Are currency devaluations necessarily bad? New Keynesian arguments for intervention rather than monetarist orthodoxy

Traditional monetarist thinking argues that currency devaluations are counterproductive because they generate additional inflationary pressures. Expectations that future inflation will have to be accommodated undermine the credibility (and hence effectiveness) of current monetary policies. However, these arguments neglect the impact on activity levels and whether there is spare capacity. Hard (or contractionary) monetary policies in recession will cause an equal loss of credibility with investors and forward-looking consumers who will make their expenditures elsewhere. These are therefore circumstances when currency devaluation could be helpful, and without inflationary consequences if rising productivity and spare capacity offset import price rises. Moreover, devaluation within a currency bloc can leave the effective exchange rate unchanged if the bloc is rising against external currencies; while boosting demand at the same time if the within-bloc import/export elasticities are higher than those outside. This paper tests these arguments econo-metrically, and shows that the conditions for a successful Sterling devaluation did exist in 1992.     

AUTOPOIESIS AND SELF-ORGANIZATION

Abstract

Consideration is given to the relevance of recent discussions of auto-poiesis to the study of self-organizing systems. Mechanisms that could underly the physical realization of an autopoietic system are discussed. It is concluded that autopoiesis does not, by itself, provide the essential ingredient whose omission has prevented SOS studies from being more productive. Two other important missing ingredients are discussed.     

DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS MODELS

Abstract

The growing influence of digital computing in systems modelling and simulation is leading to an increase in the use of discrete mathematical structures for describing models. While it is generally recognized that discrete methods and classical continuous methods both provide valuable tools for modelling, strong biases exist which depend on the modelling techniques that are traditional within specific disciplines. The choice of a modelling approach sometimes reflects the background of the model builder more strongly than it reflects the character of the problem to be solved. Since continuous methods have played the dominant role in scientific education, there are aspects of discrete modelling techniques and their relationship to continuous methods that are not widely recognized. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of these issues in order to dispel common criticisms of discrete techniques which are the result of unfamiliarity with discrete styles of mathematical thinking and a tendency to underestimate the degree of abstraction used in continuous approaches.     

Improving Thematic Mapper land cover classification using filtered data

In an attempt to alleviate the classification problems introduced by the higher spatial resolution of the Thematic Mapper in comparison to the Muitispectral Scanner, classifications were performed on two to six band combinations, first using Thematic Mapper bands only, and subsequently replacing band 5 by its mean-filtered and median-filtered counterpart. The combination of filtered data with non-filtered data smooths out scene noise while retaining some of the boundary detail.     

Influence of light exposure, ethanol and copper(II) on the formation of a precursor for xanthylium cations from tartaric acid

The production of xanthylium cation pigments was greatly increased when an aged, tartaric acid buffered, 12% (v/v) aqueous ethanol solution was used in a model white wine system. This suggested the formation of a precursor to the pigments during the ageing of the tartaric acid solution. On examining factors responsible for the generation of tartaric acid oxidation products in wine-like solutions it was observed that on exposure of samples to sunlight, glyoxylic acid, a known precursor to xanthylium cations, was produced. The production of glyoxylic acid was achieved in both the absence and presence of ethanol and copper(II). Hydrogen peroxide was also detected in these solutions. The results were consistent with the presence of glyoxylic acid in the aged tartaric acid buffered, 12% (v/v) aqueous ethanol solution that had frequent aeration and periodic exposure to sunlight throughout its storage. Studies on the role of hydrogen peroxide in the production of glyoxylic acid were also investigated. On the addition of hydrogen peroxide to tartaric acid solutions, with heating at 45°C in darkness, glyoxylic acid was only determined in solutions without ethanol.     

THE FUTURE-PLANNERS.

REPRINTED FROM THE NEW REPUBLIC, 1967. EXAMINES THE ROLE OF PEOPLE WHO HOPE TO PLAN FOR THE FUTURE "BY USING SOCIAL SCIENCE INSTEAD OF PRESSURE POLITICS TO SOLVE THE NATION'S PROBLEMS." THERE HAS BEEN RECENT RECOGNITION OF THE FUTURE-PLANNERS BY POLITICIANS, AS SHOWN BY BILLS IN CONGRESS SEEKING FEDERAL SUPPORT. THE INADEQUACIES OF FUTURE-PLANNING, ITS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE "CONTRACT STATE" AND TO HUMAN VALUES ARE EXAMINED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

GROWTH OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES, AEROMONAS HYDROPHILA AND YERSINIA ENTEROCOLITICA ON COOKED MUSSEL TISSUE UNDER REFRIGERATION AND MILD TEMPERATURE ABUSE

Strains of the psychrotrophic bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, Aeromonas hydrophila and Yersinia enterocolitica were inoculated onto samples of cooked mussel tissue and incubated at 5 and 10C under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. These organisms were enumerated over a time course and data were analyzed to give values for the lag and generation times. All species grew under all conditions, and the rate of growth was similar under aerobic and anaerobic incubation. Predicted growth kinetic values from response surface models and measured growth rates for L. monocytogenes and A. hydrophila were in reasonable agreement, but similar comparisons for Y. enterocolitica gave shorter predicted lag and generation times than were measured. A combination of models from different sources would have given more accurate predictions than any one individual model.     

Doubly coprime factorizations,reduced-order observers,and dynamic state estimate feedback

Doubly coprime factorizations of the transfer function of a lumped linear time-invariant system are a starting point for many of the results in the factorization approach to multivariabie control system analysis and synthesis. In work by Nett et al. (1984), explicit state-space realizations of these factorizations are derived using results from state estimation/state feedback theory. Here new doubly coprime factorizations are developed based on minimal-order observers. Following on from this, various extensions are noted, and it is proved that the class of all proper stabilizing controllers for a given plant can be generated by dynamic feedback of the reduced-order state estimate.