Archive
Global Monitoring Report 2013 : Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Millennium Development Goals
Global Monitoring Report 2013 : Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Millennium Development Goals
Source: World Bank
The Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Millennium Development Goals examines rural-urban disparities in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how urbanization, if managed well, can contribute to the attainment of these goals. The report provides information about the differences in progress toward the MDGs across geographical areas and recognizes that urban populations are better off than their rural brethren. However, unfettered urbanization can cause migrants and the urban poor to end up in slums where attainment of the MDGs lags. GMR 2013 calls for an integrated strategy to better manage the planning-connecting-financing formula of urbanization. Notwithstanding the importance of urbanization in poverty reduction and MDG attainment, rural areas remain a huge challenge—one that underscores the importance of policies that can improve rural livelihoods. The rural-urban spectrum ranges from small towns to large cities. The general experience is that poverty is lowest in the largest cities and considerably higher in smaller towns. The MDGs reflect the basic needs of all citizens, and governments should aim to meet them fully in both urban and rural areas. However, resources are scarce, so priorities must be set and trade-offs made. The report argues that the sequencing of actions be tailored to local conditions when it comes to the degree of urbanization and rural-urban differences in MDG outcomes. The world has met four global MDG targets. New estimates confirm the 2012 reports that MDG 1.a—reducing the $1.25-a-day poverty rate (2005 purchasing power parity)—was reached in 2010, falling below half of its 1990 value. The world also met part of MDG 7.c—to halve the proportion of people without safe access to drinking water—in 2010. MDG 7.d—to improve significantly the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020—was also achieved. Finally, the first part of MDG 3.a—to eliminate gender disparity in primary education— was accomplished in 2010. Global progress on the full MDG 3.a (to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education) is close to being on track. Global Monitoring Report 2013 was prepared jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, with consultations and collaborations with regional development banks and other multilateral partners.
Financial Management: Efforts To Minimize Improper Payments for the Shipment of Household Goods Were Generally Effective But Needed Improvement
Financial Management: Efforts To Minimize Improper Payments for the Shipment of Household Goods Were Generally Effective But Needed Improvement
Source: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General
U.S. Transportation Command officials were taking action to minimize the number of overpayments made on the shipment of household goods by implementing the Defense Personal Property System. However, for the period July 2010 through March 2012, General Services Administration (GSA) post-payment audits identified 15,081 automated invoices and 1,313 paper invoices with potential overpayments that DoD had not detected. The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) did not obtain information from GSA that could assist in identifying and preventing the improper payments. SDDC did not make system change requests to detect payment errors such as statute of limitations violations, duplicate payments, and inaccurate shipping weights. DFAS did not report the overpayments as required by improper payment guidance.
As a result, DoD lost use of $4.6 million of overpayments, and DFAS underreported the number of improper payments.
DFAS identified that 142,636 of 229,411 processed line items contained accounting errors related to shipments of household goods during FY 2012. DFAS accounting technicians manually corrected the errors at a cost of about $2.6 million to the Military Departments and Defense Agencies. The accounting errors occurred primarily because DoD shipment counselors entered invalid accounting data into the Defense Personal Property System.
If the Department made needed improvements to prevent accounting errors within the first year of the 6-year Future Years Defense Program, $13 million of costs can be saved over the remaining 5 years.
Joint Warfighting and Readiness: Better Oversight and Accountability Needed for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command C-12 Aircraft
Joint Warfighting and Readiness: Better Oversight and Accountability Needed for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command C-12 Aircraft
Source: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General
USSOCOM officials did not provide adequate oversight and accountability of the USASOC C-12 aircraft in accordance with DoD guidance. USSOCOM officials did not report the aircraft in their Operational Support Airlift inventory for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s FY 2012 review. In addition, USSOCOM officials did not make the aircraft visible for centralized scheduling. This occurred because USSOCOM, Army G-3/5/7, and USASOC officials expressed confusion about who was responsible for providing oversight and accountability of the aircraft. As a result, USASOC may be operating an underused aircraft in excess of the required Operational Support Airlift aircraft inventory. In addition, DoD is at an increased risk that misuse of the aircraft by senior officials may occur and go undetected.
