Saturday, July 27, 2013

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

1 - Conglomerate Blog: Business, Law, Economics & Society

Two bits of news, and one interesting take:

1.????How do you privatize a taken-over bank? ?In Britain, they are turning to the investment bankers for advice:

Some British lawmakers have called for the shares to be sold directly to retail customers to allow them to benefit from any potential increase in the firms? future share prices. A similar process in the 1980s led many British taxpayers to buy shares in former state-owned companies like the energy utility British Gas.

Lloyds is likely to be the first to be privatized, as its current share price is above the government?s breakeven price of 61.20 pence, or 93 cents. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland, however, are still trading 33 percent below what the British government says it needs to recoup its investment.

It is interesting how much faster this sell off process was in the United States.

2.? ? Here's a nice profile, and perhaps also a source-greaser, of Mark Carney, the Canadian being brought in to head the Bank of England. ??It just about inconceivable that something similar would happen in the United States, but this look-abroad-for-your-central-banker thing is a new thing, as Israel, Britain, and Canada can tell you.

3.?? ? Here's Daniel Drezner on whether the FOMC statement that sent the markets into a tizzy and has had the board issuing plenty of nervous clarifications since, was due to an adoption of the perspective of the Basel Committee.

?

European Union, Finance, Financial Crisis, Financial Institutions | Bookmark

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Monday, July 1, 2013

Sir Mervyn gives new Bank of England chief Mark Carney a lesson in batting during employee sports day

  • Outgoing and incoming Governors at sports day in south-west London
  • Mark Carney today formally begins new job to help rebuild economy
  • Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander also on cricket pitch

By Sam Greenhill

|

It was the most gentlemanly of handovers between the outgoing and incoming Governors of the Bank of England.

Canadian Mark Carney was given a lesson in batting yesterday by his predecessor Sir Mervyn King.

The pair enjoyed an exclusive cricket match at the Bank of England?s plush sports ground in south-west London.

Sports day: Sir Mervyn King, 65, whose final day in the job as Governor of the Bank of England was yesterday, wore cricket whites and enthusiastically played tennis and cricket in the 26C sunshine

Discussions: Canadian Mark Carney's (centre) sunny introduction to the English way of life came on the day before formally beginning his new job today

Discussions: Canadian Mark Carney's (centre) sunny introduction to the English way of life came on the day before formally beginning his new job today

Mr Carney?s sunny introduction to the English way of life came on the day before formally beginning his new job today.

He was poached by Chancellor George Osborne from the Bank of Canada, and he now begins the task of helping rebuild Britain?s battered economy.

Mr Osborne?s deputy, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, was also on the cricket pitch yesterday.

?

Governor?s Day, a sports day for employees of the Bank and their families, was a chance for Mr Carney, 48, to meet his new colleagues informally and have some fun before the serious work begins.

As well as enjoying bouncy castles and fairground rides, invite-only guests could play tennis, football and cricket.

Sir Mervyn, 65, whose final day in the job was yesterday, wore cricket whites and enthusiastically played tennis and cricket in the 26C sunshine.

It's over: Mr Carney is being paid ?624,000 a year - about ?100,000 more than Sir Mervyn (right) - and is also receiving a ?5,000-a-week housing allowance from taxpayers

It's over: Mr Carney is being paid ?624,000 a year - about ?100,000 more than Sir Mervyn (right) - and is also receiving a ?5,000-a-week housing allowance from taxpayers

Getting to know you: Mr Carney speaks (left) with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, and (right) giving an interview to a television crew

Despite being an avid sportsman, Mr Carney, wearing a blue blazer and matching trousers, chose not to take part in the games, instead watching others play before retiring to a pavilion tent.

He was a hockey star in his youth, and recently discovered his old pair of football boots from his days at Oxford University - still caked in Oxford mud, according to a friend.

In Canada, Mr Carney was hailed as a ?rock star banker? for his genius in keeping the economy growing during the global economic crisis.

He arrives in London - as the first non-British Governor of the Bank of England - with pressure on him to work his magic to revive the economy here.

He has already signalled a possible end to the record period of low interest rates and the cheap mortgages they bring.

A former Goldman Sachs banker, Mr Carney is being paid ?624,000 a year - about ?100,000 more than Sir Mervyn - and is also receiving a ?5,000-a-week housing allowance from taxpayers.

