Policy is where ideas become lived reality. This beat explains how legislation, regulation, and government decisions affect everyday people, institutions, and the economy.
Canada’s asylum system still exists. What has changed is who gets to use it. Under Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, which received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026, the Canadian government introduced two new eligibility rules that determine whether an asylum seeker’s claim reaches the Immigration and Refugee Board, the…
Countries are increasingly viewing artificial intelligence as national infrastructure rather than simply a technology sector. Speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris, **Prime Minister Narendra Modi** used one of the world’s largest technology gatherings to present India as an emerging artificial intelligence power. Reporting from the **Times of India** on June 18 described a message…
AP reported that consumer prices rose 4.2 percent in May from a year earlier, the highest inflation rate in three years and the third consecutive monthly increase, according to the Labor Department. Energy prices drove more than 60 percent of the monthly gain. Gasoline prices are up 40.5 percent over the past year. Prices at…
Reuters reported that Cuban lawmakers approved sweeping economic reforms this week with backing from the Communist Party and former leader Raul Castro. The package would permit private real estate development, allow some state enterprises to convert into shareholding companies, legalize private banking, and allow entrepreneurs to operate multiple businesses with more than 100 employees. Those…
Reuters reported that Representative Nathaniel Moran of Texas introduced the AI Incident Reporting Act, a bill that would require AI companies to report significant safety incidents, security breaches, and dangerous model behavior to the U.S. Commerce Department within seven days of discovery. In cases involving serious threats, Commerce would then be required to notify Congress…
The Guardian reported this week that the UK recorded a provisional June temperature record of 36.4 degrees Celsius, while Switzerland hit 38 degrees in Basel and France closed more than 3,500 schools after classrooms reached temperatures as high as 40 degrees. Teachers’ unions warned the conditions were physically dangerous for students and staff. Hospitals in…
New York’s crackdown on fake job listings treats a symptom, not a disease. The real problem is that labor markets now reward the appearance of growth as much as growth itself. New York lawmakers approved legislation targeting “ghost jobs”—postings for positions that do not exist or are not actively being filled. Employers would face disclosure requirements: state…
A federal appellate court decision reshaped what workers are legally permitted to communicate about their workplaces, narrowing the scope of protected speech in ways that shift the balance between employer control and worker voice. The National Labor Relations Act has long protected certain worker speech as a matter of federal law. That protection is not…
Removing the fare doesn’t just make transit cheaper. It changes who shows up, how often they come, and what the system starts to become. America’s public transit debate has spent decades focused on the wrong question. The question has been: how do we get more people to ride? The fare-free cities are demonstrating that the…
Rising home prices are changing who can participate in the housing market and where workers can afford to live. A new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, highlighted by the New York Post on June 19, found that the income required to afford a median-priced home has nearly doubled since 2020. A…