No-Vacation Nation Revisited
Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research
This report reviews the most recently available data from a range of national and international sources on statutory requirements for paid vacations and paid holidays in 21 rich countries (16 European countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States). In addition to our finding that the United States is the only country in the group that does not require employers to provide paid vacation time, we also note that several foreign countries offer additional time off for younger and older workers, shift workers, and those engaged in community service including jury duty. Five countries even mandate that employers pay vacationing workers a small premium above their standard pay in order to help with vacation-related expenses. Most other rich countries have also established legal rights to paid holidays over and above paid vacation days. We distinguish throughout the report between paid vacation ― or paid annual leave, terms we use interchangeably ― and paid holidays, which are organized around particular fixed dates in the calendar. Our analysis does not cover paid leave for other reasons such as sick leave, parental leave, or leave to care for sick relatives.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
1. Emergency Alerting: Capabilities Have Improved, but Additional Guidance and Testing Are Needed. GAO-13-375, April 24.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-375
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654136.pdf
2. Export-Import Bank: More Detailed Information about Its Jobs Calculation Methodology Could Improve Transparency. GAO-13-446, May 23.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-446
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654805.pdf
3. Defense Acquisitions: Continued Management Attention Needed to Enhance Use and Review of DOD’s Inventory of Contracted Services. GAO-13-491, May 23.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-491
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654816.pdf
4. Defense Infrastructure: Navy’s Analysis of Costs and Benefits Regarding Naval Station Mayport Demonstrated Some Best Practices and Minimally Addressed Other Requirements. GAO-13-501, May 23.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-501
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654821.pdf
Navigating today’s complex business risks” Europe, Middle East, India and Africa Fraud Survey 2013
Navigating today’s complex business risks" Europe, Middle East, India and Africa Fraud Survey 2013 (PDF)
Source: Ernst & Young
Our survey of over 3,000 board members, managers and their teams delivers three clear messages:
Executives and their teams are under increased personal pressure to produce growth in extremely challenging conditions.
Unethical conduct — including fraud, bribery and corruption — in response to this pressure is not just a just a hypothetical risk. One in five respondents have seen financial manipulation occurring in their companies. Fifth-seven percent believe that bribery and corruption are widespread in their country.
Compliance programs work, but not well enough. Companies that do not keep asking the right questions — and demanding answers — are exposing themselves to significant risk.
Special Report: Japan Boldly Resets Its Economy
Special Report: Japan Boldly Resets Its Economy
Source: Knowledge@Wharton (University of Pennsylvania)
Japan is recovering from far more than the tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the global financial crisis: It is also attempting to bounce back from two decades of economic lethargy. The country faced a similar period in the 1920s and early 1930s, leading Japan’s then-finance minister to loosen monetary policy, drive down the yen and increase spending. The economy quickly reversed course. Today, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is taking similar steps. This special report examines the implications of Abe’s new economic policies and analyzes two problem areas — finance and higher education.
Private insurers’ Medicare Advantage plans cost Medicare an extra $34.1 billion in 2012
Private insurers’ Medicare Advantage plans cost Medicare an extra $34.1 billion in 2012
Source: Physicians for a National Health Plan
A study published online today finds that the private insurance companies that participate in Medicare under the Medicare Advantage program and its predecessors have cost the publicly funded program for the elderly and disabled an extra $282.6 billion since 1985, most of it over the past eight years. In 2012 alone, private insurers were overpaid $34.1 billion.
That’s wasted money that should have been spent on improving patient care, shoring up Medicare’s trust fund or reducing the federal deficit, the researchers say.
…
Medicare has contracted with private insurance plans – previously referred to as Medicare HMOs and now called Medicare Advantage plans – since 1985. Such plans, most of them for-profit, currently cover about 27 percent of Medicare enrollees and have been growing at a fast clip. UnitedHealth and Humana are among the largest players in this market, and together operate about one-third of such plans.Medicare pays these privately run plans a set "premium" per enrollee for hospital and physician services (averaging $10,123 in 2012) based on a prediction of how costly the enrollee’s care will be.
The authors find that private insurers have four strategies that make them more costly than the traditional Medicare program.
1. Private plans cherry-pick healthier beneficiaries who cost less to care for, guaranteeing large profits. Although private plans must accept all seniors who choose to enroll, they cherry-pick by selectively recruiting the healthiest seniors through advertising, office location, etc. They also induce sicker ones to disenroll by making expensive care inconvenient.
2. They recruit otherwise healthy seniors with very mild (and inexpensive) cases of sometimes serious conditions – automatically triggering higher premiums for these beneficiaries from the risk-adjustment scheme implemented in 2004, but escaping payments for expensive care. For instance, many seniors have very mild cases of arthritis, heart failure and bronchitis that require little or no treatment.
3. They enroll patients who get most of their care free at the Veteran’s Administration.
4. They heavily lobby Congress to raise their reimbursement. The insurance industry successfully induced Congress and the Bush administration to add bonus payments to Medicare Advantage premiums beginning in 2003.
