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U.S. Reference Service
Public Affairs Section
U.S. Embassy in Australia
January 2009
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International economic relations
and trade
Defense and international
security
Environment
and climate change
Media, communications and information
technology
U.S. Presidential
Transitions
eJournal USA, January 2009
http://www.america.gov/publications/ejournalusa/0109.html
eJournal USA is an electronic journal of the U.S. Dept
of State, Bureau of International Information Programs. Feature stories in this issue include “A
Checklist for New Presidents”, “Personnel is Policy”, “Early Challenges for a
New Administration”, and “The President and the Press.” The full text in PDF format is at http://www.america.gov/media/pdf/ejs/0109.pdf.
For
a wealth of online material about the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, please
visit the Foreign Press Center website at http://fpc.state.gov/
The
official website of the Office of the President-Elect is at http://change.gov/
The
USRS e-resource page on the Transition is at http://canberra.usembassy.gov/irc/transition.html
A Guide to the
Presidential Inauguration: Barack Obama, 44th President of the
United States
Foreign
Press Center, U.S. Dept of State, January 2009
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/113868.pdf
“I Do Solemnly
Swear”: A Half Century of Inaugural Images
U.S.
Senate, January 2009
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/common/image_collection/inauguration_slideshow.htm
Inauguration Facts
and Firsts
Joint
Congressional Committee on inaugural ceremonies, January 2009
http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/index.cfm
Inaugural
information from the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian
Institution, January 2009
http://newsdesk.si.edu/kits/si_inaguration/default.htm
The 111th Congress
http://fpc.state.gov/c20174.htm
A compilation, by the Foreign Press Center of the
U.S. Dept of State, of links to resources about the new U.S. Congress which
convened on January 6, 2009.
Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile
Congressional Research Service, December 31,
2008
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40086_20081231.pdf
This 10-page publication provides statistics on the
occupations and demographics of the new Congress.
Faith on the Hill: The Religious Affiliations of Members of
Congress
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, December 19,
2008
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=379
This brief analysis looks at the religious
composition of the incoming 111th Congress, and also examines trends
over time in this respect.
Communicating with Congress: Recommendations for Improving the
Democratic Dialogue
Congressional Management Foundation, 2008
http://www.cmfweb.org/storage/cmfweb/documents/CMF_Pubs/cwc_recommendationsreport.pdf
Mending the Broken Branch: Assessing the 110th Congress,
Anticipating the 111th
Sarah A. Binder, Thomas E. Mann, Norman J. Ornstein
and Molly Reynolds, Brookings Institution, January 2009
There is a summary at
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2009/0108_broken_branch_binder_mann.aspx
The Crisis and the
Policy Response
Speech
by Ben S. Bernanke, chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve, in London, January 13,
2009
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20090113a.htm
The Financial
Markets Crisis and the Troubled Assets Relief Program
Address
by U.S. Interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability
Neel Kashkari, January 13, 2009
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp1349.htm
The U.S. Economic
Outlook: The Aftermath of Leverage
Address
by Thomas M. Hoenig, president, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, January 7,
2009
http://www.kansascityfed.org/speechbio/hoenigPDF/CentralExch01.07.09.pdf
Treasury Releases
Congressional Report on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act
U.S.
Dept of the Treasury, January 6, 2009
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp1342.htm
The
text of the report is at
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/reports/0010508105_a_report.pdf
and covers the period December 1-31, 2008
The Treasury
Department’s Program in Implementing the Troubled Asset Relief Program
Remarks
by U.S. Interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability
Neel Kashkari, January 8, 2009
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp1347.htm
The Budget and
Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2009 to 2019
Congressional
Budget Office, January 2009
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9957/01-07-Outlook.pdf
Financial
Regulation: A Framework for Crafting and Assessing Proposals for Modernizing the Outdated U.S. Financial Regulatory System
Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report, January 2009
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09216.pdf
Historical
Perspectives on the Current Economic and Financial Crisis
Speech
by Richard R. Fisher, president and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas,
December 12, 2008
http://dallasfed.org/news/speeches/fisher/2008/fs081218.cfm
The Financial
Tsunami and the Federal Reserve
Address
by Charles I. Plosser, president and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia,
December 2, 2008
The Financial
Crisis: A Timeline of Events and Policy Actions
http://www.stlouisfed.org/timeline/default.cfm
A web page of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
The Recession in
Perspective
Federal
Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, undated (2008 or 2009)
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/studies/recession_perspective/index.cfm
This
web page compares the current economic downturn with the ten previous
recessions which have occurred in the United States since 1946.
