Debt consolidation with long-term debt

The Great Recession has sent debt levels to a post-WWII high for several advanced economies, reviving the discussion of fiscal consolidation. This paper assesses the macroeconomic implications of tax-based versus spending-based consolidation within the framework of a New Keynesian model with long term government debt. Three results stand out: First, tax-based consolidations are inflationary whereas spending-based ones are deflationary. Second, the net benefits of inflation increase in the average maturity of outstanding debt: inflation revalues debt more efficiently, while distortions due to price dispersion remain unaffected - the maturity effect. Third, as a result, tax-based consolidations can become superior to spending cuts if the average maturity is high enough. Quantitatively, the threshold is two years for US data in 2013. The previous mechanism illustrates the importance of inflation in the consolidation process, even if raising its target rate is considered not to be an option

Financial Repression in General Equilibrium

Financial repression allows governments to borrow at artificially low interest rates. Quantifying financial repression is challenging, because it relies on an estimate of the interest rate which would prevail in the absence of repression. In this paper, we put forward a quantitative business cycle model which features financial repression. We estimate the model on US times series for the period 1948-1979 in order to quantify the extent of financial repression and its impact on the economy

Farnesylcysteine analogues inhibit chemotactic peptide receptor-mediated G-protein activation in human HL-60 granulocyte membranes

AbstractAnalogues of S-prenylated cysteine like N-acetyl-S-trans,trans-farnesyl-l-cysteine (AFC) have previously been shown to inhibit the carboxyl methylation of proteins carrying a C-terminal S-prenylated cysteine residue and to block the endotoxin-activated serum-elicited ehemotactic response of mouse macrophages. Here, we show that AFC inhibits both basal and fonnyl peptide receptor-stimulated binding of guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP[S]) to and hydrolysis of GTP by membranes of myeloid differentiated HL-60 granulocytes. Receptor-stimulated GTP[S] binding and GTP hydrolysis are more sensitive to AFC inhibition than basal G-protein functions. Inhibition of fonnyl peptide receptor-mediated G-protein activation is also observed for S-trans,trans-famesyl-3-thiopropionic acid, but not for N-acetyl-S-tarns-geranyl-l-cysteine, N-acetyl-l-cysteine, or the methyl ester of AFC, suggesting that the farnesyl moiety and the carboxyl group, but not the peptide bond of AFC are required for inhibition. The observations that exogeneous S-adenosyl-l-methionine is apparently not required for and S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine does not attenuate the inhibitory action of AFC raise the distinct possibility that AFC inhibits receptor-mediated G-protein interaction by a mechanism other than inhibition of protein carboxyl methylation

Three Essays in Macroeconomics : Implications of the Great Recession for Fiscal and Monetary Policy

The Great Recession prompted several governments and central banks in advanced economies to take exceptional measures, whose consequences are still visible today. In particular, two developments seem to be noteworthy. First, many governments' debt-to-GDP ratios are high with no sign of returning to pre-crisis levels, raising concerns about their sustainability. Second, interest rates are low and in some countries at the effective lower bound, reducing monetary policies' room for manoeuvre. This thesis investigates several implications of these two consequences of the crisis for fiscal and monetary policy. The first two chapters focus on means to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio, either by generating primary surpluses through budgetary adjustments (chapter 1) or by directly lowering the interest rates on government debt due to financial repression (chapter 2). The last chapter evaluates the impact of interest rate forward guidance, an important tool for central banks to enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy at the effective lower bound

Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence of Chlorophylls in Single Light-Harvesting Complexes

Ensemble and single-molecule spectroscopy demonstrates that both emission and absorption of peridinin−chlorophyll−protein photosynthetic antennae can be largely enhanced through plasmonic interactions. We find up to 18-fold increase of the chlorophyll fluorescence for complexes placed near a silver metal layer. This enhancement, which leaves no measurable effects on the protein structure, is observed when exciting either chlorophyll or carotenoid and is attributed predominantly to an increase of the excitation rate in the antenna. The enhancement mechanism comes from plasmon-induced amplification of electromagnetic fields inside the complex. This result is an important step toward applying plasmonic nanostructures for controlling the optical response of complex biomolecules and improving the design and functioning of artificial light-harvesting systems

All Finite Generalized Tetrahedron Groups

A generalized tetrahedron groups is defined to be a group admitting a presentation where l,m,n,p,q,r >= 2, each W_i(a,b) is a cyclically reduced word involving both a and b. These groups appear in many contexts, not least as fundamental groups of certain hyperbolic orbifolds or as subgroups of generalized triangle groups. In this paper, we build on previous work to give a complete classification of all finite generalized tetrahedron groups

