Production Constraints and the NAIRU

This paper argues that the production constraints in the basic NAIRU model should be distinguished by type: capital constraints and labour constraints. It notes the failure to incorporate this phenomenon in standard macro models. Using panel data for UK manufacturing over 80 quarters we show that capital constraints became relatively more important during the 1980s as industry failed to match the increase in labour flexibility with rising capital investment

Left, right and the third Way

New Labour claims to have discovered a third way between Old Left and New Right, with policy implications that break with established debates and policy alternatives. But what does the third way actually mean in terms of values and its approach to policy? We argue in this article that Labour's third way does not transcend Old Left and New Right. Left and Right remain important markers for contemporary policy and politics but the third way does combine them in significant new ways. Between Old Left and New Right, we argue, there is not just space for one third way but for many, with varying values and policy positions. Le New Labour se vante d'avoir trouv une `troisime voie' entre la gauche et la droite traditionnelle, avec les consquences qui s'en suivent concernant les politiques rompant avec les dbats et les choix habituels. Mais que veut dire `la troisime voie' en termes de valeurs et d'approche politique? Dans l'article, nous partons du principe que la troisime voie du New Labour ne dpasse pas les concepts de la gauche traditionnelle et de la nouvelle droite. Gauche et droite restent d'importants marqueurs dans la politique et les politiques contemporaines, mais la troisime voie en fait de nouvelles combinaisons signifiantes. Nous pensons que, entre la gauche traditionnelle et la nouvelle droite, il n'y a pas qu'une seule possibilit de troisime voie, mais plusieurs, avec des valeurs et des prises de position varies. El Nuevo Partido Laborista afirma haber descubierto una tercera ruta entre la `antigua Izquierda' y la `nueva Derecha', con implicaciones en el programa poltico que rompen con los debates establecidos y con las polticas alternativas. Pero Qu es lo que realmente significa esta ruta en cuanto a sus valores y enfoque poltico? En este artculo discutimos que la tercera ruta del Partido Laborista, no supera en trminos polticos ni la `antigua Izquierda' ni la `nueva Derecha'. La Izquierda y la Derecha permanecen como marcadores importantes en el programa poltico contemporaneo, aunque la tercera ruta combina ambos partidos de diferente manera. Entre la `antigua Izquierda' y la `nueva Derecha', razonamos que no hay solamente lugar para una tercera ruta sino para muchas con diferentes valores y posiciones polticas

The Diffusion of Digital Technologies in Magazine Print Publishing: Organizational Change and Strategic Choices

The new information technologies have transformed the techniques of print publishing. This paper charts the diffusion of digital desktop publishing (dtp) systems within the magazine publishing sector, and assesses the threats and opportunities of the new information technologies for print publishing. In particular, the paper focuses on the organizational changes accompanying the new techniques as publishers internalize page make-up, and in so doing bring into question the long term future of an independent pre-press sector. The paper highlights the obstacles in the path towards full digital publishing, and examines the factors behind the slow diffusion of dtp amongst magazine publishers. Finally, the strategic implications for decision makers are assessed, and some wider issues arising from our study for the information technology community are considered

Beyond equality and liberty: New Labour's liberal conservatism

Post-Thatcherism is Tony Blair's way of saying: No Turning Back. But where is New Labour heading? Party modernisers have committed Labour to a politics which combines the free market and the strong community. The search for a dynamic market economy has pushed old ideas of equality to one side. Fears about social fragmentation have given rise to new ideas of community. But these pose awkward questions for New Labour's commitment to individual liberty. In this paper we shall suggest that the free market and the strong community in New Labour politics amounts to a radical shift to liberal conservatism

From Old Labour to New Labour: a comment on Rubinstein

In a critique of our book New Labour, David Rubinstein has argued that we exaggerate the degree of difference between Old and New Labour and underplay the similarities. In this article we agree with many of the continuities that Rubinstein outlines. However, we argue that he himself gives plenty of evidence in favour of our thesis that change has been marked in many policy areas. We argue that we give a good account of the wider social factors that he says accounts for such change. In this article we offer a restatement of the view that New Labour offers a `post-Thatcherite politics. New Labour breaks both with post-war social democracy and with Thatcherism

