Category: JOURNALISM

The Defendants

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61386-61391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25540]

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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

[MCC FR 11-10]

Report on the Criteria and Methodology for Determining the
Eligibility of Candidate Countries for Millennium Challenge Account
Assistance in Fiscal Year 2011

AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This report to Congress is provided in accordance with Section
608(b) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, 22 U.S.C.
7707(b) (the ``Act'').

    Dated: September 29, 2011.
Melvin F. Williams, Jr.,
VP/General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Millennium Challenge
Corporation.

Report on the Criteria and Methodology for Determining the Eligibility
of Candidate Countries for Millennium Challenge Account Assistance in
Fiscal Year 2012

Summary

    This report to Congress is provided in accordance with section
608(b) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, 22 U.S.C.
7707(b) (the ``Act'').
    The Act authorizes the provision of Millennium Challenge Account
(``MCA'') assistance to countries that enter into a Millennium
Challenge Compact with the United States to support policies and
programs that advance the prospects of such countries achieving lasting
economic growth and poverty reduction. The Act requires the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (``MCC'') to take a number of steps in
determining what countries will be selected as eligible for MCA compact
assistance for fiscal year 2012 (``FY12'') based on the countries'
demonstrated commitment to just and democratic governance, economic
freedom, and investing in their people, as well as MCC's opportunity to
reduce poverty and generate economic growth in the country. These steps
include the submission of reports to the congressional committees
specified in the Act and publication of notices in the Federal Register
that identify:
    The countries that are ``candidate countries'' for MCA assistance
for FY12 based on their per-capita income levels and their eligibility
to receive assistance under U.S. law. This report also identifies
countries that would be candidate countries but for specified legal
prohibitions on assistance (section 608(a) of the Act; 22 U.S.C. Sec.
7707(a));
    The criteria and methodology that MCC's Board of Directors (``the
Board'') will use to measure and evaluate the policy performance of the
candidate countries consistent with the requirements of section 607 of
the Act (22 U.S.C. 7706) in order to determine ``MCA eligible
countries'' from among the ``candidate countries'' (section 608(b) of
the Act); and
    The list of countries determined by the Board to be ``MCA eligible
countries'' for FY12, with justification for eligibility determination
and selection for compact negotiation, including which of the MCA
eligible countries the Board will seek to enter into MCA compacts
(section 608(d) of the Act).
    This report sets out the criteria and methodology to be applied in
determining eligibility for FY12 MCA assistance.

Criteria and Methodology for FY12

    The Board will base its selection of eligible countries on several
factors including the country's overall performance in three broad
policy categories--Ruling Justly, Encouraging Economic Freedom, and
Investing in People; MCC's opportunity to reduce poverty and generate
economic growth in a country; and the availability of funds to MCC.
    Section 607 of the Act requires that the Board's determination of
eligibility be based ``to the maximum extent possible, upon objective
and quantifiable indicators of a country's

[[Page 61387]]

demonstrated commitment'' to the criteria set out in the Act.
    For FY12, there will be two groups of candidate countries--low
income countries (``LIC'') and lower-middle income countries
(``LMIC''). As outlined in the Report on Countries that are Candidates
for Millennium Challenge Account Eligibility for Fiscal Year 2012 and
Countries that would be Candidates but for Legal Prohibitions (August
2011), LIC candidates refer to those countries that have a per capita
income equal to or less than $1,915 and are not ineligible to receive
United States economic assistance under part I of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 by reason of the application of any provision of
the Foreign Assistance Act or any other provision of law. LMIC
candidates are those countries that have a per capita income between
$1,916 and $3,975 and are not ineligible to receive United States
economic assistance under the same stipulations.

