Research Center for the Prevention of Financial Fraud

The Stanford University Center on Longevity and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation have joined forces to create the Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud. The center is an "interdisciplinary resource for law enforcement, government and research groups studying financial fraud." The center plans to address the following questions:

• Who is most susceptible to financial fraud?
• How can people be effectively protected against fraud?
• What techniques do fraudsters use to persuade victims?
• Why do people fall victim to fraud?
• What is the economic and emotional impact of fraud in the U.S.?

If the fraud is committed online, the United States Department of Justice addresses fraud and cybercrime on its Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section page which includes information about how to report cyber and IP crime.

Violent Extremism Prevention

The National Strategy for Counterterrorism now has a partner document, Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism. The national strategy contains President's Obama's plan to protect the American people against al-Qa’ida, its affiliates and its adherents. The partner document describes how federal agencies will support local communities and agencies in their efforts to prevent violent extremism.

Analysis of the Budget Control Act of 2011

What impact will The Budget Control Act of 2011 have on the deficit? Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office created for the House and Senate are now available online. The estimates include discussions on the following topics : Discretionary Caps, Program Integrity Initiatives, the Social Security Administration, Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control, Changes in Direct Spending for Education Programs, Pell Grants, Student Loans,Other Provisions, and Overall Budgetary Impact of the Legislation.

On Aug. 2, 2011 President Obama signed into S. 365, The Budget Control Act of 2011, assigned as Public Law 112-25 (cite as Pub. L. No. 112-25, 140 Stat. 240 [28 pages]). The enrolled bill is available as a pdf at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s365enr/pdf/BILLS-112s365enr.pdf or in html at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.365.enr: which also has links to previous versions of the bill.