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Turmoil at homeless program is a sign of harsh fiscal times
It is shameful that our nation is unable to support health care for all of its citizens in a meaningful way.
Investment and Statecraft: The International Politics of Sovereign Wealth Funds - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
In 1953, Kuwait established the world’s first sovereign wealth fund to invest the country’s oil revenues and generate returns that would reduce its reliance on a single resource. Since then, over 100 separate funds have been created to preserve national wealth and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Today, they manage over $10 trillion in global assets. In this discussion with GJIA, political economist Kathryn Lavelle explains the increasingly novel dynamics that surround fund behavior and what the world can come to expect from their growing presence in international financial markets. GJIA: When it comes to the roles sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) play in global markets and politics, what would you say makes them unique? Kathryn Lavelle: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operate on behalf of governments as investors. That in itself is a strange relationship. Within them, a core contest takes place between the state’s interests (or sovereign) part of the dynamic, and the money interests (or wealth) part of it, and these two aspects are frequently in contradiction, serving fundamentally different goals. SWFs are also quite fascinating because when you talk to the people who manage these funds, they have an interest in convincing you that the decisions are made almost exclusively on a financial basis—they really will go to great lengths to differentiate their government owners and those who make the management decisions. At the same time, these people ultimately answer to someone in power. Therefore, for most SWFs, it remains deeply unclear who is actually making the investment decisions and for what purposes. Of course, it is not always clear how other vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity make the decisions they do, but I think what a lot of people find particularly disconcerting about SWFs is that they seem to act on behalf of people who have a different identity from their own. People who could be trying to manipulate politics and markets in a way that would have a long-term effect on their own populations. Regular investors come and go at will, and they only share an interest in profit as far as most of us understand. However, SWFs have that extra “sovereign” part right behind them that obscures their true interest. GJIA: These funds can be found in countries all across the globe, in both authoritarian states and democracies. Would you say SWFs differ in their goals and structures between regime-type? KL: It is not necessarily regime type that makes the goals and structures of SWFs different. It has to do with their economies. Let’s look at a country like China. There’s going to be a debate about exactly how to characterize the regime, but it is a country with many different kinds of sovereign wealth funds, and a particularly opaque state connection to each. At one time, some of the state-owned Chinese oil companies created specialized investment vehicles listed outside Chinese markets that excluded parts of the firms that were more associated with human rights violations. At the same time, the China Investment Corporation (CIC)—China’s largest SWF—draws a lot of concern, not necessarily because of its investment activities, but because of the dynamics of global politics. So, I wouldn’t really tie differences to regime types themselves in a wholesale way, but rather to how such funds are perceived and how they are structured. Saudi Arabia’s SWF is getting all kinds of attention for its involvement in Hollywood, and this takes me right back to when I was a student in the 1980s, when people were concerned about Japanese investment entities buying assets in Hollywood. They aren’t quite the same in financial terms, but it’s the same kind of concern about foreign investment that drives people to be suspicious, and the whole idea that “foreigners are influencing Hollywood.” This holds true across industries, and it reflects where politics are in places like the United States right now. One metric we can try to look at is transparency, where all the funds will tell you, “we are transparent.” The problem you’ll keep running into with this approach is how you value things. When trying to do comparative studies of equity markets, you’ll find that every country doesn’t use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles like we do in the United States. A fund may appear opaque politically and not want people to show what they’re invested in or what their intent with that investment is, but they could also just not be able to report it because of the way it was purchased, or the kinds of shares they purchased. There are some assets out there that really are difficult to put a monetary value on. GJIA: To what extent do domestic politics shape SWF behavior in both the investing “home” country and the recipient “host” country? KL: This depends on the type of fund present and also on the extent to which voters’ political views are able to influence the fund. For example, in a democratic home state like Norway, the SWF doesn’t invest in nuclear weapons or tobacco because of social concerns, but there is a continuing debate over whether it should invest in oil, even though that’s where most of the money comes from. The degree to which Norway will continue to make those investments, and whether they contradict the government’s overall climate goals, is an open question in Norwegian politics. Because of the way the fund’s governance is structured, it may not be easy to resolve. On the other hand, some people consider pension funds, like the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in Ohio, to be quasi-SWF. They have a very strict separation between the people who make up the management division and the fund owners. No teacher or professor would want to invest in things that may harm the future of their students. At the same time, a fund manager might see an opportunity in a diversified multinational corporation that offers a good return, despite it deriving part of its revenue from e-cigarettes. These contests are very apparent. Domestic politics can work in host countries too. A good example is Singapore’s SWF, Temasek, investing in Thailand’s telecommunications sector. If you study political economy, you already know that countries everywhere are uncomfortable with foreign ownership of their