Snapshots of sequential polyphosphide rearrangement upon metallatetrylene addition

Insertion and functionalization of gallasilylenes [L$^{Ph}$Si–Ga(Cl)L$^{BDI}$] (L$^{Ph}$ = PhC(NtBu)$_{2}$; L$^{BDI}$ = [{2,6-iPr$_{2}$C$_{6}$H$_{3}$NCMe}$_{2}$CH]) into the cyclo-E$_{5}$ rings of [Cp*Fe(η$^{5}$-E$_{5}$)] (Cp* = η$^{5}$-C$_{5}$Me$_{5}$; E = P, As) are reported. Reactions of [Cp*Fe(η$^{5}$-E$_{5}$)] with gallasilylene result in E–E/Si–Ga bond cleavage and the insertion of the silylene in the cyclo-E$_{5}$ rings. [(L$^{Ph}$Si-Ga(Cl)L$^{BDI}$){(η$^{4}$-P$_{5}$)FeCp*}], in which the Si atom binds to the bent cyclo-P$_{5}$ ring, was identified as a reaction intermediate. The ring-expansion products are stable at room temperature, while isomerization occurred at higher temperature, and the silylene moiety further migrates to the Fe atom, forming the corresponding ring-construction isomers. Furthermore, reaction of [Cp*Fe(η$^{5}$-As$_{5}$)] with the heavier gallagermylene [LL$^{Ph}$Ge–Ga(Cl)L$^{BDI}$B] was also investigated. All the isolated complexes represent rare examples of mixed group 13/14 iron polypnictogenides, which could only be synthesized by taking advantage of the cooperativity of the gallatetrylenes featuring low-valent Si(II) or Ge(II) and Lewis acidic Ga(III) units/entities

Outcomes of Fusions From the Cervical Spine to the Pelvis.

Study designRetrospective cohort study.ObjectiveDetermine the indications, complications, and clinical outcomes in patients requiring fusions from the cervical spine to the pelvis. Several investigators have examined fusions from the thoracic spine to the sacrum, but no similar study has been performed for cervical-to-pelvis fusions.MethodsPatients from 2003 to 2014 with an upper instrumented vertebrae (UIV) in the cervical spine (any level) and a lower instrumented vertebrae (LIV) in the sacrum or pelvis were included in the study. Those with infectious or acute trauma-related deformities were excluded. Patient demographics, medical history, diagnosis, operative procedure, and health-related quality of life measures were analyzed. Student's t test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and χ2 test were used as appropriate; significance was set at P < .05 for all tests.ResultsFifty-five patients met inclusion criteria for the study. Average follow-up was 2.8 years. Proximal junctional kyphosis was the most common indication for cervical-to-pelvis fusions (36%). The most common UIV was C2 (29%) followed by C7 (24%). There was an average 31° correction in maximum kyphosis and a 3.3 cm improvement in sagittal vertical axis. In adults, the rate of complication was 71.4%, with a major complication rate of 39.3% and reoperation rate of 53.6%. There was significant improvement in the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS-22r) score (3.0 to 3.5; P < .01).ConclusionProximal junctional kyphosis is the most common indication for patients requiring fusion to the cervical spine. Adult patients incur a significant risk of major complications and reoperations. However, significant improvement in SRS-22r outcomes are noted in these patients

Metal-Deficient Supramolecule based on fivefold-symmetric Building Blocks. Ein Supermolekül mit minimaler Metallbesetzung basierend auf einem fünffach-symmetrischen Baustein

An unprecedented cationic supramolecule [(Cp '' Fe(eta(5)-P-5))(12){CuNCMe}(8)](8+) 2.66 nm in diameter was selectively isolated as a salt of the weakly coordinating anion [Al{OC(CF3)(3)}(4)](-) for the first time and characterized by X-ray structure analysis, PXRD, NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. Its metal-deficient core contains the lowest possible number of Cu atoms to connect 12 pentaphosphaferrocene units, providing a supramolecule with fullerene topology which, topologically, also represents the simplest homologue in the family of metal-deficient pentaphosphaferrocene-based supramolecules [{Cp(R)Fe(eta(5)-P-5)}(12)(CuX)(20-n)]. The 12 vacant metal sites between the cyclo-P-5 rings, the largest number attained to date, make this compound a facile precursor for potential inner and outer modifications of the core as well as for functionalization via the substitution of labile acetonitrile ligands