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Daily Archives: November 5, 2013

The State of Digital Divides

“Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, presented the project’s latest findings about who has and doesn’t have access to the internet, broadband, and cell phones. He noted that some of the factors associated with non-use of technology are age, household income, educational attainment, community type, and disability. He also cited findings about why people say they do not use the internet.”

Effects of Policy Guidance on Perceptions of Fed’s Reaction Function

Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports – The Effects of Policy Guidance on Perceptions of the Fed’s Reaction Function. Katherine Femia, Steven Friedman, Brian Sack. Staff Report No. 652. November 2013. “In the past few years, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has been using forward guidance about the federal funds rate in… Continue Reading

Report – Understanding Innovation Funds, Impact Bonds, and Impact Investing

Social Finance: A Primer Understanding Innovation Funds, Impact Bonds, and Impact Investing By Sonal Shah and Kristina Costa | November 5, 2013 [snipped] “In recent years, a growing number of philanthropic foundations, policymakers, social service providers, and researchers have come to recognize that the social sector is changing. Shrinking public-sector budgets have limited traditional government grant programs. An increasing number… Continue Reading

U.S. v. S.A.C. Capital Advisors, SDNY

“As described below, this Indictment charges the corporate entities responsible for the management of a major hedge fund with criminal responsibility for insider trading offenses committed by numerous employees and made possible by institutional practices that encouraged the widespread solicitation and use of illegal inside information. Unlawful conduct by individual employees and an institutional indifference… Continue Reading

Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) On Available-For-Sale Securities

Graph: Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) On Available-For-Sale Securities, Large Domestically Chartered Commercial Banks (NUGLCBW027SBOG) – FRED Economic Data – Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Also via FRED at the same link as above – create faceted charts by defining respective parameters – Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) On Available-For-Sale Securities, Large Domestically Chartered Commercial Banks… Continue Reading

CRS – Multiyear Procurement and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition

Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress, October 29, 2013 “Multiyear procurement (MYP) and block buy contracting (BBC) are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of defense acquisition programs. Compared to the standard or default approach… Continue Reading

OECD report measures human cost of crisis

How’s Life? [November 5, 2013] “finds that subjective well-being deteriorated in countries most affected by the crisis. Between 2007 and 2012, reported average life satisfaction declined by more than 20% in Greece, 12% in Spain, and 10% in Italy. However, moderate increases were recorded in Germany, Israel, Russia, Mexico and Sweden. The report also finds that citizens in… Continue Reading

CRS – Unemployment Insurance: Consequences of Changes in State Unemployment Laws

Unemployment Insurance: Consequences of Changes in State Unemployment Compensation Laws – Katelin P. Isaacs, Analyst in Income Security, October 30, 2013 “This report analyzes several types of recent changes to state Unemployment Compensation (UC) programs. Three categories of UC state law issues are considered: (1) changes in the duration of state UC unemployment benefits; (2)… Continue Reading

Report – The evolving value of information management

The evolving value of information management – And the five essential attributes of the modern information professional. “This report is the result of a research study commissioned by both the Financial Times and the Special Libraries Association (SLA), to explore the evolving value of information management in today’s society. Reflecting the opinions of both information… Continue Reading

Apple Reports to Customers on Government Information Requests

Report on Government Information Requests:  “We believe that our customers have a right to understand how their personal information is handled, and we consider it our responsibility to provide them with the best privacy protections available. Apple has prepared this report on  the requests we receive from governments seeking information about individual users or devices in the… Continue Reading