News release: “The Federal Highway Administration crossed the $20 billion mark in approved obligations for highway, road and bridge projects this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today. Of the $26.6 billion available for federal highway and bridge projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more than 75 percent has now been obligated.”
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Daily Archives: November 3, 2009
Is Strong Tradition of Education a Predictor of Democracy?
Want a Stronger Democracy? Invest in Education, by Edward L. Glaeser: “Why is there a connection between human capital and freedom? Giacomo Ponzetto, Andrei Shleifer and I have argued that the connection reflects the ability of educated people to organize and fight collaboratively. Dictators provide strong incentives for the ruling clique; democracies provide more modest… Continue Reading
An Overview of Federal Support for Housing, Economic and Budget Issue Brief
An Overview of Federal Support for Housing, Economic and Budget Issue Brief. November 3, 2009 “The federal government commits substantial resources to support housing and mortgage markets through a combination of spending programs and tax expenditures (that is, subsidies conveyed through reductions in taxes). During the crisis of the past two years, the budgetary commitment… Continue Reading
DOT OIG: Review of FAAs Progress in Enhancing Air Traffic Control Systems Security
DOT OIG Audit – Review of FAAs Progress in Enhancing Air Traffic Control Systems Security, November 02, 2009, Project ID: FI-2010-006 “On November 2, we issued our final report on FAAs Progress in Enhancing Air Traffic Control Systems Security. The audit objectives were to determine FAAs progress in correcting security weaknesses previously identified in the… Continue Reading
Review of HUDs Process for Monitoring Recipient Reporting for the Recovery Act of 2009
HUD OIG: Review of HUDs Process for Monitoring Recipient Reporting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, October 30, 2009 “We audited HUD’s process for monitoring recipient reporting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Board), created by the Recovery Act, has required… Continue Reading
Power, Responsibility, and Accountability: Re-Thinking the Legitimacy of Institutions for Climate Finance
World Resources Institute: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability: Re-Thinking the Legitimacy of Institutions for Climate Finance, Working Paper: November, 2009 by Maria Athena Ballesteros, Smita Nakhooda, Jake Werksman, with Kaija Hurlburt and Seema Kumar “This Working Paper seeks to ground the debate on climate finance in an objective analysis of ongoing efforts to finance mitigation and… Continue Reading
Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities
“The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations. Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal infrastructure of the United States, little has been written about the use of cyberattack as an instrument… Continue Reading
Migration and the Global Recession – A Report Commissioned by the BBC World Service
Migration and the Global Recession – A Report Commissioned by the BBC World Service, by Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt, Migration Policy Institute, September 2009 “The global financial crisis that followed the collapse of the investment house Lehman Brothers in September 2008 can be viewed… Continue Reading
Implementation of Financial Stability Measures for Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland
News release: “The Government is today announcing the conclusion of discussions with Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) regarding their participation in the Governments Asset Protection Scheme (APS). As a result of improved market conditions and following extensive due diligence announced in February, the Government can today announce that: Lloyds will… Continue Reading
FHFA Refinance Report Shows Refinance Volumes Dropped in September; Mortgage Rates Still Higher than the Spring
News release: “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinanced more than 3.5 million mortgage loans in 2009 through September of this year. In the month of September, 262,000 mortgages were refinanced a drop from the volume of the preceding month with mortgage rates still higher than levels observed in the spring. The numbers were… Continue Reading
Final report of the independent Review of British offshore financial centres
“The final report of Michael Foots Review of the opportunities and challenges facing the British Crown Dependencies (Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey) and six Overseas Territories (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Turks and Caicos Islands) was published on 29 October. The recommendations made to these jurisdictions cover: the quality and extent of… Continue Reading
