Economic Policies and Economic Change

Introduction In the past fifty years, Austria has undergone a transformation; initially a “poorhouse,” it has become one of the most prosperous nations in Europe. This change — measured as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita — shows that Austrian economic policy has been able to find, generally speaking, the right answer to its many domestic and international challenges. Without a drastic change of course in its economic policies in the mid-1980s, this positive development in Austria woul..

Economic Policies and Economic Change

Introduction In the past fifty years, Austria has undergone a transformation; initially a “poorhouse,” it has become one of the most prosperous nations in Europe. This change — measured as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita — shows that Austrian economic policy has been able to find, generally speaking, the right answer to its many domestic and international challenges. Without a drastic change of course in its economic policies in the mid-1980s, this positive development in Austria woul..

The “Shiny and Thick High Heel Sign”

Purpose!#!Together with the foramen ovale, the middle meningeal artery (MMA) looks like a high heel shoe print on axial time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) images, with the MMA resembling the heel. Cranial dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF) are often fed by the MMA, which can lead to an increase of signal intensity and diameter of this vessel, resulting in a more 'shiny' and 'thick' high heel print appearance than on the contralateral side. We describe this finding as a novel radiologic sign and provide cut-off values for the ratios of MMA signal intensities and diameters for predicting the presence of a DAVF.!##!Methods!#!A total of 84 TOF-MRA examinations of 44 patients with DAVFs (40 with unilateral MMA feeders, 4 with bilateral feeders) and of 40 patients without DAVFs were included. Diameters and signal intensities of both MMAs were measured by two raters and evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis.!##!Results!#!The diameters of feeding and non-feeding MMAs differed significantly, as did the ratios of signal intensities and of diameters of DAVF and control patients (P < 0.0001). Cut-off values were 1.25 for average signal intensity ratio (shiny high heel sign) and 1.21 for diameter ratio (thick high heel sign). The combination of the 'shiny' and the 'thick' high heel sign resulted in the highest sensitivity (92.5%) and positive predictive value (95%).!##!Conclusion!#!The described sign seems promising for the detection of DAVFs with noncontrast-enhanced MRI. The TOF-MRA source images should be reviewed with special attention to the MMA

The Schüssel Era in Austria

Wolfgang Schüssel was a dominating actor in the Austrian political arena over a period of twenty years. He served as minister of economics (1989-1995), and vice chancellor and foreign minister (1995-2000) in ÖVP/SPÖ grand coalition governments. As chairman of the ÖVP (1995-2007), he brought his conservative party out of the political wilderness of opposition and playing junior partner in coalitions with the SPÖ. He dominated Austrian politics as chancellor (2000-2007) in a small coalition with Jörg Haider's controversial aggressively nationalist FPÖ. Schüssel tried to domesticate the Freedomites by holding them on a tight leash in his coalition government. He needed the FPÖ to accomplish his neoliberal economic and social reform agenda, while at the same time the FPÖ undermined Schüssel's EU policies. The essays in this volume argue that Schüssel's political record and legacy are ambiguous. With a confrontational style of governance he unleashed big reforms such as trimming the hidebound pension system and giving more autonomy to higher education. In the process he undermined Austria's consensual social partnership. His record of supporting the European Union agenda is ambivalent. Austrian public opinion in support of the EU declined precipitously. He was a superb tactician and negotiator yet failed to achieve broad popular acceptance for his ambitious reforms. His imprint on Austrian history is so significant that many of the authors of the essays in this volume call it “the Schüssel era.”Der von Günter Bischof und Fritz Plasser herausgegebene Band der Reihe Contemporary Austrian Studies beschäftigt sich mit Wolfgang Schüssel, der über 20 Jahre die österreichische Politik mitgestaltete. Schüssel galt einerseits als herausragender Taktierer und Verhandler, setzte andererseits umstrittene Reformen und manövrierte mit seiner Mitte-Rechts-Regierung Österreich ins politische Abseits. Wenngleich es ihm nicht gelungen ist, alle seine Vorhaben durchzusetzen, ist "die Schüssel Ära" in die Geschichte Österreichs eingegangen