Well-liked: Mr Carney (right) was hailed in Canada as a 'rock star banker' for his genius in keeping the economy growing during the global economic crisis

Well-liked: Mr Carney (right) was hailed in Canada as a 'rock star banker' for his genius in keeping the economy growing during the global economic crisis

In addition, he will also earn ?1,000 a week renting out his luxury family house in Ottawa, Canada, for the five years he will be Bank of England Governor.

His wife Diana and their four school-age daughters have gone on a holiday before moving to Britain to join him, as their London lodgings are not yet available.

They are renting a house in North London close to a private school in Hampstead where two of their daughters have enrolled as pupils. The other two girls are attending other fee-paying schools.

Earlier this year, Mrs Carney suggested on Twitter that her family had been struggling to find a place live in London, bemoaning that an influx of wealthy French fleeing their socialist president?s hefty taxes had made their house-hunting in London more difficult.

Friends in Canada say the children are apprehensive about uprooting their lives and moving to Britain. But both of their parents are looking forward to the move.

Their mother was born in the UK, and Mr and Mrs Carney loved living in trendy Primrose Hill, near Regent?s Park, when he worked at Goldman Sachs in the 1990s.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2352084/Sir-Mervyn-gives-new-Bank-England-chief-Mark-Carney-lesson-batting-employee-sports-day.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

U.S. justices to hear EPA appeal over air pollution rule

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider the lawfulness of an Obama administration effort to regulate air pollution that crosses state lines.

At the request of the administration, the American Lung Association and environmental groups, the justices will review an appeals court ruling that invalidated the Cross-State Air Pollution rule, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implemented to enforce a provision of the Clean Air Act.

The rule sets limits on nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide in 28 upwind states in the eastern part of the country. Various power companies and 16 states successfully challenged the law in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The appeals court ruled in August 2012 that the EPA had exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act by requiring states to curb air pollution to a greater extent than the statute requires. The rule was due to go into effect at the beginning of 2012 but the court issued a stay during the litigation.

The appeals court also said the EPA acted prematurely by failing to tell states what emissions reductions they had to achieve to meet their obligations under the statute before going ahead with its own federal plan.

The appeals court ordered that a rule issued by President George W. Bush's administration, which the appeals court ruled in 2008 was insufficient, should remain in effect until the EPA comes up with a revised regulation.

Oral arguments and a decision are due in the court's next term, which starts in October and ends in June 2014.

The two consolidated cases the court agreed to hear are American Lung Association v. EME Homer City Generation, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-1183 and EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 1182.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/supremem-court-justices-hear-epa-appeal-over-air-134238381.html

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Monday, June 24, 2013

What floats these boats? Concrete

(AP) ? Does concrete float? For the hundreds of civil engineering students at the annual National Concrete Canoe Competition, the answer is "yes."

Teams representing 23 schools vied last week to design, build and race canoes made of concrete. Some vessels were as long as 22 feet and weighed as much as 180 pounds. A wooden canoe of the same size weighs about 40 pounds.

Alicia Welling, manager of the California Polytechnic State University team, says the trick to making concrete float is to mix it with glass bubbles and other lightweight objects.

Welling says the three-day American Society of Civil Engineers event gives students practical experience in finding creative engineering solutions and working as part of a team.

L'?cole de Technologie Sup?rieure, of Montreal, took the title Saturday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-06-24-US-Concrete-Canoes/id-58e8e7fcb03647c1a76087284173277c

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Getting to grips with migraine

Getting to grips with migraine [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Aileen Sheehy
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
44-012-234-92368
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Researchers identify some of the biological roots of migraine from large-scale genome study

In the largest study of migraines, researchers have found 5 genetic regions that for the first time have been linked to the onset of migraine. This study opens new doors to understanding the cause and biological triggers that underlie migraine attacks.

The team identified 12 genetic regions associated with migraine susceptibility. Eight of these regions were found in or near genes known to play a role in controlling brain circuitries and two of the regions were associated with genes that are responsible for maintaining healthy brain tissue. The regulation of these pathways may be important to the genetic susceptibility of migraines.

Migraine is a debilitating disorder that affects approximately 14% of adults. Migraine has recently been recognized as the seventh disabler in the Global Burden of Disease Survey 2010 and has been estimated to be the most costly neurological disorder. It is an extremely difficult disorder to study because no biomarkers between or during attacks have been identified so far.

