Business Cycles in a Small Open Economy with Agency Costs

Open economy extensions of otherwise typical DGE models have met with some difficulties. It is hard for example to replicate the correlation between output and the trade balance, as well as the variance of the latter variable. The correlation between the trade balance and the terms of trade is also problematic. Capital adjustment costs have been suggested to resolve some of these problems. In this paper, we propose a dynamic general equilibrium model which incorporates asymmetry in information and agency costs as an alternative. The model considers the possibility, associated with Irving Fisher's (1933) "debt-deflation" story of the great depression, that entrepreneurs may be limited in their investment activities by their amount of net worth. This limitation implies that the level of internal financing available for projects will influence aggregate economic activity. The main conclusion is that the proposed model is able to replicate the Canadian stylized facts fairly well. Moreover, compared to a typical DGE model, its predictions regarding the autocorrelation functions of output growth and investment are closer to those observed in the data.

Equilibrium In A Cash-in-advance Economy With Endogenous Labour Supply

The thesis analyses the equilibrium of a cash-in-advance economy with endogenous production. In this framework, inflation is a tax on trade, raising the price of goods purchased relative to those supplied. The thesis investigates three aspects of the disruptive effects of this inflation tax on the allocation of resources.;The first essay analyses the effects of anticipated inflation on stock market prices in stationary equilibrium. The essay demonstrates that a permanent rise in the anticipated rate of inflation has a depressing effect on the stock market. There are two reasons for this result. Firstly, the real value of a given stream of dividends is reduced when inflation rises because the inflation rate is shown to be a specific tax on dividends. Secondly, the firms\u27 profits are lowered, because the inflation rate distorts adversely the equilibrium level of employment.;The second essay investigates the effects of perfectly foreseen monetary policies on the time paths of output, prices, interest rates--real and nominal--and stock market prices. Anticipated monetary policies are shown to have real effects by distorting the labour-leisure choices of agents. The essay demonstrates that the adjustment path of the economy, between the announcement and the implementation of the new policy, depends critically on the elasticity of marginal utility of consumption. Furthermore, it is shown that along the adjustment path, the real rate of interest is negatively correlated with the anticipated rate of inflation.;The third essay of the thesis investigates the uniqueness of a monetary equilibrium in models that motivate money through a cash-in-advance constraint. It is demonstrated that under standard conditions on preferences and technology, Clower-type models can have an infinite number of equilibrium paths with self-fulfilling expectations. These equilibria are seen to lead asymptotically to either a collapse of the monetary economy or the accumulation of an infinite level of real balances. A condition on the representative agent\u27s utility function is specified that permits to rule out explosive price level paths. This condition is shown to be formally identical to the one imposed in other monetary models

Complement in the homeostatic and ischemic brain

The complement system is a component of the immune system involved in both recognition and response to pathogens, and it is implicated in an increasing number of homeostatic and disease processes. It is well documented that reperfusion of ischemic tissue results in complement activation and an inflammatory response that causes post-reperfusion injury. This occurs following cerebral ischemia and reperfusion and triggers secondary damage that extends beyond the initial infarcted area, an outcome that has rationalized the use of complement inhibitors as candidate therapeutics after stroke. In the central nervous system, however, recent studies have revealed that complement also has essential roles in synaptic pruning, neurogenesis, and neuronal migration. In the context of recovery after stroke, these apparent divergent functions of complement may account for findings that the protective effect of complement inhibition in the acute phase after stroke is not always maintained in the subacute and chronic phases. The development of effective stroke therapies based on modulation of the complement system will require a detailed understanding of complement-dependent processes in both early neurodegenerative events and delayed neuro-reparatory processes. Here, we review the role of complement in normal brain physiology, the events initiating complement activation after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, and the contribution of complement to both injury and recovery. We also discuss how the design of future experiments may better characterize the dual role of complement in recovery after ischemic stroke

The Human Cell Atlas White Paper

The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) will be made up of comprehensive reference maps of all human cells - the fundamental units of life - as a basis for understanding fundamental human biological processes and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease. It will help scientists understand how genetic variants impact disease risk, define drug toxicities, discover better therapies, and advance regenerative medicine. A resource of such ambition and scale should be built in stages, increasing in size, breadth, and resolution as technologies develop and understanding deepens. We will therefore pursue Phase 1 as a suite of flagship projects in key tissues, systems, and organs. We will bring together experts in biology, medicine, genomics, technology development and computation (including data analysis, software engineering, and visualization). We will also need standardized experimental and computational methods that will allow us to compare diverse cell and tissue types - and samples across human communities - in consistent ways, ensuring that the resulting resource is truly global. This document, the first version of the HCA White Paper, was written by experts in the field with feedback and suggestions from the HCA community, gathered during recent international meetings. The White Paper, released at the close of this yearlong planning process, will be a living document that evolves as the HCA community provides additional feedback, as technological and computational advances are made, and as lessons are learned during the construction of the atlas

Anticipated Monetary Policy in a Cash-in-Advance Economy.

This paper analyzes the effects of perfectly foreseen monetary policy within the framework of a standard cash-in-advance economy. Anticipated monetary policy is shown to have real effects by influencing inflationary expectations. In a cash-in-advance economy, an increase in the anticipated rate of inflation reduces the return to labor supply and induces a substitution away from time spent in the labor market. The paper analyzes the implication of this substitution for the time paths of output, prices, interest rates (real and nominal), and stock market prices.