“Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 offers a warning that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. More than two thirds of the 177 countries in the 2013 index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
United States Releases its Second Open Government National Action Plan
Among the highlights of the Second National Action Plan for United States Open Government “We the People”: The White House will introduce new improvements to the We the People online petitions platform aimed at making it easier to collect and submit signatures and increase public participation in using this platform. Improvements will enable the public to perform data… Continue Reading
The FDIC’s Progress in Implementing Systemic Resolution Authorities under Dodd-Frank Act
FDIC Office of Audits and Evaluations Report No. AUD-14-001 – The FDIC’s Progress in Implementing Systemic Resolution Authorities under the Dodd-Frank Act, November 2013. “The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act) created a comprehensive new regulatory and resolution framework designed to avoid the severe consequences of financial instability. Among other things, the Dodd-Frank Act gave the FDIC broad… Continue Reading
CFPB to Oversee Nonbank Student Loan Servicers
News release: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a rule today that allows the Bureau to supervise certain nonbank student loan servicers for the first time. The rule brings new oversight to the nation’s second largest consumer debt market – student loans – which have seen a rise in borrower delinquency in recent years. “Student… Continue Reading
International Review of OCC’s Supervision of Large and Midsize Banks
An International Review of OCC’s Supervision of Large and Midsize Banks, Recommendations to Improve Supervisor Effectiveness. December 4, 2013. “The U.S. financial supervisory system in which the OCC operates is complicated. Commercial banks in the United States, particularly the large complex institutions, may be subject to multiple supervisory agencies including the Federal Reserve Board and district Federal Reserve… Continue Reading
CRS – Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues
Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues – Paul W. Parfomak, Specialist in Energy and Infrastructure Policy; Robert Pirog, Specialist in Energy Economics; Linda Luther, Analyst in Environmental Policy; Adam Vann, Legislative Attorney. December 2, 2013 “TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL Pipeline would transport oil sands crude from Canada and shale oil produced in North Dakota and Montana to a market hub in Nebraska… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Education Research, Geospatial Information
EDUCATION RESEARCH – Further Improvements Needed to Ensure Relevance and Assess Dissemination Efforts, GAO-14-8, Dec 5, 2013 GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION – OMB and Agencies Can Reduce Duplication by Making Coordination a Priority, GAO-14-226T, Dec 5, 2013 Continue Reading
McKinsey – Maximizing the potential of resource-driven economies
Reverse the curse: Maximizing the potential of resource-driven economies, by Richard Dobbs, Jeremy Oppenheim, Adam Kendall, Fraser Thompson, Martin Bratt, and Fransje van der Marel. December 2013 “Rising resource prices and expanded production have raised the number of countries where the resource sector represents a major share of the economy, from 58 in 1995 to 81… Continue Reading
Trickle-Down Economics and Broken Promises
How Inequality Is Holding Back Our Economy By Ben Olinsky and Asher Mayerson | December 4, 2013 “For more than 30 years, conservative politicians have tried to sell Americans on the notion that giving tax cuts to the wealthy will spur economic growth and job creation, generating broad-based economic prosperity. Their marketing of this “trickle-down economics” has been successful: After decades of… Continue Reading
Gallup – Nearly Half of Younger Southern Europeans Underemployed
Steve Crabtree and Anita Pugliese: “The scarcity of good jobs has been one of the most troubling aspects of the economic crisis facing southern Europe, particularly for younger people with little job experience. In 2013, nearly half of 15- to 29-year-olds in six southern European countries are underemployed — meaning they are either unemployed or… Continue Reading
Assessing the Adequacy of CCPs’ Default Resources
Cumming, Fergus and Noss, Joseph, Assessing the Adequacy of CCPs’ Default Resources (November 15, 2013). Bank of England Financial Stability Paper No. 26. Available at SSRN “Central counterparties (CCPs) maintain financial resources that can absorb losses in the event of their members defaulting. These include initial margin collected from members and default funds designed to… Continue Reading
Introducing the FRBNY Survey of Consumer Expectations: Labor Market Expectations
Olivier Armantier, Giorgio Topa, Wilbert van der Klaauw, and Basit Zafar: “In the previous two blog postings in this series, we described the goals, structure, and content of the new FRBNY Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE) and presented some findings regarding inflation expectations. In this third posting, we focus on the labor market component of… Continue Reading
