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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici

IMF – Domestic Revenue Effort in Resource-Rich Countries

Resource Blessing, Revenue Curse? Domestic Revenue Effort in Resource-Rich Countries, Ernesto Crivelli; Sanjeev Gupta. January 2014. “This paper uses a newly constructed revenue dataset of 35 resource-rich countries for the period 1992-2009 to analyze the impact of expanding resource revenues on different types of domestic (non resource) tax revenues. Overall, we find a statistically significant negative… Continue Reading

OPM and Mobile Work Exchange release new telework toolkit

Brittany Ballenstedt, NextGov: “Telework-ready federal employees were required to work on Tuesday after another snowstorm shut down federal offices in the Washington, D.C. region. And now, managers have a new toolkit to help them calculate how much telework saves them on days such as this, when productivity would otherwise be lost. Also on Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Defense Management, Defense Efficiencies

DEFENSE MANAGEMENT – DOD’s Conference Policy Is Generally Consistent with OMB’s Requirements, GAO-14-150, Jan 21, 2014 DEFENSE EFFICIENCIES – Action Needed to Improve Evaluation of Initiatives, GAO-14-134, Jan 17, 2014: “GAO recommends that DOD establish a requirement for the military departments and SOCOM to develop approaches for evaluating the impact of their efficiency initiatives, such as developing performance measures… Continue Reading

OECD employment rate nudges up to 65.2% in third quarter of 2013

News release: “The OECD area employment rate in the third quarter of 2013 – defined as the share of people of working-age who are in employment – increased for the second consecutive quarter (by 0.1 percentage point to 65.2%).  In the euro area, the employment rate rose for the first time since the second quarter… Continue Reading

Report – Assessment of Nuclear Monitoring and Verification Technologies

Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force Report on Assessment of Nuclear Monitoring and Verification Technologies, January 2014. This report is UNCLASSIFIED and releasable to the public. “A relatively straightforward, albeit technically rich, charge was given to this Task Force to assess technologies in support of future arms control and nonproliferation treaties and agreements. The Task Force, however, quickly realized… Continue Reading

IRS Announces Program to Obtain Copies of Past Returns Online or by Mail

Get Transcript – “Get a record of your past tax returns, also referred to as transcripts. IRS transcripts are often used to validate income and tax filing status for mortgage applications, student and small business loan applications, and during tax preparation. View and print your transcript immediately. Choose among Tax Return, Tax Account, Record of Account, or Wage and Income transcripts… Continue Reading

Report – Global Antitrust in 2014

Via Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: “As global economies slowly emerge from recession, we see regulators promoting competitive markets, and asserting consumer protection concerns, in an increasingly wide range of sectors. More than ever before, authorities are using antitrust and other regulatory powers for broader political and economic purposes – to promote competition and restrain inflation as… Continue Reading

One-Quarter of Adults Hold Educational Credentials Other Than an Academic Degree

“The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in fall 2012, more than 50 million U.S. adults, or one in four, had obtained a professional certification, license or educational certificate apart from a postsecondary degree awarded by colleges and universities. This is the Census Bureau’s first-ever report on this topic. Among the adults included in the report, 12… Continue Reading

Infographic Highlights U.S.-Canada Trade

“The Department of Commerce has released a new infographic, International Trade Between U.S. and Canada, which celebrates the world’s largest and most comprehensive trading relationship. It illustrates the top U.S. imports from and exports to Canada and presents an annual time series of data on trade between the two neighbors. The time begins shortly after… Continue Reading

New on LLRX – Clemency and The Vanishing Point of Decision Making

Via LLRX.com – Clemency and The Vanishing Point of Decision Making – Ken Strutin begins his article stating that for the most part, the decision of whether to grant a pardon or commutation rests on the discretion of the executive. He continues, it is a constitutional authority that leaves little recourse if the President or a governor chooses not… Continue Reading

DefenseTech – Navy Helps Fund 3D Printing of Buildings

Bryant Jordan: “Add to guns and prosthetic hands something much bigger and heavier forming from the nozzle of a 3D printer — buildings “printed” out of concrete. Partially funded by the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation Countour Crafting is trying to develop 3D printed buildings using concrete. Company founder Behrokh Khoshnevis is… Continue Reading