Communal and Institutional Trust: Authority in Religion and Politics

Linda Zagzebski’s book on epistemic authority is an impressive and stimulating treatment of an important topic. 1 I admire the way she manages to combine imagination, originality and argumentative control. Her work has the further considerable merit of bringing analytic thinking and abstract theory to bear upon areas of concrete human concern, such as the attitudes one should have towards moral and religious authority. The book is stimulating in a way good philosophy should be -- provoking both disagreement and emulation. I agree with much of what she says, and have been instructed by it, but it will be of more interest and relevance here if I concentrate upon areas of disagreement. Perhaps they are better seen as areas, at least some of them, where her emphases suggest a position that seems to me untenable, but that she may not really intend. In that event, I will be happy to have provoked a clarification or the dispelling of my misunderstanding. My focus will be upon problems in her account of communal authority and autonomy, especially with respect to religious and political authority. Here my worry is that she places too much trust in trust and not enough in what I call selective mistrust

The cost of poverty alleviation transfer programs

"A common criticism of antipoverty programs is that the high share of administrative (nontransfer) costs substantially reduces their effectiveness in alleviating poverty. Yet there is surprisingly little hard empirical evidence on such programs' costs. A recent international review of targeted poverty alleviation programs in less developed countries found cost information which was rarely comparable between studies for fewer than one-third of the programs examined. Improved information and a better understanding of the costs of such programs are crucial for effective policymaking. This study proposes and implements a methodology for a comparative analysis of the level and structure of costs of three similar poverty alleviation programs in Latin America, in order to assess their cost-efficiency. The findings underscore that any credible assessment of cost-efficiency requires a detailed analysis of program cost structures that goes well beyond simply providing aggregate cost information." Authors' AbstractPoverty alleviation ,Human capital ,cost benefit analysis ,

Derived demand for tobacco by type and origin

The recent overhaul of the tobacco program was prompted in part by the increased use of imported tobacco in domestic cigarette manufacturing. A large portion of the blame for the loss in market share was placed on the high U.S. support prices for domestically produced tobacco. A more market oriented tobacco program was instituted to make U.S. tobacco more price competitive in both the domestic and export markets. The purpose of this study was to examine the demand for tobacco and analyze the nature of the price linkages occurring within the domestic market. Price and expenditure linkages for the entire domestic market were examined, and these linkages were also studied for the components of tobacco imports. The Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) of Deaton and Muellbauer (1980a, 1980b) was applied to model the domestic market and the import market from 1971-1986. In the domestic market, prices are a significant determinant of budget shares. The demand for domestic flue-cured tobacco reacts strongly with changes in the price for imported flue-cured and hurley tobacco. A price increases in one of these tobacco types will produce a significant increase in the other\u27s market share. Domestic hurley tobacco and oriental tobacco are relatively secure in the U.S. market with limited substitution available for these tobaccos. Prices are an important determinant of import market shares as well. Additionally, the decreasing average nicotine content of U.S. cigarettes has a significant role in the manner in which the U.S. imports tobacco. Brazil and Canada have benefitted in the import market, while Greece and Mexico are adversely affected by the lowering of the nicotine level. Tobacco imports arrive in the U.S. from countries operating under democratic and centrally planned governments, and from countries in various stages of economic development. Tobacco imports can therefore be classified by the economic group of its source, i.e. imports originating from developed, less developed, or centrally planned economies. The import price of an economic group\u27s tobacco was found to play a marginal role in how the U.S. imports tobacco. The wide variances of individual country prices within an economic group limits the inferences possible from this type of disaggregation. Developed countries were found to be, on average, a low price import, suggesting that factors such as government subsidies may play a part in determining market shares. The findings of the study indicated generally inelastic demands for each type of tobacco. Elastic price responses were found for imported flue-cured and burley tobacco in the domestic market. In the import market, elastic price responses were found for Greece, Canada, and centrally planned countries. The elasticities are subject to skepticism however, since some own-price elasticities were positive

The cost of poverty alleviation transfer programs

"This paper proposes and implements a methodology for a detailed, comparative analysis of the level and structure of costs for three similar poverty alleviation programs in Latin America: the Programa Nacional de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (PROGRESA) in Mexico, the Programa de Asignación Familiar-Fase II (PRAF) in Honduras, and the pilot Red de Protección Social (RPS) in Nicaragua. These innovative programs target cash transfers to the poorest communities and households, and condition them on attendance at school and health clinics. This conditionality effectively transforms the cash transfers into human capital subsidies for poor households." From TextPoverty alleviation ,Human capital ,cost benefit analysis ,

