Niall Ferguson Steps Back

Published on Dec 6, 2016

Views: 5,234

The values and stability of the European Union are under threat as never before. Brexit, the refugee crisis and the conflict in Ukraine indicate the increasing tension in the EU and neighboring countries. How will Brexit affect Europe? Will London’s role as a global financial center diminish as banks seek new homes within the EU? How will Britain’s relationships with Germany and other European countries change with respect to manufacturing, trade, finance and monetary policy? Against a backdrop of great uncertainty and transition, this panel will seek to examine Europe’s post-Brexit future.

Speakers:
Marieluise Beck, German Representative, Council of Europe and MEP; Member, Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and OSCE

Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Senior Fellow, Center for European Studies, Harvard University

Sergei Guriev, Chief Economist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of Glasgow

Roland Rudd, Founder and Chairman, Finsbury and Open Britain
Moderated by Louisa Bojesen, Anchor, Street Signs, CNBC

• Category

  • Nonprofits & Activism

Time For A New Calendar + A New History for Humanity – The Human Era

Published on Dec 7, 2016
Views: 984,497
It is time to reframe how we think about our past.
We need a new year 0 for humanity. But which one should we choose and why? BUY THE HUMAN ERA CALENDAR FOR THE YEAR 12,017 (2017) HERE: https://store.dftba.com/products/huma... Or support us on Patreon so we can make more videos (and get cool stuff in return): https://www.patreon.com/Kurzgesagt?ty=h Kurzgesagt merch here: http://bit.ly/1P1hQIH Get the music of the video here: Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2hgxSty Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/2h5Ogdo Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/epic-mountai... Thanks a lot to Matthew Lloyd for fact checking help with the video! THANKS A LOT TO OUR LOVELY PATRONS FOR SUPPORTING US: Stuart Alldritt, Tasia Pele, Stan Serebryakov, Mike Janzen, Jason Heddle, August, Daniel Smith, Jonathan Herman, Rahul Rachuri, Piotr Gorzelany, Lisa Allcott, Горан Гулески, Eric Ziegast, Kean Drake, Friendly Stranger, NicoH, Adrian Rutkiewicz, Markus Klemm, Leandro Nascimento, Gary Chan, Shawhin Layeghi, Oscar Hernandez, Dale Prinsse, Vaclav Vyskocil, Sup3rW00t, Ryan Coonan, Tam Lerner, Dewi Cadat, Luis Aguirre, Andy McVey, Vexorum, Boris, Adam Wisniewski, Yannic Schreiber, Erik Lilly, Ellis, Dmitry Starostin, Akshay Joshi, Peter Tinti, kayle Clark, Mortimer Brewster, Marc Legault, Sumita Pal, Tarje Hellebust Jr., streetdragon95, Taratsamura, Sam Dickson, Bogdan Firicel, Saul Vera, Aaron Jacobs, Ben Arts, R B Dean, Kevin Beedon, Patrik Pärkinen, Duncan Graham, Johan Thomsen, Emily Tran, Adam Flanc, Adam Jermyn, Ali Uluyol Help us caption & translate this video! http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_p... A New History for Humanity – The Human Era

Sleek Table Lamp w Alexa Voice Service > U Really Need This, Huh?

Published on Dec 7, 2016
Views: 61
GE is working to unleash the ultimate living experience through a suite of connected products designed to make your life simpler and help you do more.
First on that journey is a contemporary LED table lamp that embeds Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) directly inside, allowing you to use a light to order your dinner, listen to the latest headlines, preheat your oven or give a host of other voice commands. The voice controlled light source with microphones and a speaker is the first announced use of AVS embedded within a lighting product, bringing the skills you’d find in a traditional Amazon Echo product without the need for a stand-alone Echo unit, hub or even a smart phone. Homeowners need only plug in the C by GE lamp and connect to Alexa to unleash a whole new world of tech functionality and smart device interoperability throughout the home. • As part of its C by GE brand, GE creates entry point to the smart home through simple connection points that enable homeowners to do more and be better • Connected roadmap starts with the industry’s first announced integration of Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) built directly inside a lighting product • A sleekly designed LED table lamp lets you easily complete hundreds of hands-free voice commands, no stand-alone Echo unit, hub or smart phone required Visit http://cbyge.com/whatsnext for more information Category Science & Technology

Ready For A New Look?

