News release: “A new study using the Butler University Q&A Intelligence Index measures how various mobile Q&A platforms deliver quality, accurate answers in a timely manner to a broad variety of questions. Based on the results of our analysis, ChaCha led all Q&A platforms on mobile devices. Results of the study are based upon review… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: February 2013
English Housing Survey Headline Report 2011-12
English Housing Survey Headline Report 2011-12, February 2013. Department for Communities and Local Government “The report is split into two sections. The first focuses on the profile of households including: trends in tenures; demographic and economic characteristics of households; rents and housing benefit; recent movers; mortgage difficulties; and overcrowding and under-occupation. Section 2 provides an… Continue Reading
Pew – How Borrowers Choose and Repay Payday Loans
“For someone in need of quick cash, a payday loan can look like a way to avoid asking loved ones for help or getting into long-term debt. But these loans usually prove unaffordable, leaving borrowers in debt for an average of five months. This report the second in Pews Payday Lending in America series… Continue Reading
Social Explorer's Andrew Beveridge in the NY Times on Trends in NYCs Child Population
Sydney Beveridge: “Things move fast in New York, unless youre trying to sign your kid up for something. In the New York Times article Born to Wait: For Parents, a Waiting List for Nearly Everything, Soni Sangha explores the increase in over-filled classes and long waiting lists for childrens programs. The story includes data and… Continue Reading
Illness-related work absences in January 2013 highest since February 2008
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Editor’s Desk: “Absences resulting from a workers own illness or injury were higher in January 2013 than in any month since February 2008. In January 2013, nearly 2.9 million people who usually work full time worked part time during the survey reference week because of their… Continue Reading
Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research
“The Obama Administration is committed to the proposition that citizens deserve easy access to the results of scientific research their tax dollars have paid for. Thats why, in a policy memorandum released today, OSTP Director John Holdren has directed Federal agencies with more than $100M in R&D expenditures to develop plans to make the published… Continue Reading
Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets
Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets, February 2013: “The Administration will utilize trade policy tools to increase international enforcement against trade secret theft to minimize unfair competition against U.S. companies. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will make additional efforts to promote adequate and effective protection and enforcement of trade secrets. These… Continue Reading
GAO's 2013 High Risk List
High Risk List: “Every two years at the start of a new Congress, GAO calls attention to agencies and program areas that are high risk due to their vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or are most in need of transformation. This site presents GAO’s current High Risk List [comprising 30 areas], explains what… Continue Reading
Unauthorized Aliens: Policy Options for Providing Targeted Immigration Relief
CRS – Unauthorized Aliens: Policy Options for Providing Targeted Immigration Relief, Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Immigration Policy, February 13, 2013 “The 113th Congress is expected to consider comprehensive immigration reform legislation. If and when it does, a key challenge will be how to address the unauthorized alien population, estimated to number some 11 million. The… Continue Reading
Accounting for Political Feasibility in Climate Instrument Choice
Gilligan, Jonathan M. and Vandenbergh, Michael P., Accounting for Political Feasibility in Climate Instrument Choice (February 18, 2013). Vanderbilt Public Law Research Paper No. 13-7; Vanderbilt Law and Economics Research Paper No. 13-4. Available at SSRN This Essay argues for consideration of political opportunity costs in the criteria used to evaluate climate policy instruments. Law… Continue Reading
Commentary – The Saga of Barrett Brown: Inside Anonymous and the War on Secrecy
The Saga of Barrett Brown: Inside Anonymous and the War on Secrecy, By Christian Stork, February 21, 2013 “Alleged hacktivist Barrett Brown, the 31-year old mislabeled spokesman for the shadowy hacker collective known as Anonymous, faces federal charges that could put him away for over a hundred years…His crime: making leaked e-mails accessible to the… Continue Reading
Moody's downgrades UK's government bond rating to Aa1 from Aaa; outlook is now stable
“London, 22 February 2013 — Moody’s Investors Service has today downgraded the domestic – and foreign-currency government bond ratings of the United Kingdom by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa. The outlook on the ratings is now stable. The key interrelated drivers of today’s action are: The continuing weakness in the UK’s medium-term growth outlook,… Continue Reading
