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Daily Archives: July 22, 2015

2015 Global Peace Index reveals increasingly divided world

Institute for Economics and Peace – Peacefulness in Europe reaches an historic high – The Middle East is spiralling into deepening violence – See The 2015 Global Peace Index

  • “Many OECD countries reached historically high levels of peace, boosted by reductions in homicide rates, levels of military expenditure and military engagements.
    Iceland tops the Index as the most peaceful country in the world , Syria is the least peaceful.
  • MENA’s peace now the lowest since 2008, as the region falls to the bottom of the Index for the first time.
  • Growth in terrorist activity spilled over from MENA into Sub-Saharan Africa with largest increases recorded in Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.
  • The intensity of armed conflict increased dramatically, with the number of people killed in conflicts globally rising more than 3.5 times, from 49,000 in 2010 to 180,000 in 2014.
  • Total deaths from terrorism in 2014 increased by 9% to an estimated 20,000.
  • Almost 1% of the world’s population now refugees or internally displaced (IDPs) , the highest level since 1945, and numbers expected to increase.
  • The impact of violence on the global economy reached US$14.3 trillion or 13.4% of global GDP in the last year, equivalent to the combined economies of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the UK.”

Human Capital, Educational Levels and Growth

“Kochav, Yair and Spivak, Avia and Strawczynski, Michel, Human Capital, Educational Levels and Growth (July 21, 2015). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2634006 “This paper analyzes the transition of countries between educational levels in the period 1970-2010 in order to assess the contribution of human capital to the increase of GDP per employee. Using a… Continue Reading

Leaked drone company emails reveal plans to deliver spyware using drones

Cora Currier – The Intercept: “There are lots of ways that government spies can attack your computer, but a U.S. drone company is scheming to offer them one more. Boeing subsidiary Insitu would like to be able to deliver spyware via drone. The plan is described in internal emails from the Italian company Hacking Team, which makes off-the-shelf software that can remotely infect… Continue Reading

Fewer Banking-Related Federal Civil Lawsuits

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “The latest available data from the federal courts show that during June 2015 the government reported 18 new “banks and banking” civil filings. This number has been trending downward since new filings peaked at 79 during November of 2011. If filings continue at the same pace during the remainder of this… Continue Reading

Number of food recalls and costs to business and society are rising

Swiss Re: “Publication finds that the number of recalls per year in the US has almost doubled since 2002 Food contamination costs US health authorities USD 15.6 billion per year; nearly 9 million Americans became sick from contaminated food in 2013 alone Half of all food recalls cost the affected companies more than USD 10… Continue Reading

Social Security Disability Trust Fund Projected Depleted by 2016

“The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds.  The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds are projected to become depleted in 2034, one year later than projected last year, with 79 percent… Continue Reading