Financial Market
Turmoil and U.S. Macroeconomic Performance
Congressional
Research Service report, December 3, 2008
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/113558.pdf
The State of
American Business 2009
U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, January 2009
http://www.uschamber.com/assets/09sab.pdf
The Conference
Board Finds Changes Underway in CEO Compensation
Press
release, The Conference Board, December 24, 2008
http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3547
The
full report is available from The Conference Board for a fee.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC
RELATIONS and TRADE
Raising Capital:
The Role of Sovereign Wealth Funds
Anna
L. Paulson, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago Fed Letter, January 2009
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/fedletter/cfljanuary2009_258.pdf
Highlights of Bush
Administration Trade Accomplishments
Fact
sheet, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, December 2008
http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Fact_Sheets/2008/asset_upload_file570_15256.pdf
U.S.-Asia Economic
Relations
Address
by U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury David H. McCormick at the Asia Society,
New York, December 16, 2008
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp1329.htm
2008 Report to
Congress on China’s WTO Compliance
Office
of the U.S. Trade Representative, December 2008
http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2008/asset_upload_file192_15258.pdf
Shifts in U.S.
Merchandise Trade 2007
U.S.
International Trade Commission, January 2009
http://www.usitc.gov/tradeshifts/2008/default.htm
There
is a news release at
http://www.usitc.gov/ext_relations/news_release/2009/er0107gg1.htm
Iraq in the Obama Administration
Briefing,
U.S. Institute of Peace, December 2008
http://63.104.169.51/articles/1012013.1009/1.PDF
There
is a summary at
http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2008/1218_iraq_obama.html
U.S.-Iraq
Withdrawal/Status of Forces Agreement: Issues for Congressional Oversight
Congressional
Research Service, December 12, 2008
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/113556.pdf
Understanding
Iran
Jerrold
D. Green, Frederic Wehrey, and Charles Wolf Jr., RAND, 2009
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG771.pdf
There
is a summary at
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG771/?ref=homepage&key=t_iranian_statue
The Rise of the
Pasdaran: Assessing the Domestic Roles of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
RAND,
2009
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.pdf
There
is a summary at
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG821/
Hamas and Israel:
Conflicting Strategies of Group-Based Politics
Sherifa
Zuhur, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, December 2008
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB894.pdf
There
is a brief summary at
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=894
and a longer summary at
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/abstract.cfm?q=894
The Future of
Afghanistan
Edited
by J. Alexander Their, U.S. Institute of Peace, 2009
http://www.usip.org/peaceops/afghanistan/foa.pdf
There
is a summary of this 124-page book at
http://www.usip.org/peaceops/afghanistan/book.html,
and information about the U.S. Institute of
Peace Future of Afghanistan Project
at
http://www.usip.org/peaceops/afghanistan/future.html
DEFENSE and INTERNATIONAL
SECURITY
Challenges to
Military Operations in Support of U.S. Interests: Volume II: Main Report
U.S.
Dept of Defense, December 2008
http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2008-12-2007_SS_Vol_II.pdf
A
shorter version of this 505-page report is Volume I, online at
http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2008-12-2007_SS_Vol_I.pdf
The Congressional
Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States: Interim Report
The
Commission, December 15, 2008
http://www.usip.org/strategic_posture/sprc_interim_report.html
This
report, facilitated by the U.S. Institute of Peace, is in PDF format at
http://www.usip.org/strategic_posture/sprc_interim_report.pdf
and there is a news release at
http://www.usip.org/newsmedia/releases/2008/1215_strategic_posture.html
Long-Term
Implications of the Fiscal Year 2009 Future Years Defense Program
Congressional
Budget Office, January 2009
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9953/01-06-DefensePlans.pdf
Enhancement by
Enlargement: The Proliferation Security Initiative
Charles
Wolf Jr, Brian G. Chow, and Gregory S. Jones, RAND, 2008
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG806.pdf
This
82-page report looks particularly at the perspectives of what it sees as five
key “hold-out” nations which have not joined the PSI: China, Malaysia,India, Pakistan and China.
