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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici

NTSB – Safety Report on Eliminating Impaired Driving

“On May 14, 2013, the 25th anniversary of our nation’s deadliest drunk-driving crash, which killed 24 children and three adults in Carrollton, Ky., the NTSB’s five-member board voted unanimously to issue bold recommendations to help the United States reach zero and eliminate alcohol-impaired driving. Bold steps are needed: On average, every hour, one person dies… Continue Reading

CDC – Sleep and Sleep Disorders

CDC- Sleep and Sleeping Disorders: “Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions—such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression—which threaten our nation’s health. Notably, insufficient sleep is associated with the onset of these diseases and also poses important implications for their management and outcome. Moreover, insufficient sleep is responsible for… Continue Reading

Data Journalism: GIJN’s Global Guide to Resources

Global Investigative Journalism Network: Global Guide to Resources, by Kate Willson “As our governments and businesses become increasingly flush with information, more and bigger data are becoming available from across the globe. Increasingly, investigative reporters need to know how to obtain, clean, and analyze “structured information” in this digital world. Otherwise, they and the news… Continue Reading

IRS IG – Inappropriate Criteria Were Used to Identify Tax-Exempt Organizations for Review

Inappropriate Criteria Were Used to Identify Tax-Exempt Applications for Review, Report Date: 05/14/2013. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. “The IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention. Ineffective management: 1)… Continue Reading

New York Fed: Household Debt and Credit Report

“The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report provides a quarterly snapshot of household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans and delinquencies. The report aims to help community groups, small businesses, state and local governments and the public to better understand, monitor… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Climate Change, Data Center Consolidation, Defense Infrastructure

Climate Change – Future Federal Adaptation Efforts Could Better Support Local Infrastructure Decision Makers, GAO-13-242, Apr 12, 2013 Data Center Consolidation – Strengthened Oversight Needed to Achieve Billions of Dollars in Savings, GAO-13-627T, May 14, 2013 Data Center Consolidation – Strengthened Oversight Needed to Achieve Cost Savings Goal, GAO-13-378, Apr 23, 2013 Defense Infrastructure –… Continue Reading

FTC Issues Annual Financial Acts Enforcement Letter to CFPB

News release: “The Federal Trade Commission has issued its annual letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on FTC enforcement and related activities regarding the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Consumer Leasing Act (CLA), Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). This year’s letter also discusses the Dodd-Frank Act, and… Continue Reading

Creating a Safer Financial System: Will the Volcker, Vickers, and Liikanen Structural Measures Help?

Creating a Safer Financial System: Will the Volcker, Vickers, and Liikanen Structural Measures Help? Vinãls, José; Pazarbasioglu, Ceyla; Surti,Ja; Narain,Aditya; Erbenova,Michaela; Chow, Julian. May 14, 2013 “The U.S., the U.K., and more recently, the E.U., have proposed policy measures directly targeting complexity and business structures of banks. Unlike other, price-based reforms (e.g., Basel 3 and… Continue Reading

Paper – Are elite journals declining?

Via arXiv.orgL: Are Elite Journals Declining? “Previous work indicates that over the past 20 years, the highest quality work have been published in an increasingly diverse and larger group of journals. In this paper we examine whether this diversification has also affected the handful of elite journals that are traditionally considered to be the best.… Continue Reading

Fund Flows in Rational Markets

Franzoni, Francesco A. and Schmalz, Martin C., Fund Flows in Rational Markets (May 12, 2013). Available at SSRN “When investors are risk-averse, relative performance in downturns is more informative about managers’ ability to generate utility for investors than relative performance in upturns. Rational investors thus reallocate more wealth between funds in response to downturn-performance than… Continue Reading