Common wisdom holds that “it’s easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar.” That aphorism also applies to payers seeking lower prices for routine healthcare procedures. It “tastes” better when providers attract new customers with “bottom-up” high-value services than when payers hammer providers through “top-down” payment reform.

Having failed to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, House and Senate Republicans have set their sights on reforming the U.S. tax code, a daunting undertaking that hasn’t occurred since the mid-1980s. Their principal objective is to reduce the corporate tax rate from its current level of 35% to 20%.

This week, the banking drama unfolds in three acts:

I.   Payments Possibilities
II.  Regulatory Ruminations
III. Lending Lessons

I. Top 10 trends in retail payments

Co-authored with Richard Jones, president and CEO of Essence Healthcare, one of the nation’s first accountable delivery systems and a consistently high-rated Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) health plan. 

This article was originally appeared in the Hindu Business Line and co-authored with Faisal Ahmed, a geopolitical expert and associate professor of international business at FORE School of Management, New Delhi.

As President Xi Jinping emerges stronger, his foreign policy pursuits are now likely to be assertive, not merely persuasive. He joins the league of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping with the inclusion of his thoughts on socialism in the party constitution.

The wild ride in bitcoin and ICOs continues, as the story woven by this week’s links shows. I’ve attempted to select articles that balance the hype with realism and healthy skepticism.

Earlier this year, the Choosing Wisely campaign celebrated its 5th anniversary. Choosing Wisely is a well-funded, practice-focused organization created to reduce “wasteful or unnecessary medical tests, treatments and procedures.”

I am sharing my new article on Brazil's military relationship with the PRC, and the strategic importance of Brazil to the region, and as a partner to the U.S.  My work is based on interactions during a recent trip to Rio de Janeiro to teach a seminar and participate in an event conducted by Brazil's prestigious Naval War College. This work is originally published through the ejournal Global Americans.