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“The Safe Cities Index 2015 is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by NEC. The report is based on an index composed of more than 40 quantitative and qualitative indicators. These indicators are split across four thematic categories: digital security; health security; infrastructure safety; and personal safety. Every city in the Index is scored across …
“The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that we study arbitration agreements and provide a report to Congress of our findings. Companies provide almost all consumer financial products and services under written contracts. Arbitration agreements, in those contracts, can require that parties resolve any subsequent disputes through privately-appointed individuals (arbitrators), rather than …
Market Liquidity and Heterogeneity in the Investor Decision Cycle. Richard Bookstaber, Michael D. Foley, Brian F. Tivnan. March 10, 2015. Office of Financial Research Working Paper 15-03. “During liquidity shocks such as occur when margin calls force the liquidation of leveraged positions, there is a widening disparity between the reaction speed of the liquidity demanders …
Almazan, Andres and Martín‐Oliver, Alfredo and Saurina Salas, Jesus, Securitization and Banks’ Capital Structure (March 9, 2015). Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2575508 “Asset securitization offers banks the possibility of altering their capital structures and the financial intermediation process. This study shows that the introduction of securitization is associated …
“Globalization, developments in technology, and new business models are transforming the way products and services are conceived, designed, made, and distributed in the U.S. and around the world. These forces present challenges – lower wages and fewer jobs for a growing fraction of middle-class workers – as well as opportunities for “makers” and aspiring entrepreneurs …
Why do we need both liquidity regulations and a lender of last resort? A perspective from Federal Reserve lending during the 2007-09 US financial crisis, by Mark Carlson, Burcu Duygan-Bump and William Nelson. February 2015. “During the 2007-09 financial crisis, there were severe reductions in the liquidity of financial markets, runs on the shadow banking …
“How much salary do you need to earn in order to afford the principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments on a median-priced home in your metro area? To find out, HSH.com took the National Association of Realtors’ fourth-quarter data for median-home prices and HSH.com’s fourth-quarter average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages to determine how …
Benidickson, Jamie, Climate Change: Canadian Legal and Policy Responses (February 24, 2015). Benidickson, Jamie Environmental Law, 4th (Irwin Law, 2013). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2569113 “The chapter surveys Canadian climate change legislation and policy initiatives by federal, provincial and municipal governments to demonstrate interventions at all levels in response to climate change concern and …
“The federal government ran a budget deficit of $386 billion for the first five months of fiscal year 2015, CBO estimates—$10 billion more than the shortfall recorded in the same span last year. CBO expects that, if lawmakers enact no further legislation affecting spending or revenues, the deficit in 2015 will end up at about …
“As it typically does after the President’s budget is released, CBO has updated the baseline budget projections it published earlier in the year. CBO now estimates that if the laws that currently govern federal taxes and spending generally remain in place, the federal budget deficit will total $486 billion in fiscal year 2015, about the …
Union of Concerned Scientists – “When we think about fossil fuel companies in connection with climate change, we’re likely to focus on the role of their products in generating carbon emissions. But these companies are also, like everyone else, subject to the impacts of climate change. Oil refineries, in particular, are highly vulnerable to climate …
Verstein, Andrew, Insider Trading in Commodities Markets (February 21, 2015). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2568140 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2568140 “In securities markets, insider trading is a crime. In commodities, insider trading is almost completely legal. This divergent treatment has long been accepted as appropriate, given perceived differences between the markets. For example, it has been thought …