Building Better Budgets
Source: Smart Growth America
Local governments across the country have compared development strategies to understand their impact on municipal finances. These studies generally compare two or more different development scenarios, and help local leaders make informed decisions about new development based on the costs or revenues associated with them.
Many municipalities have found that a smart growth approach would improve their financial bottom line. Whether by saving money on upfront infrastructure; reducing the cost of ongoing services like fire, police and ambulance; or by generating greater tax revenues in years to come, community after community has found that smart growth development would benefit their overall financial health. Many of these findings have been made publicly available.
No national survey has examined these savings as a whole until now. This report is the first to aggregate those comparisons and determine a national average of how much other communities can expect to save by using smart growth strategies.
Number of U.S. Companies that Reach $100-Million in Annual Revenues Remarkably Stable Over Past 20 Years, According to Kauffman Paper
Source: Kauffman Foundation
The pace at which the United States produces $100-million companies has been stable over the last 20 years despite changes in the economy. However, according to a new Kauffman paper released today, the locations and sectors in which those companies are created are changing.
In the paper, "The Constant: Companies that Matter," Kauffman Foundation Senior Fellow Paul Kedrosky explores the rate and founding locations of companies in the United States that "matter" from 1980 to present.
Kedrosky uses three criteria to define companies that matter: They must be scalable, quickly reaching $100 million or more in revenues; they must be able to generate jobs quickly and broadly; and, they must be disproportionate creators of wealth, both directly through profits and salaries and indirectly through equity.
"Companies unable to reach $100 million in revenues are still relevant to the economy," Kedrosky says. "But the $100-million firms meet an entirely different threshold that gives cities, states and countries an even greater economic advantage."
Anywhere from 125 to 250 companies per year (out of roughly 552,000 new employer firms) are founded in the United States that reach $100 million in revenues. The largest contributors, in percentage terms, are from the consumer discretionary and industrials sectors. Taking into account sectoral contribution to U.S. GDP, the information technology sector produces more $100-million companies than might be expected.
Geographically, the most productive region in terms of $100-million company production is the U.S. southeast (Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana) with the Pacific region (California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii) coming in second. Following closely behind are the Mid-Atlantic and Central regions. Most regions are balanced with regard to sector, except for the Pacific region, which produces only slightly fewer $100-million information technology companies than the rest of the country combined, most of which are in California.
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, April 30-May 1, 2013
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, April 30-May 1, 2013
Source: Federal Reserve Board
The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday released the attached minutes of the Committee meeting held on April 30-May 1, 2013.
The minutes for each regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee ordinarily are made available three weeks after the day of the policy decision and subsequently are published in the Board’s Annual Report. The descriptions of economic and financial conditions contained in these minutes are based solely on the information that was available to the Committee at the time of the meeting.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. VA Education Benefits: VA Needs to Improve Program Management and Provide More Timely Information to Students. GAO-13-338, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-338
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654793.pdf
2. Spectrum Management: Federal Relocation Costs and Auction Revenues. GAO-13-472, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-472
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654795.pdf
Testimonies
1. Government Efficiency and Effectiveness: Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication through Enhanced Performance Management and Oversight, by Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
GAO-13-590T, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-590T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654610.pdf
2. Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Observations on States’ Role, Liabilities at DOD and Hardrock Mining Sites, and Litigation Issues, by David Trimble, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-13-633T, May 22.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-633T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654791.pdf
Tornadoes and Thunderstorms: The 2012 and 2013 Tornado Season
Tornadoes and Thunderstorms: The 2012 and 2013 Tornado Season
Source: Insurance Information Institute
The devastating tornadoes which hit Oklahoma this May bring to the mind a powerful string of tornadoes that hit Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Georgia and 13 other states in 1999. Those tornadoes resulted in $1.5 billion in insured losses ($2.0 billion in 2012 dollars) in all the affected states, according to ISO. The damage to Oklahoma was nearly $1.0 billion ($1.4 billion in 2012 dollars, according to ISO). The costliest U.S. tornado event, based on insured losses, was the 2011 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, tornadoes, which cost $7.5 billion in insured damages (in 2012 dollars). That was the 10th costliest U.S. catastrophe, based on insured losses, according to ISO. The second costliest tornado event, based on insured losses, was the 2011 tornadoes that hit Joplin, Missouri, and other locations. They cost $7.0 billion in insured losses in 2012 dollars. Updated information on 2013 tornadoes from the National Weather Services are posted at http://www.spc.ncep.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/newm.html
Severe U.S. thunderstorms, including tornado events, cost $14.9 billion in insured losses and $27.7 billion in economic losses in 2012, according to Munich Re. The U.S. experiences more tornadoes than any other country in the world, according to a 2013 report by Lloyd’s of London. (See Executive Summary, page 4 of Tornadoes a Rising Risk? for additional findings and statistics).
