Why Medicare Advantage costs taxpayers billions more than it should – Regulators have kept problems secret, and there’s no fix in sight By Fred Schulte, David Donald, Erin Durkin, June 4, 2014. “Dominated by private insurers, Medicare Advantage now covers nearly 16 million Americans at a cost expected to top $150 billion this year. Many seniors choose the managed-care Medicare… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: June 2014
BIS Working Papers – Credit growth, Globalisation, Measuring Economic Slack, Shadow Policy Rate
New Working Papers June 4, 2014: Credit growth, monetary policy, and economic activity in a three-regime TVAR model Globalisation, pass-through and the optimal policy response to exchange rates Measuring economic slack: A forecast-based approach with applications to economies in Asia and the Pacific A shadow policy rate to calibrate US monetary policy at the zero… Continue Reading
EBA publishes final draft technical standards, guidelines on methodology and disclosure for global systemically important institutions
“The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the methodology for identifying Global Systemically Important Institutions (G-SIIs), final draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on special disclosure rules applicable to G-SIIs, and final guidelines on special disclosure rules for large institutions. The identification of G-SIIs in the EU is aligned… Continue Reading
Consumers Beware: 5 Tips to Keep you Scam-Free this Summer
“For the majority of Americans who plan to take a vacation, attend a concert, or work on their home or garden this summer, this season comes with its own unique consumer challenges. Here are the top five scams and frauds to be alert for this time of year: Don’t buy gas additives that claim to… Continue Reading
Google Video playback checklist
“Video playback checklist You may experience poor video quality — slow loading, buffering or choppy playback — due to a number of factors, such as issues with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), inconsistent Internet connection speed, browser or device issues, or problems with the video itself. While the Video Quality Report provides information on how your ISP typically performs,… Continue Reading
Cyberbullying Triples According to New McAfee “2014 Teens and the Screen study”
News release: “McAfee, part of Intel Security, today released findings from the company’s 2014 Teens and the Screen study: Exploring Online Privacy, Social Networking and Cyberbullying. The annual study examines the online behavior and social networking habits of U.S. preteens and teens. The most significant finding from this year’s study reveals that 87% of youth have witnessed cyberbullying… Continue Reading
Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration
“The United States has publicly funded its human spaceflight program on a continuous basis for more than a half-century, through three wars and a half-dozen recessions, from the early Mercury and Gemini suborbital and Earth orbital missions, to the lunar landings, and thence to the first reusable winged crewed spaceplane that the United States operated… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve Board Beige Book – June 4, 2014
Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District: “Economic activity in the Second District has continued to grow at a moderate pace since the last report. Prices of finished goods and services remained generally stable, and businesses report modest upward pressure on input prices. Manufacturers report that business activity has picked up considerably… Continue Reading
The Art and Science of Data-Driven Journalism
Alexander Howard – The Tow Center for Journalism, June 2014. “Journalists have been using data in their stories for as long as the profession has existed. A revolution in computing in the 20th century created opportunities for data integration into investigations, as journalists began to bring technology into their work. In the 21st century, a revolution in… Continue Reading
EFF – New Gmail data shows the rise of backbone email encryption
“For the past few years, EFF has been working on promoting the universal use of encryption for Internet protocols. We started by pushing major sites to switch from HTTP to HTTPS, and gave individual users ways to pull things along. Last November, we launched our Encrypt the Web Scorecard, which in addition to Web encryption, added a second focus on… Continue Reading
FTC Testifies on Geolocation Privacy
“The Federal Trade Commission testified before Congress on the Commission’s efforts to address the privacy concerns raised by the tracking of information about consumers’ location, as well as proposed legislation to protect the privacy of geolocation data. Delivering testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee for Privacy, Technology and the Law, Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC… Continue Reading
U.S. Digital Video Benchmark
Adobe Digital Index Q1 2014 “Online video viewing and TV Everywhere authenticated video is being led by mobile devices, gaming consoles, and OTT devices as publishers and advertisers look for ways to engage the multi-device user. To meet the evolving needs of these demanding consumers, who are watching more video online than ever before, marketers… Continue Reading