telecom sectors because a foreign entity could monitor or manipulate our communications with each other. In the case of Temasek, there was significant pushback from Thai citizens surrounding the deal, which went on to influence national political sentiment toward Singapore as a whole, underscoring the risks some SWFs may face with their investment choices. In this case, fund behavior led to the dissolution of the entire Thai government in 2006 and a subsequent coup d’état. GJIA: To address some of this unease, the Santiago Principles were established in 2009 to ostensibly promote trust and transparency. From your perspective, have these mechanisms actually changed fund behavior? KL: In international relations theory, we always like to have a clear set of norms and best practices—the orientation we want the proverbial ship to be going in. In that regard, the Santiago Principles at least got the discussion going about which direction SWFs should take at a time when people were very skittish about the growing size of these funds. Nobody wanted them to be out there and potentially destabilizing economies, so talks about disclosure, conditions for withdrawal, and the independence of managers were helpful when initiated. The biggest stumbling block was that there wasn’t exactly a good way to measure compliance with the Principles, let alone how to hold funds to them. If you read the Principles, they’re overall quite vague. In general, a fund doesn’t want to reveal how and why they make certain investment decisions because that information is proprietary—a fund makes money off of how and why it makes decisions—so how do you reconcile that with loosely-defined ideas of openness? Some decisions might have a political purpose. The bottom line is that trying to figure out and assign a score to compliance is not easy, and it is therefore the reason why the Santiago Principles never really got off the ground to the point where they could truly direct fund behavior. GJIA: Many emerging markets are looking to build their own SWFs from mineral and oil revenues. Historically, have funds shaped development trajectories in these countries? KL: I think the big story in international emerging markets investment is that the investment is increasingly no longer unidirectional. In the past multinational corporations of primarily Western background were the main form of foreign direct investment in a country. That has changed dramatically, to the point where you have companies from so-called “developing countries” taking over companies in the United States. Therefore, the landscape of international investment has changed, and I think SWFs are certainly a possibility to be the next step in the game. Historically, you didn’t need an entire financial vehicle to reinvest commodity revenues in your country, but as emerging markets get more financially sophisticated, their capacity to operate such funds has increased. SWFs would allow treasuries to move from relying on holding foreign exchange assets like cash or government bonds to having broader financial markets and targeted growth areas, while easing pressure on welfare expenditures. GJIA: With their increasing financial weight, do you see the presence of SWFs being a factor in the political choices leaders will have to make with regard to domestic and foreign policy? KL: It will depend on just how big the funds get. One of the reasons people are already apprehensive is because of their scale, and if certain SWFs in certain countries achieve a large-enough size, the presence will absolutely be cause for concern. The other factor political leaders will have to consider are their objectives. It’s not always clear how to define a SWF, or even where its activity is concentrated, but it is certainly a worry from the perspective of national security of opaque external investment. More than that, I think one of the most interesting questions going forward is whether the United States, the home to the world’s largest financial markets, will develop its own fund, for which the Trump administration announced a plan. There have also been several proposals in Congress. Were it to come into being, it would have tremendous weight. At the same time, one of the hallmarks of U.S. capitalism is a lack of government ownership of shares, so it would not be clear how such a fund would be received in domestic politics, or which direction it would take. Given how politically fragmented the country is, a Democratic administration would likely be concerned about different sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, and want investment there, rather than a Republican administration, which might prefer defense industries. No investment vehicle could thrive under conditions of such instability. Moreover, it remains unclear where the money to fund a theoretical U.S. SWF would come from. It would be a fundamentally different entity depending on whether it is financed with debt, economic surplus, commodities, or the sale of state companies, as in the case of Singapore. If it is debt, or government borrowing of some form, then the fund would have to outperform whatever the cost of that debt is, which is not an easy thing to do. I think our political leaders have enough on their plate. Our system has worked well keeping political and investment functions generally separate. We have seen different forms of business rise and fall, and even the perception of different countries, all of which funds are tied to. Unless a major SWF either starts—like in the case of the United States—or collapses—an issue that concerns the Saudis, I don’t see any political tsunamis on the horizon. . . . Kathryn Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between domestic and international and political institutions with a particular emphasis on political economy and multilateralism. Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Interview conducted by Sid Mehrotra. Image Credit: Jason Leung, Unsplash Content Licenses, via Unsplash
Fiscal Policy Institute: BET tax cut would fail to spur business growth
A cut in the Business Enterprise Tax (BET) that recently won approval in the Republican-led House of Representatives would cost the state treasury $26 million a year and do little
TABOR and the Colorado Constitution’s fiscal Gordian Knot
A corporate president advised me once there are two kinds of lawyers: “those who tell you why you can’t do things and those who figure out how to get things done anyway.” He only hired the latter. Since the adoption of the TABOR amendment in 1992, the Colorado legislature has opted for counsel from the […]
McKee finally endorsed a millionaire’s tax. Progressives and business groups aren’t happy.