The effect of treatment of liraglutide on quality of life and depression in young obese women with PCOS and controls

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with reduced quality of life (QoL), though the role of associated obesity is unclear. In this study we examined the effects of six months treatment with liraglutide, 1.8 mg od, on obesity, depression and QoL in young women with PCOS and obesity compared to age- and weight-matched controls. In a cross-sectional study, 36 women were recruited (19 PCOS, 17 controls), age 33.9 ± 6.7 vs. 33.5 ± 7.1 yr, and weight 102.1 ± 17.1 vs. 100.4 ± 15.1 kg, respectively. PCOS was diagnosed according to the Rotterdam criteria. Depression was measured using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). QoL was measured using the World Health Organization QoL questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). At baseline there was no difference in QoL or CES-D scores between the two groups. At six months, weight was reduced by 3.0 ± 4.2 kg, p = .01, in the PCOS group and 3.8 ± 3.4 kg, p = .001, in controls. Psychological health improved in the PCOS group (percentage change 11.3%, p smaller than .02). Combining the two groups revealed significant improvement (p smaller than .05) in physical (82.6 ± 11.2 vs. 78.9 ± 13.6), psychological (62.4 ± 16.5 vs. 57.5 ± 16.4) and social health (76.6 ± 15.3 vs. 71 ± 16.8) components of the WHOQOL-BREF at six months. Weight loss is associated with an improvement in QoL; and when matched for age and obesity, PCOS was not independently associated with reduced QoL or depression

Penetrating ulcer of the thoracic aorta: What is it? How do we recognize it? How do we manage it?

AbstractBackground: Although classic type A and B aortic dissections have been well described, less is known about the natural history of penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers of the thoracic aorta. This study differentiates penetrating ulcer from aortic dissection, determines the clinical features and natural history of these ulcers, and establishes appropriate correlates regarding optimal treatment. Methods: A retrospective review of patient records and imaging studies was conducted with 198 patients with initial diagnoses of aortic dissection (86 type A, 112 type B) at our institution from 1985 to 1997. Results: Of the 198 patients, 15 (7.6%) were found to have a penetrating aortic ulcer on re-review of computed tomographic scans, magnetic resonance images, angiograms, echocardiograms, intraoperative findings, or pathology reports. Two ulcers (13.3%) were located in the ascending aorta; the other 13 (86.7%) were in the descending aorta. In comparison with those with type A or B aortic dissection, patients with penetrating ulcer were older (mean age 76.6 years, p = 0.018); had larger aortic diameters (mean diameter 6.5 cm); had ulcers primarily in the descending aorta (13 of 15 patients, 86.7%); and more often had ulcers associated with a prior diagnosed or managed AAA (6 of 15 patients, 40.0%; p = 0.0001). Risk for aortic rupture was higher among patients with penetrating ulcers (40.0%) than patients with type A (7.0%) or type B (3.6%) aortic dissection (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Accurate recognition and differentiation of penetrating ulcers from classic aortic dissection at initial presentation is critical for optimal treatment of these patients. For penetrating ulcer, the prognosis may be more serious than with classic type A or B aortic dissection. Surgical management is advocated for penetrating ulcers in the ascending aorta and for penetrating ulcers in the descending aorta that exhibit early clinical or radiologic signs of deterioration. (J Vasc Surg 1998;27:1006-16.

The moral obligations of trust

Moral obligation, Darwall argues, is irreducibly second personal. So too, McMyler argues, is the reason for belief supplied by testimony and which supports trust. In this paper, I follow Darwall in arguing that the testimony is not second personal ‘all the way down’. However, I go on to argue, this shows that trust is not fully second personal, which in turn shows that moral obligation is equally not second personal ‘all the way down’

Physiological Observations on Raccoons in Winter

Body temperatures were recorded earlier from raccoons tethered outdoors in extreme cold. There was no suppression in body temperature. Later, two events suggested a new study, this time on heart rates: (1) the development of implantable radio-capsules for heart rate and EKG, and (2) the information that bears develop a bradycardia in the winter den, slowing sleeping heart rates from 40 b/m to 8-15 b/m. Three raccoons were studied periodically in outdoor dens in midwinter with Iowa implanted radio-capsules. Unlike the bears, when the raccoons stayed indoors for several days due to severe weather, their sleeping heart rates went up, instead of down. The explanations may be: (1) they were yearling raccoons, and (2) the winter was unusually mild. The experiment will be repeated with older animals