Comment on Identification with Taylor Rules: is it indeed impossible? Extended version

Cochrane (2007) points out that the Taylor rule parameters in New-Keynesian models are not identified, and thus trying to estimate them through single-equation regressions is pointless. This paper shows in contrast that this observation holds only for economies that do not display inflation inertia or habit formation. These inherent features of aggregate data allow to correctly identify the parameters of the monetary policy rule by single-equation analysis.monetary economics ;

On the Recovery Path during a Liquidity Trap: Do Financial Frictions Matter for Fiscal Multipliers?

This paper investigates the effects of a fiscal stimulus when financial frictions and a liquidity trap are present. These two conditions make a government spending expansion and a reduction in capital income taxes more efficient in stimulating output. In contrast, a reduction in labor income taxes may aggravate the economic conditions. In addition, small implementation delays in government spending may result in big spending multipliers in the short run. All of these results rely partly on the dynamic interaction between inflation and the external finance premium. Lastly, simulations of the ARRA stimulus package predict that the output gains due to the presence of financial frictions may lie between 1.3 % and 2.5 % of GDP.Zero Lower Bound, Financial Accelerator, Fiscal Policy

Investigating the Zero Lower Bound on the Nominal Interest Rate under Financial Instability

This paper introduces a zero lower bound constraint on the nominal interest rate in a financial accelerator model with nominal and real rigidities. We .rst analyze the implicationsfor aggregate dynamics of binding the zero lower bound for shocks that depress the nominalinterest rate. We include a sudden decrease in the value of the business sector net worth and an increase in its returns volatility, as two financial shocks that originate in the endogenous credit market of the model. We then explore the effects of the central bank management of expectations and a fiscal stimulus in a deep recession scenario, where the interest rate initially binds its zero bound. We find that a commitment by the central bank to keep the interest rate low for more time than prescribed by a typical interest rate rule may indeed reduce the volatility of output and inflation. For government purchases, we find a fiscal multiplier greater than one for at least 5 quarters. This is due to the presence of the zero lower bound and the Fisher (1933)’s debt-deflation channel, which implies that government spending may reduce the business sector risk premium and thus the cost of investment.monetary economics ;

Sticky information vs. Backward-looking indexation: Inflation inertia in the U.S.

This paper compares two approaches towards the empirical inertia of inflation and output. Two variants that produce persistence are added to a baseline DSGE model of sticky prices: 1) sticky information applied to firms, workers, and households; and 2) a backward-looking inflation indexation along with habit formation. The rival models are then estimated using U.S. data in order to determine their plausibility. It is shown that the sticky information model is better at predicting inflation, wage inflation, and the degree of price stickiness. Output dynamics, however, are better explained by habit persistence.macroeconomics ;

Artroplastia de resección en el hallux valgus senil: Resultados a largo plazo

Se presenta un estudio retrospectivo de los resultados a largo plazo de la artroplastia de resección en el tratamiento del hallux valgus en un grupo homogéneo de 40 pacientes seniles. Subjetivamente se obtuvieron resultados satisfactorios en el 75% de los casos y una mejoría media entre el pre y el postoperatoro de 39 puntos desde el punto de vista objetivo según el protocolo de la Clínica Mayo. Los principales aspectos positivos de esta técnica fueron el alivio del dolor, la estética del pié y la posibilidad de utilización de calzado no modificado. Sus principales inconvenientes la persistencia de metatarsalgia por transferencia y la hipocorreción de la subluxación de los sesamoideos.A retrospective study of the long term results after resection arthroplasty in a homogeneous group of 40 elderly patients is presented. Subjectively satisfactory results were found in 75% of the cases and an average improvement of 39 points between the pre and postoperative status was observed according to the protocol of the Mayo Clinic. The principal advantages of this technique were relief of pain, aesthetic of foot and the possibility of putting on shoes not modified. Their principal inconvenients were the persistence of transfer metatarsalgia and the hipocorrection of the sesamoids' subluxation

Vegetative and reproductive morphology of Helminthocladia calvadosii, H. agardhiana and H. reyesii sp. nov. (Liagoraceae, Rhodophyta) from the eastern Atlantic.

The type species of Helminthocladia, Helminthocladia calvadosii, and two species known from the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, H. agardhiana and H. reyesii O'Dwyer & Afonso-Carrillo sp. nov., are described in detail. The species are mainly distinguishable by their habit, the morphology of the cortical fascicles, and the type of carposporangium (undivided single terminal, quadripartite single terminal, and undivided in short chains). The previously controversial reproductive morphology in H. calvadosii has been clarified from observations of plants from northern Spain. In H. calvadosii. simultaneously with gonimoblast development, sterile postfertilization filaments are produced from the suprasupporting cell and some other cortical cells adjacent to the carpogonial branch. The development of these sterile filaments is highly variable within the same area of the plant. S terile filaments can be absent, presenting an entirely naked carpogonial branch below the mature carposporophyte. H. reyesii, known so far only from the Canary Islands, has a unique feature: the elaboration from the suprasupporting cells of sterile moniliform postfertilization filaments that partially or completely surround the carpogonial branch. Additionally, H. reyesii differs from other Helminthocladia species by a unique combination of significant attributes. We analyse the features used at present to delineate the genus Helminthocladia in the Liagoraceae and give a comparative table of the morphological attributes of the species currently accepted in Helminthocladia