Gov. Dan McKee's endorsement of a millionaire's tax in his fiscal 2027 proposal has reignited a longstanding policy debate, with progressive lawmakers saying McKee's proposal does not go far enough, and business groups slamming any income tax hikes.
House passes appropriations package for health care funding, extends key health care provisions
The House Jan. 22 voted 341-88 to pass a three-bill minibus for fiscal year 2026 that includes funding for key health programs and other bipartisan health care provisions and extensions. The bill includes extensions of AHA-supported priorities, such as the Medicare-dependent hospital and low-volume adjustment programs for one year, telehealth flexibilities for two years, and hospital-at-home flexibilities for five years.
Texas Sets New College Sports Spending Mark With $376M Spree
The University of Texas's latest financial disclosures show its fiscal 2025 spending generously topped its previous year's record-setting splurge.
Ethanol politics helps delay spending package
Biofuel boosters made a last-minute appeal for E15 language to become part of the latest fiscal 2026 minibus.
House Appropriations Committee releases three-bill minibus with funding for key health programs
The House Appropriations Committee Jan. 20 released text of a three-bill minibus for fiscal year 2026 that includes funding for key health programs and other bipartisan health care provisions and extensions.
Assessing Woodward (WWD) Valuation As It Exits China Natural Gas Truck Business And Delivers Record 2025 Results
Woodward (WWD) is winding down its on-highway natural gas truck business in China after years of seeking a buyer, aiming to sharpen its Industrial segment focus while maintaining record fiscal 2025 sales and earnings. See our latest analysis for Woodward. The decision to exit the China on highway unit comes after a strong run in the shares, with a 90 day share price return of 32.18% and a 1 year total shareholder return of 77.00%, alongside record fiscal 2025 sales and earnings and recent...
How a pandemic rescue became a 30-year debt trap
Millions of small businesses are discovering that the emergency fiscal help they relied on in 2020 came with a long tail of unintended consequences.
Earnings Show Banks Turning Transaction Banking Into a Platform Business
Some of the world’s largest banks posted their final earnings for the 2025 fiscal year this week. The most surprising narrative from firms like Citigroup,
Spain's polarised politics stymies government's regional funding plan
A new fiscal model proposed by Spain's finance minister for its regional governments has faced a heavy backlash from regional leaders, who accuse the central government of toying with public finances to win political favours as it struggles to hold its fragile coalition together.
Japan’s new PM Takaichi eyes parliament dissolution for snap polls: Report
Country's first female prime minister hopes a bigger majority will help her implement her political and fiscal agenda.
Cardinal Health Raises Fiscal 2026 Outlook and Highlights Strategic Progress During J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Presentation
Raising Fiscal 2026 Outlook: Cardinal Health is increasing expectations for fiscal year 2026 non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS)1 to at least $10.00, from its prior guidance range of $9.65...
4 key takeaways from Gavin Newsom's 2026 budget proposal
Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced the upcoming state budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
NH House Cuts Business Tax Rate as State Revenues Slow
With the state facing a revenue deficit this fiscal year, the House Thursday approved cutting the rate of the Business Enterprise Tax.
House, Senate lawmakers ignore requested Trump cuts at key science agencies
Congressional appropriators tossed aside the Trump administration’s requested cuts at NOAA, NIST, NSF and NASA in fiscal year 2026 funding bills released Monday.
Cardinal Health to Announce Second-Quarter Results for Fiscal Year 2026 on February 5
Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) plans to release second-quarter financial results for its fiscal year 2026 on February 5, prior to the opening of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company...
Science Escapes Largest Cuts in Latest Budget Bills
Today, top appropriators in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives released a three-bill appropriations package for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) that largely rejects drastic cuts to federal science budgets that President Trump proposed last year.
Microchip Technology Provides Q3 Fiscal 2026 Business Update
Recovery Plan Execution ProgressingCHANDLER, Ariz., Jan. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (NASDAQ: MCHP) - Microchip Technology Incorporated, a leading provider of smart, connected, and secure embedded control solutions, today commented that it expects its net sales for third quarter of fiscal 2026 ended December 31, 2025 to be about $1,185 million, well above its original guidance of $1,109 million to $1,149 million provided on November 6, 2025, and its subsequent revised guidance provided on Decem
Appropriations Committee Releases Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; Interior and Environment Funding Package | House Committee on Appropriations
Today, the House Appropriations Committee released text for the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment fiscal year 2026 funding package.
