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| Image Source: http://bit.ly/1Kxshqp |
May 29, 2015
Fitness Trackers Impacting Insurance
May 28, 2015
New Report: University-Business Job Creation Partnerships
Graduating from a college or university without experience in one’s degree area or with only internship experience limits a graduate’s employment prospects. In an attempt to address this issue and simultaneously provide businesses with prospective employees interested in specific business sectors, many Connecticut colleges and universities have formed partnerships with businesses.
Additionally, businesses are taking initiative to promote enrollment in manufacturing, electrical, and technical areas where there is a forecasted need. OLR Report 2015-R-0102 identifies some of the collaborations between businesses and Connecticut colleges and universities.
As a guideline, the report identifies partnerships exhibiting the approaches outlined in the Business-Higher Education Forum’s (BHEF’s) 2013 national study; methods “that enable business and higher education to move from transactional approaches to interaction.” The approaches include (1) involving business people in designing and teaching courses with business applications (“introductory course design”), (2) combining classroom instruction and workplace experience (“earlier research internships”) and (3) helping high school students interested in specific career paths make the transition from high school to college and move on to their chosen careers (“bridge programs”).
To learn more, click here to read the full report.
Additionally, businesses are taking initiative to promote enrollment in manufacturing, electrical, and technical areas where there is a forecasted need. OLR Report 2015-R-0102 identifies some of the collaborations between businesses and Connecticut colleges and universities.
As a guideline, the report identifies partnerships exhibiting the approaches outlined in the Business-Higher Education Forum’s (BHEF’s) 2013 national study; methods “that enable business and higher education to move from transactional approaches to interaction.” The approaches include (1) involving business people in designing and teaching courses with business applications (“introductory course design”), (2) combining classroom instruction and workplace experience (“earlier research internships”) and (3) helping high school students interested in specific career paths make the transition from high school to college and move on to their chosen careers (“bridge programs”).
To learn more, click here to read the full report.
May 27, 2015
Research Casts Doubt on Calorie Count Accuracy
There is good news and bad news. The good news is that the nutrition facts on your food may be overstating your food’s calorie count, so you may be ingesting far fewer calories than you realize. The bad news is that this does not mean you should eat more.
A recent New York Times article claims that a recent study found that the traditional method of discerning the calories in food is flawed, resulting in overestimates of the caloric values of high-fiber and high-protein foods.
The article indicates that the traditional method for discerning the caloric value of foods counts the number of calories in food but does not account for how completely the human body absorbs those calories. The article explains that the traditional method is most accurate for foods that are easily digested – like highly processed foods. For other, more complex foods like nuts, meat, and high-fiber foods, scientists now understand that a significant number of calories are lost in an effort to digest the food.
The article notes that nutritionists caution that a lower calorie-count does not mean people should eat more. Instead, some nutritionists are advocating for a new system for determining the caloric value of food (i.e., a system that measures the caloric value of food and the food’s digestibility). This system has been presented to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization but has not been adopted.
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| Image Source: Wiki Commons |
A recent New York Times article claims that a recent study found that the traditional method of discerning the calories in food is flawed, resulting in overestimates of the caloric values of high-fiber and high-protein foods.
The article indicates that the traditional method for discerning the caloric value of foods counts the number of calories in food but does not account for how completely the human body absorbs those calories. The article explains that the traditional method is most accurate for foods that are easily digested – like highly processed foods. For other, more complex foods like nuts, meat, and high-fiber foods, scientists now understand that a significant number of calories are lost in an effort to digest the food.
The article notes that nutritionists caution that a lower calorie-count does not mean people should eat more. Instead, some nutritionists are advocating for a new system for determining the caloric value of food (i.e., a system that measures the caloric value of food and the food’s digestibility). This system has been presented to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization but has not been adopted.
May 26, 2015
New Report: How Many Proposed Bills Become Laws?
According to OLR Report 2015-R-0111, very few proposed bills eventually become laws. The report examines bills introduced during regular session from 2009 to 2014. It does not include special sessions, which consider only emergency certified bills and may be convened at any other time.
A proposed bill is a bill introduced by an individual legislator at the beginning of a session, not fully drafted. There were 4,864 proposed bills introduced between 2009 and 2014. Of those bills, 208 (approximately 4%) were enacted into law. The total bills enacted into law across the six year period, was 1,590. Therefore, approximately 1% of the enacted bills were proposed bills. The total enacted bills include raised bills, public acts, and special acts passed by the General Assembly.
For more information, read the full report.
A proposed bill is a bill introduced by an individual legislator at the beginning of a session, not fully drafted. There were 4,864 proposed bills introduced between 2009 and 2014. Of those bills, 208 (approximately 4%) were enacted into law. The total bills enacted into law across the six year period, was 1,590. Therefore, approximately 1% of the enacted bills were proposed bills. The total enacted bills include raised bills, public acts, and special acts passed by the General Assembly.
For more information, read the full report.
May 25, 2015
Connecticut Housing Market A Complicated Picture
Two new reports detail the Connecticut housing market. In general, house sales are up but the average sale price is down.
According to a new report by The Warren Group, a real estate information company, sales of single family homes in Connecticut increased almost 14% this February, compared to February 2014. The 1,352 homes sold is the highest February number since 2008. However, the report also notes that the median price of a single family home dropped by almost 5%, to $224,750.
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, a realty company, recently compared Connecticut home sales in the first quarter of 2015 with those in the first quarter of 2014. Home prices increased 1.3%, the number of sales increased 2.93%, and sales volume (which incorporates the price of the house) increased 4.27%. In addition, the average sale price for a single family home in Connecticut rose from $371,000 to $375,000.