Changes to the Criteria and Methodology for FY12

    MCC reviews all of its indicators annually to ensure the best
measures are being used and, from time to time, recommends changes or
refinements if MCC identifies better indicators or improved sources of
data. MCC takes into account public comments received on the previous
year's criteria and methodology and consults with a broad range of
experts in the development community and within the U.S. Government. In
assessing new indicators, MCC favors those that: (1) Are developed by
an independent third party; (2) utilize objective and high quality data
that rely upon an analytically rigorous methodology; (3) are publicly
available; (4) have broad country coverage; (5) are comparable across
countries; (6) have a clear theoretical or empirical link to economic
growth and poverty reduction; (7) are policy linked (i.e., measure
factors that governments can influence within a two to three year
horizon); and (8) have broad consistency in results from year to year.
There have been numerous noteworthy improvements to data quality and
availability as a result of MCC's application of the indicators and the
regular dialogue MCC has established with the indicator institutions.
    MCC also annually reviews the methodology used to evaluate country
performance. Since FY04, the methodology has been that the Board
considers whether a country performs above the median \1\ in relation
to its peers on at least half of the indicators in each of the three
policy categories and above the median on the Control of Corruption
indicator. The Board may exercise discretion in evaluating and
translating the indicators into a final list of eligible countries and,
in this respect, the Board may also consider whether any adjustments
should be made for data gaps, lags, trends or other weaknesses in
particular indicators. Where necessary, the Board may also take into
account other data and quantitative and qualitative information to
determine whether a country performed satisfactorily in relation to its
peers in a given category (``supplemental information''). Through this
report, the Board publically affirms that it remains strongly committed
to identifying countries for MCC eligibility that have demonstrated
sound policies in each of the three policy categories.
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    \1\ The only exception is the Inflation indicator, which uses an
absolute threshold of 15% as opposed to the median as its
performance standard.
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    For FY12, MCC will implement a number of changes that modify the
overall evaluation of candidate country performance. While improvements
to the selection criteria and methodology are critical, MCC is also
mindful of the need to provide countries with a fairly stable set of
policy criteria to meet, if MCC is to create significant incentives for
reform. Therefore, for this year of transition, the Board of Directions
will consider countries' performance based on two sets of criteria and
methodologies in FY12: the status quo set of indicators and decisions
rules, and a revised set. Both of these are outlined below. By
encouraging the Board to consider how countries would have performed
under the previous system, as well as how countries perform under the
new system, MCC will provide a transition year that allows countries to
learn how they are being measured, engage in dialogue with MCC about
performance, and solicit feedback from the institutions that produce
these indicators.
    It is important to recognize that all of MCC's indicators have
limitations, including these revised indicators. Over the next year,
MCC intends to continue working with the indicator institutions to
ensure the data and methodology are the best available.

Indicators

    In FY12 the Board will use two sets of indicators to assess the
policy performance of individual countries. These indicators are
grouped under the three policy categories listed below. The changes to
the revised indicators include one substitution in Ruling Justly; two
additions in Economic Freedom; and three substitutions/additions in
Investing in People. Specific definitions of the indicators and their
sources are set out in the attached Annex A.

Status Quo

Civil Liberties
Political Rights
Voice and Accountability
Government Effectiveness
Rule of Law
Control of Corruption
Inflation
Fiscal Policy
Business Start-Up
Trade Policy
Regulatory Quality
Land Rights and Access
Public Expenditure on Health
Public Expenditure on Primary Education
Immunization Rates
Girls' Primary Education Completion
Natural Resource Management

Revised

Civil Liberties
Political Rights
Freedom of Information
Government Effectiveness
Rule of Law
Control of Corruption
Inflation
Fiscal Policy
Business Start-Up
Trade Policy
Regulatory Quality
Land Rights and Access
Access to Credit
Gender in the Economy
Public Expenditure on Health
Public Expenditure on Primary Education
Immunization Rates
Girls' Education:
Primary Education Completion (LICs)
Secondary Education Enrolment (LMICs)
Child Health
Natural Resource Protection

Methodology

    Similarly, in FY12 the Board will apply a status quo methodology,
and a revised methodology to the respective indicator groupings. These
are described below.

Status Quo

    In making its determination of eligibility with respect to a
particular candidate country, the Board will consider whether a country
performs above the median in relation to its income level peers (LIC or
LMIC) on at

[[Page 61388]]

least three of the indicators in each of the Ruling Justly, Encouraging
Economic Freedom, and Investing in People categories, and above the
median on the Control of Corruption indicator. One exception to this
methodology is that the median is not used for the Inflation indicator.
Instead, to pass the Inflation indicator a country's inflation rate
must be under an absolute threshold of 15 percent. The Board may also
take into consideration whether a country performs substantially below
the median on any indicator (i.e., below the 25th percentile) and has
not taken appropriate measures to address this shortcoming.

