May 2020

blog

COVID-19's Effects on U.S. Schools, Vaccine Uptake, Small Businesses: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how COVID-19 has affected U.S. schools, potential barriers to vaccine uptake, what small businesses need to survive, and more.

commentary

Options for Designing a Public Option

State and federal policymakers are considering adding state-backed public options to the individual market in an effort to expand health coverage and improve affordability. We analyzed what would happen if public options became available in U.S. health insurance exchanges.

Michael Cohen, Al Bingham, et al.

commentary

To Preserve Jobs, America's Employers May Have to Get Creative

With about 38.6 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance benefits since the end of February, it is clear that COVID-19 has turned the world of work upside down. One way to reduce the economic damage may be job-sharing, an approach that focuses on maximizing jobs by reducing workers' hours rather than resorting to layoffs or furloughs.

Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward

commentary

Emergency COVID-19 Aid Helps College Students with Food and Housing: Four Ways Colleges Can Maintain That Support

COVID-19 has expanded the pool of cash-strapped college students, but many were already struggling before the pandemic. The crisis could draw attention to food and housing insecurity among college students, and give college leaders a chance to consider how to address these needs more systematically over the long term.

Lindsay Daugherty, Drew M. Anderson

commentary

Why the United States Will Need a New Foreign Policy in 2020

Even before the pandemic, the United States faced a growing strategic predicament: U.S. challenges are mounting, and America's international commitments increasingly outstrip its means to fulfill them.

Raphael S. Cohen

q&a

Modeling the Future of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts

The phrase “flatten the curve” familiarized Americans with epidemiological models used to estimate virus transmission, cases, and potential deaths from COVID-19. But new models are needed as the country enters a different stage of the crisis.

commentary

How COVID-19 Affected the Nation's Schools: New Data Gives Insights for Planning

RAND surveyed teachers and principals to gauge how the pandemic has affected schooling, what supports these educators need, and how they are thinking about the next school year.

Laura S. Hamilton

blog

What Happens When States Reopen, Truth Decay, Telemedicine: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the health and economic consequences of states reopening, the dangers of Truth Decay during the coronavirus crisis, helping refugees, and more.

commentary

Vaccination and Coronavirus: Where the Public Good Clashes with Choice and Freedom

With scientists striving for a viable coronavirus vaccine, and public health officials considering its potential rollout, do calls for freedom of choice and anti-vaccination sentiments, as seen in recent televised protests, represent a worrying omen?

Alina I. Palimaru, Marcus Dillistone

commentary

Russia's Challenge and Syria's Chance

With much of Syria lying in ruins, Russia can back a revived United Nations–led peacemaking process, or see the West rebuff its appeals for large-scale aid. If Russia chooses wisely, the West, wealthy Gulf countries, and China could help. If Moscow procrastinates, the West may withhold assistance and continue cooperation with regional partners.

Colin P. Clarke, William Courtney @courtneywmh

commentary

China's Aggression Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Little to Do with COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to monopolize the attention of leaders around the world, some international observers of China have concluded that Beijing is attempting to exploit the crisis for geopolitical gain. The reality is that China has been engaging in the same types of pressure tactics for years and will likely continue once the pandemic passes.

Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman

commentary

North Korea Post–Kim Jong Un Reappearance: Expect Business as Usual in the Hermit Kingdom

Kim Jong Un's return, while it leaves much to be desired in the way of explanation, should send one message to the international audience: North Korea's fate rests still in the hands of Kim Jong Un. And judging by appearances in recent days, Kim does not appear to intend to change the course of his strategy to reduce tensions with the United States.

Soo Kim

blog

RAND's Response to a Past Pandemic: HIV/AIDS

In the 1980s, HIV/AIDS killed 90 percent of those infected. RAND was at the forefront of the research response, providing key data on costs of care, barriers to access, and the disease's effects on quality of life. RAND continues to pursue ways to ease HIV's impact in the United States and Africa.

commentary

Relaxing COVID-19 Restrictions Presents Stark Health and Economic Choices

RAND's new COVID-19 interventions impact tool uses epidemiological and economic models and continually refreshed data to estimate what could happen as restrictions are eased. The tool won't make the choices confronting state leaders less painful. But it can provide clear, evidence-based estimates of the health and economic trade-offs.

Jeanne S. Ringel @JeanneRingel, Raffaele Vardavas, et al.

commentary

How to Help Refugees and Host Countries Combat COVID-19

Having escaped conflict and persecution, refugees now risk illness and death from COVID-19. That risk is heightened by a policy regime that focuses largely on refugees in camps, not the almost two-thirds who live in urban areas. But the crisis could provide an opportunity to reform a broken system for the benefit of refugees and host countries alike.

Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson, Gary Edson