Search results
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Title
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Interest rates on consumer and commercial loans: Why the difference?
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Date
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1985
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Summary
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This paper, using the period from May 1982 to May 1983 as a case study, will examine the reasons for the inflexibility of rates charged by banks on consumer loans relative to rates charged by banks on business loans. The first half of the paper will attempt to establish the differences, and the reasons for such differences, in changes between consumer loan rates and commercial loan charges. The second half of the paper will analyze the reasons for these differences in light of bank yields on outstanding loans to consumers and businesses from 1966 through 1983. Finally, current data will be examined from the point of view of the conclusions reached in the report.
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Title
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Guide to selected federal assistance programs for undergraduate students
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Date
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1984
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Summary
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The Federal Government provides financial assistance to individuals enrolled in, or accepted for enrollment in institutions of higher education. This assistance flows through many programs and takes the form of loans, grants and work. In this CRS Guide to Selected Federal Assistance Programs for Undergraduate Students, 10 programs, administered by various Federal agencies, are briefly described.
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Title
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Air pollutant-induced stress to forest ecosystems: An overview of forest damage
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Date
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1986
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Summary
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In recent years the term "acid rain" has captured the attention of the American public as a possible cause of forest damage and decline. As research progresses, it appears that the adverse impacts of "acid rain" on forest ecosystems are more complex and not as well understood as they generally are for aquatic ecosystems. Different types of air pollution -- including but not limited to precursors of acid deposition -- alone or in combination with stress factors, may pose a wide range of threats to forest ecosystems. This report examines the extent of forest damage and decline in the United States, the dynamics of the forest ecosystem and the major hypotheses put forth by the scientific community to explain the role of air pollutants in forest declines. The report concluded that the forest decline debate must take into account a wider range of pollutants than are usually included in legislative proposals which emphasize sulphur dioxide emissions.
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Title
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Protecting visibility under the Clean Air Act
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Date
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1985
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Summary
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The Clean Air Act prevents visibility impairment - changes in visual range, contrast, and coloration caused by human activities - in three distinct programs: (1) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), (2) prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) in areas cleaner than the national standards, and (3) visibility protection in pristine areas such as National Parks. The 1970 amendments to the Act authorized the first program; the 1977 amendments made the second an express statutory requirement and authorized the third program. Since the Clean Air Act drew attention to visual air quality, researchers have defined the various aspects of visibility, determined visibility trends in different regions of the country, described its value, identified regions where visibility has special significance and thus where it must receive immediate regulatory attention. Regulators, moreover, have initiated the first phase of what will be a comprehensive visibility protection program for pristine parts of the country, mandatory Class I areas. This program extends some of the features found in the NAAQS and PSD programs and may have implications for visibility protection nationwide.
