The Rise of Balanced Budget Laws in Canada: Legislating Fiscal (Ir)Responsibility

Virtually unknown in Canada before the 1990s, balanced budget legislation has suddenly become popular across the country. The author examines the wide diversity of mechanisms being used to limit state fiscal powers, including spending caps, anti-deficit rules, and tax referenda. Evaluating these measures, the author raises concerns about the impact of balanced budget laws on economic stability, social justice, and political democracy. She warns against discounting either their instrumental effects or their power to shape public finance discourse. Though some provinces have adopted less severe versions, the author concludes that these efforts only partially mitigate the dangers of balanced budget laws

The Rise of Balanced Budget Laws in Canada: Legislating Fiscal (Ir)Responsibility

Virtually unknown in Canada before the 1990s, balanced budget legislation has suddenly become popular across the country. The author examines the wide diversity of mechanisms being used to limit state fiscal powers, including spending caps, anti-deficit rules, and tax referenda. Evaluating these measures, the author raises concerns about the impact of balanced budget laws on economic stability, social justice, and political democracy. She warns against discounting either their instrumental effects or their power to shape public finance discourse. Though some provinces have adopted less severe versions, the author concludes that these efforts only partially mitigate the dangers of balanced budget laws

Connecting Economy, Gender, and Citizenship

This chapter explores emerging discourses of economic citizenship and con- siders how they might illuminate developments in taxation and securities law and policy. In previous work, we have discussed how different fields of business and commercial law help to construct and regulate a gendered and classed economic order (Condon 2000, 2001, 2002; Philipps 1996, 2002, 2003). Here we draw upon theories of citizenship as a possible source of new insights about the formation and governance of an increasingly market- oriented social order and law’s role in that process. First, we focus on the significant theoretical challenges posed by emergent notions of economic citizenship, specifically the need to redefine the role of states, citizens, and law in this new context. Second, we map out four substantive elements that together comprise the developing discourse of economic citizenship: economic liberty, defined as the right to access markets; economic security; responsibilities of economic citizenship; and participation in economic decision making. Each of these is analyzed to reveal the diverse meanings being attached to economic citizenship, and particularly how gender is (or is not) addressed within different strands of the discourse. Third, we apply this framework in a discussion of two contemporary case studies, the first on the formation of tax law through fiscal policy and budget processes, the second on the governance of investment funds. An overriding objective of the chapter is to assess the progressive potential of economic citizenship discourse to achieve enhanced accountability and social justice in the economic domain. Our concluding section observes that any such potential depends upon recognition that markets and market institutions are subject to public norms of equality and justice. This study suggests that the possibilities for advancing such a version of economic citizenship may be more limited in the context of investment fund governance than in the field of fiscal policy

Connecting Economy, Gender, and Citizenship

This chapter explores emerging discourses of economic citizenship and con- siders how they might illuminate developments in taxation and securities law and policy. In previous work, we have discussed how different fields of business and commercial law help to construct and regulate a gendered and classed economic order (Condon 2000, 2001, 2002; Philipps 1996, 2002, 2003). Here we draw upon theories of citizenship as a possible source of new insights about the formation and governance of an increasingly market- oriented social order and law’s role in that process. First, we focus on the significant theoretical challenges posed by emergent notions of economic citizenship, specifically the need to redefine the role of states, citizens, and law in this new context. Second, we map out four substantive elements that together comprise the developing discourse of economic citizenship: economic liberty, defined as the right to access markets; economic security; responsibilities of economic citizenship; and participation in economic decision making. Each of these is analyzed to reveal the diverse meanings being attached to economic citizenship, and particularly how gender is (or is not) addressed within different strands of the discourse. Third, we apply this framework in a discussion of two contemporary case studies, the first on the formation of tax law through fiscal policy and budget processes, the second on the governance of investment funds. An overriding objective of the chapter is to assess the progressive potential of economic citizenship discourse to achieve enhanced accountability and social justice in the economic domain. Our concluding section observes that any such potential depends upon recognition that markets and market institutions are subject to public norms of equality and justice. This study suggests that the possibilities for advancing such a version of economic citizenship may be more limited in the context of investment fund governance than in the field of fiscal policy