Berkshire Hathaway also reported real estate sales by county. Windham County had the largest increase of any county in Connecticut, with sale prices increasing 11.6%, followed by New Haven County at 2.8%. Sale prices in Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New London and Tolland Counties decreased. However, the number of sales increased in Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven, and Windham counties.
Nationwide, the housing market appears to be increasing. The Case-Shiller index, which measures single family home prices, increased 5% in February (compared to February 2014).
According to a new report by The Warren Group, a real estate information company, sales of single family homes in Connecticut increased almost 14% this February, compared to February 2014. The 1,352 homes sold is the highest February number since 2008. However, the report also notes that the median price of a single family home dropped by almost 5%, to $224,750.
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| Image Source: http://bit.ly/1HtiH4g |
Berkshire Hathaway also reported real estate sales by county. Windham County had the largest increase of any county in Connecticut, with sale prices increasing 11.6%, followed by New Haven County at 2.8%. Sale prices in Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New London and Tolland Counties decreased. However, the number of sales increased in Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven, and Windham counties.
Nationwide, the housing market appears to be increasing. The Case-Shiller index, which measures single family home prices, increased 5% in February (compared to February 2014).
May 22, 2015
New Report: Final Disposition of Regulations Rejected without Prejudice in 2013 and 2014
OLR Report 2015-R-0053 outlines the proposed regulations disapproved or rejected without prejudice in 2013 and 2014 and the final disposition of each regulation.
Adopting agency regulations in Connecticut is a multi-step process that begins when the legislature enacts a new law that either authorizes or requires an agency to adopt new regulations. The Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA) governs this process, which includes an agency submitting proposed regulations to the General Assembly’s Regulations Review Committee for approval. For more information on the regulation adoption process read OLR Report 2015-R-0064.
In 2013 and 2014, the Regulation Review Committee rejected 19 proposed regulations, all without prejudice, from 10 agencies. No regulations were disapproved. Following rejection, 17 of the 19 regulations were later approved in whole or with technical corrections, substitute pages, or deletions. Of the two regulations that were not later approved, one relates to affirmative action plans, proposed by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, and the second relates to provider audit requirements, proposed by the Department of Social Services.
For additional information, read the full report.
Adopting agency regulations in Connecticut is a multi-step process that begins when the legislature enacts a new law that either authorizes or requires an agency to adopt new regulations. The Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA) governs this process, which includes an agency submitting proposed regulations to the General Assembly’s Regulations Review Committee for approval. For more information on the regulation adoption process read OLR Report 2015-R-0064.
In 2013 and 2014, the Regulation Review Committee rejected 19 proposed regulations, all without prejudice, from 10 agencies. No regulations were disapproved. Following rejection, 17 of the 19 regulations were later approved in whole or with technical corrections, substitute pages, or deletions. Of the two regulations that were not later approved, one relates to affirmative action plans, proposed by the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, and the second relates to provider audit requirements, proposed by the Department of Social Services.
For additional information, read the full report.
May 21, 2015
Hearing the Economic Signals amid the Economic Noise
Remember our blog about “inflection points”—a term Intel’s Andy Grove coined to help businesses identify significant shifts that could spell trouble for a company’s products and services? Inflection points often show up in graphs, tables, and statistical indicators. Ironically, there is no dearth of such indicators when it comes to business and economics, and that’s a big problem, according to Nate Silver, author of The Signal and Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail—But Some Don’t (2012).
Why? Because “we face danger whenever information growth outpaces our understanding of how to process it.” Ironically, the human race has survived because human beings are good at processing and analyzing data to discern meaningful patterns. But today the vast stream of data generated from many sources could be having unintended consequences, such as allowing us to select only that data that conforms to our preconceived ideas. Consequently, we may be missing the signals for the noise and wasting our time chasing false leads.
If this sounds too abstract for public policy, let’s turn to a recent Christian Science Monitor article about wages. Some economic signals show that wages are finally going up, which is good news, especially for states that rely on consumer spending to fill their tax coffers. But this time, things are different. People are saving their extra cash or paying down debt. “The U.S. savings rate in the first three months of 2015 increased to 5.5 percent—its highest level since the end of 2012,” the article stated. Did the economic forecasters predict the increase in savings?
In his assessment of the 2008 housing collapse and the deep recession it triggered, Silver recommended that, “we must think differently about our ideas—and how to test them. We must become more comfortable with probability and uncertainty. We must think more carefully about the assumptions and beliefs we bring to a problem.”
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| Image Source: http://bit.ly/1e5OZsi |
Why? Because “we face danger whenever information growth outpaces our understanding of how to process it.” Ironically, the human race has survived because human beings are good at processing and analyzing data to discern meaningful patterns. But today the vast stream of data generated from many sources could be having unintended consequences, such as allowing us to select only that data that conforms to our preconceived ideas. Consequently, we may be missing the signals for the noise and wasting our time chasing false leads.
If this sounds too abstract for public policy, let’s turn to a recent Christian Science Monitor article about wages. Some economic signals show that wages are finally going up, which is good news, especially for states that rely on consumer spending to fill their tax coffers. But this time, things are different. People are saving their extra cash or paying down debt. “The U.S. savings rate in the first three months of 2015 increased to 5.5 percent—its highest level since the end of 2012,” the article stated. Did the economic forecasters predict the increase in savings?
In his assessment of the 2008 housing collapse and the deep recession it triggered, Silver recommended that, “we must think differently about our ideas—and how to test them. We must become more comfortable with probability and uncertainty. We must think more carefully about the assumptions and beliefs we bring to a problem.”
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