Short-run and long-run determinants of the price of gold

In 1833 the price of gold was $20.65 per ounce, about$415 in 2005 terms, while in 2005 the actual price of gold was $445 - a very small change in the real price of gold over a period of one hundred and seventy two years. Despite this apparent constancy in real terms over the long run, it is also true that, outside of periods when the gold price was fixed through various iterations of the gold standard, it has fluctuated significantly in the shorter term, sometimes for years at a time. Can these two apparently contradictory realities be reconciled? And can one be sure that the long run positive relationship between gold and inflation has persisted beyond the era of Bretton Woods? Indeed, is there any credence to the claim that gold can be used as a long-run hedge against inflation? The results reported in this paper provide some answers to these questions that are so central to the gold market and its many participants around the world. We also address the inflation hedging properties of gold in the currencies of the major gold-consuming countries outside of the USA, taking into account both the domestic exchange rate relative to the dollar and domestic consumer price index movements. Real gold prices denominated in the home currency of investors outside of the USA also deviate in the short-run from their home country inflation hedge price and there is also a long-run tendency for gold prices to revert to the long-run hedge price. The major gold consuming countries outside of the USA, that is, India, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia were rational to purchase gold in that it proved more than adequate as an inflation hedge. For these countries the actual USA dollar gold price between 1976 and 2005 far exceeded the dollar gold price required to provide an inflation hedge after taking account of exchange rates between the US dollar and the home country and the home country consumer price index movements

Scottish Archaeological Research Framework: Future Thinking on Carved Stones

No abstract available

Genetic improvement and utilisation of indigenous tilapia in southern Africa: final technical report, December 1st 1998 to June 31st, 2002

Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) is an indigenous tilapia species in southern Africa, until now the majority of genetic research has been carried out on Asian species of tilapia but this project aims to look at this African species. Those most suited to further development in aquaculture in southern Africa have now been identified. The genetic characterisation of strains has been completed. This information has aided the choice of strains for use in small scale aquaculture and for genetically male tilapia (GMT) production. They will form the basis of future strategies for further genetic improvement, and management of genetic diversity of Mozambique tilapia. The information will also contribute towards responsible management and development of genetic resources, particularly with regard to indigenous species of tilapia. Good progress has been made with the adaptation and implementation of producing the supermale fish required to produce all male offspring, resulting in faster growing populations of tilapia. The presence of the project and its associated activity has been a catalyst for a surge in interest in tilapia culture throughout southern Africa. [PDF contains 183 pages

Groupware design : principles, prototypes, and systems

Computers are valuable tools for a wide range of work tasks. A substantial limitation on their value, however, is the predominant focus on enhancing the work of individuals. This fails to account for the issues of collaboration that affect almost all work. Research into computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) aims to eliminate this deficiency, but the promise of computer systems for group work has not been met. This thesis presents four design principles that promote the development of successful groupware. The principles identify the particular problems encountered by groupware, and provide guidelines and strategies to avoid, overcome, or minimise their impact. Derived from several sources, the major influence on the principles development is an investigation into the relationship between factors affecting groupware failure. They are stimulated by observations of groupware use, and by design insights arising from the development of two groupware applications and their prototypes: Mona and TELEFREEK. Mona provides conversation-based email management. Several groupware applications allow similar functionality, but the design principles result in Mona using different mechanisms to achieve its user-support. TELEFREEK provides a platform for accessing computer-supported communication and collaboration facilities. It attends to the problems of initiating interaction, and supports an adaptable and extendible set of "social awareness" assistants. TELEFREEK offers a broader range of facilities than other groupware, and avoids the use of prohibitively high-bandwidth communication networks. TELEFREEK demonstrates that much can be achieved through current and widely accessible technology. Together, Mona and TELEFREEK forcefully demonstrate the use of the design principles, and substantiate the claim of their utility

The status of traditional Scottish animal breeds and plant varieties and the implications for biodiversity

The aim of this scoping study was to evaluate the effects on Scottish biodiversity of changes in the use of traditional breeds and varieties. The overall objectives were: a) The evaluation of the importance of genetic loss from the reduction in use of these breeds and varieties, for example, the loss of unusual characteristics that might have been of particular local use. b) An assessment of the impacts of reduction in the ability to conduct further breeding or research on rare and traditional varieties and breeds. c) Identification of the loss of certain farming techniques associated with particular varieties and breeds. d) An assessment of possible losses of biodiversity associated with reduction in the use of these breeds and varieties and the farming systems associated with them

Conquering the Highlands

Ecology; Deforestation; Scotlan

Accessing and Decoding Communities of Cultural Capital

Ours is a discussion paper which addresses, chiefly, the conference themes of: ‘equity & social justice’ and ‘theory & methods’. The paper is based on long-standing professional expertise in the area of Widening Participation (WP) in Art, Design and Architecture (ADA) in Higher Education and on research interest in the traditions and conventions, both bureaucratic and linguistic, which serve the infrastructure of formal education in ADA. The first part of the paper argues for a strategic approach to WP agendas within ADA to be informed by 1) the theory and methods of Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), specifically his work on the ‘aristocracy of culture’ and the operations of ‘cultural capital’ and 2) the recent work of James Elkins (b.1955) on the conventions of contemporary art education, in particular his application of Stanley Fish’s concept of ‘interpretive communities’ to ADA. The emergent strategy is one which recognises that socio-economic class remains the predominant obstacle to achieving credible diversity of student background in creative education at HE level. As Bourdieu makes clear, the non-acquisition of the codes and behaviours of operative cultural capital creates an acute and erroneous sense of incompleteness on the part of a reflexive working class applicant to art school who inwardly registers his/her perceived difference in capital inheritance. Elkins is right, we argue, to draw our attention to the explicit and implicit sharing of bureaucratic and evaluative vocabularies within the art academy: he usefully demonstrates the ways in which such vocabularies reinforce a complacent sense of liberal tolerance while cementing interpretive positions in ADA familiar to those with an appropriate level of cultural and educational wherewithal. For the second part of our presentation we will introduce to delegates GSA’s Prato Project: an international exchange programme between GSA and Monash University. This unique project sees Scottish students from lower socio-economic backgrounds join Australian liberal arts students in Tuscany. An intensive project, it has a twofold impact – on both ‘non-acquisition’ and ‘decoding vocabularies’, following Bourdieu and Elkins – by helping to familiarise less culturally privileged students with world renowned examples of renaissance culture, and by offering them a discursive environment in which to share and decode cultural preconceptions, build confidence, and help them identify as genuine participants in local, national and international culture. Often lacking confidence in, and alienated from, the dominant culture that pervades UK art schools, the following quote is a typical example of the project’s impact: ‘I thought I was prepared for what was going to happen on the trip. I don’t think I knew exactly how much it would have contributed to the person I am today. It changed many things about me such as my confidence, independence and my hunger for learning. Since the trip I have been to Prague, Berlin, Barcelona and Riga. This is all because I now have the confidence to travel’. In sum, our paper recommends that socio-economic class, and the ‘coding’ confidence issues which ensue, be kept in the foreground when addressing equity of participation in HE ADA. For open discussion we wish to hear of colleagues’ efforts in these areas, and share good practice, with the Prato Project as touchstone, to further test the insight and potential for institutional change which these theories and methods present