New Israeli government, same Israeli apartheid

After 12 years, Israel finally inaugurated a new prime minister. While being hailed by many as the opportunity for a fresh start, Naftali Bennett is at best a continuer of Netanyahu's policies and at worst an ideologue whose positions are to the right of Netanyahu's.In 2013, as Middle East peace...

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Maybe money can buy happiness

How do cash transfers stack up against a psychotherapy program in terms of not only economic outcomes, but mental health? That's the subject tackled by an interesting recent paper by Johannes Haushofer, Robert Mudida, and Jeremy Shapiro. And there is some methodological coolness to boot. Headline result: cash wins, for...

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Tobacco tax -- for better public health or tobacco companies' profitability?

The finance minister proposed a mega budget on the eve of the golden jubilee of independence of the country. Even though the budget offers some good features including increasing coverage of safety-net, reduction in corporate tax to boost industrial growth, ten years' tax holiday for establishing hospitals outside of big...

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