We would see Jesus

Historical series, 10. Jn 12:20-33. Preached during Lent, 1997, Hodgeville Lutheran parish

THE SPARTAN SCHOOL OF INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Heterodox scholarship at Michigan State University (MSU) was influenced by the institutional economics of John R. Commons at Wisconsin. But it was far from monolithic and had many other sources and originality of its own. A case can be made that the center of institutional economics moved across Lake Michigan from Madison to East Lansing and blossomed in the second half of the 20th century with such Wisconsin Ph.D's as Raleigh Barlowe, Warren Samuels, Allan Schmid, Harry Trebing, and others. Equally important in making MSU a center of institutional economics were scholars from other institutional backgrounds such as Paul Strassmann, economic development; Robert Solo, science and technology; James Shaffer, agricultural marketing and consumer behavior; Nicholas Mercuro, law and economics; and others.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Coherent States from Combinatorial Sequences

We construct coherent states using sequences of combinatorial numbers such as various binomial and trinomial numbers, and Bell and Catalan numbers. We show that these states satisfy the condition of the resolution of unity in a natural way. In each case the positive weight functions are given as solutions of associated Stieltjes or Hausdorff moment problems, where the moments are the combinatorial numbers.Comment: 4 pages, Latex; Conference 'Quantum Theory and Symmetries 2', Krakow, Poland, July 200

Hawking-Page transition in holographic massive gravity

We study the Hawking-Page transition in a holographic model of field theories with momentum dissipation. We find that the deconfinement temperature strictly decreases as momentum dissipation is increased. For sufficiently strong momentum dissipation, the critical temperature goes to zero, indicating a zero-temperature deconfinement transition in the dual field theory.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, uncomment \newcommand*{\ShowCalculations}{} in the tex file for additional details. Journal version (PRD). Presentation clarified, reference added, and line spacing and title update

Identification of Cirrus over Wausau during the 1986 FIRE IFO from ground-based radiometer data

The potential of using irradiation data to indicate episodes of cirrus cloudiness during the daylight hours is explored. Thresholds separating cirrus from other clouds and clear skies are determined using four days of irradiation data, hourly weather observations, sky photographs, sky video, and occasional lidar observations. Data were gathered during the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program (ISCCP) Regional Experiment (FIRE) Intensive Field Observations (IFO) cirrus project. Thresholds are tested using data from the remaining 17 days of the IFO. Cirrus episodes are defined as intervals when the sky cover is primarily cirrus. Measurements of incoming shortwave and near infrared full hemispheric and diffuse irradiation, and atmospheric infrared irradiation were made at Wausau, Wisconsin Municipal Airport. Data were collected between October 13 and November 2, 1986 and are one minute averages of ten second samples. Data from October 23 and from October 27 to 29 were used for threshold determination. Using weather observations, lidar output, photographs and video, sky conditions were grouped into three categories: noncirrus cloudy, cirrus, and clear. Irradiation data from all periods falling under each of the sky categories were then examined and thresholds denoting a change from one sky category to another were determined. Variables with only a small amount of overlap between sky categories were selected as key indicators

Sound transmission testing of polymer compounds

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Polymer Testing. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier Ltd.Acoustic properties of polymer compounds are an important consideration for many applications. Currently, there are standard test methods for the determination of these properties. There is, however, no standard for the equipment used in these tests, only a specification for the test conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the operation and performance of a bench top laboratory sound testing system for its potential as a simple cost effective method for the initial evaluation of materials that require specific acoustic properties. The work was limited to an investigation of the property of sound transmission loss (STL). A study of the effect of the mounting conditions for the samples on the STL was carried out. Following this, a series of polymer and polymer composite samples was tested. The results presented demonstrate the potential for the testing system as an effective standard test method for the acoustic properties of polymer composites and other materials.Technology Strategy Board, U

AGAINST MECHANISM: METHODOLOGY FOR AN EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS

When the first economics departments were proposed at Cambridge and Oxford, the proponents thought acceptance would be improved if economics could be seen as incorporating the methods of physics. The enterprise was premised on the existence of economic laws that describe invariant relationships between events. These event regularities, like gravity, were not affected by human action. Humans could adapt and use them, but not change them. Thus the metaphor of "mechanism" seemed appropriate and became embedded in economists' language. It is common to use the term market mechanism to link prices and commodities. This suggests the economy is like turning a crank attached to a set of gears where there is a fixed relationship between the crank's motion and the last gear's motion. The gears have no ideas of their own, they don't get mad; there is no cognitive element between events and action.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

REGIONAL POVERTY IN MICHIGAN: RURAL AND URBAN DIFFERENCE

This paper examines the relationship between the quality of local labor force and variation in regional poverty outcomes among Michigan areas. A regional poverty model is derived from the household production model for that purpose. The US Census 2000 data on small geographical areas of Michigan (Census Block Groups) is used for the analysis. It is found that the difference in regional poverty is explained primarily by differences in quality and quantity of labor available to a household. Second, heterogeneity of the model is detected with respect to a degree of urbanization. Also, the relation between average income and regional poverty is found to be nonlinear and distribution of income playing a major role in explanation poverty. Higher poverty rates in rural areas tend to persist over time.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

THE ECONOMICS OF PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION IN DEER MANAGEMENT

Game theory and other approaches have been used to characterize problems involving high-exclusion-cost goods which also have the characteristic that marginal cost of an additional user is zero over some range. These analytical tools have made valuable contributions to understanding voluntary organizations and collective action. Resource systems for which composition or scale of the resource is an important factor do not fit neatly into the types of problems which are typically analyzed. The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) in Southern Wisconsin is used as an example to illustrate where the existing literature must be modified to take account of particular features of this resource problem. Schelling's multi-person prisoner's dilemma model is modified to incorporate preferences and marginal benefits of deer quality to different types of hunters and to explore issues of resource sustainability. Against the odds, the private QDMA has successfully organized hunters to practice harvesting techniques consistent with improved herd quality.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,