“Chinas economy expanded rapidly in recent years despite a dire international context, though it slowed in 2011-12. Rebalancing has made headway: externally, the current account surplus has fallen sharply, from over 10% of GDP in 2007 to under 3%; domestically, growth has lately been pulled more by consumption than by investment. With the slowdown, inflation… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2013
YouTube Announces Hits a Billion Monthly Users
YouTube Blog: “In the last eight years youve come to YouTube to watch, share and fall in love with videos from all over the world. Tens of thousands of partners have created channels that have found and built businesses for passionate, engaged audiences. Advertisers have taken notice: all of the Ad Age Top 100 brands… Continue Reading
The Kansas City Fed offers free economic and personal finance resources for educators, bankers and consumers
“We offer free, age-specific tools for parents, educators and bankers to help children better understand economics and personal finance. Concepts range from saving money in a bank to smart shopping to the Fed’s role in the economy. Elementary level activities and lesson plans Middle School level activities and lesson plans High School level activities and… Continue Reading
Adults worldwide eat almost double daily AHA recommended amount of sodium
News release: “Seventy-five percent of the worlds population consumes nearly twice the daily recommended amount of sodium (salt), according to research presented at the American Heart Associations Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2013 Scientific Sessions. Global sodium intake from commercially prepared food, table salt, salt and soy sauce added… Continue Reading
CNN – Drone use in U.S. may require new laws, Senate panel told
CNN: “Drones both dazzled and worried senators at a hearing Wednesday about their use within the United States, and lawmakers and experts said that new legislation may be needed to protect the privacy and safety of citizens. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, held and studied a small plane weighing just 2 pounds before beginning… Continue Reading
Speech – Focusing on Low- and Moderate-Income Working Americans
Speech by Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin At the National Community Reinvestment Coalition Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. March 22, 2013 “In my remarks, I will start by discussing the types of jobs being generated in the current recovery. Certainly, the pace of recovery in employment has improved, but it’s important to look at the types of… Continue Reading
NPR Report – The startling rise of disability in America
Unfit for Work – The startling rise of disability in America, by Chana Joffe-Walt: “In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against… Continue Reading
Learning from Iraq: Final Report from Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
Learning from Iraq: Final Report from Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, March 2013 “The foregoing litany of data, interviews, analyses, and history provides a substantial and sound basis from which to derive lessons about the Iraq reconstruction program. The Iraqis, the recipients of the United States’ extraordinary reconstruction largesse, largely lament the lost potential… Continue Reading
NASA Technical Reports Server Shut Down in Wake of Security Investigation
Via Space.com: “NASA has taken its huge database of technical reports offline in response to the arrest last weekend of a former contractor suspected of spying for China. The space agency decided to shut down the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) as part of a broad security review spurred by the arrest of Bo Jiang,… Continue Reading
NYT – New Reasons to Change Light Bulbs
David Pogue: “…LED bulbs are a gigantic improvement over incandescent bulbs and even the compact fluorescents, or CFLs, that the world spent several years telling us to buy. LEDs last about 25 times as long as incandescents and three times as long as CFLs; were talking maybe 25,000 hours of light. Install one today, and… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Community Development Block Grants, Progress made by DHS
Community Development Block Grants – Reporting on Compliance with Limit on Funds Used for Administration Can Be Improved, GAO-13-247, Mar 21, 2013 High-Risk Series – Government-wide 2013 Update and Progress Made by the Department of Homeland Security, GAO-13-444T, Mar 21, 2013 Continue Reading
Economist Intelligence Unit – Democracy Index 2012
Democracy Index 2012 [requires free registration to download]: “In 2012 global democracy was at a standstill in the sense that there was neither significant progress nor regression in democracy in that year. Average regional scores in 2012 were very similar to scores in 2011. Free and fair elections and civil liberties are necessary conditions for… Continue Reading
