April 2021

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An Early Look at the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Demographic Trends

Key demographic trends in fertility, mortality, and migration are responsible for shifts in the overall structure of any population. COVID-19 has affected each of these, with potentially important implications.

Esther M. Friedman, Andrew M. Parker

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Supply Chains and National Security

Lessons from the pandemic will be sorted through for years. But one thing seems very clear: The United States is not ready in a policy or infrastructure or even physical-capacity sense to respond to major shocks to its supply chains.

Bradley Martin

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Scientific Research Integrity Demands Transparency—the Law Should Require It Too

China pays U.S. scientists for their innovations in exchange for money and access to research laboratories and speaking and publication opportunities. They require the researchers to keep these agreements secret from their employers or the U.S. government. Perhaps it is time to codify scientific transparency into law.

Cortney Weinbaum @cortney_dc

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Biden Puts Japan at the Center of U.S. Policy in Asia

Addressing the Chinese threat in the Indo-Pacific requires working with allies and partners. So far, Japan appears to be one of the priority relationships for the Biden administration.

Jeffrey W. Hornung

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Trust in the CDC, Teaching Students with Disabilities, Russian Mercenaries: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses declining trust in the CDC, insights from educators about teaching students with disabilities, Russian mercenaries, and more.

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Who Can Effectively Champion the Vax?

Vaccine hesitancy appears to be one more hurdle in ending the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC would typically lead a campaign to overcome it, but Americans' trust in the CDC has declined measurably. Health care professionals may be more effective messengers when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines.

Lois M. Davis @LoisMDavis, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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Target Vaccine to 'High-Contact' People

Actively seeking out people with lots of contacts for vaccination could bring the epidemic under control much more quickly than vaccinating people at random. Vaccinating just 15% of the population would be enough to crush the epidemic—so long as it was the right 15%.

Timothy R. Gulden

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Loose-Fit Infrastructure Can Better Account for Climate Change

As climate change accelerates there is a growing disconnect between what our infrastructure systems can do and what we need them to do. Policymakers should view infrastructure investments as not simply hardware fixes and upgrades, but as efforts to close this gap.

Mikhail Chester, Constantine Samaras

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Don't Muddy the Objectives on Fighting Domestic Extremism

The U.S. Capitol attack on January 6 has fueled momentum for new approaches and laws to counter attacks by domestic violent extremists. It will be crucial for policymakers to reckon with what new laws and law enforcement can achieve, and what they can get wrong.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

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The Japan-U.S. Summit and Cooperation with South Korea

The Biden administration's goal of renewed Japan–South Korea–U.S. trilateralism is laudable and promising, but substantial obstacles remain. The passage of time alone is not going to strengthen ties between South Korea and Japan. Washington may have to play a leading role if it wants to see relations between Seoul and Tokyo improve.

Scott W. Harold

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The USPS Is a Public Service, Not a Business

As Congress and the White House debate how to assist the Postal Service, it will be important to understand the effects of proposed cost-cutting measures on mail delivery of vital services, smaller and rural communities, low-income communities, and the USPS's broader public safety and security functions.

Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard, Lois M. Davis @LoisMDavis

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What Factors Affecting Retention Matter Most to Teachers?

Maintaining an adequate supply of teachers is a challenge and an area of significant concern. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, a set of interventions developed to target the preferences and expectations of specific groups of teachers is likely to be most effective.

Hui Lu, Peter Burge

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Rescue Plan Help for Family Caregivers Is a First Step

Unpaid caregivers have been a critical part of the functioning U.S. economy, serving as the backbone of the health system, since long before the pandemic started. Adding them to the American Rescue Plan was an important step, but even after the pandemic is over, their financial security will need long-term protection.

Alexandra Drane, Molly Coye, et al.

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Understanding Violent Extremism, 'Blockships,' VMT Fee: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on firsthand accounts of violent extremism, lessons from the recent blockage in the Suez Canal, and if a federal Vehicle Miles Travel fee could replace the gas tax.

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Now Is (Finally) the Time to Future-Proof Our Infrastructure

The world is barreling toward a more volatile climate with infrastructure designed for the past. With infrastructure widely expected to be prioritized in Congress soon, every infrastructure bill is also a climate bill. It is critical that we make our infrastructure climate-safe.

Constantine Samaras, Mikhail Chester