Her critics say it’s not that simple, and the plan is flawed.
Cuba says political prisoners not part of U.S. talks as tensions grow over reforms and pressure
Full Committee Business Meeting - United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Thailand: 44 Opposition Politicians Face Lifetime Ban from Politics
Thai authorities will prosecute 44 opposition politicians for sponsoring a bill to reform Thailand’s lèse-majesté (insulting the monarchy) law, which could result in a lifetime ban from politics.
U.S. Health Insurers Step Up Prior Authorization Reforms
UnitedHealthcare and Aetna detailed progress toward industry commitments aimed at reducing administrative burdens and speeding patients’ access to care.
Ethics reforms won’t come easy on Capitol Hill after misconduct scandals
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are scrambling to meet the moment as a wave of resignations and misconduct scandals rock Capitol Hill, sparking calls for accountability.
From ‘Human Fracking’ to Women’s Health: 6 Takeaways from Research Day
Fordham University experts lead new studies on AI cybersecurity, constitutional law reform, and the impact of perimenopause on the brain.
Structure, Agency, and Structural Reform: The Case of the European Central Bank -
Structure, Agency, and Structural Reform: The Case of the European Central Bank By Benjamin Braun, London School of Economics and Political Science, Donato Di Carlo, The London School of Economics and Political Science, Sebastian Diessner, [...]
Reform enacts new business license fees for tattoo, piercing and other body art services
A new business license fee structure for "personal services" is now in effect in the City of Reform.
Is Bangladesh killing reforms introduced after student-led protests?
A new parliament has cancelled several reforms that were brought in after Hasina's ouster to improve accountability.
Proposed ban on sports prop bets dies amid state budget woes
State lawmakers voted Tuesday morning to remove a proposed ban on prop bets from Senate Bill 131, a larger sports gambling reform measure.
Shaky political science: using "simulated" elections over real-world elections
[Dear DSOS readers – this article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in early December, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting. We found that many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data, and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first three articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report, the second one analyzing a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report, and a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research]. In this fourth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we shine a spotlight on seven studies that were web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group (the ERRG is an ad hoc committee headed by New America’s Political Reform Program and joined by the American Enterprise Institute, the Unite America Institute and Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law). This research consortium has been led by Lee Drutman, senior fellow with New America’s Political Reform Program. These seven studies are simply not credible from any objective standard about how political “science” is supposed to illuminate our understanding of either ranked choice voting or politics in general. The feature that six of these seven studies have in common is that they all used surveys – artificial, simulated elections -- to attempt to say something cogent or interesting about ranked choice voting (RCV) elections. None of them used real world data from actual RCV elections – either the 1000+ elections in the US or the many thousands of elections from places like Australia, Ireland and elsewhere where RCV has been used for 100 years. While a few of these studies conclude with some mixed positives about RCV, our analysis here is content neutral. The idea that, with a political reform like RCV, you can ask respondents in a mock, artificial election to vote with that method, with only the barest of explanation about how RCV works or its likely impacts (i.e. no spoiler candidates, majority winners, voters liberated to pick their favorite candidates, coalition-building), and then ask them their thoughts/reactions about voting in that system, with fake candidates and no real campaigning, no real exposure to an actual election or actual candidates, rests on some very puzzling assumptions. The findings of these seven studies actually are contradicted by the findings from many other studies based on real-world RCV elections. These New America studies also failed to list the real-world RCV studies in their own citations, instead including those studies that reinforced their conclusions. The seven studies featured in this article were chosen because they form a cohesive cohort which precisely illustrates one of the main points of our research paper, namely that using surveys, i.e. artificial elections, or mathematical/theoretical models, instead of real-world data, is in fact “shaky political science.” Below are summaries of our analysis of five of the seven New America studies. You can read our complete analysis of all seven studies at our paper, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting.” Choosing to “Vote As Usual” by Andre Blais, Carolina Plescia, and Semra Sevi. New America. (Blais et al., 2021). This study, web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group, used two surveys in which respondents completed ballots for simulated elections using plurality, approval, RCV and point (Score) voting. In both cases the authors provided the respondents with only minimal explanation of each method. For example, the entire explanation for RCV was “For this vote, rank the candidates from your first to your last choice (you do not need to rank them all). This is called the ranked vote.” That’s it. The study did not provide any context or explanation to survey respondents about why she/he might want to rank multiple candidates. Participants were not even told that ballots would be tabulated using an “instant” runoff, not to mention any description of RCVs ability to eliminate the spoiler effect or liberate voters to rank their favorite candidates without fear of helping the “greater evil” candidate to win. That’s like taking an iPhone back in time to 1970 and asking someone if they like it better than their rotary phone without explaining how it works. Their first survey targeted states that held 2020 Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and used the real candidates’ names in the survey; the second survey used fictitious candidates. In other words, they surveyed respondents who had only ever participated in plurality elections, had no history or background with using RCV or any of the other methods, had no clue about its likely impacts, and did not communicate how the alternative methods would be counted, and then asked them: “How satisfied are you with using each system?” Predictably, the winner was plurality elections, the system used for president, Congress, gubernatorial and state legislative elections – in other words, the method they have been using, year after year, all their voting lives. With so little explanation of RCV and its impacts, this study is simply not credible in discovering anything useful about real-world RCV elections. It merely shows that a basic voter education campaign is needed when adopting a new election system. Additionally, the result contradicts many other post-election surveys following real RCV elections, asking opinions from voters who had just participated in a RCV election, that showed a great deal of satisfaction with RCV (see details on that in Studies 22-25 in our paper, as well as the four studies cited in the review for Study 28). Share Other studies on “satisfaction” and “understanding” make similar mistakes, in terms of basing their surveys on inadequate explanation to respondents and lack of education about context. How could any survey ever hope to measure accurately, in essence simulate a real-world election, without actual campaigning candidates, the media writing about those candidates, organizations endorsing candidates and voters being inundated with crucial information? More than anything, what these “studies” based on surveys show is that if you ask voters about something they don’t know very much about, and fail to adequately educate them, their responses will unsurprisingly reflect their confusion. Equally puzzling is that New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group, headed by political scientist Lee Drutman, found this to be a credible enough study that they not only published it but highlighted it in Drutman’s own discussion of research related to ranked choice voting. This pattern was repeated in study after study featured by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group. For example in Ranked-Choice Voting and Political Expression: Voter Guides Narrow the Gap between Informed and Uninformed Citizens by Cheryl Boudreau, Jonathan Colner, and Scott MacKenzie, the researchers based their analysis on a survey which found that respondents who were asked to vote in a simulated RCV election, with minimal explanation of RCV or how it works, displayed less evidence of being informed about how to use RCV effectively, with the least informed voters ranking fewer candidates. As pointed out under the study above, in a real election voters are informed by a wide variety of methods, including public education by the election administration, by interested political groups, the media, and the candidates themselves who benefit from voters being aware of how to vote in the new system. In Support for Ranked-Choice Voting across Race and Partisanship by Joseph Anthony, David C. Kimball, Jack Santucci and Jamil Scott, the researchers used respondents from different parties and races voting in simulated plurality and RCV elections, who indicated their satisfaction with each voting method. Instead of using real world election results, the authors fell back on the easy, armchair and less reliable academic research methodology of making up mock elections. As with the other studies, little explanation was given of how RCV works or what its implications might be (electing majority winners or eliminating spoilers, for example). Unsurprisingly, this study found that respondents were not very satisfied with RCV. However, when the authors added an explanation that RCV has a tendency to elect more women and people of color, they found that this greater explanation increased the preference for RCV. The more voters were familiar with it, and the more they understood potential positive impacts – surprise! -- the more they were open to switching away from the status quo. Of note, the results from this study are thoroughly contradicted by a number of other studies whose data was obtained from real RCV elections with real voters. Those studies show a great deal of satisfaction with RCV. More “fake election” research An interesting wrinkle on this “research by fake elections” approach, which only served to illustrate how unreliable such “research” can become, was taken in Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock_,_ also web-hosted and funded by New America’s ERRG. It gets high marks for creativity, but an eye-roll for thinking this could possibly add anything meaningful to our understanding of real world RCV elections. This study tried to determine whether RCV, plurality or two-round runoff elections provided greater voter satisfaction and acceptance of election results. To determine that, the authors conducted a survey asking if voters were satisfied with a fictional newspaper report of an election, with three different versions given to respondents – plurality, runoff and RCV, with variations of Republican/Democrat winners and variations of “come-from-behind” winners,” i.e. candidates not initially in first place but who win the “runoff.” Again, a minimal explanation of RCV or how it works was given, and the survey showed that respondents had the greatest unfamiliarity with RCV than the other methods. The unsurprising result? Respondents were much more satisfied with “come-from-behind” victories in a traditional two-round runoff election than in RCV, even though RCV is also a runoff system but with a single round of counting. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with RCV disappeared for those who were more familiar with RCV. In fact, among those respondents who were “very familiar” with RCV, they were equally satisfied with RCV, runoff and plurality. Surprise, surprise. Again, what this study revealed, more than anything, is not only the inadequacy of the explanation for RCV given by the authors of this study, but the failure of the research format itself, thinking that such an artificial mock election could somehow simulate what actually happens in the real world in a real RCV election. Those four studies reviewed above are fitting examples of inadequate and shaky political “science.” Other studies reviewed in our paper from the New America/Electoral Reform Research Group cohort which also used mock elections included: Ranked-Choice Voting is an Acquired Taste by Joseph Anthony and David C. Kimball. New America. (Anthony et al., 2021). Ranked-Choice Voting is No Refuge for Extreme Candidates by Melissa Baker. New America. (Baker, 2021). Also included in this New America cohort is Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman, which actually did use real-world election results data but applied an odd and unconventional methodology to the data which relied on shaky assumptions and non-real-world scenarios that were too divorced from reality. To determine levels of “racially polarized voting,” the researchers imagined “ethnic parties,” by which they mean political parties for each ethnic group, which was especially odd since the election data they were using came from nonpartisan RCV races. But then they made an even odder assumption, namely that since race and ethnic characteristics of studied voters were not available, the authors tried to infer that information based on who voters selected and the racial make-up of voters in each district. This amounted to little more than vague and ambiguous guesswork dressed up with a bunch of mathematical equations used to give it a veneer of scientific appearance. Indeed, it seemed to assume racial polarization in order to prove racial polarization. Based on this questionable methodology, the authors concluded that RCV doesn’t reduce racial polarization. But the premise of this study missed an obvious reality: since RCV incentivizes more candidates to run and can result in more diverse fields of candidates, one would expect more racially-polarized voting in voters’ top rankings, not less, because more voters would have someone on that ballot who represents their racial or ethnic identity and more freedom to vote for their real first choice. By encouraging more diverse candidates and eliminating the spoiler effect, RCV facilitates voting for a favorite candidate of your own race and then selecting a second choice with the best likelihood of winning. The real measure is what voters do with their additional rankings – do they consider other candidates and vote “for the best of the rest”? This study didn’t tell us anything useful about that. But readily available data shows this is common in real RCV elections, and candidates act on this knowledge by engaging with voters outside their racial group. So the authors of this study failed to consider or account for what actually happens in real-world elections, and their conclusions are tainted by this failure. New America has contributed a great deal over the past 2.5 decades to our understanding of many policy areas, including politics and political reform (full disclosure: Steven Hill, one of the authors of this article and of the “Shaky Political Science” research paper and series, is a former senior fellow and former director of New America’s political reform program, 2005-2010). So it was especially disappointing that New America funded and published such a large batch of dubious studies about ranked choice voting. The stated praiseworthy goal of its Electoral Reform Research Group was to inspire new academic research about ranked choice voting that would shed light and help the public better understand the impacts of RCV. Instead, the ERRG research did just the opposite. It produced dubious research that created more confusion and misinformation. In so doing, New America’s political reform program contributed to “shaky political science.” Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS, a reader-supported digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
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