Revised

    In making its determination of eligibility with respect to a
particular candidate country, the Board will consider whether a country
performs above the median or absolute threshold on at least half of the
indicators and at least one indicator per category, above the median on
the Control of Corruption indicator, and above the absolute threshold
on either the Civil Liberties or Political Rights indicators.
Indicators with absolute thresholds in lieu of a median include a)
Inflation, on which a country's inflation rate must be under a fixed
ceiling of 15 percent; b) Immunization Rates (LMICs only), on which an
LMIC must have immunization coverage above 90%; c) Political Rights, on
which countries must score above 17 and d) Civil Liberties, on which
countries must score above 25. The Board will also take into
consideration whether a country performs substantially worse in any
category (Ruling Justly, Investing in People, or Economic Freedoms)
than they do on the overall scorecard. Further details on how this
methodology differs from the status quo can be found in Annex B.

Other Considerations for the Board of Directors

    Approach to Income Classification Transition
    Each year a number of countries shift income groups, and some
countries formerly classified as LICs suddenly face new, higher
performance standards in the LMIC group. As a result, they typically
perform worse relative to LMIC countries, than they did compared to
other LIC countries, even if in absolute terms they maintained or
improved their performance over the previous year. To address the
challenges associated with sudden changes in performance standards for
these countries, MCC has adopted an approach to income category
transition whereby the Board may consider the indicator performance of
countries that transitioned from the LIC to the LMIC category both
relative to their LMIC peers as well as in comparison to the current
fiscal year's LIC pool for a period of three years.

Supplementary Information

    Consistent with the Act, the indicators will be the predominant
basis for determining which countries will be eligible for MCA
assistance. However, the Board may exercise discretion when evaluating
performance on the indicators and determining a final list of eligible
countries. Where necessary, the Board also may take into account other
quantitative and qualitative information (supplemental information) to
determine whether a country performed satisfactorily in relation to its
peers in a given income category. There are elements of the criteria
set out in the Act for which there is either limited quantitative
information (e.g., the rights of people with disabilities) or no well-
developed performance indicator. Until such data and/or indicators are
developed, the Board may rely on additional data and qualitative
information to assess policy performance. For example, the State
Department Human Rights Report contains qualitative information to make
an assessment on a variety of criteria outlined by Congress, such as
the rights of people with disabilities, the treatment of women and
children, workers rights, and human rights. Similarly, MCC may consult
a variety of third party sources to better understand the domestic
potential for private sector led investment and growth.
    The Board may also consider whether supplemental information should
be considered to make up for data gaps, lags, trends, or other
weaknesses in particular indicators. As additional information in the
area of corruption, the Board may consider how a country is evaluated
by supplemental sources like Transparency International's Corruption
Perceptions Index, the Global Integrity Report, and the Extractive
Industry Transparency Initiative among others, as well as on the
defined indicator.

Consideration for Subsequent Compacts

    Countries nearing the end of compact implementation may be
considered for eligibility for a subsequent compact. In determining
eligibility for subsequent compacts, MCC recommends that the Board
consider, among other factors, the country's policy performance using
the methodology and criteria described above, the opportunity to reduce
poverty and generate economic growth in the country, the funds
available to MCC to carry out compact assistance, and the country's
track record of performance implementing its prior compact. To assess
implementation of a prior compact, MCC recommends that the Board
consider the nature of the country partnership with MCC, the degree to
which the country has demonstrated a commitment and capacity to achieve
program results, and the degree to which the country has implemented
the compact in accordance with MCC's core policies and standards.

