Rationality and the Foundations of Positive Political Theory

In this paper, we discuss and debunk the four most common critiques of the rational choice research program (which we prefer to call Positive Political Theory) by explaining and advocating its foundations: the rationality assumption, component analysis (abstraction), strategic behavior, and theory building, in turn. We argue that the rationality assumption and component analysis, properly understood, can be seen to underlie all social science, despite the protestations of critics. We then discuss the two ways that PPT most clearly contributes to political science (i.e., what distinguishes it from other research programs), namely the introduction of strategic behavior (people do not just act; they interact) and PPT’s more careful attention to the theory-building step within the scientific method. We explain the roles of theory- building and of empirical “testing,” respectively, in scientific inquiry, and the criteria by which theories should and should not be judged

As a Matter of Factions: The Budgetary Implications of Shifting Factional Control in Japan’s LDP

For 38 years, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) maintained single-party control over the Japanese government. This lack of partisan turnover in government has frustrated attempts to explain Japanese government policy changes using political variables. In this paper, we look for intraparty changes that may have led to changes in Japanese budgetary policy. Using a simple model of agenda-setting, we hypothesize that changes in which intraparty factions “control” the LDP affect the party’s decisions over spending priorities systematically. This runs contrary to the received wisdom in the voluminous literature on LDP factions, which asserts that factions, whatever their raison d’être, do not exhibit different policy preferences. We find that strong correlations do exist between which factions comprise the agenda-setting party “mainstream” and how the government allocates spending across pork-barrel and public goods items

Signatures of Confinement in Axial Gauge QCD

A comparative dynamical study of axial gauge QED and QCD is presented. Elementary excitations associated with particular field configurations are investigated. Gluonic excitations analogous to linearly polarized photons are shown to acquire infinite energy. Suppression of this class of excitations in QCD results from quantization of the chromelectric flux and is interpreted as a dual Meissner effect, i.e. as expulsion from the QCD vacuum of chromo-electric fields which are constant over significant distances. This interpretation is supported by a comparative evaluation of the interaction energy of static charges in the axial gauge representation of QED and QCD.Comment: 22 pages (no figures

Texas Treasury Warrants, 1861-1865: A Test Of The Tax-Backing Of Money

vThe Confederacy relied heavily on inflationary finance. Of the states of the Confederacy, only Texas was able throughout the war to enforce mandatory tax payments. In November 1864, Texas enacted fiscal measures designed to support the value of its state-issued currency, while it was increasing the amount in circulation. These measures were effective in doubling the value of the Texas warrants. As a result, Texas was able to continue to operate even after the defeat of the Confederacy elsewhere, until the state was overrun by Union forces. These results strongly support the tax-backing theory of money.

Rating Bonds Before Moody’s: 1886-1893

This paper is the first in a series examining the credit quality of an evolving sample of seasoned, medium to high-grade, long-term railroad bonds during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The paper develops a simple model capable of pricing these bonds and assembles the requisite financial statement and market data needed to calibrate the model. The exercise demonstrates that these bonds were priced according to the financial strength of their issuer and their priority of claim (and modified by other factors, many of which are interesting in themselves). These findings suggest that these bonds can be rated from information available in real-time before Moody’s innovation of bond ratings in 1909

Case Study: West Point Terminal/Southern Railway

This real world case study investigates how priority of claim interacts with the rules of bankruptcy to preserve the values of securities issued by corporations in the context of one of the most famous reorganizations of all times. (However, many facts have been changed to facilitate classroom use.) The case does not presume prior knowledge of the rules of bankruptcy. It is recommended for a senior-level undergraduate or MBA course in financial management

Literacy Versus Ethnicity as a Proxy for National IQ

This study converts literacy rates into IQ scores based on their relationship in countries for which both measures are available; and, validates the same for countries for which direct measurements of National IQ are not available. Two tests are performed: the first for the period 2009-2012 (using Lynn and Meisenberg’s IQ data), and the second for the period 2013-2016 (using Altinok, Angrist and Patrinos’ Scholastic Achievement data). In both tests, the literacy rate-based IQ scores outperform Lynn and Vanhanen’s ethnicity-based interpolations of National IQ in explaining GDP per capita. Indeed, the literacy-based IQ scores reduce the explanatory power of the ethnicity-based IQ scores to marginal significance. These results question the continued use of ethnicity-based IQ data in transnational studies

Filling of orbital fluid management systems

A study was performed with three objectives: (1) analyze fluid management system fill under orbital conditions; (2) determine what experimentation is needed; and (3) develop an experimental program. The fluid management system was a 1.06m (41.7 in) diameter pressure vessel with screen channel device. Analyses were conducted using liquid hydrogen and N2O4. The influence of helium and autogenous pressurization systems was considered. Analyses showed that fluid management system fill will be more difficult with a cryogen than with an earth storable. The key to a successful fill with cryogens is in devising techniques for filling without vent liquid, and removing trapped vapor from the screen device at tank fill completion. This will be accomplished with prechill, fill, and vapor condensation processes. Refill will require a vent and purge process, to dilute the residual helium, prior to introducing liquid. Neither prechill, chill, nor purge processes will be required for earth storables