PRIORITIZING ECONOMIC GROWTH: ENHANCING MACROECONOMIC POLICY CHOICE

This paper spells out a logic for increasing macroeconomic policy space in order to prioritize the goals of growth, employment creation and poverty reduction. First, there is the need to create additional policy instruments so that a greater number of policy goals can be addressed. Frequently, real economy goals get partly crowded out by financial objectives because there are too few instruments for too many goals. Second, the calibrated use of policy tools by degrees of commitment, deployment and assignment can create space for different policy-mixes. Selective capital controls, intermediate exchange rate regimes, and some monetary policy autonomy create the policy space within which a variety of policy combinations and mixes are possible and a greater number of instruments are available. Prioritization of real economy goals becomes both more feasible and more likely with a broader range of policy alternatives. Third, along with selective use of capital controls, fiscal policy-based stabilization instead of exchange rate-based stabilization delinks the exchange rate from the goal of internal financial stability to which it is yoked in a regime of fixed exchange rates. This delinkage enables the use of intermediate exchange rate regimes (soft pegs and managed floating). The use of these regimes in “the missing middle” between fixed and flexible exchange rates creates policy space where different mixes are possible generating a greater range of policy alternatives. Fourth, prioritizing real economy goals is also facilitated by the design of a larger strategic framework for accelerated development including institutions, norms, behaviours and governance. The larger strategic framework mobilizes more assets and power toward a dynamic growth trajectory that creates a more favourable context for macroeconomic policy. The impact of macroeconomic policies on growth, employment creation and poverty reduction is likely to be stronger when they are part of a wider effort to marshal resources for accelerated development. The examples of the East Asian success stories provide the evidence for this conclusion. These four steps in the logic for increased macroeconomic policy choice – new policy tools, selective and pragmatic use of capital controls and exchange rate intervention, fiscal policy-based stabilization, and strategic frameworks – reinforce each other in their capacity to create more policy space.

Bendito Amor: Religion and Relationships among Married and Unmarried Latinos in Urban America

The family arrangements of Latinos in the U.S. are increasingly diverse, with growing numbers of Latino children living in households headed by married and unmarried parents. Latinos also tend to be more religious than the population at large. Yet no research has examined the associations between religion and relationship quality among married and unmarried Latinos. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which focuses on new parents in urban America, we find that the religious attendance of Latino fathers promotes higher-quality relationships among both fathers and mothers; by contrast, the effect of maternal attendance on relationship quality is insignificant or negative.

The world economy in the mid 1990s : alternative patterns of trade and growth

The rise of newly industrialized countries ( NICs ) and potential NICs in several regions of theworld has given the world economy a new structure which must be considered in anticpating future trends. In this report, the author analyzes three scenarios of world trade : 1) the base case scenario - ( current intra - OECD policy ), which is on a trajectory of moderate growth. This model produces continuing trade imbalances, especially for the United States and Japan, but also for other non OECD blocs; 2) the lo closed scenario which is more closed, less trade intensive and has a slower growth path. In this scenario, world export growth is more sensitive to decreases in openness ( as measured by the import - GDP ratio ) than to decreases in projected GDP growth rates. The policy conclusion is that sustaining the import capacity and openness of the 36 countries in the three OECD and nine NIC blocks is crucial to sustaining world trade growth; and 3) the hi open ( global growth ) scenario which is more open, with higher growth, more global trade patterns. Simultaneous expansion of the twelve major blocs would assure export growth. Favorable export growth prospects are vital to the growth pattern on which this strategy depends, in which imports grow faster than GDP.Poverty Impact Evaluation,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade Policy

Patterns of trade and structural change

노트 : Volume Title: Trade and structural change in Pacific Asia Chapter Tilte: Patterns of trade and structural chang

Rapid production of Neurospora hyphae

Rapid production of Neurospora hypha

Police visibility, trust in police fairness, and collective efficacy: A multilevel Structural Equation Model

Areas high in collective efficacy—where residents know and trust one another, and are willing to intervene to solve neighbourhood problems—tend to experience less crime. Policing is thought to be one antecedent to collective efficacy, but little empirical research has explored this question. Using three waves of survey data collected from London residents over three consecutive years, and multilevel Structural Equation Modelling, this study tested the impact of police visibility and police-community engagement on collective efficacy. We explored direct effects as well as indirect effects through trust in police. The findings showed levels of police visibility predicted trust in police. Trust in police fairness, in turn, predicted collective efficacy. There was a small indirect relationship between police visibility and collective efficacy, through trust in police fairness. In other words, police presence in neighbourhoods was associated with more positive views about officer behaviour, which in turn was associated with collective efficacy. The findings have important implications for policies designed to build stronger, more resilient communities

Probing the nucleon structure with CLAS

An overview of recent results with CLAS is presented with emphasis on nucleon resonance studies, nucleon spin structure, and generalized parton distributions.Comment: Plenary talk presented at NSTAR 2007, Bonn, German