Continuing Policy Performance

    Country partners that are developing or implementing a compact are
expected to seek to maintain and improve policy performance. MCC
recognizes that country partners may not meet the eligibility criteria
from time to time due to a number of factors, such as changes in the
peer-group median; transition into a new income category (e.g., from
LIC to LMIC); numerical declines in score that are within the
statistical margin of error; slight declines in policy performance;
revisions or corrections of data; the introduction of new sub-data
sources; or changes in the indicators used to measure performance. None
of these factors alone signifies a significant policy reversal nor
warrants suspension or termination of eligibility and/or assistance.
    However, countries that demonstrate a significant policy reversal
may be issued a warning, suspension, or termination of eligibility and/
or assistance. According to MCC's authorizing legislation, ``[a]fter
consultation with the Board, the Chief Executive Officer may suspend or
terminate assistance in whole or in part for a country or entity * * *
if * * * the country or entity has engaged in a pattern of actions
inconsistent with the criteria used to determine the eligibility of the
country or entity. * * *'' This pattern of actions need not be captured
in the indicators for MCC to take action.

Potential Future Changes

    MCC will continue to explore potential changes to the indicators
for future years. There are important areas of policy performance in
which indicators have not yet been developed, or expanded, to the
degree needed for inclusion in the MCC selection system. MCC would not
envision expanding the number of indicators beyond the current twenty
indicators. However, MCC remains interested in indicators that measure
policy performance related to educational quality, maternal health,
environmental degradation, budget

[[Page 61389]]

transparency, and more actionable indicators of corruption, which could
be used to substitute for existing indicators in the future or as
supplemental information. While we have reviewed some indicators with
promise--including education policy and quality indicators piloted by
the World Bank's Education for All, measures of maternal health from
the World Health Organization or the United Nations (including skilled
birth attendants or process indicators regarding access to emergency
obstetric care), preliminary data on air pollution provided by NASA
satellites, assessments of budget transparency by Open Budget Index,
and corruption assessments published by Global Integrity--none of these
indicators have sufficient periodicity and country coverage to be
incorporated into MCC's scorecard at this time.
    It should be noted that the new Freedom of Information indicator
adopted as part of the revised methodology draws on independent, third
party data, but is compiled by MCC, similar to how MCC compiles third
party data for the Land Rights and Access indicator. MCC welcomes the
efforts of third party institutions to improve and publish similar and
improved indicators.

Relationship to Legislative Criteria

    Within each policy category, the Act sets out a number of specific
selection criteria. As indicated above, a set of objective and
quantifiable policy indicators is used to determine eligibility for MCA
assistance and measure the relative performance by candidate countries
against these criteria. The Board's approach to determining eligibility
ensures that performance against each of these criteria is assessed by
at least one of the objective indicators. Most are addressed by
multiple indicators. The specific indicators appear in parentheses next
to the corresponding criterion set out in the Act.
    Section 607(b)(1): Just and democratic governance, including a
demonstrated commitment to --promote political pluralism, equality and
the rule of law (Political Rights, Civil Liberties, and Rule of Law,
Gender in the Economy); respect human and civil rights, including the
rights of people with disabilities (Political Rights, Civil Liberties,
and Freedom of Information); protect private property rights (Civil
Liberties, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, and Land Rights and
Access); encourage transparency and accountability of government
(Political Rights, Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Control of
Corruption, Rule of Law, and Government Effectiveness); and combat
corruption (Political Rights, Civil Liberties, Rule of Law, Freedom of
Information, and Control of Corruption);
    Section 607(b)(2): Economic freedom, including a demonstrated
commitment to economic policies that--encourage citizens and firms to
participate in global trade and international capital markets (Fiscal
Policy, Inflation, Trade Policy, and Regulatory Quality); promote
private sector growth (Inflation, Business Start-Up, Fiscal Policy,
Land Rights and Access, Access to Credit, Gender in the Economy, and
Regulatory Quality); strengthen market forces in the economy (Fiscal
Policy, Inflation, Trade Policy, Business Start-Up, Land Rights and
Access, Access to Credit, and Regulatory Quality); and respect worker
rights, including the right to form labor unions (Civil Liberties and
Gender in the Economy);
    Section 607(b)(3): Investments in the people of such country,
particularly women and children, including programs that--promote
broad-based primary education (Girls' Primary Education Completion,
Girls' Secondary Education, and Public Expenditure on Primary
Education); strengthen and build capacity to provide quality public
health and reduce child mortality (Immunization Rates, Public
Expenditure on Health, and Child Health); and promote the protection of
biodiversity and the transparent and sustainable management and use of
natural resources (Natural Resource Protection).

