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Daily Archives: December 9, 2013

Financial Accounts of the United States, 3rd Quarter 2013

Federal Reserve Statistical Release – Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States. Flow of Funds, Balance Sheets, and Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts, Third Quarter 2013

“Household net worth – the difference between the values of households’ assets and liabilities – was $77.3 trillion at the end of the third quarter of this year, about $1.9 trillion more than at the end of the second quarter. In the third quarter, the value of corporate equities and mutual funds owned by households expanded $917 billion and the value of residential real estate owned by households increased about $428 billion. Domestic nonfinancial debt outstanding was $41.4 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2013, of which  household debt was $13.1 trillion, nonfinancial business  debt was $13.4 trillion, and total government debt was $15.0 trillion. Domestic nonfinancial debt growth was 3.5 percent at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in the third quarter of 2013, about the same as the second quarter pace.”

Fiscal Policy Effects in a Heterogeneous-Agent Overlapping-Generations Economy With an Aging Population

Fiscal Policy Effects in a Heterogeneous-Agent Overlapping-Generations Economy With an Aging Population: Working Paper 2013-07, by Shinichi Nishiyama “Among the models that CBO uses to analyze the economic effects of changes in federal fiscal policy is a life-cycle growth model with overlapping generations of heterogeneous households. In this paper, we extend a similar dynamic model… Continue Reading

Investigation Reveals More Than One Million Requests By Law Enforcement for Americans’ Mobile Phone Data

“As part of his ongoing investigation into wireless surveillance of Americans by law enforcement, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released responses from eight major wireless carriers that reveals expanded use of wireless surveillance of Americans, including more than one million requests for the personal mobile phone data of Americans in 2012 by law enforcement. This… Continue Reading

FTC Launches Redesigned FTC.gov Website

“The Federal Trade Commission today launched a redesigned FTC.gov website that’s easier to use and reader friendly on tablets and smart phones. Users can now sort FTC cases, early termination notices for merger investigations, advocacy filings and other documents by date, type, and more. In addition to enhanced sort and filter functionality, the revised site provides… Continue Reading

The burden of air pollution on years of life lost in Beijing, China, 2004-08

The burden of air pollution on years of life lost in Beijing, China, 2004-08: retrospective regression analysis of daily deaths. BMJ 2013;347:f7139. Published 9 December 2013 “The effects of air pollution on human health have recently attracted increasing concern in China, in part due to the increasing number of days with very high levels of air pollution. In most… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Federal Courthouses, Rail Safety, Reverse Auctions, Immigration Detention, Medicaid

FEDERAL COURTHOUSES – Better Planning Needed Regarding Reuse of Old Courthouses, GAO-14-48, Nov 7, 2013 FISCAL YEAR 2013 AGREED-UPON PROCEDURES – Excise Tax Distributions to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and the Highway Trust Fund, GAO-14-162R, Dec 9, 2013 RAIL SAFETY – Improved Human Capital Planning Could Address Emerging Safety Oversight Challenges, GAO-14-85, Dec 9, 2013 REVERSE AUCTIONS – Guidance Is… Continue Reading

Tech Giants Call for Global Government Surveillance Reform

“The undersigned companies believe that it is time for the world’s governments to address the practices and laws regulating government surveillance of individuals and access to their information. While the undersigned companies understand that governments need to take action to protect their citizens’ safety and security, we strongly believe that current laws and practices need to… Continue Reading

Financial Institutions, the Market, and the Continuing Problem of Executive Compensation

Financial Institutions, the Market, and the Continuing Problem of Executive Compensation, J. Robert Brown Jr., University of Denver Sturm College of Law. November 13, 2013. Financial Institutions, the Market, and the Continuing Problem of Executive Compensation, Americans for Financial Reform and the Roosevelt Institute, Nov. 12, 2013. U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14-06 “The financial crisis of 2008… Continue Reading

Loss of U.S. Wetlands Continues Upward Trend

“NOAA has authored a new report, Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Conterminous United States 2004-2009, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. According to the report’s findings, the coastal watersheds of the continental United States lost wetlands at an average rate of 80,000 acres a year from 2004-2009. That’s approximately seven football fields, every… Continue Reading