Void: for Orchestra

In astronomy, a void is an area in outer space which contains no galaxies. These are vast expanses of darkness and emptiness. This orchestral piece, simply titled void, attempts to describe such an area through various musical methods: long sustained notes depicting the huge distances away from galaxies, wide distances between upper voices and lower voices creating a sense of void between musical elements, and close distances and tight harmonies to recreate the sense of confusion and uncertainty that may be experienced in an area of emptiness

Candidate nomination procedures andpolitical selection: evidence from LatinAmerican parties

This paper explores empirically the role of nomination procedures on politicalselection and the determinants for adopting contestable selection methods such asprimaries. Using data from Latin American parties, I find evidence that politicalcompetition increases probability of primary adoption. Moreover, primarynominated candidates obtained larger vote shares and during their mandatecountries experienced improvements in several measures of quality of government.The results exploit within party variation and are robust to relevant identificationconcerns. Together, these findings suggest that nomination procedures matter forpolitical selection and that the quality differences are significant enough to influenceelectoral and economic outcomes.Primaries, political selection, political competition, quality of politicians.

The Flypaper Effect Revisited

This paper argues that there is nothing anomalous about the flypaper effect. Idevelop a simple median voter model of government spending with costly taxcollection that predicts the flypaper effect and provide a quantifiable measure of itsmagnitude. Using the model insights and previous estimates, I show that a tax ratebetween 8% to 16% would account for the flypaper effect observed in U.S. subnationalgovernments.flypaper effect, intergovernmental transfers, public finance, fiscaldecentralization

Clifford algebra with mathematica

The Clifford algebra of a n-dimensional Euclidean vector space provides a general language comprising vectors, complex numbers, quaternions, Grassman algebra, Pauli and Dirac matrices. In this work, we present an introduction to the main ideas of Clifford algebra, with the main goal to develop a package for Clifford algebra calculations for the computer algebra program Mathematica. The Clifford algebra package is thus a powerful tool since it allows the manipulation of all Clifford mathematical objects. The package also provides a visualization tool for elements of Clifford Algebra in the 3-dimensional space

Uninsured and Underserved: The Health Care Experiences of Latinos in the Nation's Capital

Provides a summary of Latino experiences and opinions regarding access to health care in the District of Columbia, and contrasts their experiences with those of Latinos nationally