Your 2010 Federal Taxpayer Receipt: “In his State of the Union Address, President Obama promised that this year, for the first time ever, American taxpayers would be able to go online and see exactly how their federal tax dollars are spent. Just enter a few pieces of information about your taxes, and the taxpayer receipt… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: April 2011
Responding to Global Food Price Volatility and Its Impact on Food Security
Responding to Global Food Price Volatility and Its Impact on Food Security, Prepared for the April 16, 2011, World Bank Development Committee Meeting. “International food prices are spiking again for the second time in three years, igniting concerns about a repeat of the 2008 food price crisis and its consequences for the poor. In February… Continue Reading
5 Myths About the 'Information Age'
5 Myths About the ‘Information Age’, by Robert Darnton, professor and university librarian at Harvard University. This essay is based on a talk he gave last month at the Council of Independent Colleges’ Symposium on the Future of the Humanities, in Washington – snipped: “Confusion about the nature of the so-called information age has led… Continue Reading
Report – Beyond the Recession: The Great Housing Rebalance
Beyond the Recession: The Great Housing Rebalance, Bruce Katz, Director, Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, April 13, 2011 “Since the peak of the housing bubble, home prices across the nation have fallen by an average of 18.5 percent, a trend that has continued through the fourth quarter of 2010. The 100 largest metros have fared, on… Continue Reading
Forbes – What the Top U.S. Companies Pay in Taxes
What the Top U.S. Companies Pay in Taxes by Christopher Helman “…we took a look at the 2010 annual reports of the 20 most profitable U.S. companies. Some of the results may surprise you. The average income tax rate within the group was 25.4%. America’s three biggest oil companies, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM – News), Chevron… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve Beige Book, April 13, 2011
Full Report – Beige Book, March 13, 2011 and Links to the Districts – “Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicated that economic activity generally continued to improve since the last report. While many Districts described the improvements as only moderate, most Districts stated that gains were widespread across sectors, and Kansas City described… Continue Reading
Home value chart updated 1890-2011
Case Shiller 100 Year Chart (2011 Update), By Barry Ritholtz – April 13, 2011: “In 2006, just as the Housing market was peaking, the NYT ran this graphic of the 100-year Case Shiller chart. It showed how radically overvalued Housing had become. Two years later, TBP [the Big Picture] reader Steve Barry updated that graphic,… Continue Reading
Markey: NRC Directing Secrecy in the Wake of Fukushima Meltdown
“In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) set out to inspect the U.S. fleet of nuclear reactors to ensure their safety and report publicly on its findings. Yet today, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) revealed that significant limits may be imposed on the inspections, and that inspectors also have been… Continue Reading
SSA IG: Personally Identifiable Information Made Available to the Public Via the Death Master File
Follow-up: Personally Identifiable Information Made Available to the Public Via the Death Master File (Limited Distribution), A-06-10-20173, 3/31/11 “SSA implemented procedures to report erroneous death entry-related personally identifiable information (PII) breaches to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team each week. SSA also hired a contractor to provide ongoing reviews of Death Master File (DMF)… Continue Reading
Consumer prices increase 0.5% in March as gasoline and food prices continue to rise
March 2011: “The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.7 percent before seasonal adjustment. Gasoline and food prices continued to rise and together accounted for… Continue Reading
Best Practices IT Management
“Federal agencies can improve the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of large-scale IT systems by learning from each other, and by leveraging best practices in the private and public sectors. The CIO Council created and will continue to evolve this Best Practices information-sharing platform to realize those benefits. Agencies will be aggregating case studies, lessons learned, and… Continue Reading
New GAO Report: Davis-Bacon Act, Employment Verificatio, Employment and Training Administration
Davis-Bacon Act: Methodological Expertise Critical for Improving Survey Quality, GAO-11-486T, April 14, 2011 Employment Verification: Agencies Have Improved E-Verify, but Significant Challenges Remain, GAO-11-522T, April 14, 2011 Employment and Training Administration: More Actions Needed to Improve Transparency and Accountability of Its Research Program, GAO-11-285, March 15, 2011 Continue Reading