Annex A: Indicator Definitions

    MCC is incorporating six new measures into the selection criteria
and dropping two previous measures. MCC's Board of Directors approved
these changes for the FY12 selection process, though the Board will
also consider how countries perform on the previous set of indicators.
This gradual integration of the indicators was designed to provide
adequate notice to compact, threshold and candidate countries of the
new measures and their performance before the new indicators fully
replaced the previous indicators. A brief summary of the indicators
follows; a detailed rationale for the adoption of these indicators can
be found in the Public Guide to the Indicators (available at http://www.mcc.gov).
    The following indicators will be used to measure candidate
countries' demonstrated commitment to the criteria found in section
607(b) of the Act. The indicators are intended to assess the degree to
which the political and economic conditions in a country serve to
promote broad-based sustainable economic growth and reduction of
poverty and thus provide a sound environment for the use of MCA funds.
The indicators are not goals in themselves; rather they are proxy
measures of policies that are linked to broad-based sustainable
economic growth. The indicators were selected based on their (i)
relationship to economic growth and poverty reduction, (ii) the number
of countries they cover, (iii) transparency and availability, and (iv)
relative soundness and objectivity. Where possible, the indicators are
developed by independent sources.

Ruling Justly

    Civil Liberties: Independent experts rate countries on: freedom of
expression; association and organizational rights; rule of law and
human rights; and personal autonomy and economic rights, among other
things. Source: Freedom House
    Political Rights: Independent experts rate countries on: the
prevalence of free and fair elections of officials with real power; the
ability of citizens to form political parties that may compete fairly
in elections; freedom from domination by the military, foreign powers,
totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies and economic oligarchies;
and the political rights of minority groups, among other things.
Source: Freedom House
    Voice and Accountability (status quo indicators only): An index of
surveys and expert assessments that rate countries on: the ability of
institutions to protect civil liberties; the extent to which citizens
of a country are able to participate in the selection of governments;
and the independence of the media, among other things. Source:
Worldwide Governance Indicators (World Bank/Brookings)
    Freedom of Information (revised indicators only): Measures the
legal and practical steps taken by a government to enable or allow
information to move freely through society; this includes measures of
press freedom, national freedom of information laws, and the extent to
which a county is filtering internet content or tools. Source: Freedom
House/FRINGE Special/Open Net Initiative
    Government Effectiveness: An index of surveys and expert
assessments that rate countries on: the quality of public service
provision; civil servants' competency and independence from political
pressures; and the government's ability to plan and implement sound
policies, among other things. Source: Worldwide Governance Indicators
(World Bank/Brookings)

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    Rule of Law: An index of surveys and expert assessments that rate
countries on: the extent to which the public has confidence in and
abides by the rules of society; the incidence and impact of violent and
nonviolent crime; the effectiveness, independence, and predictability
of the judiciary; the protection of property rights; and the
enforceability of contracts, among other things. Source: Worldwide
Governance Indicators (World Bank/Brookings)
    Control of Corruption: An index of surveys and expert assessments
that rate countries on: ``grand corruption'' in the political arena;
the frequency of petty corruption; the effects of corruption on the
business environment; and the tendency of elites to engage in ``state
capture'', among other things. Source: Worldwide Governance Indicators
(World Bank/Brookings)

