Congressional Research Service Reports - 153 Matching Results

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The Overseas Private Investment Corporation: Background and Legislative Issues: This report outlines challenges faced by Tajikistan since its five-year civil war ended in 1997. It discusses U.S. policy and assistance. Basic facts and biographical information are provided. This report may be updated. Related products include CRS Report RL33458, Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests, updated regularly.
Dollar Crisis: Prospect and Implications: This report describes the anatomy of dollar crisis, and possible reasons why a dollar crisis won't occur. The report discusses the macroeconomics effects of a dollar crisis, and the response of economic policy.
Social Security: Trust Fund Investment Practices: This report explains current Social Security trust fund investment practices and briefly describes the issues involved in changing how the trust funds are invested.
Why the Dollar Rose in 2005 and the Prospect for 2006: Insights into the State of International Asset Markets and the Global Economy: The dollar exchange rate rose substantially in 2005, halting a three-year decline and moving counter to the expectations of many observers. This report discusses potential reasons for the dollar's appreciation.
Medicare: Financing the Part A Hospital Insurance Program: This report discusses Medicare, which consists of two distinct parts — Part A (Hospital Insurance (HI)) and Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI)). Part A is financed primarily through payroll taxes levied on current workers and their employers. Income from these taxes is credited to the HI trust fund. Part B is financed through a combination of monthly premiums paid by current enrollees and general revenues. Income from these sources is credited to the SMI trust fund.
Greece's Debt Crisis: Overview, Policy Responses, and Implications: Greece is currently facing such a sovereign debt crisis. On May 2, 2010, the Eurozone members and International Monetary Fund (IMF) endorsed a historic €110 billion (about $145 billion) financial package for Greece in an effort to avoid a Greek default and to stem contagion of Greece's crisis to other European countries, particularly Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and Italy. This report provides an overview of the crisis; outlines the major causes of the crisis, focusing on both domestic and international factors; examines how Greece, the Eurozone members, and the IMF have responded to the crisis; and highlights the broader implications of Greece's debt crisis, including for the United States.
International Investment Agreements (IIAs): Frequently Asked Questions: This report answers frequently asked questions about international investment agreements (IIAs) made between the United States and other countries. Questions are categorized in three main areas: background and context; U.S. international investment agreements; and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
International Investment Agreements (IIAs): Frequently Asked Questions: This report answers frequently asked questions about international investment agreements (IIAs) made between the United States and other countries. Questions are categorized in three main areas: background and context; U.S. international investment agreements; and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
Social Security, Saving, and the Economy: No Description Available.
Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) approach the issue of "currency manipulation" differently. The IMF Articles of Agreement prohibit countries from manipulating their currency for the purpose of gaining unfair trade advantage, but the IMF cannot force a country to change its exchange rate policies. The WTO has rules against subsidies, but these are very narrow and specific and do not seem to encompass currency manipulation. Several options might be considered for addressing this matter in the future, if policymakers deem this a wise course of action.
The Global Financial Crisis: Increasing IMF Resources and the Role of Congress: This report provides information on the role the IMF has played in the financial crisis, international agreement to increase the financial resources of the IMF, and the role of Congress in increasing the Fund's resources. As will be discussed in detail at the end of the report, congressional authorization, and perhaps appropriation, would be required to increase U.S. contributions to the IMF.
Campaign Finance Reform: A Legal Analysis of Issue and Express Advocacy: This report consists of campaign finance reform with a legal analysis of issue and express advocacy.
The Question of School Finance: Selected References, 1972: This report is a bibliography of works pertaining to school finance in the United States.
Airport Improvement Program (AIP): Reauthorization Issues for Congress: This report discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the passenger facility charge (PFC), within the broader context of airport capital development finance. It contains a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, funding distribution, and the types of projects the program funds.
Accounting Reform After Enron: Issues in the 108th Congress: This report discusses the anxieties within Congress in the wake of the Enron scandal. Moreover, the report notes that the 108th Congress is not likely to pass legislative reform as extreme as the 107th Congress, but will still confront issues of accounting reform. The report also highlights what the 108th Congress plans to reform.
Budget Enforcement for FY2002: An Overview of Procedural Developments: This report is an Overview of Procedural Developments Budget Enforcement for FY2002.
Multiple-Group Federal Credit Unions: An Update: No Description Available.
Mergers and Consolidation Between Banking and Financial Services Firms: Trends and Prospects: No Description Available.
U.S. Direct Investment Abroad: Trends and Current Issues: This report provides a brief overview of how foreign investments can affect the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission: A chronological Bibliography, 1962- 1968: This report is a chronological Bibliography on Securities and Exchange Commission from 1962 through 1968.
Small Business Administration Microloan Program: The Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Microloan program provides direct loans to qualified nonprofit intermediary lenders who, in turn, provide “microloans” of up to $50,000 to small businesses and nonprofit child care centers. It also provides marketing, management, and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and potential borrowers. This report opens with a discussion of the rationale provided for having a Microloan program, describes the program’s eligibility standards and operating requirements for lenders and borrowers, and examines the arguments presented by the program’s critics and advocates. It then discusses P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which increased the Microloan program’s loan limit for borrowers from $35,000 to $50,000, and the aggregate loan limit for intermediaries after their first year of participation in the program from $3.5 million to $5 million.
