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Trump's 2025 National Security Strategy is a clear articulation of the administration's nativism and illiberalism
Get PDFEarlier this month the Trump administration quietly published its National Security Strategy (NSS) for 2025. Jonny Hall writes that the NSS is a helpful resource to better understand Trump’s foreign policy: one which turns its back on the “rules-based international order” in favor of a foreign policy that reflects the Trump administration’s ideological preferences and … Continue
Application of international reference pricing rules to forecast pharmaceutical launch prices in 5 European countries
No full textObjectives To assess whether applying official International Reference Pricing (IRP) rules allows accurate prediction of pharmaceutical launch prices in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, The Netherlands, and North Macedonia. Methods Official pre-2019-reform IRP regulations were examined, with 1 Dutch rule further clarified via primary research. IRP rules were applied precisely to calculate the maximum price under IRP for all new chemical/molecular entities presentations first priced in each country in 2018 and customarily subject to IRP, using POLI pricing and reimbursement data for the referrer and the reference countries. Maximum allowed launch prices under IRP were calculated by using prices available for referencing 1 month before launch, the regulation-specified exchange rate and the definition of what constitutes an acceptable product for referencing. If an identical pack size/formulation was not available or multiple suitable products for referencing existed, the appropriate conversion rules were applied as stated in the IRP regulations. The actual first price was compared with the price calculated under IRP for each new chemical or molecular entity presentation, with several scenarios run to explain discrepancies. Results The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) between the actual first price and the forecasted/IRP-based price across the sample was lowest for Bulgaria (3.04%), followed by The Netherlands (4.53%), Austria (4.91%), Croatia (9.63%), and North Macedonia (22.09%). North Macedonia’s high MAPE is because the country allows prices to exceed the IRP-based price by up to 20%. MAPE < 10% indicates outstanding model performance. Conclusions Precise IRP rules application can accurately predict launch prices in countries where IRP is binding and is the main price-setting method
From theory to practice: viewpoint on economic indicators for trust in digital health
No full textUser trust is pivotal for the adoption of digital health systems interventions (DHI). In response, numerous trust-building guidelines have recently emerged targeting DHIs such as artificial intelligence. The common aim of these guidelines aimed at private sector actors and government policy makers is to build trustworthy DHI. While these guidelines provide some indication of what trustworthiness is, the guidelines typically only define trust and trustworthiness in broad terms, they rarely offer guidance about economic considerations that would allow implementers to measure and balance trade-offs between costs and benefits. These considerations are important when deciding how best to allocate scarce resources (eg, financial capital, workforce, or time). The missing focus on economics undermines the potential usefulness of such guidelines. We propose the development of actionable trust-performance-indicators (including but not limited to surveys) to gather evidence on the cost-effectiveness of trust-building principles as a crucial step for successful implementation. Furthermore, we offer guidance on navigating the conceptual complexity surrounding trust and on how to sharpen the trust discourse. Successful implementation of economic considerations is critical to successfully build user trust in DHI
Governance and resilience as entry points for transforming food systems in the countdown to 2030
No full textDue to complex interactions, changes in any one area of food systems are likely to impact-and possibly depend on-changes in other areas. Here we present the first annual monitoring update of the indicator framework proposed by the Food Systems Countdown Initiative, with new qualitative analysis elucidating interactions across indicators. Since 2000, we find that 20 of 42 indicators with time series have been trending in a desirable direction, indicating modest positive change. Qualitative expert elicitation assessed governance and resilience indicators to be most connected to other indicators across themes, highlighting entry points for action-particularly governance action. Literature review and country case studies add context to the assessed interactions across diets, environment, livelihoods, governance and resilience indicators, helping different actors understand and navigate food systems towards desirable change
Upstreamness and downstreamness in input-output analysis from local and aggregate information
No full textRanking sectors and countries within global value chains is of paramount importance to estimate risks and forecast growth in large economies. However, this task is often non-trivial due to the lack of complete and accurate information on the flows of money and goods between sectors and countries, which are encoded in input–output (I–O) tables. In this work, we show that an accurate estimation of the role played by sectors and countries in supply chain networks can be achieved without full knowledge of the I–O tables, but only relying on local and aggregate information, e.g., the total intermediate demand per sector. Our method, based on a rank-1 approximation to the I–O table, shows consistently good performance in reconstructing rankings (i.e., upstreamness and downstreamness measures for countries and sectors) when tested on empirical data from the world input–output database. Moreover, we connect the accuracy of our approximate framework with the spectral properties of the I–O tables, which ordinarily exhibit relatively large spectral gaps. Our approach provides a fast and analytically tractable framework to rank constituents of a complex economy without the need of matrix inversions and the knowledge of finer intersectorial details
