“Each month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury produce a monthly scorecard on the health of the nation’s housing market. The scorecard incorporates key housing market indicators and highlights the impact of the Administration’s unprecedented housing recovery efforts, including assistance to homeowners through the Federal… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Report – Creating the Conditions for Growth in the UK
Creating the Conditions for Growth by Christine Whitehead and Tony Travers with Kathleen Scanlon and Melissa Fernández, LSE London, London School Of Economics. October 2013 • “House building activity is beginning to pick up, especially in London and the South East. However, the period since the financial crisis has been disastrous for investment, worsening the longer-term shortages of both market… Continue Reading
The Volcker Rule: A Comparison
Sherman & Sterling: “On December 10 2013, the final regulation implementing the Volcker Rule was adopted by the five US federal bank regulatory agencies. This comes over two years after the publication of the proposed regulation. The text below illustrates the differences between the final and proposed texts.” [Andrew Young] Continue Reading
Secrecy News – Redacted Budget Book Provides a Window on NRO
“The National Reconnaissance Office, which builds and operates U.S. intelligence satellites, has just released the unclassified portions of its FY 2014 Congressional Budget Justification, a detailed account of its budget request for the current year. Although more than 90% of the 534-page document (dated April 2013) was withheld from public release under the Freedom of Information Act, some substantive… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Defense Management, Dodd-Frank Regulation, TARP Audit, Reverse Auctions
DEFENSE MANAGEMENT – Actions Needed to Ensure National Guard and Reserve Headquarters Are Sized to be Efficient, GAO-14-71, Nov 12, 2013 DODD-FRANK REGULATION – Agencies Conducted Regulatory Analyses and Coordinated but Could Benefit from Additional Guidance on Major Rules, GAO-14-67, Dec 11, 2013 FINANCIAL AUDIT – Office of Financial Stability (Troubled Asset Relief Program) Fiscal Years 2013 and 2012 Financial… Continue Reading
Census – Age and Sex Table Packages and Race and Hispanic Origin Table Packages: 2012
“Age and Sex Table Packages and Race and Hispanic Origin Table Packages: 2012 — These table packages are from the Current Population Survey and include detailed statistics about five-year age groups by sex, the older population (55 and older), and the Hispanic, black and Asian populations. The tables provide a wide range of social and economic… Continue Reading
Analysis – Successful Push to Restore Europe’s Long-Abused Rivers
From Britain to the Czech Republic, European nations have been restoring rivers to their natural state — taking down dams, removing levees, and reviving floodplains. For a continent that long viewed rivers as little more than shipping canals and sewers, it is a striking change, by Fred Pearce: “…Britain, for instance, has promised to restore some… Continue Reading
Bankrate – Income analysis shows widening gap
By Judy Martel • Bankrate.com: “As Americans continue to climb out of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, many experts are taking note of a widening gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Federal income data over the past 20 years show a growing divide in income among all age groups. Bankrate’s analysis of the data… Continue Reading
Google – Feast your eyes on new works added today to the Cultural Institute
Google Official Blog: “At the Cultural Institute we’ve been taking a break from our holiday shopping to feast our eyes on a different kind of gift—the gift of ingenious art that plays tricks on our eyes. Called Trompe l’oeil, which means “fool the eye” in French, these techniques require complete control over every detail of size, color, light and… Continue Reading
Agencies Issue Final Rules Implementing the Volcker Rule
“Five federal agencies on Tuesday issued final rules developed jointly to implement section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Volcker Rule”). The final rules prohibit insured depository institutions and companies affiliated with insured depository institutions (“banking entities”) from engaging in short-term proprietary trading of certain securities, derivatives, commodity futures and… Continue Reading
NOAA asks for public comment on proposed Deepwater Horizon oil spill early restoration plan
“NOAA and its federal and state trustee partners today urged the public to provide comments on a draft plan to restore the Gulf after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The plan outlines and describes 44 proposed restoration projects, totaling approximately $627 million. The plan was released by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees for theDeepwater Horizon oil spill, nine federal and state… Continue Reading
UN – Slum Dwellers to double by 2030
“Nearly one billion people alive today – one in every six human beings – are slum dwellers, and that number is likely to double in the next thirty years, according to UN-HABITAT’s new publication – The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. Unprecedented urban growth in the face of increasing poverty and social… Continue Reading