There
is a summary at
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG806/
Strategy
A
partly annotated bibliography with hyperlinks, by the Muir S. Fairchild
Research Information Center, December 2008
http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/strategy08.htm
ENVIRONMENT and CLIMATE CHANGE
Breathing Easier:
Cap and Trade Lowers Smog Levels in Eastern United States
News
release, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), December 17, 2008
This
refers to the NOx Budget Program 2007 Progress Report, online at
http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/progress/nbp07.html
Abrupt Climate Change
A report by the U.S. Climate Change Program and the
Subcommittee on Global Change Research. U.S. Geological Survey, December
2008
http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap3-4/final-report/default.htm
There
is a news release about this 477-page report at
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2091
A U.S.-centric
Chronology of the International Climate Change Negotiations
Congressional
Research Service, December 1, 2008
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/113563.pdf
Iowa Climate Change
Advisory Council. Final Report
Iowa
Climate Change Advisory Council, December 2008
http://www.iaclimatechange.us/ewebeditpro/items/O90F20723.pdf
The
Appendices to this report are in a separate volume at
http://www.iaclimatechange.us/ewebeditpro/items/O90F20699.pdf
The
news release by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is at
http://www.iaclimatechange.us/ewebeditpro/items/O90F20724.pdf
NOAA: 2008
Temperature for U.S. Near Average, Was Coldest Since
1997; Below Average for December
News
release, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Dept of
Commerce, January 8, 2009
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090108_decemberstats.html
HHS in the 21st
Century: Charting a New Course for a Healthier America
A committee of the Institute of Medicine. National Academies
Press, 2008
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12513
Chapters
of this 312-page book can be read online at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12513#toc
and there is a summary at
http://www.iom.edu/CMS/28312/55311/60704.aspx
State of the USA
Health Indicators: Letter Report
A committee of the Institute of Medicine. National Academies
Press, 2008
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12534
The
text of this 100-page report can be read online at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12534#toc
and there is a news release at
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12534
Budget Options:
Volume I: Health Care
Congressional
Budget Office, December 2008
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9925/12-18-HealthOptions.pdf
Key Issues in
Analyzing Major Health Insurance Proposals
Congressional
Budget Office, December 2008
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9924/12-18-KeyIssues.pdf
Expert and Consumer
Evaluation of Consumer Medication Information, 2008
Final
Report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and
Drug Administration, November 4, 2008
http://www.fda.gov/cder/news/CMI/final_report.pdf
There
is a summary of this 50-page report at
http://www.fda.gov/cder/news/CMI/executive_summary.pdf,
a press release (December 16, 2008) at
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01926.html,
and further material on consumer medication
information at
http://www.fda.gov/cder/news/CMI/default.htm
A Briefing on
Health Technology Assessment
California
Research Bureau, December 2008
http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/08/08-019.pdf
Adolescent Health
Care: Missing Opportunities
Report
of a committee of the National Research Council, 2008
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12063
Chapters
of this 368-page report can be read online at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12063#toc,
There
is a news release at
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12063,
and the report in brief (4 pages) is at
http://www.bocyf.org/ahc_brief.pdf
Celebrating Life:
Fifth Annual Report to Congress on PEPFAR
U.S.
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), January 2009
http://www.pepfar.gov/press/fifth_annual_report/index.htm
Remarks
by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the release of this report are
at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009/01/113778.htm
The World Can’t
Wait: More Funding Needed for Research on Neglected Infectious Diseases
Families
USA, December 2008
http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/global-health/the-world-cant-wait.pdf
There
is an introduction to this 68-page publication at http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/world-cant-wait/introduction.html
and a press release at
The
report looks at spending on research into African sleeping sickness,
Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, cholera, dengue,
leishmaniasis, malaria and tuberculosis.
Job Loss and
Infrastructure Job Creation during the Recession
Congressional
Research Service, December 23, 2008
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40080_20081223.pdf
Factors Underlying
the Decline in Manufacturing Employment Since 2000
Congressional
Budget Office, December 23, 2008
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/97xx/doc9749/12-23-Manufacturing.pdf
There
is a summary of this 8-page issue brief at
Involuntary
Part-Time Work on the Rise
Bureau
of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept of Labor, December 2008
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils71.pdf
Women in the Labor
Force: A Databook
Bureau
of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept of Labor, December 2008
http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook2008.htm
Lifetime Losses:
The Career Wage Gap
Jessica
Arons, Center for American Progress Action Fund, December 2008
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/pdf/equal_pay.pdf
There
is a news release at
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/lifetime_losses.html
The Measure of
America: American Human Development Index
American
Human Development Project, 2008
http://map.measureofamerica.org/maps.aspx
This
provides interactive maps of a range of U.S. social and economic indicators, by
state and by congressional district.
