May 2013

Health Literacy

commentary
Applying What Works to Reduce Non-Urgent Emergency Department Use
It is likely that communities with low rates of non-urgent ED use not only have better access to primary care, but patients who are educated about appropriate care seeking and convenient alternatives for acute care, writes Lori Uscher-Pines.
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May 22, 2013
The RAND Blog
Lori Uscher-Pines
commentary
Austerity and Stimulus—Two Misfires
The experience to date strongly suggests that the reactions and behavior of private investors and consumers to stimulus in the U.S. and austerity in the EU critically affected each policy's tarnished record, writes Charles Wolf.
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May 22, 2013
The Wall Street Journal
Charles Wolf, Jr.
Chemical Weapons and Warfare

commentary
Chemical Weapons in Syria: What Could the U.S. Do About Them?
The combined lessons of the attack and disarmament of Iraq's chemical weapons in the First Gulf War suggest that chemical weapons are hard to find and destroy, writes James Quinlivan. Lots can survive even a sustained attack.
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May 21, 2013
The RAND Blog and GlobalSecurity.org
James T. Quinlivan
Cybersecurity

commentary
The Real Cyber Threat
The fact is that the United States needs to gear up for the coming era of cyber threats — and start by ensuring its financial flank is not catastrophically compromised, writes Mark Sparkman.
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May 21, 2013
CNN
Mark Sparkman
Kenya

commentary
Using Mobile Money to Make Water Safe
Contaminated drinking water contributes to the deaths of some 750,000 children under the age of five every year due to diarrheal disease. A RAND project is using mobile phones to increase the sales and use of safe-water filters in Kenya.
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May 21, 2013
The RAND Blog
Jill E. Luoto
commentary
Boards, Compliance and Reputation: Diving Shallow Versus Diving Deep
Basic questions have been raised about the evolving role of boards, at a time when scandal and perceptions of corporate opportunism have resulted in a loss of public trust in the business community, writes Michael Greenberg.
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May 21, 2013
Financier Worldwide
Michael D. Greenberg
Sleep

commentary
Sleep and Couples: For Better or Worse, Day and Night?
Compared with other health behaviors such as smoking or exercise, sleep is unique because for most adults, it is a behavior they
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May 20, 2013
ABC News
Wendy M. Troxel @wendytroxel
Tanker Aircraft

commentary
Firefighting Aircraft: Is Bigger Better?
An aircraft's capacity and speed largely determine the rate at which water or retardant can be applied to a fire. Very large air tankers (VLATs) certainly have the capacity to apply large amounts of fluids to a fire, but because of the distances travelled they may not be able to get a second load very quickly.
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May 20, 2013
The RAND Blog
Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice
Workplace Injury Prevention

commentary
What Bangladesh — and US Retailers — Must Do to Prevent Man-Made Tragedies
Perhaps most tragic of all are the disasters that are wholly preventable: the deaths, maimings, and crushed livelihoods that result from human callousness or indifference, writes Jonah Blank.
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May 17, 2013
Christian Science Monitor
Jonah Blank
Gasoline

commentary
Paying for Infrastructure, a Taxing Issue
If the user pays idea is worth saving, the United States needs a different calculation, writes Liisa Ecola. Some states are looking at mileage fees. With mileage fees, you pay based on the number of miles you drive, rather than the number of gallons of gas used.
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May 16, 2013
The RAND Blog
Liisa Ecola
Counterterrorism

commentary
Drones Are Useful, but Not the Solution or the Problem
The effectiveness of our attacks, particularly by drones, has already decimated the al Qaeda hierarchy, writes Harold Brown. That achievement, together with the negative effect on Muslim publics of drone attacks, suggests that the rate of their usage could be moderated.
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May 16, 2013
The Hill's Congress Blog
Harold Brown
International Diplomacy

commentary
Turkey and Intervention in Syria
When President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Washington on May 16, a long list of topics will likely be on the table. The big question, however, is whether anything substantive comes from their discussions of Syria.
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May 15, 2013
The RAND Blog
Christopher S. Chivvis
commentary
Will Iran's Real Reformists Please Stand Up?
Neither Ahmadinejad nor Mashaei will be the political 'messiahs' many religious and secular Iranians long for, writes Alireza Nader. Much like Khatami and the reformists, figures like Ahmadinejad are willing to challenge the system only to a limited degree.
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May 15, 2013
U.S. News & World Report
Alireza Nader
Syria

commentary
Learning the Wrong Lessons from Israel's Intervention in Syria
The lesson here is not that countries should act for the sake of maintaining credibility but that they should act when they believe it serves their interests and might make a difference, writes Dalia Dassa Kaye.
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May 14, 2013
Reuters, The Great Debate blog
Dalia Dassa Kaye
Sentencing

commentary
Advancing Social Outcomes: Private Investors Could Be Part of the Solution
Under a Social Impact Bond, private investors — rather than the government — provide up-front funding for programs that tackle such challenges as recidivism or homelessness. If these programs succeed, the government pays some of the savings back to the investors.
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May 14, 2013
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
Jennifer Rubin, Emma Disley