"This study has greatly advanced our biological insight about the cause of migraine," says Dr Aarno Palotie, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Migraine and epilepsy are particularly difficult neural conditions to study; between episodes the patient is basically healthy so it's extremely difficult to uncover biochemical clues.

"We have proven that this is the most effective approach to study this type of neurological disorder and understand the biology that lies at the heart of it."

The team uncovered the underlying susceptibilities by comparing the results from 29 different genomic studies, including over 100,000 samples from both migraine patients and control samples.

They found that some of the regions of susceptibility lay close to a network of genes that are sensitive to oxidative stress, a biochemical process that results in the dysfunction of cells.

The team expects many of the genes at genetic regions associated with migraine are interconnected and could potentially be disrupting the internal regulation of tissue and cells in the brain, resulting in some of the symptoms of migraine.

"We would not have made discoveries by studying smaller groups of individuals," says Dr Gisela Terwindt, co-author from Leiden University Medical Centre. "This large scale method of studying over 100,000 samples of healthy and affected people means we can tease out the genes that are important suspects and follow them up in the lab."

The team identified an additional 134 genetic regions that are possibly associated to migraine susceptibility with weaker statistical evidence. Whether these regions underlie migraine susceptibility or not still needs to be elucidated. Other similar studies show that these statistically weaker culprits can play an equal part in the underlying biology of a disease or disorder.

"The molecular mechanisms of migraine are poorly understood. The sequence variants uncovered through this meta-analysis could become a foothold for further studies to better understanding the pathophysiology of migraine" says Dr Kri Stefnsson, President of deCODE genetics.

"This approach is the most efficient way of revealing the underlying biology of these neural disorders," says Dr Mark Daly, from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "Effective studies that give us biological or biochemical results and insights are essential if we are to fully get to grips with this debilitating condition.

"Pursuing these studies in even larger samples and with denser maps of biological markers will increase our power to determine the roots and triggers of this disabling disorder."

###

Notes to Editors

Publication Details

Verneri Anttila, Bendik S. Winsvold, Padhraig Gormley et al (2013) 'Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new susceptibility loci for migraine' Advanced online publication in Nature Genetics 23 June Doi: 10.1038/ng.2676

Participating centres

A full list of participating centres can be found in the study

Funding

A full list of funding can be found in the study

Selected Websites

The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT was launched in 2004 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine. The Broad Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods and data openly to the entire scientific community.

Founded by MIT, Harvard and its affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to http://www.broadinstitute.org.

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. http://www.sanger.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Getting to grips with migraine [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Aileen Sheehy
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
44-012-234-92368
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Researchers identify some of the biological roots of migraine from large-scale genome study

In the largest study of migraines, researchers have found 5 genetic regions that for the first time have been linked to the onset of migraine. This study opens new doors to understanding the cause and biological triggers that underlie migraine attacks.

The team identified 12 genetic regions associated with migraine susceptibility. Eight of these regions were found in or near genes known to play a role in controlling brain circuitries and two of the regions were associated with genes that are responsible for maintaining healthy brain tissue. The regulation of these pathways may be important to the genetic susceptibility of migraines.

Migraine is a debilitating disorder that affects approximately 14% of adults. Migraine has recently been recognized as the seventh disabler in the Global Burden of Disease Survey 2010 and has been estimated to be the most costly neurological disorder. It is an extremely difficult disorder to study because no biomarkers between or during attacks have been identified so far.

"This study has greatly advanced our biological insight about the cause of migraine," says Dr Aarno Palotie, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Migraine and epilepsy are particularly difficult neural conditions to study; between episodes the patient is basically healthy so it's extremely difficult to uncover biochemical clues.

"We have proven that this is the most effective approach to study this type of neurological disorder and understand the biology that lies at the heart of it."

The team uncovered the underlying susceptibilities by comparing the results from 29 different genomic studies, including over 100,000 samples from both migraine patients and control samples.

They found that some of the regions of susceptibility lay close to a network of genes that are sensitive to oxidative stress, a biochemical process that results in the dysfunction of cells.

The team expects many of the genes at genetic regions associated with migraine are interconnected and could potentially be disrupting the internal regulation of tissue and cells in the brain, resulting in some of the symptoms of migraine.

"We would not have made discoveries by studying smaller groups of individuals," says Dr Gisela Terwindt, co-author from Leiden University Medical Centre. "This large scale method of studying over 100,000 samples of healthy and affected people means we can tease out the genes that are important suspects and follow them up in the lab."