Encouraging Economic Freedom

    Inflation: The most recent average annual change in consumer
prices. Source: The International Monetary Fund's World Economic
Outlook Database
    Fiscal Policy: The overall budget balance divided by GDP, averaged
over a three-year period. The data for this measure come primarily from
IMF country reports or, where public IMF data are outdated or
unavailable, are provided directly by the recipient government with
input from U.S. missions in host countries. All data are cross-checked
with the IMF's World Economic Outlook database to try to ensure
consistency across countries and made publicly available. Source:
International Monetary Fund Country Reports, National Governments, and
the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook Database
    Business Start-Up: An index that rates countries on the time and
cost of complying with all procedures officially required for an
entrepreneur to start up and formally operate an industrial or
commercial business. Source: International Finance Corporation
    Trade Policy: A measure of a country's openness to international
trade based on weighted average tariff rates and non-tariff barriers to
trade. Source: The Heritage Foundation
    Regulatory Quality: An index of surveys and expert assessments that
rate countries on: the burden of regulations on business; price
controls; the government's role in the economy; and foreign investment
regulation, among other areas. Source: Worldwide Governance Indicators
(World Bank)
    Land Rights and Access: An index that rates countries on the extent
to which the institutional, legal, and market framework provide secure
land tenure and equitable access to land in rural areas and the time
and cost of property registration in urban and peri-urban areas.
Source: The International Fund for Agricultural Development and the
International Finance Corporation
    Access to Credit (revised indicators only): An index that rates
countries on rules and practices affecting the coverage, scope and
accessibility of credit information available through either a public
credit registry or a private credit bureau; as well as legal rights in
collateral laws and bankruptcy laws. Source: International Finance
Corporation
    Gender in the Economy (revised indicators only): An index that
measures the extent to which laws provide men and women equal capacity
to generate income or participate in the economy, including the
capacity to access institutions, get a job, register a business, sign a
contract, open a bank account, choose where to live, and travel freely.
Source: International Finance Corporation

Investing in People

    Public Expenditure on Health: Total expenditures on health by
government at all levels divided by GDP. Source: The World Health
Organization
    Immunization Rates: The average of DPT3 and measles immunization
coverage rates for the most recent year available. Source: The World
Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund
    Total Public Expenditure on Primary Education: Total expenditures
on primary education by government at all levels divided by GDP.
Source: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization and National Governments
    Girls' Primary Completion Rate: The number of female students
enrolled in the last grade of primary education minus repeaters divided
by the population in the relevant age cohort (gross intake ratio in the
last grade of primary). Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
    Girls Secondary Education (revised indicators only): The number of
female pupils enrolled in lower secondary school, regardless of age,
expressed as a percentage of the population of females in the
theoretical age group for lower secondary education. Lower middle
income counties (LMICs) will be assessed on this indicator instead of
Girls Primary Completion Rates. Source: United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
    Natural Resource Management (status quo indicators only): An index
made up of four indicators: eco-region protection, access to improved
water, access to improved sanitation, and child (ages 1-4) mortality.
Source: The Center for International Earth Science Information Network
and the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy
    Natural Resource Protection (revised indicators only): Assesses
whether countries are protecting up to 10 percent of all their biomes
(e.g., deserts, tropical rainforests, grasslands, savannas and tundra).
Source: The Center for International Earth Science Information Network
and the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy
    Child Health (revised indicators only): An index made up of three
indicators: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation,
and child (ages 1-4) mortality. Source: The Center for International
Earth Science Information Network and the Yale Center for Environmental
Law and Policy

Annex B: Changes to the Methodology

New Absolute Thresholds

    Political Rights: Countries that receive a score above 17 will be
considered as passing this indicator. The median will no longer be
calculated or utilized.
    Civil Liberties: Countries that receive a score above 25 will be
considered as passing this indicator. The median will no longer be
calculated or utilized.
    Immunization Rates: Lower middle income countries (LMICs) that
exceed an immunization coverage rate of 90% will be considered as
passing this indicator. The median will no longer be calculated or
utilized for countries classified as LMICs.

New Democratic Rights Hard Hurdle

    In making its determination of eligibility with respect to a
particular candidate country, the Board will consider whether a country
performs above the thresholds described above on either Political
Rights or Civil Liberties.

Require Countries to Pass Half of the Indicators Overall

    In making its determination of eligibility with respect to a
particular candidate country, the Board will consider whether a country
performs above the median or absolute threshold on at least half of the
indicators and at least one indicator per category. In order to
maintain a focus on the breadth of sound policy performance, the Board
will also take into consideration whether a country performs
substantially worse on any category (Ruling Justly, Investing in
People, or Economic Freedoms).