Maricopa.gov will soon have a brand new look!

NEWS		for immediate release
		MARICOPA COUNTY Office of Communications 301 W. Jefferson Street, 10th Floor Phoenix, AZ  85003 Ph 602-506-7232 www.maricopa.gov

Every New Year is a chance to reflect and transform yourself or something about your life. We are transforming your online experience with Maricopa County. Early in 2017, you can surf our new website. It will have all the information and services you have come to expect from the county and we are hoping you find a bit more.
With new navigation tools, search functions and forms, information is easier to locate and you can get your questions answered quickly. If you are a regular visitor to Maricopa.gov or pages of our many departments, you will notice they all have the same look and feel. The new site has responsive web design that allows easy use on mobile devices and navigation buttons that quickly take you to the pages people visit most often. You can explore county news, check out upcoming events and watch Board of Supervisors meetings live.
Our website has been getting the job done for more than a decade, but it is time for a change. We hope you enjoy our new site in the New Year!
See press release details here

Fields Moseley, Communications Director (602) 506-6453

 

PUBLIC MEETING | EPA’s Proposed Ozone Implementation Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing nonattainment area classification thresholds and implementation requirements for the strengthened 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) (2015 ozone NAAQS) that were promulgated on October 1, 2015. This proposal is largely an update to the implementing regulations previously promulgated for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, and we propose to retain without significant revision the majority of those provisions to implement the 2015 ozone NAAQS. This proposal addresses the timing of attainment dates for each nonattainment area classification and a range of nonattainment area state implementation plan (SIP) requirements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The proposed SIP requirements pertain to attainment demonstrations, reasonable further progress (RFP) and associated milestone demonstrations, reasonably available control technology (RACT), reasonably available control measures (RACM), major nonattainment new source review (NNSR), emission inventories, the timing of required SIP submissions, and compliance with emission control measures in the SIP. Other issues addressed in this proposed rule are the revocation of the 2008 ozone NAAQS, anti-backsliding requirements that would apply when the 2008 ozone NAAQS are revoked, and reconsideration of the ozone NAAQS interprecursor trading (IPT) provisions (in response to a petition for reconsideration).

View document here

Date(s): 

Monday, December 19, 2016 -

10:30am to 11:30am

Location: 

ADEQ, 1110 W. Washington Street

Room 145

Phoenix, AZ 85007

ADEQ intends to hold a brief stakeholder meeting regarding EPA’s proposed 2015 Ozone Implementation Rule. ADEQ will identify some topics in the proposed rule on which the agency will likely comment. Public comments on EPA’s rule are due to EPA by January 17, 2017. The stakeholder meeting will be on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016, at 10:30 a.m. at ADEQ in Room 145.

EPA's Proposed 2015 Ozone Implementation Rule | View >

For more information on this stakeholder meeting, contact:
Natalie Muilenberg
E: Email >

http://www.azdeq.gov/events/public-meeting-epa%E2%80%99s-proposed-ozone-implementation-rule

LIHTC : Unique Costs / How It Works / How to Make Tax Credits Go Farther

When it comes to housing programs subsidized by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program established 30 years ago during the Reagan administration to promote the development of multifamily housing, there are some things that the new administration should carefully evaluate and perhaps change. Almost everyone agrees that subsidized housing costs more to produce than market rate housing; the question remains why and what could be done to change that.
Source: Forbes


Nov 29, 2016 @ 06:30 AM 5,506 views The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets

How Trump Might Drain The Low Income Housing Tax Credit Swamp

The Office of the Controller of the Currency describes the LIHTC program as

An indirect federal subsidy that finances low-income housing. This allows investors to claim tax credits on their federal income tax returns. The tax credit is calculated as a percentage of costs incurred in developing the affordable housing property, and is claimed annually over a 10-year period. Some investors may garner additional tax benefits by making LIHTC investments.

The credits are essentially a tax break for private investment in affordable projects, and these tax credits are then syndicated and turned into equity that offsets the costs of building multifamily projects with monthly rents at lower than 30 percent of the gross monthly income of people earning 60 percent or less of the local Area Median Income (AMI). The result is apartments with lower rents usually built by non-profit corporations (although some for profit developers use tax credits too). These units generally come with years long waiting lists. One local LIHTC project paid $45 million dollars for 112 units with a 5 year waiting list. This is considered a success.

