Category «Economy»

Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters

NOAA – “The U.S. has sustained 341 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including CPI adjustment to 2022). The total cost of these 341 events exceeds $2.475 trillion. In 2022, there were 18 weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect the United States. …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing, Legal Research, Transportation

Too Many Managers: The Strategic Use of Titles to Avoid Overtime Payments

NBER –  Too Many Managers: The Strategic Use of Titles to Avoid Overtime Payments – Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun & N. Bugra Ozel Working Paper 30826. DOI 10.3386/w30826. Issue Date January 2023 – “We find widespread evidence of firms appearing to avoid paying overtime wages by exploiting a federal law that allows them to do …

Subjects: Economy, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

What are Large Global Banks Doing About Climate Change?

What are Large Global Banks Doing About Climate Change? Daniel O. Beltran, Hannah Bensen, Amy Kvien, Erin McDevitt, Monica V. Sanz, and Pinar Uysal. January 2023 – We review the “climate action plans” of Global Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs) and the progress they are making toward achieving them. G-SIBs have identified the drivers of climate …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System

Government watchdog spent $15,000 to crack a federal agency’s passwords in minutes

TechCrunch: “A government watchdog has published a scathing rebuke of the Department of the Interior’s cybersecurity posture, finding it was able to crack thousands of employee user accounts because the department’s security policies allow easily guessable passwords like ‘Password1234’. The report by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior, tasked …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Economy, Government Documents, Internet

Coastal Risk Screening Tool

“An interactive map showing areas threatened by sea level rise and coastal flooding. Combining the most advanced global model of coastal elevations with the latest projections for future flood levels. Flood maps are only as good as the elevation data they’re founded on. We used machine learning to develop CoastalDEM ®, a high-accuracy digital elevation …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Housing, Transportation

The Supply and Demand of Legal Help on the Internet

Hagan, Margaret, The Supply and Demand of Legal Help on the Internet (October 17, 2022). Margaret D. Hagan “The Supply and Demand of Legal Help on the Internet,” Legal Tech and the Future of Civil Justice, edited by David Freeman Engstrom. Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4250390 “Faith in technology as a way …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Economy, Education, Financial System, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Search Engines

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, in talks for tender offer

MarketWatch: “Artificial-intelligence research company OpenAI is in discussions over potentially selling at least $300 million in shares in a tender offer that would give it a roughly $29 billion valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The offering of shares of OpenAI — known for AI programs like the chatbot ChatGPT and the image-generator Dall-E …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Education, Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

New York tells banks to prepare for climate change

“New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris on December 21, 2022 announced new proposed guidance for New York State-regulated banking and mortgage institutions (“Institutions”) to help them manage safety and soundness risks related to climate change. DFS is issuing the proposed guidance to support efforts by Institutions to identify, measure, …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Regulators warn US banks on crypto risks including ‘fraud and scams’ after FTX collapse

CNBC: “U.S. banking regulators warned financial institutions on Tuesday that dealing with cryptocurrency exposes them to an array of risks, including scams and fraud. “The events of the past year have been marked by significant volatility and the exposure of vulnerabilities in the crypto-asset sector,” the regulators said in a joint statement from the Federal …

Subjects: Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

The History of the House – McCarthy loses speaker bid in third vote

Update, January 7, 2022 – McCarthy elected House speaker after historic battle with GOP rebels “The House has a webpage devoted to its history titled History, Art & Archives. “This site is a collaborative project between the Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House’s Office of Art and Archives. Together, the offices …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation