EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION RELIEF: Agencies Could Improve Collaboration Begun during Hurricane Sandy Response, GAO-14-512: Published: May 28, 2014. Publicly Released: May 28, 2014. 2013 LOBBYING DISCLOSURE: Observations on Lobbyists’ Compliance with Disclosure Requirements, GAO-14-485: Published: May 28, 2014. Publicly Released: May 28, 2014. 2013 SEQUESTRATION: Selected Federal Agencies Reduced Some Services and Investments, While Taking Short-Term Actions to Mitigate Effects, GAO-14-452: Published: May… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: May 2014
Federal pain research database launched
“The Interagency Pain Research Portfolio (IPRP), a database that provides information about pain research and training activities supported by the federal government, has been launched by six federal agencies. Pain is a symptom of many disorders; chronic pain can present as a disease in of itself. The economic cost of pain is estimated to be hundreds of billions… Continue Reading
How Millennials Could Upend Wall Street and Corporate America – Brookings
“Among the many eye-popping findings in Morley Winograd and Mike Hais’ new paper on the millennial generation is that their attitudes towards the banking industry make it number one on a list of industries likely to experience severe disruption in its business model in the future. Their paper, the third is a series of Brookings’ papers on 21st Century… Continue Reading
Asset markets and monetary policy shocks at the zero lower bound
Claus, Edda and Claus, Iris and Krippner, Leo, Asset Markets and Monetary Policy Shocks at the Zero Lower Bound (May 1, 2014). CAMA Working Paper No. 42/2014. Available at SSRN: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2442110 “This paper quantifies the impact of monetary policy shocks on asset markets in the United States and gauges the usefulness of a shadow short rate… Continue Reading
How Decentralized Management Is Improving Schools
The Rise of Networks By Maureen Kelleher | May 27, 2014 “School districts across the country are shifting away from their traditional management paradigm—a central office that directs its schools through uniform mandates and policies—toward a new vision where district leaders support autonomous schools while holding them accountable for student performance. The advent of new governance mechanisms between districts… Continue Reading
Disclosure Universes and Modes of Information: Banks, Innovation, and Divergent Regulatory Quests
Hu, Henry T. C., Disclosure Universes and Modes of Information: Banks, Innovation, and Divergent Regulatory Quests (May 26, 2014). Yale Journal on Regulation, Vol. 31, No. 3, 2014. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2442092 “In 2013, a new system for mandatory public disclosure came into effect, the first since the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)… Continue Reading
EPIC Defends Commercial Driver Privacy
“EPIC has submitted comments on a proposed Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Under a newlaw, employers of commercial drivers will be required to report drug and alcohol test results to the Clearinghouse. Employers will also be required to check the database for test results on drivers. EPIC’s comments urged the Transportation Department to: (1) require anyone… Continue Reading
FTC Recommends Congress Require the Data Broker Industry to be More Transparent
Agency Report Shows Data Brokers Collect and Store Billions of Data Elements Covering Nearly Every U.S. Consumer: “In a report issued today on the data broker industry, the Federal Trade Commission finds that data brokers operate with a fundamental lack of transparency. The Commission recommends that Congress consider enacting legislation to make data broker practices… Continue Reading
OECD Obesity Update 2014
“The majority of the population, and one in five children, are overweight or obese in the OECD area. A nearly tenfold variation in rates of obesity and overweight is observed across OECD countries. The obesity epidemic has spread further in the past five years, but rates have been increasing at a slower pace than before.… Continue Reading
The National Academies – The Human Mental Machinery
“Humans possess certain unique mental traits. Self-reflection, as well as ethic and aesthetic values, is among them, constituting an essential part of what we call the human condition. The human mental machinery led our species to have a self-awareness but, at the same time, a sense of justice, willing to punish unfair actions even if… Continue Reading
New GAO Report – Retirement Security
Challenges for Those Claiming Social Security Benefits Early and New Health Coverage Options, GAO-14-311: Published: Apr 23, 2014. Publicly Released: May 27, 2014: “Several work-related factors may cause people to claim Social Security benefits early and suggest they may face challenges in continuing to work at older ages. For example, those who worked in physically-demanding blue collar… Continue Reading
Errors in spreadsheets are ubiquitous
MarketWatch – By Jeremy Olshan: “Microsoft Excel makes it easy for anyone to do the kind of number crunching once reserved for accountants and statisticians. But the world’s best-selling spreadsheet software has also contributed to the proliferation of bad math. Close to 90% of spreadsheet documents contain errors, a 2008 analysis of multiple studies suggests. “Spreadsheets, even after… Continue Reading