Public Education Finances: 2011
Public Education Finances: 2011 (PDF)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments and the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances as authorized by law under Title 13, U.S. Code, Sections 161 and 182. The Census of Governments has been conducted every 5 years since 1957, while the annual survey has been conducted annually since 1977 in years when the Census of Governments is not conducted. The 2011 Annual Surveys of State and Local Governments Finances, similar to previous annual surveys and censuses of governments, covers the entire range of government finance activities—revenue, expenditure, debt, and assets (cash and security holdings).
This report contains financial statistics relating to public elementary-secondary education. It includes national and state financial aggregates and displays data for the largest 100 school systems by enrollment in the United States.
Social Media and the Workplace: Legal, Ethical, and Practical Considerations for Management
Social Media and the Workplace: Legal, Ethical, and Practical Considerations for Management (PDF)
Source: Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization
The prevalence, widespread use, and influence of technology in society today, including the workplace, is undeniable. Computers, the Internet, email, and cell phones are now indispensable parts of social interaction as well as business; and their sophistication, uses, and reach are expanding continually. Social media has completely trans formed the life of many, many people. In particular, social media has materially changed the way in which people communicate. Social media affords people readily and easily usable ways to stay in touch with family, friends, colleagues, and co-workers, including the ability to rapidly share information and commentary. Business today is also taking advantage of social media – for marketing, management, and human resource purposes. Furthermore, the conception of the “workplace” has been broadened with the advent of technology an d especially the existence of “telecommuting.” “The increase in work outside the office…has further blurred the boundary between work and home, public and private” (Gelms, 2012, p. 268). Social media, therefore, is being widely used in business and professional as well as persona l settings. Of course, social media sites and accounts can contain some very personal and intimate information about people. Consequently, employers, employees, job applicants, as well as the legal system, are confronting with ever-increasing frequency the advancement of technology, the growth and proliferation of social media, and the challenges and difficulties presented by the use of social media and the modern-day workplace. Courts as well as legislative bodies, however, are now just beginning to address legal claims caused by social media and employment. Moreover, the extensive use of social media in the workplace also raises serious moral and ethical concerns.
Given the popularity, prevalence, sophistication, and ever-growing use of social media, it is no surprise that social media in an employment context raises many difficult, as well as novel, legal, ethical, and practical issues. This article, therefore, is a legal, ethical, and practical examination of social media in employment. The legal section of this article is a very substantive one where the authors extensively address the legal ramifications of social media in the private employment context. Statutory laws – federal and st ate, common law doctrines, as well as proposed federal and state laws, are examined to ascertain their applicability to social media policies and practices in employment. Case law, regulatory law, as well as legal and management commentary, are also examined to determine how a wide variety of laws apply, and could apply, to social media in the workplace. Case illustrations of legal principles being applied to social media workplace disputes as well as hypothetical examples are provided by the authors. As noted , the focus of this article is on the private employment context; however, the authors do briefly address some of the seminal federal constitutional issues that would arise in the public sector workplace. Even if a practice is legal, the question arises, or should arise, as to whether it is moral. Accordingly, the moral concerns regarding social media and the workplace will be addressed in this article through the application of several established ethical theories. The authors define, explicate, and apply these ethical theories to the subject matter of social media and employment to determine whether it is moral to use social media to make employment decisions. These ethical theories will be Ethical Egoism, Ethical Relativism, Utilitarianism, and Kant’s Categorical Imperative. Next, based on the aforementioned legal and ethical analysis, the authors discuss the practical implications for employers, managers, employees, and job applicants. The authors provide some succinct suggestions for employees and job applicants as to proper social media practices. The authors then make extensive recommendations for employers and manager s on how to achieve certain business objectives but without violating the law or treating job applicants and employees in an immoral manner. The authors end their work with a brief summary and some concluding comments and observations. The authors, finally, as a sample in Appendix A, have included a company social media policy approve d by the National Labor Relations Board.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Homeland Security: An Overall Strategy Is Needed to Strengthen Disease Surveillance in Livestock and Poultry. GAO-13-424, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-424
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654750.pdf
Podcast – http://www.gao.gov/multimedia/podcasts/654743
2. Funding for 10 States’ Programs Supported by Four Environmental Protection Agency Categorical Grants. GAO-13-504R, May 6.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-504R
Testimonies
1. Immigration Enforcement: Preliminary Observations on DHS’s Overstay Enforcement Efforts, by Rebecca Gambler, director, homeland security and justice, before the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, House Committee on Homeland Security. GAO-13-602T, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-602T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654753.pdf
2. Telecommunications Networks: Addressing Potential Security Risks of Foreign-Manufactured Equipment, by Mark L. Goldstein, director, physical infrastructure issues, before the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-13-652T, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-652T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654764.pdf
3. Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office, by Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, before the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Senate Committee on Appropriations. GAO-13-617T, May 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-617T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654758.pdf
The Geography of Student Debt
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
This morning, the New York Fed released its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for 2013 Q1. The report uses the FRBNY Consumer Credit Panel to show that outstanding household debt declined approximately $110 billion (about 1 percent) from the previous quarter. The drop was due in large part to a reduction in housing-related debt and credit card balances. Meanwhile, delinquency rates for each form of consumer debt declined, with the overall ninety-plus day delinquency rate dropping from 6.3 percent to 6.0 percent.