Israel to Hold Rates as Regional and Domestic Politics Wobble
Israel’s central bank is set to hold interest rates steady in its first monetary decision of 2026, weighing lowered inflation expectations and a strong shekel against lingering geopolitical and fiscal uncertainty.
Trump says water pipeline veto was because of cost, but critics say it's retribution
President Trump has vetoed a bill to help finish a water pipeline in Colorado, saying it's about "fiscal sanity." Critics say the president's veto is a form of political retaliation.
Hochul proposes eliminating state taxes on tips of up to $25,000 a year
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would include the measure, which affects tips earned in the 2026 tax year, in her fiscal year 2027 budget proposal.
Mamdani Takes Health Fund Audit 'Seriously' as Insolvency Reverberates
The audit from Comptroller Brad Lander, concluding the joint union-City Hall insurance fund owes billions of dollars to the city, is applauded by fiscal watchdogs and advocates who have long decried deals they say ripped off retirees and taxpayers.
Citius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Reports Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
/PRNewswire/ -- Citius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Citius Pharma" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: CTXR), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and...
Pillen halts freeze on Business Innovation Act funding
After a review of the program, Gov. Jim Pillen said he will ask the Legislature for an increase in funding for the Business Innovation Act, from $12 million this fiscal year, to $15 million next year.
Governor awards $20 million to expand rural primary care - 32 health care organizations to strengthen services statewide - Office of the Governor
SANTA FE — Thirty-two rural health care organizations will share $20 million in Rural Health Care Delivery Fund awards to expand primary care services across New Mexico. The fiscal year 2026 awards support projects that strengthen local health care capacity and improve access to coordinated, person-centered care in underserved areas — from tribal communities in […]
NANO Nuclear Reports Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. NANO Nuclear Reports Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results and Provides Business Update Management to hold webcast today at 5:00 pm Eastern New York, N.Y., Dec. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear micro modular reactor and technology company focused on developing clean energy solutions, today reported its fiscal year 2025 financial results and provided a business update. Figure 1 -
Taiwan Reels From Political Faceoff Between President, Opponents
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has escalated his rhetoric against opposition parties by accusing them of abusing their legislative power, as the island descends into partisan strife after a clash over fiscal spending.
An 11th-hour decision to back out of Miami mental health center? That’s a mistake
Fiscal responsibility is good, but the timing here is odd. | Opinion
New Hampshire's Business: Cost of living in NH has outpaced what most families earn
Fred Kocher is joined by Jessica Williams, policy analyst for the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, and Phil Sletten, research director for the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, for a discussion about the state of the economy and the cost of living in the Granite State.
Mount Healthy Schools considers levy to avoid sports, arts cuts
Athletics and fine arts are facing possible elimination as Mount Healthy City Schools deals with what's described as a 'fiscal emergency' by its superintendent.
A new dawn in global health: UHC as the path toward national health stewardship
The UHC High‑Level Forum in Tokyo marked an unmistakable turning point. It signaled a shift from dialogue to pragmatic action, with health and finance ministries jointly designing country‑owned, fiscally grounded UHC strategies to move beyond fragmented, crisis‑driven responses toward resilient, durable health systems that can make Universal Health Coverage (UHC) a reality. UHC means ensuring...
Costco is firing on all cylinders — and shoppers are loving it
Costco beat expectations with net sales of nearly $66 billion for its first fiscal quarter, including US comparable sales growth of 5.9%.
House takes key step toward advancing annual defense policy bill
The House on Wednesday cleared a critical procedural hurdle toward advancing the National Defense Authorization Act for the next fiscal year, setting the massive defense policy bill up for a floor vote in the chamber.
S.F. business tax revenue could jump 11% with tech boom — but city deficit may still hit $1 billion
S.F.'s business tax revenue is projected to jump in the next fiscal year, but the city’s budget deficit could still top $1B due to cuts by the Trump administration, according to Mayor Lurie’s...
Health System Board hears first-quarter financial report for 2026 fiscal year
Stephanie Schnittger, U.Va. Health chief financial officer, reported a positive financial performance for quarter one of fiscal year 2026.
Penn State Health, College of Medicine advance health equity with $205.8 million investment in community health
Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine invested more than $205.8 million to support health and well-being in the communities they serve during fiscal year 2024.
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
U of U Health Research Achieves Record Funding, Drives Advances to Tackle Health Challenges
University of Utah Health surpassed the half-billion–dollar mark in research funding for fiscal year 2025. These investments fuel research, advance treatments and technologies, boost Utah's econoomy, improve health across the state and worldwide, and support the training of future scientific leaders.
Opinion: Chicago's fiscal crisis demands a pro-growth strategy
Solving Chicago's $1.2 billion budget gap calls for pro-growth policies and real cost reforms to restore stability, writes the Chicagoland Chamber's president.