Blog posts from 2012

This video was recorded at RAND's 2012 Politics Aside event.

Intelligence experts spell out ways the U.S. can help end the latest Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Former Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Turki Al Faisal, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Dobbins and others talk with Reuters columnist David Rohde at RAND's Politics Aside conference in Santa Monica, Calif.

This video was recorded at RAND's 2012 Politics Aside event.

Ret. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who was Army vice chief of staff and now is CEO of One Mind for Research, explains why he disagrees with the idea that the post-traumatic stress soldiers suffer is a disorder. He spoke with RAND Corporation President and CEO Michael Rich at RAND's Politics Aside conference in Santa Monica, Calif.

This video was recorded at RAND's 2012 Politics Aside event.

Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, former U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, and M&T Bank CEO Robert Wilmers talk with Reuters Breakingviews Editor Rob Cox about the best ways to tackle the problematic too-big-to-fail doctrine at RAND's Politics Aside conference in Santa Monica, Calif.

This commentary appeared on U.S. News & World Report on December 27, 2012.

Regardless of the final resolution of "fiscal cliff" negotiations between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, the Department of Defense is likely to end up facing major budget reductions beyond the $487 billion announced last January.

Where might the Pentagon find these savings? Its belt can be tightened by implementing operational efficiencies, overhauling acquisition practices, and rationalizing personnel compensation. But these alone may not yield the savings that the Secretary of Defense could be directed to find.

The RAND Corporation is accepting applications for up to three Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows. The application deadline is Feb. 11, 2013.

The Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows Program was created to stimulate the development of the next generation of thought leaders on nuclear security related topics by supporting interdisciplinary research that will advance policy-relevant understanding of the issues.

Fellows carry out a year-long period of independent research. At the end of their RAND tenure, fellows produce studies that contribute to the general body of knowledge on nuclear security. Fellows are located at one of three U.S. RAND offices: Santa Monica, CA; Washington, DC; or Pittsburgh, PA.

This video was recorded at RAND's 2012 Politics Aside event.

Intelligence experts discuss strategies for dealing with terrorism. Former Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Turki Al Faisal, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Dobbins, RAND senior political scientist Seth Jones, and former Lt. Col. David Kilcullen talk with Reuters columnist David Rohde in a panel called "Countering Terrorist Threats, Real and Imagined" at RAND's Politics Aside conference in Santa Monica, Calif.

As Nobel laureate Kenneth Arrow famously observed, health care doesn't behave like a normal market in which both buyers and sellers have the information they need to make a decision. In the health care market, sellers (physicians, hospitals, health plans) have the advantage because they usually know far more about the product (medical care) than buyers (patients) do. So consumers have played a limited role in the market.

However, there is one dimension of health care about which only consumers have accurate information: their own experiences with care. Only patients know whether their pain was adequately controlled in the hospital. Patients can observe and reliably report whether health care providers communicated clearly with them, whether they experienced long waiting times, or whether they were treated respectfully. The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) family of surveys is designed to capture these and similar observations in a systematic way that facilitates reporting the results publicly to help other consumers make care decisions. The assumption is that reporting consumer experiences can shape the market by helping other consumers make more savvy decisions. In addition, consumer choices may influence providers and purchasers to improve the care they offer so that they can effectively compete in the market.

This video was recorded at RAND's 2012 Politics Aside event.

Robert Hormats, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and environment, goes toe to toe with Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps on whether the government should spend on infrastructure to bolster the economy or cut spending. Their debate, including economist Stuart Hoffman and columnist Nicholas Wapshott, takes place at at RAND's Politics Aside conference in Santa Monica, Calif.

This commentary appeared on Health Affairs Blog on December 21, 2012.

The horrific massacre of 27 children and adults in Newtown, Connecticut ranks second only to Virginia Tech among U.S. mass shootings. These tragedies are part of a lengthening list of mass killings in such varied places as a shopping mall, a movie theater, a Sikh Temple, a high school, a congressional constituent meeting, and a military base. But this one was different. Not only were the death toll particularly high and the killings particularly savage; the killer's victims were first-grade students, teachers and school staff.

Millions are deeply touched by this tragedy, but few of us can fathom the shock and grief felt by the survivors, parents, family members and friends of those who died. Our first concern must be to comfort them and support what will likely be a long and difficult recovery. But few people are prepared to stop with that. This event, unlike its predecessors, has sparked a movement to challenge the inevitability of mass shootings, not to mention the thousands of individual gun homicides that occur each year in the United States.

In the coming weeks and months, we will hear numerous calls for better mental health programs and policies as a way to prevent tragedies such as the Newtown, Conn., shooting. As news and details trickle out, we may or may not emerge with a complete picture of what led Adam Lanza to take his anger out on his mother and 26 innocent lives.

The latest reports paint a picture of a mother struggling to care for her troubled adult son. And as many families can attest, the challenges of caring for a young or adult child with severe mental illness or emotional or behavioral disturbance are profound and heartbreaking. In our national conversation on mental health, we should remember the role of families when thinking about mental health treatment and ensure that our policies open up opportunities to support parents, siblings and relatives, and enhance their capacity for care.