“Access to good-quality affordable housing is a fundamental need and key to achieving a number of social policy objectives, including reducing poverty and enhancing equality of opportunity, social inclusion and mobility. Housing needs are frequently unmet, and today a significant number of people across the OECD are homeless and too many households live in low-quality dwellings or face housing costs they can ill afford. The Affordable Housing Database (AHD) has been developed to help countries monitor access to good-quality affordable housing and strengthen the knowledge base for policy evaluation. It brings together cross-national information from OECD countries and EU member states. The database currently includes indicators grouped along three main dimensions: housing market context, housing conditions, and public policies towards affordable housing. Each indicator presents data on a particular issue, relevant definitions and methodology, as well as key results. Indicators also discuss comparability, data and source issues, and, where relevant, include the raw data or descriptive information across countries.”
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Daily Archives: February 8, 2017
Committee on House Administration Eliminates the Election Assistance Commission
“Committee on House Administration Chairman Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) issued the following statement upon the Committee approval of H.R. 634 – Eliminating the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and H.R. 133 – Eliminating the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Chairman Harper said: “The existence of the EAC is not necessary to conduct federal elections and is a waste… Continue Reading
Obtain contact info for your senators, representatives (state and federal) via text message
Via Mary Rumsey – “If your senators and reps (State & Federal) aren’t saved in your phone yet, text your zip code to 520-200-2223 (no subject line, just your zip in the message). You’ll get a text back with everyone’s contact info.” Continue Reading
Veteran data journalist focuses on decline of homicide clearance rates
Thomas Hargrove is building software to identify trends in unsolved murders using data nobody’s bothered with before by Robert Kolker, February 8, 2017, Bloomberg BusinessWeek: “…We’re in a moment when, after decades of decreases nationally in the overall crime rate, the murder rate has begun creeping upward in many major U.S. cities. For two years… Continue Reading
Advocacy groups challenge Trump regulatory rollback order
Follow up to previous posting – Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs – via the National Resources Defense Council – “The order goes beyond the president’s authority under the Constitution, rewriting laws by personal fiat rather than through a constitutional process. It would require federal agencies to violate both their legal obligations to… Continue Reading
CRS – Social Security: The Lump – Sum Death Benefit
Via FAS – CRS report – Social Security: The Lump-Sum Death Benefit, Wayne Liou Analyst in Social Policy. February 2, 2017. “When a worker who is insured by Social Security and living with a spouse dies, the spouse is entitled to a lump-sum death benefit of $255. If there is no such spouse, the payment… Continue Reading
Savings Medicare Beneficiaries Need for Health Expenses
Employee Benefit Research Institute – Savings Medicare Beneficiaries Need for Health Expenses: Some Couples Could Need as Much as $350,000: “This EBRI Notes article examines the amount of savings Medicare beneficiaries are projected to need to cover program deductibles, premiums and other health expenses in retirement. For the purposes of this study, health expenses include… Continue Reading
A Guide To Budget Reconciliation: The Byzantine Rules For Disassembling The Health Law
Kaiser Heath News – “After capturing the White House, Republicans put repealing the health law at the top of their to-do list. But since they can’t get around a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, they are forced to use an arcane legislative tool called budget reconciliation to disassemble parts of the law. KHN’s Julie Rovner… Continue Reading
Connecting the Dots: Internet of Things and Human Resource Management
A. Narasima Venkatesh, Dr., Connecting the Dots: Internet of Things and Human Resource Management (February 8, 2017). American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, ISSN (Print): 2328-3734. Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2913400 “With every organization increasingly becoming technology-obsessed to effectively manage business operations, HR leaders have no choice but to… Continue Reading
President Donald J. Trump Announces His Cabinet
White House prress release, February 8, 2017 reflects a cabinet with designees still awaiting confirmation: President Donald J. Trump today formally announced the 24 people who will be serving with him on his Cabinet. Unfilled positions – Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, EPA, HUD, Interior, Labor, Small Business, Veterans Affairs, OMB, Director of National Intelligence and the… Continue Reading
2015 Annual Capital Expenditures Survey
“Manufacturing was the nation’s leading investor in capital expenditures in 2015 with $239.6 billion spent for structures and equipment, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 Annual Capital Expenditures Survey. Businesses invested $1,638.6 billion in new and used buildings, structures, machinery and equipment (including computer software), up $40.7 billion (2.5 percent) from 2014. This is… Continue Reading
Code-Dependent: Pros and Cons of the Algorithm Age
Pew Report – Algorithms are aimed at optimizing everything. They can save lives, make things easier and conquer chaos. Still, experts worry they can also put too much control in the hands of corporations and governments, perpetuate bias, create filter bubbles, cut choices, creativity and serendipity, and could result in greater unemployment. “Algorithms are instructions for… Continue Reading
