From the Report:

Health spending in the United States grew 6.1 percent in 2007, to $2.2 trillion or $7,421 per person. This was the slowest rate of growth since 1998 and 0.6 of a percentage point lower than the growth of 6.7 percent in 2006, according to a report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Health care spending, however, continues to outpace overall economic growth, which grew by 4.8 percent in 2007.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

From the News Release:

After holding fairly stable for a year, pending home sales declined in the face of job losses and an eroding economy, according to NAR.

Source: National Association of Realtors

Direct to Complete Report (14 pages; PDF)

Source: U.S. Treasury

From the News Release:

U.S. commercial and recreational fishing generated more than $185 billion in sales and supported more than two million jobs in 2006, according to a new economic report released by NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

Direct to Complete Report: Fisheries Economics of the United States 2006

Source: NOAA

From the Web Site:

The ILHM Luxury Market Report is a snapshot of the national luxury market. Like the Case-Shiller Composite Index and other national indices, it is a bundle of data from markets around the country that give a simplified view and try to get at the question of what’s happening in the marketplace.

The report covers 30 U.S. Markets.

Direct to Exec Summary of 1/3/2009 Report (4 pages; PDF)

Source: ILHM

New from the UK House of Commons Library: Shipping Piracy (5 pages; PDF)

This Note gives a brief overview of the problems facing UK and world shipping from piracy and armed robbery at sea: in 2007-08 there have been increasing incidents of piracy taking place in the waters off failed states, particularly Somalia. It gives a summary of action being taken by both the UK Government and international organisations and also provides some historical background.

Source: UKHOCL

From the Brief (PDF):

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.6% in December 2008 according to a flash estimate issued by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. It was 2.1% in November.

Source: eurostat

Federal Biomass Board Releases Biofuel Feedstocks Report
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

The interagency Biomass Research and Development Board today released a report on the economic feasibility of developing both farm- and forest-derived biofuel feedstocks to meet national targets for biofuels to reduce gasoline consumption.

Among the report’s overall conclusions is that new technologies resulting from research and development are the linchpin to developing a sustainable biofuel industry that meets national targets. Last year’s energy bill set out a Renewable Fuels Standard that calls for production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels annually by 2022.

+ Full Report (PDF; 9.7 MB)

Clean Energy Poised to Phase Out Coal and Avert Catastrophic Climate Change
Source: Worldwatch Institute

New technologies will permit rapid decarbonization of the world energy economy in the next two decades, according to a new report from the Worldwatch Institute. These new energy sources will make it possible to retire hundreds of coal-fired power plants that now provide 40 percent of the world’s power by 2030, eliminating up to one-third of global carbon dioxide emissions while creating millions of new jobs.

“We no longer need to say ‘in the future’ when talking about a low-carbon energy system,” says Christopher Flavin, President of Worldwatch and author of the report, Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap. “These technologies-unlike carbon-capture facilities-are being deployed now and are poised to make the most carbon-intensive fossil fuels obsolete.”

Reducing dependence on fossil fuels will not only strike a defiant blow to the climate crisis, it will also act as an agent of recovery for an ailing global economy. Rebuilding the global energy system has the potential to create thousands of new businesses and millions of new jobs, starting immediately.

+ Summary
+ Full Report (PDF; 2.4 MB)

Agencies Revise Guidance to Protect Wetlands and Streams
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army are issuing revised guidance to ensure America’s wetlands, streams and other waters are better protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The guidance clarifies the geographic scope of jurisdiction under the CWA.
…
The revised guidance replaces previous policy issued in June 2007 and clarifies a June 2006 Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v. United States regarding the scope of the agencies’ jurisdiction under the CWA. The guidance follows the agencies’ evaluation of more than 18,000 jurisdictional determinations and review of more than 66,000 comments.

+ Clean Water Act Definition of “Waters of the United States”

Is CalPERS a Sovereign Wealth Fund?
Source: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are the subject of intense debate. While these funds are hard to define in precise terms, all agree they are government-sponsored pools of financial assets. With roughly $3 trillion under management today and forecasts that suggest this number could approach $10 trillion in under a decade, many wonder what role these public investment funds will play in private markets. Due to SWFs’ government sponsorship, some fear that they will be used illegitimately to advance political, instead of commercial, agendas. This geopolitical concern is compounded by a general lack of transparency and a perception among Western analysts of weak accountability and poor governance practices.

