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Economic Policy Institute – David Cooper, February 9, 2016: “There is an enduring myth that people who rely on public assistance are unwilling to work. However, there are 41.2 million working Americans (nearly 30 percent of the workforce) who receive public assistance—and nearly half of these workers (19.3 million) have full-time jobs. Not surprisingly, these …
Science Advances 12 Feb 2016: Vol. 2, no. 2, e1500323 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500323 “Freshwater scarcity is increasingly perceived as a global systemic risk. Previous global water scarcity assessments, measuring water scarcity annually, have underestimated experienced water scarcity by failing to capture the seasonal fluctuations in water consumption and availability. We assess blue water scarcity globally at …
“The EBRD [European Bank for Reconstruction and Development] is owned by 65 countries, the European Union and the European Investment Bank. The EBRD President is currently Sir Suma Chakrabarti, who took office in 2012. Each shareholder is represented on the Board of Governors, which has overall authority over the EBRD. Under the guidance of the Board of Directors, the President manages …
Gregory Tassey, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, February 8, 2016 “The most important measure of long-term economic growth is the rate at which we increase productivity, because that is what drives long-term wage growth, writes Gregory Tassey in the Christian Science Monitor. Yet by this metric, the prospects for resurgent growth in the U.S. economy …
Kaiser Foundation: “The U.S. Global Health Budget Tracker is now updated with new data from the President’s budget request. You can use this interactive tool to compare funding levels for different global health program areas, agencies, and initiatives in the just-released President’s request to prior years, and check back to track the Congressional appropriations process …
A Country Breaking Down, Elizabeth Drew, The New York Review of Books: “The near-total failure of our political institutions to invest for the future, eschewing what doesn’t yield the quick payoff, political and physical, has left us with hopelessly clogged traffic, at risk of being on a bridge that collapses, or on a train that …
Household Debt and Credit Report – “The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report provides a quarterly snapshot of household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans and delinquencies. The report aims to help community groups, small businesses, state and local governments and …
Federal Reserve Board Policy Report – Current Report: February 10, 2016 Summary Part 1: Recent Economic and Financial Developments Part 2: Monetary Policy Part 3: Summary of Economic Projections Abbreviations
Social Security Primer, Dawn Nuschler, Specialist in Income Security. February 9, 2016. “The Social Security program was established in the 1930s and has been modified by Congress many times over the years. Today, Social Security provides monthly cash benefits to retired or disabled workers and their family members, and to the family members of deceased …
CRS report – Saudi Arabia: Background and U.S. Relations, Christopher M. Blanchard Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, February 5, 2016. “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ruled by the Al Saud family since its founding in 1932, wields significant global influence through its administration of the birthplace of the Islamic faith and by virtue of its …
“The U.S. unemployment rate reached 10% in October 2009, the highest since 1983, and the peak since the Great Recession ended in June 2009. Since then, unemployment has fallen steadily to its current level of 4.9%. Not all the nation’s industries have recovered at the same pace. Increased job opportunities and wage hikes have been …
Federal spending on highways does not correspond very well with how the roads are used. “CBO examines three approaches lawmakers could consider to make highway spending more productive: “Federal spending on highways (or, synonymously, roads) totaled $46 billion in 2014, roughly a quarter of total public spending on highways. About 95 percent of that amount …
