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Daily Archives: August 25, 2014

“Crisis” Management: Uncertainty and the Workplace

August 2014 EBRI Issue Brief #403 Paperback, 20 pp. Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2014

Executive Summary: “While the nation is now a few years removed from the financial turmoil that led to the so-called Great Recession, “crisis” is a word still much bandied about. Crisis is, after all, something that cries out for swift and decisive action—and the industry of employee benefits has had its fair share of crises. Whether it’s the looming retirement crisis some see (or see for some) on the horizon, the crippling impact of college debt on the finances (and future financial security) of younger Americans, or the health care crisis that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) was designed to forestall (or that some say is destined to create), those at nearly every point of the political spectrum are challenged with the urgency of the need to address the “crisis.” But do current circumstances actually constitute a “crisis”? A review of the dictionary definitions of crisis reveals the following perspectives: “A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point”; an “unstable condition, as in political, social, or economic affairs, involving an impending, abrupt or decisive change”; a “sudden change in the course of a disease or fever, toward either improvement or deterioration.” With that background in mind, each year, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) holds two policy forums that bring together a cross-section of national experts in the benefits field, congressional and executive branch staff, and representatives from academia, interest groups, and labor to examine public policy issues affecting health and retirement benefits. This Issue Brief summarizes the presentations and discussions at EBRI’s 74th Policy Forum held in Washington, DC, on May 15, 2014. Titled “‘Crisis’ Management: Uncertainty and the Workplace,” the symposium featured expert panelists who, along with about a hundred in attendance, examined the current and projected future state of retirement readiness, employment-based health care, and the role that approaches like financial wellness can play in alleviating the strains of uncertainty. Topics included:

  • Never Let a (Retirement) Crisis Go to Waste: What’s Broken, What’s Not, and What to Do About It (or Not).
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: The Impact of the ACA on Employment?Based Health Benefits.
  • Healthy, Wealthy, and Why—In the Midst of Uncertainty—Can Financial Wellness Work?

More information on this, and previous EBRI policy forums, including presentation materials, agendas, and links to webcast recordings are available online at www.ebri.org/programs/policyforums/ 

Same-Sex Marriage: A Legal Background After United States v. Windsor

CRS – Same-Sex Marriage: A Legal Background After United States v. Windsor. Alison M. Smith, Legislative Attorney. August 15, 2014. “The recognition of same-sex marriage generates debate on both the federal and state levels. Either legislatively or judicially, same-sex marriage is legal in more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia. Conversely, many states have statutory or constitutional… Continue Reading

Completing the Bridge to Nowhere: Prioritizing Oil and Gas Emissions Regulations in Western States

Minor, Joel, Completing the Bridge to Nowhere: Prioritizing Oil and Gas Emissions Regulations in Western States (June 9, 2014). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2485890 “America’s energy portfolio is rapidly changing. The hydraulic fracturing boom has spurred domestic oil and gas production, reducing natural gas prices. Natural gas is championed as a “bridge fuel” away from… Continue Reading

Google’s fact-checking bots build vast knowledge bank – New Scientist

Hal Hodson, 20 August 2014, New Scientist – The search giant is automatically building Knowledge Vault, a massive database that could give us unprecedented access to the world’s facts “GOOGLE is building the largest store of knowledge in human history – and it’s doing so without any human help. Instead, Knowledge Vault autonomously gathers and merges information from across… Continue Reading

Trends in producer prices between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail trade establishments

Lana Borgie, BLS – “In contrast to all goods-producing industries and most service-providing industries, establishments engaged in wholesale and retail trade purchase goods primarily for direct resale to other businesses and consumers. The PPI views wholesalers and retailers as suppliers of distributive services (rather than goods), because little, if any, transformation of these goods takes… Continue Reading

PACER is running out of disk space – removes cases from server

NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON PACER – As of August 10, 2014 the following information will no longer be available on PACER:  U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Cases filed prior to January 1, 2010 U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Cases filed prior to CM/ECF conversion U.S. Court of Appeals for the… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Federal Real Property, Regulatory Impact Analysis

FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY: GSA Should Better Target Its Use of Swap-Construct Exchanges, GAO-14-586. Published: Jul 24, 2014. Publicly Released: Aug 25, 2014: “The swap-construct approach can help GSA address the challenges of disposing of unneeded property and modernizing or replacing federal buildings, but various factors could affect future use of the approach. For example, swap-construct can require developers… Continue Reading

Unaccompanied Alien Children – Legal Issues: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

CRS – Unaccompanied Alien Children – Legal Issues: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. Kate M. Manuel, Legislative Attorney; Michael John Garcia; Legislative Attorney. July 18, 2014. “Recent reports about the increasing number of alien minors apprehended at the U.S. border without a parent or legal guardian have prompted numerous questions about so-called unaccompanied alien children (UACs). Some of these questions pertain to… Continue Reading