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Daily Archives: April 21, 2015

The Global Findex Database 2014 Measuring Financial Inclusion around the World

The Global Findex Database 2014 Measuring Financial Inclusion around the World. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 7255. Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer, and Peter Van Oudheusden. April 15, 2015.
“The Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) database, launched by the World Bank in 2011, provides comparable indicators showing how people around the world save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. The 2014 edition of the database reveals that 62 percent of adults worldwide have an account at a bank or another type of financial institution or with a mobile money provider. Between 2011 and 2014, 700 million adults became account holders while the number of those without an account—the unbanked—dropped by 20 percent to 2 billion. What drove this increase in account ownership? A growth in account penetration of 13 percentage points in developing economies and innovations in technology—particularly mobile money, which is helping to rapidly expand access to financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Along with these gains, the data also show that big opportunities remain to increase financial inclusion, especially among women and poor people. Governments and the private sector can play a pivotal role by shifting the payment of wages and government transfers from cash into accounts. There are also large opportunities to spur greater use of accounts, allowing those who already have one to benefit more fully from financial inclusion. In developing economies 1.3 billion adults with an account pay utility bills in cash, and more than half a billion pay school fees in cash. Digitizing payments like these would enable account holders to make the payments in a way that is easier, more affordable, and more secure.”

Recognizing the Limits of Antitrust: The Roberts Court Versus the Enforcement Agencies

Lambert, Thomas A. and Abbott, Alden F., Recognizing the Limits of Antitrust: The Roberts Court Versus the Enforcement Agencies (April 20, 2015). Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Forthcoming; University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-09. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2596660 “As Judge Frank Easterbrook famously explained three decades… Continue Reading

SEC Staff and FINRA Issue Report on National Senior Investor Initiative

“With the Social Security Administration estimating that each day for the next 15 years, an average of 10,000 Americans will turn 65, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today issued a report to help broker-dealers assess, craft, or refine their policies and procedures for investors… Continue Reading

Accenture – The World’s Love Affair with the TV May Be Coming to an End

News release: “The television’s popularity as the go-to entertainment device may be ending, according to “Digital Video and the Connected Consumer,” a new research report from Accenture. The television was the only product category to see uniform, double-digit usage declines across different types of media worldwide among viewers of nearly all ages. It is rapidly… Continue Reading

The Quadrennial Energy Review

Transforming U.S. Energy Infrastructures in a Time of Rapid Change: The First Installment of the Quadrennial Energy Review “On January 9, 2014, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the administration to conduct a Quadrennial Energy Review (QER). As described in the President’s Climate Action Plan,this first-ever review focuses on energy infrastructure and identifies the threats, risks, and opportunities… Continue Reading

Americans’ Views on Open Government Data

Americans’ Views on Open Government Data By John B. Horrigan and Lee Rainie: “Government reformers and advocates believe that two contemporary phenomena hold the potential to change how people engage with governments at all levels. The first is data. There is more of it than ever before and there are more effective tools for sharing… Continue Reading

NGOs Urge European Commission to Uphold Privacy

“EPIC has joined a coalition of over sixty NGOs from around the world in a letter to President Juncker of the European Commission, urging him to uphold robust data protection standards. The institutions of the European Union are currently negotiating the new General Data Protection Regulation. The European Commission previously promised that the Data Protection… Continue Reading

Google Spends Record $5.47 Million On 1st Quarter Lobbying

Consumer WatchDog: “Google spent a record $5.47 million on lobbying during the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 43 percent from $3.82 million in the comparable 2014 period, according to disclosures just filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Comcast, which is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice… Continue Reading

Are You Looking to Buy a Home?

“Buying a home is one of the most exciting yet one of the most difficult financial decisions you will make. Understanding the costs of real estate settlement services, defining what affordable means to you, and finding the best mortgage are among the many aspects you’ll need to consider. This new toolkit (PDF) from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), offers a… Continue Reading