The adjustment mechanism: theory and problems

Foreign exchange rates ; International trade ; Econometric models

The Art of Interpretation in Future Interest Cases

Man\u27s quest for an absolute, for a definition of good, for the meaning of justice, carries us back to the beginnings of philosophy. And although these concepts are as elusive as the Questing Beast pursued by King Pellinore in T. H. White\u27s delightful book, The Once and Future King, the history of mankind indicates that the curiosity of thoughtful persons is insatiable and that the search will not end. It continues daily before our eyes-in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, psychology, sociology, economics, philosophy, and other disciplines not the least of which is law. Even Holmes, the supposed skeptic, who rejected absolutes\u27 and who denied the inter-mixture of law and morals, repeatedly affirmed the significance of intellectual achievement and thought it not improbable that man, like the grub that prepares a chamber for the winged thing it has never seen but is to be--that man may have cosmic destinies that he does not understand. Whether or not it is given to us to catch an echo of the infinite, and though we may be denied the barest glimpse of the unknown, it seems a true observation that the cumulative effect of unveiling tiny parts of the inscrutable whole have at last put us on a course toward the stars

Establishing Normative Data for the Visual Skills of Gaelic Footballers

Although sports vision procedures have been implemented in many sports worldwide, no rigorous scientific investigation of the visual skills trends of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) participants has been carried out in Ireland to date. The aim of this study was to identify the visual skills required to play Gaelic football and to establish normative data for those skills which can be used to classify, superior, above average, average, below average and inferior visual performance. Hardware visual skills including high and low contrast vision, stereo acuity, colour vision, and contrast sensitivity and software skills including eye hand co-ordination, dynamic fixation and anticipation timing were studied. This work also compared the visual skills of Gaelic footballers playing at county (n=61) and club (n=46) level. With the exception of Wayne Pro-Action, Wayne Reaction, and vision 90% right there was a significant difference in the other visual test results between county and club level players. County players performed significantly better than club players in tests to assess vision 90% left, 90% binocular, 10% right, 10% left, 10% binocular, dynamic fixation and anticipation timing. In contrast, club players performed better than county level players for contrast sensitivity. Approximately 56% of county and club level players had a stereo acuity value of 60 seconds of arc. No recordable stereo acuity was found in 11% and 15% of county and club level players respectively. A larger proportion of club players (6.5%) had a colour deficiency than county level players (1.6%). Normative data can now be provided to Irish Optometrists, enabling improved visual care for this group of participants, as it provides a frame of reference when interpreting optometric test results carried out on Gaelic footballers and identifies areas of deficiencies that need to be addressed

Volume 52 - Issue 3 - October, 1942

https://scholar.rose-hulman.edu/technic/1189/thumbnail.jp

Hard Cases Make Bad Law? A Theoretical Investigation

I use formal models to probe the aphorism that “hard cases make bad law.” The analysis illuminates important features of the common law process, especially the influence of case characteristics on lawmaking and the role of strategic litigators. When a case raises concerns that are not reflected in doctrine, the court might distort the law to avoid a hardship. Distortion is more likely when the case is important or the facts are close to the border of legality. Litigators may exploit courts’ attention to extra-doctrinal concerns by strategically selecting cases for litigation. Surprisingly, though, a strategic litigator improves lawmaking relative to random case selection--even when her preferences are far from the ideal rule--if her influence over case selection is modest. The effect is more nuanced when the strategic litigator has greater selection power. Finally, the analysis incorporates a judicial hierarchy with asymmetric information and factfinding discretion

Essays on the political economy of public finance: taxation and debt

The granting of discretionary budgeting powers to policymakers whose utility functions do not match those of the societies they govern, may lead to sub-optimal fiscal outcomes which require the creation of binding and credible commitments to rectify. Past research into the institutional constraints placed upon, and behaviour of, policymakers has shown that these do, in fact, generate real effects on macroeconomic performance. Optimal fiscal systems, in this sense, become reliant on having in place an institutional framework which structurally induces social welfare maximizing outcomes. This thesis provides both a historical overview of the birth of modern public finance as well as an in depth examination of both theoretical and empirical contributions to tax theory with a full statistical analysis of the multidimensional determinants of compositional systems of budget equations from the revenue side, observed across 90 states between 1990-2008. There is also the somewhat neglected area of finite planning horizons in public finance, where policymaker discount factors may lead to sub-optimal dynamic fiscal outcomes; mainly, the accumulation of public debt. Theoretical expectations have been difficult to statistically validate due to unobservable transition likelihoods and endogeneity problems which are overcome in this paper revealing significant discount effects on the accumulation of debt. Lastly, the recent popularity of budget rules in many of the world's economies has led to questions regarding their effectiveness where pro igate governments may be less likely to adopt budget rules that constrain their budgeting powers. Empirical findings suggest that rule adoption is partially determined within the equation of fiscal performance, making it difficult to identify the 'true' effects of budget rule adoption, as well as whether these are of first or second order