“France will reimburse the cost of weight-loss drugs prescribed to severely obese patients from mid-June in a first for a European Union country, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Thursday. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro medications have led a boom in anti-obesity treatment, attracting interest from governments keen to address rising overweight levels worldwide. Rist estimated the annual cost to the state at around €100 million (US$116 million) at full roll-out. Patients in France are currently paying around €300 per month on average for the drugs, she said, without indicating how many people currently follow such treatments.” (05/28/26)
Source: Niskanen Center
by Erich Battistin, Richard Hahn, Samantha Pérez-Dávila, & Borui Sun
“Washington, D.C., offers a rare opportunity to study how police departments throughout the country might, and in fact must, do more with less. Since reaching a dramatic peak in 2023, violent and property crime in the District has fallen sharply — even as the police force shrank to its smallest size in half a century. This essay draws on Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) crime and arrest data, officer deployment records, and independent data sources to explain the role police management played in that paradox and extract lessons for American cities facing similar constraints.” (05/28/26)
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown, Liam Sigaud, & Edgar Orozco
“Indiana and Ohio didn’t fall apart when they pared back certificate of need programs. Their patients ended up with more choices and shorter drives.” (05/28/26)
“AI enables Americans to navigate the legal system without attorneys, operationalizing the right to self-representation and expanding access to justice on an unprecedented scale. Can courts cope?” (05/28/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“The increasing arc of instability running across Africa today resembles less a series of isolated crises than a single, widening belt of state collapse, insurgency, proxy war, and foreign intervention stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. From Mali and Niger to Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the same themes recur with grim consistency: weak post-colonial states, ethnic and religious fragmentation, weapons flows across porous borders, foreign meddling, and Washington repeatedly insisting it can manage extraordinarily complex societies with bombs, military trainers, intelligence partnerships, and favored clients. It cannot.” (05/28/26)
‘The strength and reliability of a government’s word is a critical factor in its ability to make the deals and exert the leverage which allow it to pursue an agenda at home and abroad. By altering expectations of the future, both the government and opposition can affect how much credibility the government has. This opens several options for undermining the current regime, but also carries danger for the next Democratic president. In the here and now, I see no reason to avoid using our advantage.” (05/28/26)
“Inflation continued to hit consumer wallets in April, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on the sidelines until the current wave subsides, fresh pricing data released Thursday showed. The personal consumption expenditures price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 3.8%, the Commerce Department reported. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective readings of 0.5% and 3.8%. Excluding food and energy, core prices rose 0.2% for the month and 3.3% for the year, against estimates of 0.3% and 3.3%.” (05/28/26)
“There are many ways in which we can make it easier for families to care for members needing social care by giving support at home instead of in care homes. Practical support measures might include direct payments and personal budgets. We could give families control over a care budget that lets them hire flexible, personalized support, such as a known carer for specific hours, rather than fitting into rigid council-commissioned services. Technology can help with smart home adaptations such as telecare alarms, medication dispensers, fall sensors, and voice-activated devices to extend independence and safety at home, reducing the need for round-the-clock supervision.” (05/28/26)
