Interview with Zigmund Long

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Overseas Church and Missionary Directory

https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_books/1217/thumbnail.jp

Initial Public Offerings and Venture Capital in Germany

We present a survey on the role of initial public offerings (IPOs) and venture capital (VC) in Germany after the Second World War. Between 1945 and 1983 IPOs hardly played a role at all and only a minor role thereafter. In addition, companies that chose an IPO were much older and larger than the average companies going public for the first time in the US or the UK. The level of IPO underpricing in Germany, in contrast, has not been fundamentally different from that in other countries. The picture for venture capital financing is not much different from that provided by IPOs in Germany. For a long time venture capital financing was hardly significant, particularly as a source of early stage financing. The unprecedented boom on the Neuer Markt between 1997 and 2000, when many small venture capital financed firms entered the market, provides a striking contrast to the preceding era. However, by US standards, the levels of both IPO and venture capital activities remained rather low even in this boom phase. The extent to which recent developments will have a lasting impact on the financing of German firms, the level of IPO activity, and venture capital financing, remains to be seen. At the time of writing, activity has come to a near stand still and the Neuer Markt has just been dissolved. The low number of IPOs and the fairly low volume of VC financing in Germany before the introduction of the Neuer Markt are a striking and much debated phenomenon. Understanding the reasons for these apparent peculiarities is vital to understanding the German financial system. The potential explanations that have been put forward range from differences in mentality to legal and institutional impediments and the availability of alternative sources of financing. Moreover the recent literature discusses how interest groups may have benefited and influenced the situation. These groups include politicians, unions/workers, managers/controlling-owners of established firms as well as banks.Initial Public Offering (IPO), Venture Capital, Germany

The Role of Expectations in Economic Fluctuations and the Efficacy of Monetary Policy

We show diverse beliefs is an important propagation mechanism of fluctuations, money non neutrality and efficacy of monetary policy. Since expectations affect demand, our theory shows economic fluctuations are mostly driven by varying demand not supply shocks. Using a competitive model with flexible prices in which agents hold Rational Belief (see Kurz (1994)) we show that (i) our economy replicates well the empirical record of fluctuations in the U.S. (ii) Under monetary rules without discretion, monetary policy has a strong stabilization effect and an aggressive anti-inflationary policy can reduce inflation volatility to zero. (iii) The statistical Phillips Curve changes substantially with policy instruments and activist policy rules render it vertical. (iv) Although prices are flexible, money shocks result in less than proportional changes in inflation hence the aggregate price level appears “sticky” with respect to money shocks. (v) Discretion in monetary policy adds a random element to policy and increases volatility. The impact of discretion on the efficacy of policy depends upon the structure of market beliefs about future discretionary decisions. We study two rationalizable beliefs. In one case, market beliefs weaken the effect of policy and in the second, beliefs bolster policy outcomes and discretion could be a desirable attribute of the policy rule. Since the central bank does not know any more than the private sector, real social gain from discretion arise only in extraordinary cases. Hence, the weight of the argument leads us to conclude that bank’s policy should be transparent and abandon discretion except for rare and unusual circumstances. (vi) An implication of our model suggests the current effective policy is only mildly activist and aims mostly to target inflation.Monetary policy rules, Money non neutrality, Business cycles, Market volatility, Propagation mechanism, Capacity utilization, Heterogenous beliefs, Over confidence, Rational Belief, Optimism, Pessimism, Non stationarity, Empirical distribution

A γ\gamma-ray determination of the Universe's star-formation history

The light emitted by all galaxies over the history of the Universe produces the extragalactic background light (EBL) at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The EBL is a source of opacity for $\gamma$ rays via photon-photon interactions, leaving an imprint in the spectra of distant $\gamma$-ray sources. We measure this attenuation using {739} active galaxies and one gamma-ray burst detected by the {\it Fermi} Large Area Telescope. This allows us to reconstruct the evolution of the EBL and determine the star-formation history of the Universe over 90\% of cosmic time. Our star-formation history is consistent with independent measurements from galaxy surveys, peaking at redshift $z\sim2$. Upper limits of the EBL at the epoch of re-ionization suggest a turnover in the abundance of faint galaxies at $z\sim 6$.Comment: Published on Science. This is the authors' version of the manuscrip

Scientific Opinion on the safety evaluation of the active substance, acrylic acid, sodium salt, co-polymer with acrylic acid, methyl ester, methacrylic acid, 2 hydroxypropylester, and acrylic acid cross-linked for use in active food contact materials

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids deals with the safety evaluation of the acrylic acid, sodium salt, co-polymer with acrylic acid, methyl ester, methacrylic acid, 2 hydroxypropylester, and acrylic acid cross-linked (CAS No. 117675-55-5, FCM Substance No 1022), to be used as liquid absorber in the form of fibres in absorbent pads for the packaging of fresh or frozen meat, poultry, and fish as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. The Panel considered that migration is not expected when the absorption capacity of the pads is not exceeded. Therefore no exposure from the consumption of the packed food is expected. The Panel also considered that none of these starting substances and the cross-linked polymer gives rise to concern for genotoxicity. Therefore the CEF Panel concluded that the use of the substance acrylic acid, sodium salt, co-polymer with acrylic acid, methyl ester, methacrylic acid, 2 hydroxypropylester, and acrylic acid cross-linked does not raise a safety concern when used as fibres in absorber pads for the packaging of fresh or frozen meat, poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables under conditions under which the absorption capacity of the pads is not exceeded and mechanical release of the fibres from the pads is excluded

Scientific Opinion on the safety assessment of the process Greenfiber based on VACUREMA Prime ® technology used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials

This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids deals with the safety assessment of the recycling process Greenfiber (EU register No RECYC108) which is based on the VACUREMA Prime ® technology. The input of the process is hot caustic washed and dried PET flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, containing no more than 5 % of PET from non-food consumer applications. Through this technology, washed and dried PET flakes are heated in a batch reactor under vacuum and then heated in a continuous reactor under vacuum before being extruded into pellets. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the two steps, the decontamination in batch reactors and the decontamination in continuous reactor are the critical steps that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of these critical steps are well defined and are temperature, pressure and residence time. It was demonstrated that the recycling process under evaluation is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below a conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the recycled PET obtained from this process, intended to be used up to 100 % for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill, is not considered of safety concern. Trays made of this recycled PET should not be used in microwave and conventional ovens

Statement on the safety assessment of the substance silicon dioxide, silanated, FCM Substance No 87 for use in food contact materials

The substance silicon dioxide, silanated, with FCM substance No 87, is authorised for use as an additive in all types of plastics, without restriction. The re-evaluation of the substance was requested based on the fact that the substance has always been produced on the basis of synthetic amorphous silicon dioxide in nanoform. Information on the basic (untreated) silicon dioxide, the surface treated silicon dioxide, silanated, and a study investigating the migration potential of the silanated silicon dioxide were provided. Having examined the information provided, the CEF Panel concluded that the information provided demonstrates adequately the absence of isolated primary nanoparticles in the basic silicon dioxide and in the silanated silicon dioxide since only aggregates larger than 100 nm along with larger agglomerates were observed using two independent measurement techniques, one of which was transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The particle size range was not affected when the silanated product was incorporated into a low density polyethylene film at 3 % w/w. Furthermore, there was no detectable migration of silicon dioxide, of any particle size, from this film into appropriate food simulants. Therefore at the particle sizes reported, the substance silicon dioxide, silanated, does not raise a safety concern for the consumer in the currently authorised conditions of use