Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Monthly Archives: December 2013

OCLC – Registering Researchers in Authority Files

“The Registering Researchers Task Group aims to create a concise report that summarizes the benefits and trade-offs of emerging approaches to the problem of incomplete national authority files. Background – National name authority files are incomplete. Many researchers—tenured and non-tenured faculty and graduate students—are only partially represented in national name authority files. National name authority files… Continue Reading

Global Corruption: The 2013 Index by Transparency International

“Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 offers a warning that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. More than two thirds of the 177 countries in the 2013 index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be… Continue Reading

United States Releases its Second Open Government National Action Plan

Among the highlights of the Second National Action Plan for United States Open Government  “We the People”: The White House will introduce new improvements to the We the People online petitions platform aimed at making it easier to collect and submit signatures and increase public participation in using this platform. Improvements will enable the public to perform data… Continue Reading

The FDIC’s Progress in Implementing Systemic Resolution Authorities under Dodd-Frank Act

FDIC Office of Audits and Evaluations Report No. AUD-14-001 – The FDIC’s Progress in Implementing Systemic Resolution Authorities under the Dodd-Frank Act, November 2013. “The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act) created a comprehensive new regulatory and resolution framework designed to avoid the severe consequences of financial instability. Among other things, the Dodd-Frank Act gave the FDIC broad… Continue Reading

CFPB to Oversee Nonbank Student Loan Servicers

News release: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a rule today that allows the Bureau to supervise certain nonbank student loan servicers for the first time. The rule brings new oversight to the nation’s second largest consumer debt market – student loans – which have seen a rise in borrower delinquency in recent years. “Student… Continue Reading

International Review of OCC’s Supervision of Large and Midsize Banks

An International Review of OCC’s Supervision of Large and Midsize Banks, Recommendations to Improve Supervisor Effectiveness. December 4, 2013. “The U.S. financial supervisory system in which the OCC operates is complicated. Commercial banks in the United States, particularly the large complex institutions, may be subject to multiple supervisory agencies including the Federal Reserve Board and district Federal Reserve… Continue Reading

CRS – Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues

Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues – Paul W. Parfomak, Specialist in Energy and Infrastructure Policy; Robert Pirog, Specialist in Energy Economics; Linda Luther, Analyst in Environmental Policy; Adam Vann, Legislative Attorney. December 2, 2013  “TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL Pipeline would transport oil sands crude from Canada and shale oil produced in North Dakota and Montana to a market hub in Nebraska… Continue Reading

McKinsey – Maximizing the potential of resource-driven economies

Reverse the curse: Maximizing the potential of resource-driven economies, by Richard Dobbs, Jeremy Oppenheim, Adam Kendall, Fraser Thompson, Martin Bratt, and Fransje van der Marel. December 2013 “Rising resource prices and expanded production have raised the number of countries where the resource sector represents a major share of the economy, from 58 in 1995 to 81… Continue Reading

Trickle-Down Economics and Broken Promises

How Inequality Is Holding Back Our Economy By Ben Olinsky and Asher Mayerson | December 4, 2013 “For more than 30 years, conservative politicians have tried to sell Americans on the notion that giving tax cuts to the wealthy will spur economic growth and job creation, generating broad-based economic prosperity. Their marketing of this “trickle-down economics” has been successful: After decades of… Continue Reading