Day archives: August 26th, 2013

Financing Natural Catastrophe Exposure: Issues and Options for Improving Risk Transfer Markets

Financing Natural Catastrophe Exposure: Issues and Options for Improving Risk Transfer Markets, Rawle O. King, Specialist in Financial Economics and Risk Assessment. August 15, 2013 “The federal government has an established institutional framework for disaster preparedness, reduction, prevention, and response—mainly disaster assistance. However, concerns have been expressed about the nation’s increasing exposure and vulnerability to …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

Changing the Federal Reserve’s Mandate: An Economic Analysis

CRS – Changing the Federal Reserve’s Mandate: An Economic Analysis. Marc Labonte, Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy. August 12, 2013 “The Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) current statutory mandate calls for it to “promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” Some economists have argued that this mandate should be replaced with …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

Financial Disclosure by Federal Officials and Publication of Disclosure Reports

CRS – Financial Disclosure by Federal Officials and Publication of Disclosure Reports, Jack Maskell, Legislative Attorney. August 22, 2013 “High-level officials in all three branches of the federal government are required to publicly disclose detailed information concerning their financial holdings and transactions in income-producing property and assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real …

Subjects: Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

DOD – Information Technology and Cyber Operations

Via Steven Aftergood, testimony of director of the National Security Agency and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command: Information Technology and Cyber Operations: Modernization and Policy Issues to Support the Future Force, hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, March 13, 2013 (published July 2013). “Potential adversaries are demonstrating …

Subjects: Congress, Cybercrime, E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management

New SEC Ethics Rule Expands Ban on Former Employee Contact

Bloomberg: “Hundreds of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers and examiners face new obstacles to cashing in on their agency experience under an expanded ethics rule to take effect in January. The change targets the practice of regulators moving to jobs at law firms and investment banks where they capitalize on their SEC relationships. The …

Subjects: Government Documents, Legal Research, Securities Law

Der Spiegel – New leaked NSA documents outline NSA surveillance at UN

Spiegel Online International, Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark: “The NSA documents seen by SPIEGEL also show that the US intelligence agency has managed to penetrate deeply into the UN. In June of last year, a report notes that the NSA had gained access to the UN’s internal teleconferencing system.”

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Patriot Act, Privacy

Case studies and summaries from OCLC Research FAST users survey

FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) Users: Summary and Case Studies, written by Research Assistant Jeff Mixter and Consulting Project Manager Eric Childress, includes case studies of sixteen parties (nine adopters, seven non-adopters) in six countries that have expressed interest in FAST, as well as a profile of OCLC’s own use of FAST. Key highlights …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Pew – Home Broadband 2013

Home Broadband 2013 by Kathryn Zickuhr, Aaron Smith. August 26, 2013 “Some 70% of American adults ages 18 and older have a high-speed broadband connection at home as of May 2013, according to a nationally representative survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. The survey also found that 3% of American …

Subjects: Economy, Education, Intellectual Property

St. Louis Fed’s FRED – New Features

Katrina Stierholz – Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: “In the last few months, many new data series have been added to FRED. The OECD’s Main Economic Indicators are now on FRED, the latest Penn World Tables, more retail trade data. FRED now has 148,000 series from 59 sources and allows users to easily download …

Subjects: E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Internet

FDA finalized the definition of the term “gluten-free”

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized the definition of the term “gluten-free” on food labels, which means all manufacturers that want to use that phrase on their products must adhere to strict guidelines. As stated by the FDA, the term gluten-free now refers to foods that are either inherently gluten-free or foods that …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Health Care

Thank you!