Housing and monetary policy: general discussion

Housing ; Monetary policy ; Housing - Prices

International Lessons for the Property Price Boom in South Africa

South Africa appears to share some of the characteristics (property price boom, easing of monetary policy, strong domestic demand growth) of asset price booms in industrial countries that were often followed by a period of weak growth. The international experience suggests that a number of practical obstacles need to be overcome before a more proactive role of monetary policy is warranted. However, a larger variety of available mortgage contracts, including longer-term fixed-rate contracts, should allow for a more efficient allocation of interest rate risks. Also, a more systematic nationwide collection of property price data, including data on commercial property price developments, would provide a more representative basis for analysis.Asset Prices,property prices,monetary policy,economic development

The fluid mechanics of bubbly drinks

Bubbly drinks are surprisingly attractive. There is something about the nature of the these beverages that make them preferable among other choices. In this article we explore the physics involved in this particular kind of two-phase, mass-transfer-driven flows.Comment: Extended version of Zenit R and Rodr\'iguez-Rodr\'iguez J. The fluid mechanics of bubbly drinks. Physics Today, Vol. 71(11) pp. 44-50, November 201

Economic Analysis of Recovery in States with Higher Minimum Wages than National Law

I explore two groupings of states separated by whether or not their minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage to help better understand the potential effects of the minimum wage on employment. This piece looks directly at economic recovery in recession. Direct employment has been studied extensively but with mixed results, this piece takes a more macro viewpoint on the data from a labor sector standpoint and proposes other variables that could impact jobs. The data are analyzed through an OLS linear regression model for both combined and separated groups. The data show that the negative expected impact from the minimum wage on recovery is not supported and actually the opposite is statistically significant in the data set. More data need to be analyzed and added to better understand this complex issue. Nevertheless, the analysis provides an interesting discussion point related to the inherently complex issue of the minimum wage and implies that policymakers in states with higher than federally mandated minimum wages may not need to be as concerned about massive layoffs during recession and recovery years

Bursts and Isolated Spikes Code for Opposite Movement Directions in Midbrain Electrosensory Neurons

Directional selectivity, in which neurons respond strongly to an object moving in a given direction but weakly or not at all to the same object moving in the opposite direction, is a crucial computation that is thought to provide a neural correlate of motion perception. However, directional selectivity has been traditionally quantified by using the full spike train, which does not take into account particular action potential patterns. We investigated how different action potential patterns, namely bursts (i.e. packets of action potentials followed by quiescence) and isolated spikes, contribute to movement direction coding in a mathematical model of midbrain electrosensory neurons. We found that bursts and isolated spikes could be selectively elicited when the same object moved in opposite directions. In particular, it was possible to find parameter values for which our model neuron did not display directional selectivity when the full spike train was considered but displayed strong directional selectivity when bursts or isolated spikes were instead considered. Further analysis of our model revealed that an intrinsic burst mechanism based on subthreshold T-type calcium channels was not required to observe parameter regimes for which bursts and isolated spikes code for opposite movement directions. However, this burst mechanism enhanced the range of parameter values for which such regimes were observed. Experimental recordings from midbrain neurons confirmed our modeling prediction that bursts and isolated spikes can indeed code for opposite movement directions. Finally, we quantified the performance of a plausible neural circuit and found that it could respond more or less selectively to isolated spikes for a wide range of parameter values when compared with an interspike interval threshold. Our results thus show for the first time that different action potential patterns can differentially encode movement and that traditional measures of directional selectivity need to be revised in such cases

The efficacy of macroeconomic policies in resolving financial market disequilibria: A cross-country analysis

This study attempts to evaluate the efficacy of macroeconomic policies in resolving financial market disequilibria and to elucidate the influence of the political landscape and global financial integration on the policymaking process. The current investigation examines three macroeconomic policies (i) government spending, (ii) liquidity provision and (iii) central bank interest rates by analysing 21 countries around the globe. The results suggest that government spending is a suboptimal macroeconomic policy for mitigating imbalances in financial markets, as it may have destabilizing effects. Liquidity provision was found to be ineffective in facilitating financial market stability whereas the adjustment of interest rates was found to be a viable tool for mitigating financial market imbalances. Therefore, an appropriate policy framework would comprise the following: prudent government spending, conditional liquidity provision and a reduction in interest rates following the development of financial market disequilibria. Furthermore, this study found strong evidence against the notion that political orientations influence policy frameworks which were designed to redress financial market disequilibria. This study also found that global financial integration does not influence the policymaking process

Burst Firing is a Neural Code in an Insect Auditory System

Various classes of neurons alternate between high-frequency discharges and silent intervals. This phenomenon is called burst firing. To analyze burst activity in an insect system, grasshopper auditory receptor neurons were recorded in vivo for several distinct stimulus types. The experimental data show that both burst probability and burst characteristics are strongly influenced by temporal modulations of the acoustic stimulus. The tendency to burst, hence, is not only determined by cell-intrinsic processes, but also by their interaction with the stimulus time course. We study this interaction quantitatively and observe that bursts containing a certain number of spikes occur shortly after stimulus deflections of specific intensity and duration. Our findings suggest a sparse neural code where information about the stimulus is represented by the number of spikes per burst, irrespective of the detailed interspike-interval structure within a burst. This compact representation cannot be interpreted as a firing-rate code. An information-theoretical analysis reveals that the number of spikes per burst reliably conveys information about the amplitude and duration of sound transients, whereas their time of occurrence is reflected by the burst onset time. The investigated neurons encode almost half of the total transmitted information in burst activity

Rebound Discharge in Deep Cerebellar Nuclear Neurons In Vitro

Neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) play a critical role in defining the output of cerebellum in the course of encoding Purkinje cell inhibitory inputs. The earliest work performed with in vitro preparations established that DCN cells have the capacity to translate membrane hyperpolarizations into a rebound increase in firing frequency. The primary means of distinguishing between DCN neurons has been according to cell size and transmitter phenotype, but in some cases, differences in the firing properties of DCN cells maintained in vitro have been reported. In particular, it was shown that large diameter cells in the rat DCN exhibit two phenotypes of rebound discharge in vitro that may eventually help define their functional roles in cerebellar output. A transient burst and weak burst phenotype can be distinguished based on the frequency and pattern of rebound discharge immediately following a hyperpolarizing stimulus. Work to date indicates that the difference in excitability arises from at least the degree of activation of T-type Ca2+ current during the immediate phase of rebound firing and Ca2+-dependent K+ channels that underlie afterhyperpolarizations. Both phenotypes can be detected following stimulation of Purkinje cell inhibitory inputs under conditions that preserve resting membrane potential and natural ionic gradients. In this paper, we review the evidence supporting the existence of different rebound phenotypes in DCN cells and the ion channel expression patterns that underlie their generation