One of the unique aspects of the FRBNY Consumer Credit Panel, which is itself based on Equifax credit data, is the detail we obtain for each kind of household debt. This quarter, we have taken advantage of the geographic information available in the data set and are introducing a set of maps of our student loan data, which indicate regional variation in several dimensions of student debt. They depict:
- Student loan borrowers as a share of the population. The population with active student loan debts, or “SL borrowers,” as a share of the population with a credit record varies substantially over space. For example, in Hawaii, less than 12 percent of people with a credit report have student debt, while in the District of Columbia over 25 percent do.
- Student loan balances per SL borrower. Student indebtedness is significant for SL borrowers in virtually all states. Educational indebtedness per SL borrower ranges from a low of just under $21,000 in Wyoming to a high of over $28,000 in Maryland. Again, Washington, D.C., stands out: the average SL borrower there owes over $40,000. In general, we find SL-borrower debt levels are highest in California and along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
- Percent of balance ninety-plus days delinquent. Delinquency rates show a distinct regional pattern, with states in the south and southwest having generally higher rates than those in the north. The lowest delinquency rate is South Dakota, at just over 6.5 percent, while the highest is in West Virginia, at nearly 18 percent.
Student loan indebtedness and delinquency continue to generate intense interest and we look forward to sharing data and perspectives that help define the scope of this important issue.
Memo: Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code – Part 2 (Apple Inc.)
Memo: Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code – Part 2 (Apple Inc.) (PDF)
Source: U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
From press release (Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI):
Apple Inc. has used a complex web of offshore entities – including three foreign subsidiaries the company claims are not tax resident in any nation – to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. income taxes, a bipartisan investigation by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has found.
The subcommittee will spotlight Apple’s extensive tax-avoidance strategies at a Tuesday hearing. Witnesses will include Apple CEO Tim Cook, other Apple executives, Treasury Department officials and outside experts. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., subcommittee chairman and ranking member, respectively, will also issue a 40-page memorandum with findings and recommendations.
The subcommittee, which previously explored tax avoidance by other multinational corporations using offshore subsidiaries, found similar practices at Apple. In addition, the subcommittee review discovered an unusual tax scheme: Apple’s claim that two key offshore companies are not tax residents of Ireland, where they are incorporated, or of the United States, where Apple executives manage and control the companies. One of those Irish subsidiaries has paid no income taxes to any national tax authority for the past five years.
See also: Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code – Part 1 (Microsoft & Hewlett-Packard)
Retirement Security Across Generations: Are Americans Prepared for Their Golden Years?
Retirement Security Across Generations: Are Americans Prepared for Their Golden Years?
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts
This report explores how the Great Recession affected the wealth and retirement security of baby boomers relative to younger and older age groups.
It also explores the retirement security of each group by calculating replacement rates, or the extent to which retirees can use their accumulated wealth and savings to replace preretirement income.
This research reveals that younger age groups face the greatest prospect of downward mobility in their golden years.
New From the GAO
New GAO Report and Press Release
Source: Government Accountability Office
Report
1. Prescription Drugs: Comparison of DOD and VA Direct Purchase Prices. GAO-13-358, April 19.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-358
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654020.pdf
Press Release
1. GAO Fills Vacancy on Health Information Technology Policy Committee May 20.
http://www.gao.gov/press/gao_fills_vacancy_hit_committee.htm
