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Daily Archives: January 6, 2014

CRS – In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001

In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001: Claims Against Saudi Defendants Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, December 27, 2013.

“Practical and legal hurdles, including the difficulty of locating hidden al Qaeda members and the infeasibility of enforcing judgments in terrorism cases, hinder victims’ attempts to establish liability in U.S. courts against, and recover financially from, those they argue are directly responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks. Instead, victims have sued numerous individuals and entities with only indirect ties to the attacks, including defendants who allegedly provided monetary support to al Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001. Within the consolidated case In re Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, one such group of defendants was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, several Saudi princes, a Saudi banker, and a Saudi charity. Plaintiffs argued that these Saudi defendants funded groups that, in turn, assisted the attackers. A threshold question in In re Terrorist Attacks was whether U.S. courts have the power to try these Saudi defendants. In August 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed dismissals of all claims against the Saudi defendants, holding that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction over the claims. Specifically, the court of appeals held that in this case, U.S. courts lack: 1) subject matter jurisdiction over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, because the Kingdom is entitled to immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (the FSIA) and no statutory exception to immunity applies; 2) subject matter jurisdiction over the Saudi charity and Saudi princes acting in their official capacities, because they are “agents or instrumentalities” of the Kingdom and thus, under the FSIA, are entitled to immunity to the same extent as the Kingdom itself; and 3) personal jurisdiction over Saudi princes sued in their personal capacities, because the princes had insufficient interactions with the forum to satisfy the “minimum contacts” standard for personal jurisdiction under the Fifth Amendment due process clause.”

Exclusion, Competition, and Regulation in the Retail Loan Market

Melnik, Arie and Shy, Oz, Exclusion, Competition, and Regulation in the Retail Loan Market (October 31, 2013). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2374975 “Exclusion of borrowers from credit markets became a primary concern for regulators during the recovery from the recent recession. We analyze market for loans where loan-making institutions set both interest rates and minimum credit… Continue Reading

The ‘Ignored’ Third Dimension of Corporate Governance

McCahery, Joseph A. and Vermeulen, Erik P. M., The ‘Ignored’ Third Dimension of Corporate Governance (January 5, 2014). Lex Research Topics in Corporate Law & Economics Working Paper No. 2014-1. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2374810 “The separation of ownership and control has always been central in corporate governance debates. A large body of literature has sought… Continue Reading

Social Business: Flat or Hierarchical? A Surprising Answer

Gerald C. (Jerry) Kane: The most effective social businesses may start to look more like organizations that long predate modern corporations — so-called “loosely coupled” organizations such as military, education and religious institutions. “Social media represents an enormous opportunity for most organizations, particularly knowledge-intensive ones. While marketing applications of social media are getting the most attention… Continue Reading

Game-Changing Reforms in Higher Education and the Implications for Business and Financing Models

David A. Bergeron | December 18, 2013: “At a recent convening of the Alliance of States, Complete College America, a national nonprofit dedicated to growing the pool of American college graduates, advocated for the adoption of five of what it calls “game-changer” strategies that could dramatically increase the number of students who successfully complete college. Well-reasoned and artfully explained, one is left… Continue Reading

Study Suggests Recovery in U.S. Is Relatively Vital

NYT – CATHERINE RAMPELL and SHAILA DEWAN: “Academic heavyweights have been debating whether the current United States economy is so sluggish because of too much government stimulus or not enough, or because slower growth had become the norm even before the recession. But maybe these arguments share a faulty premise. The American economy is actually doing reasonably well — at… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – DHS Enforcement Systems, In-Car Location Based Services, Medicaid, GSA Telecommunications

DHS’s Efforts to Modernize Key Enforcement Systems Could be Strengthened, GAO-14-62, Dec 5, 2013 IN-CAR LOCATION-BASED SERVICES – Companies Are Taking Steps to Protect Privacy, but Some Risks May Not Be Clear to Consumers, GAO-14-81, Dec 6, 2013 MEDICAID – Use of Claims Data for Analysis of Provider Payment Rates, GAO-14-56R, Jan 6, 2014 TELECOMMUNICATIONS – GSA Needs to Share and… Continue Reading

Are Recent College Graduates Finding Good Jobs?

Are Recent College Graduates Finding Good Jobs? – Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, and Yaquin Su – New York Fed “According to numerous accounts, the Great Recession has left many recent college graduates struggling to find jobs that utilize their education. However, a look at the data on the employment outcomes for recent graduates over the past two decades suggests that… Continue Reading

NOAA – Cold Outbreak Continues Across Central and Eastern U.S.

News alert: “A bitterly cold, arctic air mass will continue to bring dangerously-low temperatures and wind chill values across the central and eastern U.S. on Monday, with several locations approaching or exceeding record lows. Afternoon highs across the Midwest and Ohio Valley will be below 0F, with wind chill values from the northern Plains to… Continue Reading