Gender stereotypes and professional experiences of female nurses in Türkiye
No full textIntroduction: Gender roles and stereotypes play a significant role in shaping the nursing profession, perpetuating systemic inequities that negatively impact professional experiences and healthcare system efficiency. In Türkiye, patriarchal norms and systemic disparities exacerbate these workplace challenges, particularly for female nurses. Methods: This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews with 13 female nurses working in intensive care units to examine the influence of societal expectations, workplace discrimination, and institutional policies on gender inequities in nursing. Results: The findings reveal that cultural norms, family influence, and constrained career planning often channel women into nursing, reinforcing perceptions of the profession as an extension of caregiving roles. While participants rejected the notion of nursing as a “women’s profession,” their narratives highlighted the pervasive impact of gendered expectations. Additionally, political favoritism and nepotism were identified as factors exacerbating workplace challenges, reflecting broader systemic issues in Türkiye’s labor market. The normalization of gender norms and their internalization by female nurses further complicate efforts to combat discrimination. Discussion: The study underscores the necessity for policy interventions to address systemic gender inequities in nursing. Recommendations include implementing mandatory gender equality education within healthcare institutions, stricter enforcement of anti-violence laws, and the establishment of psychological and legal support systems for workplace violence victims. Additional measures, such as childcare support and regulations against marital status-based discrimination, are essential to mitigate inequities. By addressing societal, cultural, and institutional factors, this research provides actionable strategies for healthcare organizations and policymakers to promote equity and improve sector efficiency
In memoriam Ivana Marková (1938–2024)
No full textA powerful voice in our community faded out on December 1st, 2024. It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the death of Professor Ivana Marková, aged 86. Ivana Marková developed an unique, inspiring, dialogical perspective in social and cultural psychology; she saw dialogism as an ontology, an epistemology and ethics. She also lived dialogism: a life of rich long-term dialogues with so many friends and colleagues all over the world. Ivana Marková was an Associate Editor of Culture & Psychology. She was a visiting professor in many universities, gave keynote addresses in numerous countries, and was a mentor to generations of social psychologists. Ivana Marková will be missed by many academic and professional communities around the world. We have lost a unique personality, a paradigm-challenger, a mentor, and a friend
The social value of temporary carbon removals and delayed emissions
No full textAn economic approach to calculating the Social Value of Temporary Reductions (SVTR) in atmospheric carbon is discussed. The SVTR allows different carbon removals projects to be prioritised in a way that maximises welfare and establishes equivalence between temporary, risky removals with permanent ones in terms of avoided welfare losses from climate damages. The approach is compared to previous attempts in the physical and natural sciences and economics to price temporary emissions reductions, none of which successfully integrate economics and climate science. Applications of the SVTR exist in public project appraisal, Life Cycle Analysis, pricing carbon debts and determining short term carbon credit and offset contracts. Potential criticisms of equivalence measures and tonne-year accounting stemming from concerns that temporary removals do not impact long-term temperatures are shown to be special cases of our integrated economic approach. Temporary removals provide transitory cooling benefits and if repeated are equivalent to permanent solutions. They also can have permanent effects via learning by doing or reducing the likelihood of tipping points. The SVTR helps determine how temporary removals can fit into an efficient response to climate. Ruling out temporary removals and equivalence, and the intertemporal transfers that they imply, could unnecessarily tie the hands of policy makers
The likely economic implications of Trump's second mandate
No full textDonald Trump was elected by an unlikely alliance between the US lower and upper classes. The poor want decent-paying jobs, while the super-rich want a classic agenda of ever freer markets and low or no taxes. How will Trump reconcile such disparate interests? Francesco Caselli discusses the incoming president’s likely economic policies and their possible impacts for the UK and Europe
UK politics needs to take a long-term view on social care
No full textPast attempts to reform social care by both Labour and the Conservatives have failed. The recent commission of an independent review led by Baroness Louise Casey into the state of social care provides a beacon of hope. Nicholas Barr argues that a long-term view on social care is the only plausible solution