These fears are inspiring new rules designed to govern and regulate these institutions, and a series of new policy initiatives at the national and international level are in various stages of consideration and implementation. For example, the U.S. Congress has held hearings and established a taskforce to determine if SWFs are a threat that requires new regulation. Australia and Germany have enacted new rules that address SWF investments. The International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds, with the assistance of the IMF, has developed the voluntary ‘generally accepted principles and practices’ for SWFs (also known as the Santiago Principles)…

+ Full Document (PDF; 180 KB)

What’s for Dinner? Consumers seek answers about the food they eat
Source: Deloitte LLP

Food and product safety is one challenge that companies cannot risk ignoring given the increasing number of safety breakdowns being covered in the news and consumers’ growing unease with the food and products available for purchase. Consumers’ concerns in fact extend to just about every item that is consumed, whether crops, meat, seafood, product ingredients or food additives. The challenge is clear — a focus on a food and product safety program that protects our clients’ brands and their consumers is not just an option but a necessity.

To help companies better understand consumers’ concerns around the food they eat, Deloitte LLP commissioned a survey of 1,110 consumers in 2008. Several of the results suggested strong concerns from consumers. In particular, large percentages of respondents expressed food safety fears and many wanted to see more information on the foods they purchased.

+ What’s for Dinner? (PDF; 130 KB)
+ 2008 Deloitte Food Safety Survey (PDF; 229 KB)

Free registration required.

Service Scripting: A Customer’s Perspective of Quality and Performance
Source: Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, Center for Hospitality Research

Many hospitality services are scripted, under the theory that scripts are an efficient method of ensuring a consistent level of service quality. However, few empirical studies have examined how the use of scripts affects the customer’s view of service quality. Using videotape scenarios in an experimental setting, this study tests the effects that scripts have on perceptions of service quality in two types of hotel service interactions—namely, a standardized encounter (in this case, check-in) and a customized encounter (i.e., concierge service). As a starting point, this study found that customers are able to detect when scripts are in use in both kinds of interactions. Moreover, the study points out the value of taking customers’ views into account when designing services. For the standardized interaction, respondents to this study reported no difference in their perceptions of service quality regardless of whether the scenario was highly scripted, moderately scripted, or relaxed (essentially, improvised). In contrast, for the concierge service, respondents perceived that a heavy use of scripting diminished service quality. At the same time, a moderate or relaxed approach to scripting for the customized concierge scenarios had no effect on respondents’ perception of service quality. This study suggests that hotel managers should be circumspect in scripting customized encounters, but may apply scripts to standardized services without diminishing perceptions of service quality.

+ Full Report (PDF; 700 KB)

Free registration required.

Parliamentary approval for deploying the armed forces (PDF; 396 KB)
Source: House of Commons Library Research Papers

In March 2008 the Government published its White Paper on the Governance of Britain. As part of the wider proposals for constitutional reform contained in that paper, the Government has proposed that Parliament be given a formal role in approving the deployment of the Armed Forces in situations of armed conflict. The Government proposed that that role would be established by a Resolution of the House of Commons.

This paper examines the debate on the Royal prerogative and parliamentary approval thus far, what the Government has proposed in its White Paper and some of the issues that may be considered in any debate determining the final text of the Resolution. For comparative purposes it also examines the legislative procedures for deployment of the Armed Forces in a selection of other countries.

From the Web Site:

“Dysfunctional” is the adjective ascribed to the New York State Legislature by two reports issued by the Brennan Center for Justice: The New York State Legislative Process: An Evaluation and Blueprint for Reform released in 2004 and the follow up, Unfinished Business: New York State Legislative Reform 2006 Update.

The legislative leadership largely dismissed the findings of the 2004 report. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told the New York Times, “Nothing happens here in Albany, in the Assembly, without the input of the rank-and-file legislators.” Joe Bruno, who recently left the Senate after serving for 14 years as its Majority Leader, called the report “pure nonsense” and equated a more democratic process with that of a Third World country.

Yet when the Legislature came back into session in early 2005, the Leaders announced rules changes-the first time in a generation-accompanied by self-congratulatory fanfare. In press releases that described the reforms’ aspirational effect on the Legislature, the Assembly Speaker and Senate Majority Leader claimed that the new rules would usher in an era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability. The Senate even went so far as to claim that it addressed most of the recommendations made by the Brennan Center.

+ Direct to Complete Report (PDF)

+ Direct to Summary of Findings and Recommendations (44 pages; PDF)

+ Learn More About the Authors

Source: Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law