Scotland as an Optimal Currency Area

Since the Scottish independence movement has reached the point that there will be a referendum on Scottish independence this September, the issue of whether the Scotland is optimal currency areas is very topical.In this paper we review the microeconomic foundations of an optimal currency area. We test these microeconomic foundations. We find that the UK, Scotland and the UK without Scotland meet the microeconomic criteria for a common currency area. While adopting a common currency is ultimately a political decision, these results imply that the broadest of these areas, the UK, is the optimal currency area in the sense of minimizing transactions costs.We do find differences in the UK less Scotland and Scotland economies in loan data. We further find that neither the euro bloc nor the euro bloc including Scotland meet the microeconomic criteria for a common currency area. In the event of a “yes” vote for Scottish independence, the immediate problem facing the Scottish government is to decide on an exchange rate regime that is seen as credible by the financial markets to avoid a flight of capital. How policymakers chooses between alternative exchange rate regimes is currently a topic for hot debate in central banking circles and the process of a monetary union breaking up is a fascinating area worthy of future research

Study of wind pressure and air quality around Children's Hospital, National Medical Center

CER70-71FHC-JEC55.March 1971.Prepared under contract to Leo A. Daly Company.Includes bibliographical references.Tests were conducted on a model of the proposed Children's Hospital Facility constructed (1:192 scale) in the Colorado State University Meteorological Wind Tunnel to determine air quality and air pressures around the building. The pressure measurements concentrated on the mean and RMS of the fluctuating pressure at selected locations. Air quality measurements were made by releasing Krypton-85 from specific sources of pollution and sampling it at all the intakes around the building. Data are presented in a manner that these can be directly used to evaluate pressures and air quality. Also, based on these data, recommendations are made on locating the air-conditioning intakes and the sources of pollution

Uncertainties of size measurements in electron microscopy characterization of nanomaterials in foods

Electron microscopy is a recognized standard tool for nanomaterial characterization, and recommended by the European Food Safety Authority for the size measurement of nanomaterials in food. Despite this, little data have been published assessing the reliability of the method, especially for size measurement of nanomaterials characterized by a broad size distribution and/or added to food matrices. This study is a thorough investigation of the measurement uncertainty when applying electron microscopy for size measurement of engineered nanomaterials in foods. Our results show that the number of measured particles was only a minor source of measurement uncertainty for nanomaterials in food, compared to the combined influence of sampling, sample preparation prior to imaging and the image analysis. The main conclusion is that to improve the measurement reliability, care should be taken to consider replications and matrix removal prior to sample preparation

Islamic And Conventional Equity Indices: An Examination Of Cointegration And Hedging

Linkages between the Islamic Stock Indices, the Indices of Europe, Asia, US, UK, and Japan, and those of the emerging markets are empirically analyzed. Using methodologies that account for idiosyncratic factors in the data, evidence of linkages are found between large stock markets of Europe, Asia, US, and UK. Emerging markets indices show clear insulation from the Islamic indices. Although, emerging markets follow the Islamic based investment approach, other aspects such as economic factors as well as the size of the industry have dissimilarities. Hence, strategies for hedging or diversification, particularly in the long-run can be developed. If emerging market indices are combined with the indices of other markets, there may be considerable risk reduction with such a strategy