Category «Financial System»

GAO – Declining Resources: Selected Agencies Took Steps to Minimize Effects on Mission

Declining Resources: Selected Agencies Took Steps to Minimize Effects on Mission but Opportunities Exist for Additional Action, GAO-17-79: Published: Dec 20, 2016. Publicly Released: Dec 20, 2016. “How are agencies responding to smaller budgets? Federal discretionary spending, which funds activities like law enforcement training and worker protection programs, declined by about 12% between fiscal years …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Knowledge Management

CRS Insight – Restrictions on Lobbying the Government: Current Policy and Proposed Changes

Via FAS – Restrictions on Lobbying the Government: Current Policy and Proposed Changes, December 15, 2016 (IN10625). Jacob R. Straus, Specialist on the Congress “During the 2016 presidential campaign, President-elect Donald Trump proposed a series of ethics measures, including several lobbying-related provisions. They are:extending “cooling off” periods on lobbying the government for five years after …

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

A history of global living conditions in 5 charts

“A recent survey asked “All things considered, do you think the world is getting better or worse, or neither getting better nor worse?”. In Sweden 10% thought things are getting better, in the US they were only 6%, and in Germany only 4%. Very few people think that the world is getting better. What is …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Education, Financial System, Food and Nutrition, Health Care, Housing, Poverty

Report – Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy

Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy – Executive Office of the President, December 2016 “Accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will enable automation of some tasks that have long required human labor. These transformations will open up new opportunities for individuals, the economy, and society, but they have the potential to disrupt the current livelihoods of …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Transportation

GAO Report – Social Security Offsets and Older Student Loan Debt Collection

Social Security Offsets: Improvements to Program Design Could Better Assist Older Student Loan Borrowers with Obtaining Permitted Relief, GAO-17-45: Published: Dec 19, 2016. Publicly Released: Dec 20, 2016. “Older borrowers (age 50 and older) who default on federal student loans and must repay that debt with a portion of their Social Security benefits often have …

Subjects: Economy, Education, Financial System, Government Documents

Terrorism Financing Task Force Releases Results of Two-Year Investigation

“The House Financial Services Committee’s Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing on Tuesday released a bipartisan report of its 12 month long probe into the threat terror financing poses to the U.S. financial system…“For the last two years, the Task Force has been examining ways to improve the federal government’s approach to combatting the flow …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

EFF – How to Enable Two-Factor Authentication on PayPal

“For the ninth day of the 12 Days of 2FA, we’ll look at how to enable two-factor authentication on PayPal. No matter where on the web you are doing your last-minute online holiday shopping, you are likely to run into the option to pay with PayPal. PayPal calls 2FA and the associated verification codes “Security …

Subjects: Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Economy, Financial System, Internet

NYT – The Secret Agenda of a Facebook Quiz

The Secret Agenda of a Facebook Quiz, McKenzie Funk, NY Times, Nov. 19, 2016 [Commentary/Op-Ed] “For several years, a data firm eventually hired by the Trump campaign, Cambridge Analytica, has been using Facebook as a tool to build psychological profiles that represent some 230 million adult Americans. A spinoff of a British consulting company and …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Economy, Financial System, Housing, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Marketing, Privacy, Social Media

Child Care: Access to Subsidies and Strategies to Manage Demand Vary Across States

Child Care: Access to Subsidies and Strategies to Manage Demand Vary Across States, GAO-17-60: Published: Dec 15, 2016. Publicly Released: Dec 15, 2016. “According to GAO’s analysis of nationwide data for an average month in 2011-2012 approximately 8.6 million children under age 13 were estimated to be eligible for subsidies under the Child Care and …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Poverty