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Daily Archives: May 5, 2015

March 2015 Trade Gap is $51.4 Billion

News release: “The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in March 2015 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $35.9 billion in February (revised) to $51.4 billion in March, as imports increased more than exports. The previously published February deficit was $35.4 billion. The goods deficit increased $14.9 billion from February to $70.6 billion in March. The services surplus decreased $0.6 billion from February to $19.2 billion in March.”

The Dark Side of Disclosure: Evidence of Government Expropriation from Worldwide Firms

Liu, Tingting and Ullah, Barkat and Wei, Zuobao and Xu, Lixin Colin, The Dark Side of Disclosure: Evidence of Government Expropriation from Worldwide Firms (May 4, 2015). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7254. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2602586 “This paper studies the effects of voluntary accounting information disclosure through auditing on firm… Continue Reading

Driving While ‘Intexticated’: Texting, Driving, and Punishment

Weaver, Russell L. and Friedland, Steven, Driving While ‘Intexticated’: Texting, Driving, and Punishment (May 4, 2015). 47 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 101 2014-2015; University of Louisville School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series No. 2015-09. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2602301 “In this short article, we argue that texting while driving presents a special… Continue Reading

A New Federal Guide to Infrastructure Planning and Design

“Today, the White House is convening the nation’s leading thinkers on infrastructure planning and design to highlight how projects like new roads and transit lines can be designed to foster economic opportunity and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. To help communities seeking to expand their pipelines of well-designed projects, the Administration is… Continue Reading

EPIC Launches State Policy Project

“EPIC has launched the EPIC State Policy Project to track legislation across the county concerning privacy and civil liberties. The EPIC State Project will identify new developments and model legislation. The Project builds on EPIC’s extensive work on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues in the states. The new State Project will focus on student… Continue Reading

2013 ZIP Code Business Patterns

“ZIP Code Business Patterns provides data on the number of business establishments by employment-size class for detailed industries. Statistics are provided for about 40,000 ZIP codes nationwide and include the total number of establishments, employment and payroll for more than 40,000 five-digit ZIP code areas nationwide. In addition, the number of establishments for nine employment-size… Continue Reading

IRS IG – Billions of Dollars in Potentially Erroneous Education Credits Continue to Be Claimed for Ineligible Students and Institutions

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration – Billions of Dollars in Potentially Erroneous Education Credits Continue to Be Claimed for Ineligible Students and Institutions, March 27, 2015. Reference Number: 2015-40-027. “The IRS still does not have effective processes to identify erroneous claims for education credits. Although the IRS has taken steps to address some of… Continue Reading

CFPB Report Finds 26 Million Consumers Are Credit Invisible

“Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a report finding that 26 million Americans are “credit invisible.” This figure indicates that one in every 10 adults do not have any credit history with a nationwide consumer reporting agency. The report also found that Black consumers, Hispanic consumers, and consumers in low-income neighborhoods are more… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Community Development Capital Initiative, Controlled Substances, Unmanned Carrier-Based Aircraft System

Community Development Capital Initiative: Status of the Program Investments and Participants, GAO-15-542: Published: May 5, 2015. Publicly Released: May 5, 2015. Controlled Substances: DEA Needs to Better Manage Its Quota Process and Improve Coordination with FDA, GAO-15-494T: Published: May 5, 2015. Publicly Released: May 5, 2015. Unmanned Carrier-Based Aircraft System: Navy Needs to Demonstrate Match… Continue Reading

Plant Database – UConn

“The University of Connecticut has developed this site dedicated to the ornamental attributes, appropriate use and identification of landscape plants. This site is geared toward the teaching of landscape plants and contains valuable information for students, homeowners and plant professionals. At the core of this site are plant information pages that contain text, photographs, illustrations… Continue Reading