The team identified an additional 134 genetic regions that are possibly associated to migraine susceptibility with weaker statistical evidence. Whether these regions underlie migraine susceptibility or not still needs to be elucidated. Other similar studies show that these statistically weaker culprits can play an equal part in the underlying biology of a disease or disorder.

"The molecular mechanisms of migraine are poorly understood. The sequence variants uncovered through this meta-analysis could become a foothold for further studies to better understanding the pathophysiology of migraine" says Dr Kri Stefnsson, President of deCODE genetics.

"This approach is the most efficient way of revealing the underlying biology of these neural disorders," says Dr Mark Daly, from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "Effective studies that give us biological or biochemical results and insights are essential if we are to fully get to grips with this debilitating condition.

"Pursuing these studies in even larger samples and with denser maps of biological markers will increase our power to determine the roots and triggers of this disabling disorder."

###

Notes to Editors

Publication Details

Verneri Anttila, Bendik S. Winsvold, Padhraig Gormley et al (2013) 'Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new susceptibility loci for migraine' Advanced online publication in Nature Genetics 23 June Doi: 10.1038/ng.2676

Participating centres

A full list of participating centres can be found in the study

Funding

A full list of funding can be found in the study

Selected Websites

The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT was launched in 2004 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine. The Broad Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods and data openly to the entire scientific community.

Founded by MIT, Harvard and its affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to http://www.broadinstitute.org.

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. http://www.sanger.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/wtsi-gtg062113.php

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Fire rages, Colo. town braces for long evacuation

DEL NORTE, Colo. (AP) ? A colossal wildfire near a popular summer retreat in southern Colorado continues to be driven by winds and fueled by dead trees in a drought-stricken area, authorities said Sunday.

The weather has prevented fire crews from making progress on the blaze, which grew overnight to 108 square miles, up from 100 on Saturday. The speed with which the fire has spread is exceptional: It was just below 50 square miles Friday evening.

No structures have been lost in the fire, and no injuries have been reported.

It is doubtful fire crews could establish any containment lines until there's a break in the weather, possibly Tuesday, officials said. They remained optimistic they can protect the town, however.

As of Sunday, officials firefighters remained focused on protecting South Fork, the Wolf Creek ski area and homes along Highway 149.

Crews hoped to get aircraft up to drop water over the fire before afternoon winds of 30 to 40 miles an hour returned Sunday. Pete Blume, a commander with the Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Command Team, said the wildfire is the worst ever known to hit the Rio Grande National Forest.

"It's not typical to have these kinds of fires here," said Blume. "But beetle kill and drought is also not the norm."

Firefighters are hoping for a break in the high winds as well as the anticipated July monsoons to help them fight back the flames. Until then, Blume said, "with that much beetle kill and drought we could have every resource in the country here and still not put in a containment line."

Still, fire officials believe portions of the blaze will likely burn all summer in forested, nonresidential areas, with full extinguishment probably months away.

The lightning-sparked blaze started June 5, but its rapid advance Friday prompted the evacuation of hundreds of visitors and the town's 400 permanent residents.

Residents and tourists were settling in for a long wait before they can return to their homes, cabins and RV parks.

"They just said they had no idea how long it would be before we could back in South Fork," said Mike Duffy, who owns the South Fork Lodge.

Duffy said he and his wife, Mary, were able to get their personal possessions before fleeing fast-advancing flames that officials initially feared would overtake the town. But with the fire still within three miles of South Fork, they are worried about the long-term impact of a prolong evacuation and news reports about the fire raging around the tourism-dependent town.

Summer visitors include many retirees from Texas and Oklahoma who come to the mountains to flee the heat.

South Fork Mayor Kenneth Brooke estimates that between 1,000 to 1,500 people had to flee, including the summer visitors and permanent residents.

More than 600 firefighters were battling the blaze, and more are coming every day. They also focused on newest arm of the fire as it crept through beetle kill toward the historic mining town of Creede, the last silver boom town in Colorado before the industry went bust in the late 1800s.

Elsewhere in Colorado, about a dozen fires also continued to burn. Firefighters were making progress on a 19-square-mile wildfire near Walsenburg in southern Colorado. The fire was 10 percent contained.

And a wildfire in foothills about 30 miles southwest of Denver was expected to be fully contained Sunday evening. That fire burned 511 acres and forced 100 people to leave their homes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fire-rages-colo-town-braces-long-evacuation-192730333.html

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