RAND Review: Cybercrime, Medical Innovation, Security Cooperation

In This Issue (Volume 38, Number 2: Summer 2014)

Lawman: Nelsonarts/iStock.com; Cyber sky: Naddi/iStock.com; Design: Eileen Delson La Russo

Cover Story

Wild Wild Web: For Now, Cybercrime Has the Upper Hand in Its Duel with the Law

Lillian Ablon and Martin C. Libicki

The Internet has become a vast untamed territory for cybercriminals. But there are ways that private companies, defense contractors, and law enforcement and other government agencies can minimize the harmful influence of cyber black markets.

Cut the Crapshoot: For Medical Innovation Worth the Gamble, It's Time to Close the Casino

The financial incentives driving medical innovations encourage inventors and investors to gamble on technologies that offer potentially big payouts without substantially improving health, regardless of the effect on health spending. Here are ten ways to fix the system.
From Azerbaijan to Zambia: Security Cooperation Bears Fruit, Depending on the Type of Soil and the Type of Seeds

Does U.S. security cooperation assistance make fragile states stronger? RAND researchers analyzed more than 100 countries that received such assistance to find out which types of settings are most productive and which types of security cooperation are most effective.

A TRIA Tipping Point

If the U.S. Congress allows the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act to expire, federal spending would grow for terrorism losses below $50 billion.

The Telescope and the Microscope: Public Policy Wisdom from Victor Hugo

The best policy analysis reveals both the hidden details of an issue and its broader context.

Innovative Devices, Same Old Vices

Two of the lead stories in this issue — on cybercrime and medical innovation — serve as reminders that even the most advanced technologies can serve the most ignoble of purposes.