Equations of state and stability of MgSiO3_3 perovskite and post-perovskite phases from quantum Monte Carlo simulations

We have performed quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to study the equations of state of MgSiO$_3$ perovskite (Pv) and post-perovskite (PPv), up to the pressure and temperature conditions of the base of Earth's lower mantle. The ground state energies were derived using QMC and the temperature dependent Helmholtz free energies were calculated within the quasi-harmonic approximation and density functional perturbation theory. The equations of state for both phases of MgSiO$_3$ agree well with experiments, and better than those from generalized gradient approximation (GGA) calculations. The Pv-PPv phase boundary calculated from our QMC equations of states is also consistent with experiments, and better than previous LDA calculations. We discuss the implications for double crossing of the Pv-PPv boundary in the Earth

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA)

The GAMA survey aims to deliver 250,000 optical spectra (3--7Ang resolution) over 250 sq. degrees to spectroscopic limits of r_{AB} <19.8 and K_{AB}<17.0 mag. Complementary imaging will be provided by GALEX, VST, UKIRT, VISTA, HERSCHEL and ASKAP to comparable flux levels leading to a definitive multi-wavelength galaxy database. The data will be used to study all aspects of cosmic structures on 1kpc to 1Mpc scales spanning all environments and out to a redshift limit of z ~ 0.4. Key science drivers include the measurement of: the halo mass function via group velocity dispersions; the stellar, HI, and baryonic mass functions; galaxy component mass-size relations; the recent merger and star-formation rates by mass, types and environment. Detailed modeling of the spectra, broad SEDs, and spatial distributions should provide individual star formation histories, ages, bulge-disc decompositions and stellar bulge, stellar disc, dust disc, neutral HI gas and total dynamical masses for a significant subset of the sample (~100k) spanning both the giant and dwarf galaxy populations. The survey commenced March 2008 with 50k spectra obtained in 21 clear nights using the Anglo Australian Observatory's new multi-fibre-fed bench-mounted dual-beam spectroscopic system (AAOmega).Comment: Invited talk at IAU 254 (The Galaxy Disk in Cosmological Context, Copenhagen), 6 pages, 5 figures, high quality PDF version available at http://www.eso.org/~jliske/gama

Measurements of extragalactic background light from the far UV to the far IR from deep ground- and space-based galaxy counts

Funding: Australian Research Council via Discovery Project DP130103505 (SPD).We combine wide and deep galaxy number-count data from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly, COSMOS/G10, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Early Release Science, HST UVUDF, and various near-, mid-, and far-IR data sets from ESO, Spitzer, and Herschel. The combined data range from the far UV (0.15 μm) to far-IR (500 μm), and in all cases the contribution to the integrated galaxy light (IGL) of successively fainter galaxies converges. Using a simple spline fit, we derive the IGL and the extrapolated IGL in all bands. We argue that undetected low-surface-brightness galaxies and intracluster/group light are modest, and that our extrapolated-IGL measurements are an accurate representation of the extragalactic background light (EBL). Our data agree with most earlier IGL estimates and with direct measurements in the far IR, but disagree strongly with direct estimates in the optical. Close agreement between our results and recent very high-energy experiments (H.E.S.S. and MAGIC) suggests that there may be an additional foreground affecting the direct estimates. The most likely culprit could be the adopted model of zodiacal light. Finally we use a modified version of the two-component model to integrate the EBL and obtain measurements of the cosmic optical background (COB) and cosmic infrared background of 24+4-4 nW m−2sr−1 and 26+5-5 nW m−2sr−1 respectively (48%:52%). Over the next decade, upcoming space missions such as Euclid and the Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope will have the capacity to reduce the COB error to <1%, at which point comparisons to the very high-energy data could have the potential to provide a direct detection and measurement of the reionization field.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe