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Daily Archives: July 29, 2015

2015 Revision of World Population Prospects

UN: “The 2015 Revision of World Population Prospects is the twenty-fourth round of official United Nations population estimates and projections that have been prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. The main results are presented in a series of Excel files displaying key demographic indicators for each development group, income group, major area, region and country for selected periods or dates within 1950-2100. A publication labelled Key findings and advance tables, which provide insights on the results of this latest revision, is also presented here today for your convenience.”

  • According to the results of the 2015 Revision, the world population reached 7.3 billion as of mid-2015, implying that the world has added approximately one billion people in the span of the last twelve years [emphasis added]. Sixty per cent of the global population liv es in Asia (4.4 billion), 16 per cent in Africa (1.2 billion), 10 per cent in Europe (738 million), 9 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean (634 million), and the remaining 5 per cent in Northern America (358 million) and Oceania (39 million). China (1.4 billion) and India (1.3 billion) remain the two largest countries of the world, both with more than 1 billion people, representing 19 and 18 per cent of the world’s population, respectively.”

Stress Testing Convergence

Gutierrez Gallardo, German and Schuermann, Til and Duane, Michael, Stress Testing Convergence (July 28, 2015). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2636984 “This year, 2015, marks the six-year anniversary of US regulatory stress testing. We observe three key trends: 1) Increasingly aggressive capital management: Banks initially responded to CCAR by maintaining wide capital cushions vs. regulatory… Continue Reading

See the world in your language with Google Translate

Google Blog: “The Google Translate app already lets you instantly visually translate printed text in seven languages. Just open the app, click on the camera, and point it at the text you need to translate—a street sign, ingredient list, instruction manual, dials on a washing machine. You’ll see the text transform live on your screen… Continue Reading

Federal White Collar Crime Prosecutions At 20 Year Low

“The federal prosecution of individuals charged with white collar crimes is significantly lower than it was 20 years ago, according to thousands of case-by case records analyzed by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the overall decline began under President Clinton, and indicate that… Continue Reading

Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement

Release Date: July 29, 2015: “Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that economic activity has been expanding moderately in recent months. Growth in household spending has been moderate and the housing sector has shown additional improvement; however, business fixed investment and net exports stayed soft. The labor market continued… Continue Reading

FireEye – Uncovering Malware Backdoor that Uses Twitter

FireEye announcement: “It hides in network communications, in all the noise—designed so that defenders can neither detect nor characterize its activity. But its purpose is transparent: to use Twitter, GitHub, and cloud storage services to relay commands and extract data from compromised networks. Download the report [reg. req’d] and read about the recently discovered HAMMERTOSS,… Continue Reading

GAO Reports – BLM, Central America, DATA Act, International Trade, IRS Case Selection, Managing for Results, Motor Carrier Cases, Affordable Care Act

Bureau of Land Management: Improvements Needed in Internal Controls over Mining Law Administration Program Funds, GAO-15-562: Published: Jul 23, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 29, 2015. Central America: Improved Evaluation Efforts Could Enhance Agency Programs to Reduce Unaccompanied Child Migration, GAO-15-707: Published: Jul 29, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 29, 2015. DATA Act: Progress Made in Initial… Continue Reading

The International Open Data Charter

“As part of the International Open Data Conference (IODC) on May 28-29, 2015, a group of experts, officials, and advocates in the open data field committed to join forces in a multi-stakeholder international partnership for open data. This group will support the development, launch, and implementation of a new International Open Data Charter, articulating global… Continue Reading