[[Page 61391]]

    As with the current selection system, the Board may exercise
discretion in evaluating and translating the indicators into a final
list of eligible countries and, in this respect, the Board may also
consider whether any adjustments should be made for data gaps, lags,
trends or other weaknesses in particular indicators. Where necessary,
the Board may also take into account other data and quantitative and
qualitative information to determine whether a country performed
satisfactorily in relation to its peers in a given category
(``supplemental information'').

[FR Doc. 2011-25540 Filed 9-29-11; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P

State	Total Active Trial and Permanent Mortgage Loan Modifications as of 31 Dec. 2009	Total Active Trial and Permanent Mortgage Loan Modifications as of 31 Dec. 2010	Total Active Trial and Permanent Mortgage Loan Modifications as of March 2011
CA	172,288	158,021	172,728
FL	105,108	80,732	87,060
IL	44,942	36,246	38,915
AZ	43,126	31,947	33,083
NY	38,282	30,435	32,988
GA	33,774	24,563	26,483
MI	29,103	22,481	23,817
NJ	28,517	21,782	23,348
MD	28,117	21,702	23,118
TX	28,577	17,757	19,075
Figure 3: Top 10 States Reporting Active Trial and Permanent Mortgage Loan Modifications, 2009 to March 2011. Source: U.S. Treasury Making Home Affordable Program: Servicer Performance Reports, 31 December 2009 through March 2011.

City	% Change 2009-2010	% Change 2004-2010
U.S.	-1.4	-18.5
Phoenix, AZ	-8.3	-32.3
Atlanta, GA	-7.9	-19.0
Portland, OR	-7.8	2.4
Chicago, IL	-7.4	-20.8
Detroit, MI	-6.4	-44.9
Seattle, WA	-6.0	0.1
Tampa, FL	-5.9	-24.9
Minneapolis, MN	-5.1	-26.9
Las Vegas, NV	-4.7	-52.1
Charlotte, NC	-4.3	-1.3
Figure 4: Top 10 Cities by Percent Change in Home Prices, through December 2010 Source: S & P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index & FiServe Data

Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky in 1958
Born	Meyer Suchowljansky July 4, 1902(1902-07-04) Grodno, Russian Empire
Died	January 15, 1983(1983-01-15) (aged 80) Miami Beach, Florida
Cause of death	lung cancer
Nationality	United States
Known for	Mob activity

Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky in 1958
Born	Meyer Suchowljansky July 4, 1902(1902-07-04) Grodno, Russian Empire
Died	January 15, 1983(1983-01-15) (aged 80) Miami Beach, Florida
Cause of death	lung cancer
Nationality	United States
Known for	Mob activity

American Nazi Party

Founder	George Lincoln Rockwell
Founded	1959
Headquarters	Arlington, Virginia
Ideology	Neo-Nazism White Separatism White Nationalism Antisemitism National Socialism
Political position	Far-Right
Website
http://www.americannaziparty.com/

Fukushima Daiichi NPS 8 October 2011 Photos

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Wirtschaftskriminalität Großrazzia wegen Verdachts auf Insiderhandel

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Edward P. May Sentenced for Orchestrating $350 Million Ponzi Scheme Largest-Ever in Michigan

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READ THE DOCUMENTS

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After 9/11, the NYPD surrounded Lower Manhattan’s civic center with enhanced security architecture commonly referred to as the ‘Ring of Steel’.

With its local and global reach, the zone is a signature public space of our time: encrypted, hardened.

Our exposition subjects the Ring of Steel to its own trial by jury. We propose new pathways to interrogate the bias against civic-mindedness revealed by command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance procedures and technologies.

This is critical for those called to the civic center for jury duty — especially from communities underrepresented in the jury pool, who might be intimidated by security theater even before they face examination about their impartiality during a jury trial.

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Edward P. May Sentenced for Orchestrating $350 Million Ponzi Scheme
Largest-Ever in Michigan

Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc. Agrees to Plead Guilty to Participating in Bid-Rigging and Price-Fixing Conspiracies Involving Optical Disk Drives
Company Agrees to Pay $21.1 Million Criminal Fine