There
is a review at
http://www.gale.cengage.com/reference/peter/200811/measure_of_america.htm
Measuring Poverty
and Economic Inclusion
The
Current Poverty Measure, the NAS Alternative, and the Case for a Truly New
Approach
Shawn
Fremstad, Center for Economic and Policy Research, December 2008
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/2008-12-Measuring-Poverty-and-Economic-Inclusion.pdf
There
is a news release at
A Year-End Look at
the Economic Slowdown’s Impact on Middle-Aged and Older Americans
AARP
(American Association of Retired Persons), January 2009
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/economic_slowdown_09.pdf
There
is a summary at
http://www.aarp.org/research/economy/trends/economic_slowdown_09.html
Social Security
Reform: Work Incentives
U.S.
Dept of the Treasury, January 2009
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/reports/treasury%20ss%20issue%20brief%20no%20%206.pdf
This
is the sixth and final issue brief in a series by the U.S. Dept of the Treasury
on Social Security reform.
Converting Retirement
Savings into Income: Annuities and Periodic Withdrawals
Congressional
Research Service, December 1, 2008
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40008_20081201.pdf
The Impact of
Broadband on Senior Citizens
U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, December 2008
http://www.uschamber.com/assets/env/broadbandseniors.pdf
There
is a news release about this 57-page report at
http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2008/december/081222_broadband.htm
Building an
Americanization Movement for the Twenty-First Century
A
Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on New Americans,
December 2008
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-708.pdf
There
is a news release about this 80-page report at http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/taskforce_18dec2008.pdf
CIS Ombudsman Study
and Recommendations on Naturalization Oath Ceremonies
U.S.
Dept of Homeland Security, December 16, 2008
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/cisomb_naturalization_recommendation_2008-12-16.pdf
There
is a news release about this 13-page report at
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1229520298190.shtm
Americans Claim to
Like Diverse Communities but Do They Really?
Paul
Taylor and Richard Morin, Pew Research Center, December 2, 2008
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1045/americans-claim-to-like-diverse-communities-but-do-they-really
The Supply Side of
Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention
Draft
working paper by William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln. Harvard Business
School,
December
2008
http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-005.pdf
State Arts Policy:
Trends and Future Prospects
Julia
F. Lowell, RAND, 2008
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG817.pdf
There
is a brief summary of this publication at
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG817/
All America’s a
Stage: Growth and Challenge in Nonprofit Theater
National
Endowment for the Arts, December 2008
http://www.nea.gov/research/TheaterBrochure12-08.pdf
There
is a news release about this 8-page publication at
http://arts.endow.gov/news/news08/Theater.html
Humanities
Indicators
A
prototype project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, January
2009
http://www.humanitiesindicators.org/
There
is a news release at http://www.amacad.org/news/hrcoAnnounced.aspx
This
collaborative project is “the first effort to provide scholars, policymakers
and the public with a comprehensive picture of the state of the humanities,
from primary to higher education to public humanities activities.”
Reading on the
Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy
National
Endowment for the Arts, January 2009
http://www.arts.gov/research/ReadingonRise.pdf
There
is a news release at http://www.nea.gov/news/news09/ReadingonRise.html
MEDIA,
COMMUNICATIONS and INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
News and
Information as Digital Media Comes of Age
Papers
from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University,
December 2008
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/pubrelease/mediarepublic/downloads.html
There
is an overview paper at
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Overview_MR.pdf
The Use of the
Internet by America’s Largest Newspapers (2008 Edition)
Bivings Report, December
2008
This
web page links to the 2008 findings, and also to those of earlier years.
The Future of the
Internet III
Pew
Internet & American Life Survey, December 14, 2008
http://pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_FutureInternet3.pdf
This
analyzes a survey of over 1,000 experts. There is a summary at
http://pewinternet.org/PPF/r/270/report_display.asp
Not Your Father’s
Censorship: Quasi-Monopolies and Wary Governments Curb Web Freedoms
Harry
Lewis, Chronicle of Higher Education,
January 16, 2009
http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i19/19b00901.htm
Network Effects: An
Introduction to Broadband Technology and Regulation
A
study commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, published December
2008
http://www.uschamber.com/assets/env/introbroadband.pdf
There
is a news release at
http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2008/december/081222_broadband.htm
Balancing
Deregulation and Consumer Protection
Remarks
by Kevin J. Martin, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), January
8, 2009
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-287777A1.pdf
Cyber Liability and
Higher Education
Aon
Risk Services, December 2008
Recommendations for
Consideration by the Incoming Administration Regarding the Patent and Trademark Office
U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, December 2008
There
is a news release at
http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2008/december/081219_patent.htm
Generic Drugs: The
Other Drug War
Backgrounder
by Toni Johnson, Council on Foreign Relations, January 7, 2009 http://www.cfr.org/publication/18055/
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