“The U.S. share of world goods trade might be down, but a new study suggests that American competitiveness is not. In the study entitled Why Is the U.S. Share of World Merchandise Exports Shrinking? Federal Reserve Bank of New York economist Benjamin R. Mandel examines the factors driving the sharp drop in the U.S. share …

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February 2012 Vital Signs Issue: Where’s the Sodium?: “About 90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet. Too much sodium increases a person’s risk for high blood pressure. High blood pressure often leads to heart disease and stroke. More than 800,000 people die each year from heart disease, stroke and …

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Via POGO: Department of Homeland Security OIG – Allegations of Misconduct and Illegal Discrimination and Retaliation in the Federal Air Marshal Service, OIG-12-28, January 2012 “Although individual employees may have experienced discrimination or retaliation, our review does not support a finding of widespread discrimination and retaliation within the Federal Air Marshal Service. However, employees’ perceptions …

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News release: “There were 3.4 million job openings on the last business day of December, up from 3.1 million in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The hires rate (3.1 percent) and separations rate (3.0 percent) were unchanged over the month. The job openings rate has trended upward since the end of …

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Budget and Spending – Air Force and Interior Can Benefit from Additional Guidance When Deciding Whether to Lease or Purchase Equipment, GAO-12-281R, Feb 7, 2012 Bureau of Prisons – Eligibility and Capacity Impact Use of Flexibilities to Reduce Inmates’ Time in Prison, GAO-12-320, Feb 7, 2012 Diesel Pollution – Fragmented Federal Programs That Reduce Mobile …

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News release: “During January, warmer-than-average conditions enveloped most of the contiguous United States, with widespread below-average precipitation. The overall weather pattern for the month was reflected in the lack of snow for much of the Northern Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. This scenario was in stark contrast to Alaska where several towns had their coldest January …

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Monthly Budget Review – Based on the Monthly Treasury Statement for December and the Daily Treasury Statements for January 2012 “The federal government accumulated a budget deficit of $349 billion in the first four months of fiscal year 2012, CBO estimates, $70 billion less than the shortfall recorded for the same period last year. Without …

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Living Well with Chronic Illness: A Call for Public Health Action, January 2012 In the United States, chronic diseases currently account for 70 percent of all deaths, and close to 48 million Americans report a disability related to a chronic condition. Today, about one in four Americans have multiple diseases and the prevalence and burden …

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Solving the Financial and Sovereign Debt Crisis in Europe by Adrian Blundell-Wignall, OECD Journal, Financial Market Trends, volume 2011, Issue 2. “This paper examines the policies that have been proposed to solve the financial and sovereign debt crisis in Europe, against the backdrop of what the real underlying problems are: extreme differences in competitiveness; the …

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News release: “The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the January edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data in the January Housing Scorecard underscore fragility as the overall outlook remains mixed. Inventories of existing …

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