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Daily Archives: April 9, 2016

IMF – The Big Squeeze Global Population Pressures

Demographic Upheaval Finance & Development, March 2016, Vol. 53, No. 1. David E. Bloom. “The world will struggle with population growth, aging, migration, and urbanization.”

Humankind is being buffeted by the forces of demographic change. The most prominent changes are rapid population growth in some developing economies and shifting shares of adolescents and young adults in others, increasing longevity and population aging throughout the world, and urbanization and international migration. All pose formidable challenges—threatening economic growth, fiscal stability, environmental quality, and human security and welfare. But none are insurmountable. They will be best dealt with if public and private policymakers act decisively, collaboratively, and soon. That includes reform of retirement policy, development of global immigration policy, provision of contraception to many millions of women, and further improvements in child survival and treatment of chronic disease.”

Congressional Directory of the 114th Congress

“March 16, 2016 – GPO releases the official directory of the 114th U.S. Congress. The Congressional Directory is the official directory of the U.S. Congress, prepared by the Joint Committee on Printing, and includes: Short biographies of each member of the Senate and House, listed by state or district. Committee memberships, terms of service, administrative… Continue Reading

Mother Jones profiles the subprime car loan industry

Via Mother Jones – Car Trouble – A subprime boom, insane interest rates predatory lending, a private-equity frenzy. Sound familiary. by Gary Rivlin “While the subprime auto market is nowhere near large enough to bring down the economy, there are unmistakable parallels to the mortgage debacle. Delinquencies and repossessions are on the rise industry-wide, and… Continue Reading

The Hidden Wealth of Nations

The Hidden Wealth of Nations – Gabriel Zucman, Assistant professor, UC Berkeley. September 2015, University of Chicago Press. The book: Presentation slides (short, long) Introduction Table of contents Tables and figures included in the book Supplementary material: Technical appendix  Global offshore wealth: computation of the world’s offshore wealth since 2001 Switzerland: offshore wealth in Switzerland since 1914 Luxembourg:… Continue Reading

National Geographic explores the evolution of Yellowstone Park

A new article, rich in narrative and photographs, documents the struggles, successes and setbacks experienced by the diverse and often rare natural inhabitants of the unique Yellowstone Park habitat. Although stories abound of ranchers and visitors being attacked and even killed by animals including wolves and bears, the truth behind the statistics is strikingly and… Continue Reading