Congressional Research Service Reports - 34 Matching Results

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The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

Description: This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, an historical overview of debt limits, and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.
Date: February 16, 2010
Creator: Austin, D. Andrew & Levit, Mindy R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

Description: This report gives an historical overview of debt limits, discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.
Date: February 7, 2013
Creator: Austin, D. Andrew & Levit, Mindy R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records: Legal Authorities

Description: This report summarizes legal authorities regarding access by the government, for either foreign intelligence or law enforcement purposes, to information related to telephone calling patterns or practices. Where pertinent, it also discusses statutory prohibitions against accessing or disclosing such information, along with relevant exceptions to those prohibitions.
Date: February 2, 2010
Creator: Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Liu, Edward C. & Stevens, Gina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Defining Small Business: A Historical Analysis of Contemporary Issues

Description: This report provides a historical examination of the SBA's size standards, assesses competing views concerning how to define a small business, and discusses how the alternative size standards adopted under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 might affect program eligibility.
Date: February 10, 2012
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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SBA Assistance to Small Business Startups: Client Experiences and Program Impact

Description: This report examines small business startups' experiences with the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) management and technical assistance training programs, focusing on Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women Business Centers (WBCs), and SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives); the 7(a), 504/CDC, and Microloan lending programs; and the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) venture capital program.
Date: February 26, 2014
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Small Business Administration and Job Creation

Description: This report discusses the Small Business Administration's programs and their impact on job creation. It examines the economic research on net job creation to identify the types of businesses that appear to create the most jobs, examines the possible implications this research might have for Congress and the SBA, and examines the arguments for providing federal assistance to small businesses.
Date: February 2, 2018
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Small Business Administration (SBA) Funding: Overview and Recent Trends

Description: This report examines the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) appropriations (new budget authority, minus rescissions and sequestration) over time, focusing on developments and trends since FY2000.
Date: February 16, 2018
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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What Does the Gig Economy Mean for Workers?

Description: This report provides an overview of the gig economy -- i.e., the collection of markets that match providers to consumers on a gig (or job) basis in support of on-demand commerce (e.g., Uber, TaskRabbit) -- and identifies legal and policy questions relevant to its workforce.
Date: February 5, 2016
Creator: Donovan, Sarah A.; Bradley, David H. & Shimabukuro, Jon O.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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NATO Common Funds Burdensharing: Background and Current Issues

Description: This report gives an overview of the feasibility of burdensharing amongst North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states due to the global financial crisis and defense budget cuts in many of the contributing nations.
Date: February 15, 2012
Creator: Ek, Carl
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Health Insurance: A Primer

Description: This report provides information related to health insurance. The content includes what it is, why is it needed, health insurance regulation, and how are private health benefits delivered and financed.
Date: February 16, 2012
Creator: Fernandez, Bernadette
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Proposed Comcast-NBC Universal Combination: How It Might Affect the Video Market

Description: This report discusses the proposed combination of Comcast, the largest distributor of video services in the United States, and NBC Universal (NBCU), a major producer and aggregator of video content, which would create a huge, vertically integrated entity with potentially enormous negotiating power at a time when market forces already are altering traditional content provider/distributor relationships.
Date: February 2, 2010
Creator: Goldfarb, Charles B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Independence of Federal Financial Regulators

Description: This report discusses institutional features that make federal financial regulators (as well as other independent agencies) relatively independent from the President and Congress.
Date: February 24, 2014
Creator: Hogue, Henry B.; Labonte, Marc & Webel, Baird
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms: Economic, Program, and Policy Issues

Description: As global economic competition heightens, many firms and workers face difficult adjustment problems. Congress has responded to these adjustment costs by authorizing four trade adjustment assistance (TAA) programs to assist trade-impacted workers, firms, farmers, and communities. This report discusses the TAA program for firms (TAAF). The TAAF program provides technical assistance to trade-affected firms to help them develop strategies and make other adjustments to remain competitive in the chan… more
Date: February 14, 2011
Creator: Hornbeck, J. F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Issues and Proposed Expansion

Description: This report provides background information on IRAs, including a description of current law and the tax benefits of IRAs. In addition, the effects of IRAs on saving and other national objectives is discussed. A final section describes and analyzes recent IRA reform proposals.
Date: February 2, 2010
Creator: Hungerford, Thomas L. & Gravelle, Jane G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations: An Overview

Description: The U.S. economy has grown increasingly interconnected with other economies around the world, a phenomenon often referred to as globalization. Over the past 20 years, multinational corporations and nations have adopted voluntary, legally enforceable, and industry-specific codes of conduct to address concerns over the economic, social, and political impact of this phenomenon. Congress will continue to play a pivotal role in addressing the large number of issues regarding internationally applied … more
Date: February 14, 2011
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Financial Market Supervision: European Perspectives

Description: This report addresses the European perspectives on a number of proposals that are being advanced for financial oversight and regulation in Europe. The European experience may be instructive because financial markets in Europe are well developed, European firms often are competitors of U.S. firms, and European governments have faced severe problems of integration and consistency across the various financial structures that exist in Europe.
Date: February 4, 2010
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Local Food Systems: Selected Farm Bill and Other Federal Programs

Description: This report examines the federal support of local food systems, such as sales of locally-produced foods which comprise a small but growing part of U.S. agricultural sales.
Date: February 5, 2016
Creator: Johnson, Renée & Cowan, Tadlock
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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What Causes a Recession?

Description: This report discusses causes of recessions and provides data on the length of time economic expansions of the past have lasted.
Date: February 2, 2018
Creator: Labonte, Marc
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

U.S. Manufacturing in International Perspective

Description: This report is designed to inform the debate over the health of U.S. manufacturing through a series of charts and tables that depict the position of the United States relative to other countries according to various metrics. This report does not describe or discuss specific policy options.
Date: February 21, 2018
Creator: Levinson, Marc
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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