Treasury Issues White Paper on Fintech and Marketplace Lending: This report briefly discusses the context and contents of a white paper issued on May 10, 2016 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The paper analyzes regulatory issues for the marketplace lending industry and offers several recommendations for industry and government responses.
Banking Policy Issues in the 115th Congress: This report provides a broad overview of selected banking-related issues, including prudential regulation, consumer protection, "too big to fail" (TBTF) banks, community banking, regulatory agency structures and independence, and recent market and economic trends. It is not an exhaustive look at all bank policy issues, nor is it a detailed examination of any one issue. Rather, it provides concise background and analyses of certain prominent issues that have been the subject of recent discussion and debate. In addition, this report provides a list of Congressional Research Service reports that examine specific bills, including the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10) and bills proposing to provide regulatory relief for banks.
One Million Personal Bankruptcies a Year: Economic Implications and Policy Options: This report examines various explanations for the rapid rise in personal bankruptcy filings in the United States since 1980, the economic significance of the phenomenon, and policy options. This discussion and analysis provide a background for consideration of legislation before the 105th Congress ( H.R. 3150 and S. 1301), which proposes to reform the consumer bankruptcy process.
Overview of Commercial (Depository) Banking and Industry Conditions: This report begins with a general overview of the banking industry. It describes how banks facilitate the financial intermediation process as well as the associated financial risks. It also explains the market structure of the banking industry, referring primarily to the asset distribution. Next, this report summarizes profitability and lending activity levels in the banking industry. Particular attention is paid to metrics related to capitalization levels, asset performance, and earnings of depository banks.
Issues in International Corporate Taxation: The 2017 Revision (P.L. 115-97): This report discusses international tax laws and the 2017 tax reform bill. The report begins by explaining prior international tax rules and the revisions made in the new law. The second part of the report discusses the four major issues of concern under prior law-- allocation of investment, profit shifting, repatriation, and inversions--and how the new law addresses these concerns, or raises new ones. That section also discusses issues associated with international agreements. The final section summarizes commentary about problems and issues, including legal challenges and uncertainty, within the new international tax regime and options that have been suggested. That section discusses some of the more detailed rules.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization: An Overview of Legislative Action in the 111th Congress: This report tracks the status of ongoing legislative action and debate related to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. It is organized into six major program areas: aviation system finance; airport financing; FAA management and organizational issues; system capacity and safety; environmental issues; and airline industry issues. In several cases, provisions that appear in various unrelated sections of proposed legislation have been rearranged in this report in an effort to group and discuss related items in an issue-driven or programmatic context. Since this report is primarily written as a means of communicating key legislative provisions under consideration in the ongoing FAA reauthorization process, it does not go into detail regarding the specific policy issues behind these legislative proposals.
Systemically Important or "Too Big to Fail" Financial Institution.: This report discusses the "To Big To Fail" (TBTF) system of the government intervening and bailing out certain companies whose collapse is deemed too disruptive to the American financial market to let occur. This report discusses the economic issues raised by TBTF, broad policy options, and policy changes made by the relevant Dodd-Frank provisions.
What Is Systemic Risk? Does It Apply to Recent JP Morgan Losses?: Systemic risk refers to the possibility that the financial system as a whole might become unstable, rather than the health of individual market participants. Stable financial systems do not transmit or magnify shocks to the broader economy. A firm, person, government, financial utility, or policy might create systemic risk if (1) its failure causes other failures in a domino effect; (2) news about its assets signals that others with similar assets may also be distressed, called contagion; (3) it contributes to fire sales during price declines; or (4) its absence prevents other firms from using an essential service, called critical functions. This report discusses how systemic risk may apply to JP Morgan's recent losses.
Social Security: The Relationship of Taxes and Benefits for Past, Present, and Future Retirees: In recent years considerable public attention has focused on Social Security's treatment of younger versus older workers. Analysts sometimes have addressed this issue by examining the value Social Security provides each generation of workers in relation to the Social Security taxes they pay. These are referred to as "moneys worth" analyses.
Social Security: Summary of Major Changes in the Cash Benefits Program: Title II of the original Social Security Act of 1935 established a national plan designed to provide economic security for the nation's workers. The system of Old-Age Insurance it created provided benefits to individuals who were age 65 or older and who had "earned" retirement benefits through work in jobs covered by the system.
How Have Small Banks Been Affected by Financial Reform?: This report briefly summarizes a CRS analysis of major rules issued since 2010 by banking regulators pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act.
Banking and Financial Infrastructure Continuity: Pandemic Flu, Terrorism, and Other Challenges: This report outlines the financial sector's recovery plans for two kinds of disasters: the inability to conduct transactions and large losses of asset value. The basic function of the payment system is carried out by banks, and monetary policy affects banks immediately. Because brokers, exchanges, secondary market facilities, and insurance companies carry out crucial financial functions, their regulators and trade associations are involved in continuity of operations planning for contingencies.