Comparison of Goal Achievement When Transitioning from In-Person Therapy to Teletherapy in the Westchester County Early Intervention Program Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The sudden transition to virtual therapeutic services during the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to explore telehealth as a platform for delivering early intervention (EI) services. Through retrospective chart review of 93 children, we collected the following data: demographics, diagnosed conditions, therapy type, service format, and provider-reported participant goal achievement (1=no progress, 2=little progress, 3=moderate progress, 4=great deal of progress, 5=outcome achieved) over a six-month period before and after transitioning to telehealth. Pre- and post-transition progress scores were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results demonstrated maintained progress among children who transitioned from in-person to virtual services for similar therapy types. Children receiving speech therapy in-person and virtually demonstrated increased achievement (3.00 vs 3.33; p=0.032). Participants receiving a particular therapy post-transition but not in-person attained similar achievement as those who received the same therapy only in-person. Our research suggests that teletherapy may be a viable option for delivering EI services. &nbsp

Properties of the energy landscape of network models for covalent glasses

We investigate the energy landscape of two dimensional network models for covalent glasses by means of the lid algorithm. For three different particle densities and for a range of network sizes, we exhaustively analyse many configuration space regions enclosing deep-lying energy minima. We extract the local densities of states and of minima, and the number of states and minima accessible below a certain energy barrier, the 'lid'. These quantities show on average a close to exponential growth as a function of their respective arguments. We calculate the configurational entropy for these pockets of states and find that the excess specific heat exhibits a peak at a critical temperature associated with the exponential growth in the local density of states, a feature of the specific heat also observed in real glasses at the glass transition.Comment: RevTeX, 19 pages, 7 figure

Stabilization of a Chiral Dirhodium Carbene by Encapsulation and a Discussion of the Stereochemical Implications

For the first time, the stereochemical course of an asymmetric cyclopropanation can be discussed on the basis of experimental structural information on a pertinent chiral dirhodium carbene intermediate. Key to success was the formation of racemic single crystals of a heterochiral [Rh2{(S*)-PTTL}4{=C(Ar)COOMe}][Rh2{(R*)-PTTL}4] (Ar=MeOC6H4; PTTL=N-phthaloyl-tert-leucinate) capsule, which has been characterized by X-ray diffraction. NMR spectroscopic data confirm that the obtained structural portrait is also relevant in solution and provide additional information about the dynamics of this species. The chiral binding pocket is primarily defined by the conformational preferences of the N-phthaloyl-protected amino acid ligands and reinforced by a network of weak interligand interactions that get stronger when chlorinated phthalimide residues are used

Group theoretical approach to quantum fields in de Sitter space I. The principal series

Using unitary irreducible representations of the de Sitter group, we construct the Fock space of a massive free scalar field. In this approach, the vacuum is the unique dS invariant state. The quantum field is a posteriori defined by an operator subject to covariant transformations under the dS isometry group. This insures that it obeys canonical commutation relations, up to an overall factor which should not vanish as it fixes the value of hbar. However, contrary to what is obtained for the Poincare group, the covariance condition leaves an arbitrariness in the definition of the field. This arbitrariness allows to recover the amplitudes governing spontaneous pair creation processes, as well as the class of alpha vacua obtained in the usual field theoretical approach. The two approaches can be formally related by introducing a squeezing operator which acts on the state in the field theoretical description and on the operator in the present treatment. The choice of the different dS invariant schemes (different alpha vacua) is here posed in very simple terms: it is related to a first order differential equation which is singular on the horizon and whose general solution is therefore characterized by the amplitude on either side of the horizon. Our algebraic approach offers a new method to define quantum field theory on some deformations of dS space.Comment: 35 pages, 2 figures ; Corrected typo, Changed referenc