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Daily Archives: August 14, 2016

Low long-term interest rates as a global phenomenon

Bank for International Settlement – Low long-term interest rates as a global phenomenon by Peter Hördahl, Jhuvesh Sobrun and Philip Turner. Working Papers No 574, August 2016.
“International linkages between interest rates in different currencies are strong, and ultra-low rates have become a global phenomenon. This paper compares how interest rates in advanced economies and in emerging economies are conditioned by two global benchmarks – the Federal funds rate at the short end and the “world” real interest rate at the long end. Real equilibrium policy rates (the natural rate) have fallen in many countries, and short-term rates worldwide have been further depressed by many years of the US policy rate close to zero. Nevertheless, changes in the Federal funds rate have less effect on longer-term rates, and thus on financing conditions, than is often supposed. The decline in the world long-term rate since 2008 has been driven almost entirely by a fall in the world term premium (negative in nominal terms since mid-2014). The world short-term rate expected over the long run has fallen only modestly over the past seven years or so, and is now just over 2% (compared with around 4% pre-Lehman).”

Executive Paywatch 2016

“In 2015, CEOs of S&P 500 Index companies received, on average, $12.4 million in total compensation, according to the AFL-CIO’s analysis of available data. In contrast, production and nonsupervisory workers earned only $36,875, on average, in 2015—a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 335 to 1. Avoiding corporate income taxes is one way CEOs boost their companies’… Continue Reading

IFLA – How libraries contribute to the United Nations 2030 Agenda

Access and opportunity for All – How libraries contribute to the United Nations 2030 Agenda – “In the context of the UN 2030 Agenda, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) believes that increasing access to information and knowledge across society, assisted by the availability of information and communications technologies (ICTs), supports sustainable… Continue Reading

Food insecurity in the US is at 15% according to data

“Food insecurity exists in every county and congressional district in the country. But not everyone struggling with hunger qualifies for federal nutrition assistance. Learn more about local food insecurity and the food banks in your community by exploring data from Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap project.” “Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of… Continue Reading

Report – Data Theft Rising Sharply, Insider Threats Cited as Leading Cause

“New Ponemon Institute Report Finds Most Employees Have Too Much Access, Multiplying Damage When Accounts Are Compromised: August 2016” Closing Security Gaps to Protect Corporate Data: A Study of US and European Organizations – “…IT respondents say insider negligence is more than twice as likely to cause the compromise of insider accounts as any other… Continue Reading

NASA Pulls Together National Data to Sleuth Out Air Traffic Improvement Mysteries

It is mid-2016 – and this has just been implemented – well – welcome Sherlock!: “For the first time ever, air traffic researchers can view and analyze archived flight data collected and merged from all air traffic facilities across the U.S., with fast update rates ranging from one second to 12 seconds for every flight’s… Continue Reading

SCOTUS – how disclosing revisions offers (confers?) benefits

Justices show how disclosing revisions offers (confers?) benefits – Adam Liptak, NYT – “Supreme Court opinions are not set in stone. Justices keep editing them after they are issued, correcting factual errors and even misstatements of law. For decades, those changes were made largely out of sight. But in October, on the first day of… Continue Reading

Updated Circular A-130, Managing Information as a Strategic Resource

White House – OMB: [July 26, 2016] “the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) …releas[ed] an update to the Federal Government’s governing document for the management of Federal information resources: Circular A-130, Managing Information as a Strategic Resource. The way we manage information technology (IT), security, data governance, and privacy has rapidly evolved since A-130… Continue Reading