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING

inRead invented by Teads

Studies by the states of Washington and California tried to get at a better analysis of the costs associated with LIHTC projects and how to improve the delivery of subsidized housing to the people who need it most. The California study found that local issues like neighborhood opposition, design review and parking requirements added to additional costs. But there are many other costs associated with transactions and financing affordable housing using LIHTC. The study didn’t spend much time digging into transaction costs, and

Did not include a detailed breakdown of costs that are specifically associated with particular financing sources. For example, costs associated with the legal and administrative review and execution of financing contracts were not broken out from direct costs for securing financing sources. Construction delays and operational costs associated with securing multiple sources of funding were not analyzed.

The Washington study, however, concluded that after construction costs, “costs associated with financing, permitting, impact fees and reserve requirements” ate up about 9 percent of project budgets and that another 4 percent of project costs were “related to federal, state, or local government regulations such as prevailing wage, zoning, green building standards, and local government parking and design standards.”
A review by my own organization, Smart Growth Seattle, found that "affordable housing projects have many unique costs, and often cost more because of financing, construction, and labor requirements. Affordable housing projects can be more expensive than market-rate due to some of these unique costs."

The structure of LIHTC deals ends up being very complex (see the charts from the OCC explainer above), involving tax credit investors, local and state government agencies, and the federal government. All of these relationships and transactions to realize the benefits of tax credit equity in a project – lowered rents for the life of the project – end up adding time and costs. Along with having to comply with a myriad of regulations, like wage requirements and the local requirements it shouldn’t be a surprise that per unit costs for “affordable” housing can be more than double that of market rate housing. In the case of the project I cited above, the cost is more than $400,000 per unit.
Here are three ideas for the new administration on how to make tax credits and other subsidies go farther and build more affordable units in fast growing cities:

• Audit the LIHTC program and determine an objective measure of all costs associated with the subsidy. When I was a developer of non-profit housing, we often talked about having to spend 50 cents to get a dollar of subsidy. The many costs associated with trying to produce affordable units is well known in the industry, but often advocates are reluctant to talk about those costs. It’s easier to press the case for more money and more tax credits rather than making the system more efficient.
• Remove the Davis-Bacon requirements for affordable housing. The Davis-Bacon act applies to projects that use LIHTC equity and this means having to pay prevailing wage. The wages paid to workers on affordable housing projects can be much higher than regular wages or even fair wages depending on how those are defined. A Republican administration might more successfully challenge the lock that organized labor has on wages paid to workers on non-profit housing projects that end up driving up costs and reducing the number of units that can be built for needy families.
• Change the definition of affordability. The arbitrary way we determine what is affordable housing – 30 percent of gross monthly income for rent or housing costs – doesn’t make any sense. The new administration could push for better-researched and useful measures that could expand housing options and change the subsidy structure for housing. Maybe direct cash subsidies for families would be more efficient than building a new and expensive unit. It would be easier to know that if we had a more sensitive measure. The government has undertaken a similar effort to revise poverty measures that have grown outdated too.

11/30/2016 Note: It's important to note that the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program itself doesn't require housing projects to pay prevailing wage. However, when I asked a person associated with non-profit development whether she could think of any non-profit projects that did not pay prevailing wage she said, "Not off the top of my head." The fact is that most if not all of the high cost projects referred to here that use LIHTC pay prevailing wages. Perhaps the new administration could prohibit the use of LIHTC for any project that DOES pay prevailing wages and require fair wages instead. 



 

Need An App For That? Internet Stalking

Published on Dec 6, 2016
Views:3,190
Dec.05 -- Imagine a smartphone app that lets anyone take a picture of anyone and then find that person on social networks. Now stop imagining. Watch 'Hello World' host Ashlee Vance test out FindFace on the streets of Moscow.
Watch the full episode of 'Hello World: Russia': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tICL-... Read more about FindFace on Bloomberg.com: http://bloom.bg/2h1VPSy Like this video? Subscribe to Bloomberg on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/Bloomberg?sub_... And subscribe to Bloomberg Politics for the latest political news: http://www.youtube.com/BloombergPolit... Bloomberg is the First Word in business news, delivering breaking news & analysis, up-to-the-minute market data, features, profiles and more: http://www.bloomberg.com