Social Security Reform: No Description Available.
Electronic Banking: The Check Truncation Issue: If all checks were replaced by electronic transactions, the exact cost savings would still be unknown, because estimates of the cost of using a check and the number of checks written each year remain in dispute. Consequently, estimates of cost savings range from $1.4 billion annually for truncation alone to $68 billion for replacing checks with electronic payments. A significant part of the savings comes from eliminating the handling, sorting, and physically transporting of checks to the paying bank. To clear checks electronically, banks must negotiate processing agreements thatmake it unnecessary to physically present the paper check. Since the benefits are not uniformly dispersed among the participants, banks have found it difficult to obtain these agreements, thus constraining the widespread adoption of electronic check clearing.
Bankruptcy Reform in the 108th Congress: On March 19, 2003, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 975, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2003. H.R. 975, as introduced, was substantially similar to the legislation (H.R. 333) approved by both the House and the Senate during the 107th Congress, but omitted the Schumer Amendment which would have prevented the discharge of liability for willful violation of protective orders and violent protests against providers of “lawful services,” including reproductive health services. As passed by the House, H.R. 975 was amended to add sections to, among other things, increase the cap on wage and employee benefit claims. The Senate did not consider H.R. 975 during the first session of the 108th Congress. This report provides an overview of selected major provisions of the legislation.
Consumer Bankruptcy and Household Debt: Financial distress is most common among lower-income families, but its incidence has grown in all income brackets. This trend suggests that explanations for the rise in consumer bankruptcy filings are more likely to be found in micro-analysis of individuals and groups of debtors than in macroeconomic indicators. This report presents statistics on bankruptcy filings, household debt, and households in financial distress.
Multilateral Development Banks: Issues for the 107th Congress: No Description Available.
Social Security: Summary of Program Solvency and Projections: On March 23, 2005, the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report to Congress on the status of the Social Security trust funds. The Social Security trust funds, under the latest forecast, continue to face long-range financing problems.
Multilateral Development Banks: Current Authorization Requests: No Description Available.
Corporate Expatriation, Inversions, and Mergers: Tax Issues: This report discusses relevant portions of the U.S. corporate income tax system and how inversions have commonly been structured. It also looks at how Congress and Department of the Treasury have reduced the benefits of inversions, including The American Jobs Creation Act, as well as post-2004 inversions and treasury regulations, and policy options.
Tolling U.S. Highways: This report provides a brief history of tolling on federal roads and current law. The report discusses financial realities on toll roads and tolling policy issues.
Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank: Issues and Policy Options for Congress: This report provides background information and potential issues and options for Congress relating to the reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank. The scope of this report is limited to Ex-Im Bank reauthorization issues.
FHFA's Administrative Reform of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Housing Finance System: This report discusses housing finance reform and structural changes enacted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), particularly in relation to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). It includes sections on GSEs and conservatorship; FHFA reforms broken down into information about risk-sharing transactions, a common securitization platform, and single security; and Congressional action on GSE reform.
VA Housing: Guaranteed Loans, Direct Loans, and Specially Adapted Housing Grants: This report discusses the three types of housing assistance offered by the Veterans Administration (VA): the loan guaranty program, direct loan programs, and Specially Adapted Housing program. Each ones origins, operations, and funding methods are included. The report also has a section that discusses the default and foreclosure of VA-guaranteed loans.
Insurance Regulation in the United States and Abroad: This report will first give a statistical overview of various countries and then present a summary of U.S. insurance regulatory structure. This report also provides summaries of the systems in Canada, Australia, and Japan.
Social Security Administration: Administrative Budget Issues: The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Social Security program (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and provides administrative support to Medicare and several other federal programs. Total SSA spending in FY2007 was about $624 billion, about 99% of which was mandatory spending on benefit payments. This report focuses on SSA’s spending for administrative expenses, which is discretionary and amounts to about 1% of SSA’s total spending. This funding is provided in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Energy Tax Policy: This report discusses about energy tax policy. U.S energy tax policy promoted the supply of oil and gas but witnessed significant cutback, imposition of new excise taxes on oil and introduction of numerous tax preferences for energy conservation.
Social Security Administration: Administrative Budget Issues: The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers the Social Security program (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and provides administrative support to Medicare and several other federal programs. Total SSA spending in FY2008 was about $658 billion, about 99% of which was mandatory spending on benefit payments. This report focuses on SSA’s administrative spending, which is discretionary and amounts to about 1% of SSA’s total spending. This funding is provided in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Structure and Functions of the Federal Reserve System: This report examines the structure and operations of the major components of the Federal Reserve System and provides an overview of congressional oversight activities. In addition, the report discusses the provisions of one of the pending pieces of legislation (S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010) that would affect the structure and operations of the System.

Congressional Research Service Reports - 153 Matching Results

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