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Daily Archives: November 30, 2014

Collection of CRS reports released to the public

Congressional Data Coalition, Kevin Kosar – “Something rare has occurred—a collection of reports authored by the Congressional Research Service has been published and made freely available to the public. The 400-page volume, titled, “The Evolving Congress,” and was produced in conjunction with CRS’s celebration of its 100th anniversary this year. Congress, not CRS, published it. (Disclaimer: Before departing CRS in October, I helped edit a portion of the volume.) The Congressional Research Service does not release its reports publicly. CRS posts its reports at CRS.gov, a website accessible only to Congress and its staff. The agency has a variety of reasons for this policy, not least that its statute does not assign it this duty. Congress, with ease, could change this policy. Indeed, it already makes publicly available the bill digests (or “summaries”) CRS produces at Congress.gov. “The Evolving Congress” is a remarkable collection of essays that cover a broad range of topic. Readers would be advised to start from the beginning. Walter Oleszek provides a lengthy essay on how Congress has changed over the past century. Michael Koempel then assesses how the job of Congressman has evolved (or devolved depending on one’s perspective). “Over time, both Chambers developed strategies to reduce the quantity of time given over to legislative work in order to accommodate Members’ other duties,” Koempel observes. “The Evolving Congress“’s 20 remaining essays are devoted to close-up looks at Congress (e.g., Members demography, congressional staff) and how policy gets made (e.g., the rushed establishment of DHS, the perennial extension of tax breaks). All together, the essays inform the reader how Congress, despite its evident dysfunction, does get some things done—often in creative ways. If anything, “The Evolving Congress” provides further evidence that CRS’s reports should be released to the public. Congress and federal policy are complex, often maddeningly so. Freeing CRS’s reports would give the public something tangible in return for the $107 million it pays for CRS’s operations: an oasis of unbiased information in an Internet awash with half-truths and outright buncombe. And unlike most political science research, CRS’s work tends to be easy to read.”

Why Critics of Transparency Are Wrong – Paper

Brookings – Why Critics of Transparency Are Wrong, By Gary D. Bass, Danielle Brian and Norman Eisen. “A number of commentators and academics have recently made the attention-grabbing assertion that excessive openness and transparency are one of the causes of our country’s governance woes. For example, The Atlantic’s David Frum claims that transparency and accountability reforms in government “have weakened… Continue Reading

Global AgeWatch Index ranks countries by how well their older populations are faring

“HelpAge International’s Global AgeWatch Index ranks countries by how well their ageing populations are faring. It is based on four domains that are key enablers of older people’s wellbeing: income, health, capability and enabling environment…The world is ageing fast. By 2030, there will be more people over 60 than under 10. Already there are more… Continue Reading

A User’s Guide to the Shale Gas Drilling Boom

Smith, James L., The Option to Hold a Petroleum Lease by Production: A User’s Guide to the Shale Gas Drilling Boom (November 28, 2014). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2531997 “Most oil and gas leases allow the operator to extend possession for an indefinite period by establishing production in paying quantities. We show how this… Continue Reading

Welfare, Work, and Poverty Status of Female-Headed Families with Children: 1987-2013

CRS – Welfare, Work, and Poverty Status of Female-Headed Families with Children: 1987-2013. Thomas Gabe, Specialist in Social Policy, November 21, 2014 “Eighteen years have passed since repeal of what was the nation’s major cash welfare program assisting low-income families with children, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, and its replacement with a block grant of… Continue Reading

Modifying an Off-the-Shelf Wireless Router for PDF Ballot Tampering

Modifying an Off-the-Shelf Wireless Router for PDF Ballot Tampering – Daniel M. Zimmerman and Joseph R. Kiniry, Galois, Inc., 421 SW 6th Ave., Suite 300, Portland, OR 97204. November 7, 2014 “Abstract – In order to highlight the dangers associated with Internet voting carried out over electronic mail with PDF forms, we show that an off-the-shelf home Internet router can be easily… Continue Reading

Diffusion of Price Information Through Message Volume and Sentiment

Houlihan, Patrick, Diffusion of Price Information Through Message Volume and Sentiment (October 8, 2014). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2527968 “Several market data parameters have been validated to be correlated with asset price changes. In addition, many have been used as independent variables in a variety of models to help explain the direction of future… Continue Reading

Bank Interventions and Options-Based Systemic Risk: Evidence from the Global and Euro-Area Crisis

Londono, Juan M. and Tian, Mary H., Bank Interventions and Options-Based Systemic Risk: Evidence from the Global and Euro-Area Crisis (September 19, 2014). FRB International Finance Discussion Paper No. 1117. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2531686 “Using a novel dataset on central bank interventions to financial institutions, we examine the impact of capital injection announcements… Continue Reading