Category «Economy»

Middle class burden for health care costs continues to grow

Morningstar – Anna Louie Sussman – “Growth in overall health-care spending is slowing, but middle-class families’ share of the tab is getting larger, squeezing households already feeling stretched financially. Overall, health-care spending across the economy reached 18.2% of gross domestic product as of June, up from 13.3% in 2000, according to Altarum Institute, a health …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Health Care

EC – Ireland gave illegal tax benefits to Apple worth up to 13 billion pounds

European Commission Press Release: “The European Commission has concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13 billion to Apple. This is illegal under EU state aid rules, because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Ireland must now recover the illegal aid. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of …

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

Collapse W3C Workshop Report: Blockchains and the Web

On August 26, 2016, “W3C published the report of the W3C Blockchains and the Web workshop held on 29-30 June, 2016, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Participants at the workshop found many topics for possible standardization or incubation, including various aspects of identity and proof-of-existence, as well as smaller blockchain primitives that could increase interoperability across …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management

2014 Update of the EBRI IRA Database: IRA Balances, Contributions, Rollovers, Withdrawals, and Asset Allocation

Employee Benefit Research Institute: “This Issue Brief is the sixth annual cross-sectional analysis update of the EBRI IRA Database. It includes results on the distribution of individual retirement account (IRA) types and account balances, contributions, rollovers, withdrawals, and asset allocation in IRAs for 2014, the latest data available. The EBRI IRA Database is an ongoing …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System

Report – Open Source Software and the DOD

Center for New American Security – Open Source Software and the Department of Defense – “This paper discusses where the DoD is already making inroads to use open source development methodologies to shorten time to mission without sacrificing national security. I hope our civilian and uniformed leaders will read it carefully and take it seriously. …

Subjects: Defense, Economy, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Where Does All the Money Go: Shifts in Household Spending Over the Past 30 Years

Brookings – Shifts in Household Spending Over the Past 30 Years, Jun 2016. “Economic progress occurs unevenly, diffusely, and at times unpredictably: whole categories of spending diminish or grow as technology and preferences shift. For instance, as the relative price of clothing has plummeted, the share of spending going to clothing has declined; at the …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Food and Nutrition, Housing, Transportation

The State Pension Funding Gap: 2014

Pew Charitable Trusts, New accounting rules help provide a clearer picture, august 23, 2016 – “The nation’s state-run retirement systems had a $934 billion gap in fiscal year 2014 between the pension benefits that governments have promised their workers and the funding available to meet those obligations. That represents a $35 billion decrease from the shortfall …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System

Preliminary Data on Insurer Exits and Entrants in 2017 Affordable Care Act Marketplaces

Kaiser Family Foundation: “The following charts provide a preliminary picture of the potential effect insurer exits and entrants may have on competition and consumer choice in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. This analysis was done at the request of the Wall Street Journal. Our earlier analysis found that UnitedHealth’s absence from these markets would …

Subjects: Economy, Government Documents, Health Care

Proposal for an Innovative Security for Retirees

Shankar, S. Gowri, Proposal for an Innovative Security for Retirees (August 4, 2016). Journal of Retirement (JOR), Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2828360 [The author] “advocates for the issue of a new US Treasury security to help retirees with modest savings earn a safe, steady retirement income. The proposed new security would pay out …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System

GAO Reports – Patriot Modernization, SEC Conflict Minerals Rule

Patriot Modernization: Oversight Mechanism Needed to Track Progress and Provide Accountability, GAO-16-488: Published: Aug 25, 2016. Publicly Released: Aug 25, 2016. SEC Conflict Minerals Rule: Companies Face Continuing Challenges in Determining Whether Their Conflict Minerals Benefit Armed Groups, GAO-16-805: Published: Aug 25, 2016. Publicly Released: Aug 25, 2016.

Subjects: Congress, Defense, Economy, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Securities Law

GAO Report – Medicare Part B

Medicare Part B: Data on Coupon Discounts Needed to Evaluate Methodology for Setting Drug Payment Rates, GAO-16-643: Published: Jul 27, 2016. Publicly Released: Aug 26, 2016: “In 2015, manufacturers of 29 of the 50 high-expenditure Medicare Part B drugs GAO analyzed offered coupon programs, which reduce the costs patients incur for specific drugs. Part B …

Subjects: Economy, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

Gallup – Millennial Employees: Flight Risk for Companies

J. Brandon Rigoni and Bailey Nelson, Gallup: “Six in 10 millennials say they’re open to different job opportunities, and only 50% plan to be with their company one year from now. For most companies, millennials are a “flight risk.” Given this, organizations need to recognize how millennials search for and select employers — and then …

Subjects: Economy, Internet, Knowledge Management