News release: “Employers took 1,647 mass layoff actions in June that resulted in the separation of 145,538 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported [July 23, 2010]. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. The number… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: July 2010
The Effect of Market Leadership in Business Process Innovation: The Case(s) of E-Business Adoption
The Effect of Market Leadership in Business Process Innovation: The Case(s) of E-Business Adoption, Kristina Steffenson McElheran, Working Paper 10-104, Harvard Business School “This paper empirically investigates how market leadership influences firm propensity to adopt new business process innovations. Using a unique data set spanning roughly 35,000 plants in 86 U.S. manufacturing industries, I study… Continue Reading
FTC Testifies on Efforts to Protect Consumer Privacy
News release: “The Federal Trade Commission testified [July 22, 2010] about FTC efforts to protect consumer privacy and commented on legislative proposals to improve privacy protections before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The testimony presented by David Vladeck, Director of the FTCs Bureau… Continue Reading
DOD Launches Updated Social Media Hub Web Page
Federal Computer Week: “DOD today launched an updated Social Media Hub Web page to provide quick links to service-affiliated Facebook, Twitter and YouTube social media sites as well as policy documents, training manuals and other information and to provide a forum for discussion. The military services have been active participants in social media. For example,… Continue Reading
More Fallout from Failed Attempt to Modernize FBI Computer System
News release: “Senator Chuck Grassley is pressing the Director of the FBI for additional information about its latest attempt to modernize its antiquated computer system. Grassley sent a letter to Director Robert Mueller following reports that a stop work order had been placed on both phases 3 and 4 of the Sentinel contract with Lockheed… Continue Reading
The Special Master for Tarp Executive Compensation Concludes the Review of Prior Payments
News release: “Today, the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, Kenneth R. Feinberg, announced the conclusion of his review of executive pay in late 2008 and early 2009. The Special Master looked at payments that taxpayer-assisted firms made to “Top 25″ executives prior to February 17, 2009, when the Recovery Act introduced additional compensation and… Continue Reading
38 States AG Now Invetigating Google Street View
Follow up to Several State Attorneys General Announce Probes of Google Wireless Data Collection, this news release: “Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today on behalf of the executive committee of a 38-state coalition asked Google whether it tested its Street View software before use — which should have revealed that the program collected data transmitted over… Continue Reading
Pulse of the Nation: U.S. Mood Throughout the Day inferred from Twitter
Pulse of the Nation: U.S. Mood Throughout the Day inferred from Twitter, by Alan Mislove, Sune Lehmann, Yong-Yeol Ahn, Jukka-Pekka Onnela, J. Niels Rosenquist – researchers from Northeastern University and Harvard University, studying the characteristics and dynamics of Twitter. Continue Reading
NYT: Federal Report Faults Banks on Huge Bonuses
Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Obama administrations special master for executive compensation: “With the financial system on the verge of collapse in late 2008, a group of troubled banks doled out more than $2 billion in bonuses and other payments to their highest earners. Now, the federal authority on banker pay says that nearly 80 percent… Continue Reading
Index Indicates Washington, D.C. Has Low Economic Misery
bizjournals: “Washington residents can claim one of the least miserable economies in the nation, based on one straightforward measure: the misery index, which combines inflation with unemployment. The misery index in the Washington/Baltimore area currently stands as the second-lowest in the nation, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Washingtons year-over-year inflation rate, at 1.95 percent,… Continue Reading
BLS: Occupational Pay Comparisons Among Metropolitan Areas
Occupational Pay Comparisons Among Metropolitan Areas, 2009: Average pay for civilian workers in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA metropolitan area was 20 percent above the national average in 2009, one of 77 metropolitan areas studied by the National Compensation Survey (NCS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The… Continue Reading
Analysis of a Proposal to Offer a Public Plan Through the New Health Insurance Exchanges
Analysis of a Proposal to Offer a Public Plan Through the New Health Insurance Exchanges, July 22, 2010. “Taking into account all of the relevant factors, CBO estimates that roughly one-third of the people obtaining coverage through the insurance exchanges would enroll in the public plan. CBO estimates that about 25 million people would purchase… Continue Reading
