Employment Links
Rules Changes for 2023 Baseball; They May Relate to a Quicker, More Exciting Game. What's a Balk Again?
1) PITCH TIMER
• 15 seconds with bases empty; 20 seconds with runners on
• Hitter gets 1 timeout per plate appearance; must be in batter’s box with 8 seconds left
• Pitchers get two disengagements (pickoff attempts or step-offs) per batter; violations are a balk
• Limits on pickoff attempts led to 26% increase in stolen base attempts in Minors
• Pitch timer helped reduce game length by 25 minutes in Minors in ‘22 more »
Federal Reserve Testimony, Bank Oversight: Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
"SVB failed because the bank's management did not effectively manage its interest rate and liquidity risk, and the bank then suffered a devastating and unexpected" run by its uninsured depositors in a period of less than 24 hours. SVB's failure demands a thorough review of what happened, including the Federal Reserve's oversight of the bank. To begin, SVB's failure is a textbook case of mismanagement. The bank had a concentrated business model, serving the technology and venture capital sector. It also grew exceedingly quickly, tripling in asset size between 2019 and 2022. During the early phase of the pandemic, and with the tech sector booming, SVB saw significant deposit growth. The bank invested the proceeds of these deposits in longer-term securities, to boost yield and increase its profits. However, the bank did not effectively manage the interest rate risk of those securities or develop effective interest rate risk measurement tools, models, and metrics. At the same time, the bank failed to manage the risks of its liabilities." more »
Justice Department Advice About Frauds Targeting Seniors: Identity Theft, Medicare/Medicaid, Lottery/Sweepstakes Fraud, and More
From the US Justice Department: "Elder Justice; We are committed to combating abuse, neglect, and financial fraud and scams that target our nation’s older adults and fighting for justice through a robust and holistic response. Environmental Justice: Everyone deserves to live, work, play, worship, or learn in a place free from pollution. Through interagency collaboration, we work to make environmental justice a reality for all communities. Find links to agency-specific databases of funded research, open elder abuse-related solicitations, and selected government reports. A selected reading list of forensic elder abuse research.
A reading list of 14 research papers which provide a broad understanding of elder abuse for attorneys." more »
Congressional Budget Office: Federal Budget Deficit Totals $1.4 Trillion in 2023; Annual Deficits Average $2.0 Trillion Over the 2024–2033 Period
"The cumulative deficit over the 2023–2032 period that we now project is $3 trillion larger than we projected last May, mainly because of newly enacted legislation and changes to the economic forecast that boost interest costs and spending on mandatory programs. Federal debt held by the public is projected to rise from 98 percent of GDP in 2023 to 118 percent in 2033 — an average increase of 2 percentage points per year. Over that period, the growth of interest costs and mandatory spending outpaces the growth of revenues and the economy, driving up debt. Those factors persist beyond 2033, pushing federal debt higher still, to 195 percent of GDP in 2053. The increase in mandatory spending is driven by rising costs for Social Security and Medicare. Total discretionary spending falls in relation to GDP. As the cost of financing the nation’s debt grows, net outlays for interest increase substantially." more »