The world trading system: Recent trends

Tariffs no longer represent the most serious impediment to international trade. As the importance of tariffs in restricting free trade has been declining, non-tariff barriers are becoming increasingly important. The use of selected non-tariff barriers is analyzed, focusing on anti-dumping measures, voluntary export restraints, trade related investment measures, and trade related intellectual property rights. Coming multilateral negotiations will have to concentrate on non-tariff barriers. A first prerequisite for successful negotiations is to increase transparency of these instruments. Only if transparency is ensured, improved enforcement mechanisms can be implemented.

Wage formation and monetary policy rules

This paper characterizes the wage setting behavior in a totally unionized economy under different monetary policy rules. The wage formation strategy of the union can be either aggressive or cooperative.. As long as the union is fully cooperative and in the absence of shocks, the government can completely reach its macroeconomic targets: full employment and price stability. If, however, the union becomes aggressive, a constant money supply rule has a nominal wage inflation bias under certain plausible- assumptions. By changing the rules of the game, e.g. following a nominal GNP or price level (inflation) rule, wage demands would be lower and the economy better off.

Brazil: Another lost decade? Domestic policies and attractiveness for foreign capital

Formerly a favourite location for private capital inflows, Brazil was virtually cut off from further bank lending in the 1980s. The country's rating in secondary loan markets plummeted, and foreign direct investment dwindled. New external financing was replaced by an accumulation of interest arrears. Retained resources were used for consumption or fueled capital flight, rather than being used for productive investment. Brazil is significantly lagging behind Asian and Latin American competitors in facing the fiercer worldwide competition for foreign capital. The seriously impaired attractiveness in international capital markets is to be attributed to pronounced macroeconomic instability, excessive government interference into goods and factor markets, as well as confrontation with commmercial lenders and restrictive attitudes towards foreign investors. After having lost one decade, Brazil should not risk another one. The country should follow the example of Chile and Mexico, where the implementation of domestic policy reforms was supported by voluntary debt-service concessions of external creditors. This cooperative approach lowered the perception of country risk, led to the repatriation of flight capital, and triggered a favourable investment response. Domestic policy reforms are indispensable for regaining access to international capital markets. The centerpiece of macroeconomic stabilization in Brazil must be to break inflationary expectations through sustained fiscal consolidation. Recent progress in dismantling trade barriers must be supplemented by abandoning the tradition of interventionist price policies in domestic goods markets. The deep-rooted structural deficiencies of labour and financial markets have to be tackled, in order to stimulate human capital formation and enhance efficient financial intermediation. --

International Lessons for the Property Price Boom in South Africa

South Africa appears to share some of the characteristics (property price boom, easing of monetary policy, strong domestic demand growth) of asset price booms in industrial countries that were often followed by a period of weak growth. The international experience suggests that a number of practical obstacles need to be overcome before a more proactive role of monetary policy is warranted. However, a larger variety of available mortgage contracts, including longer-term fixed-rate contracts, should allow for a more efficient allocation of interest rate risks. Also, a more systematic nationwide collection of property price data, including data on commercial property price developments, would provide a more representative basis for analysis.Asset Prices,property prices,monetary policy,economic development

Endophthalmitis Due to Microbacterium Species: Case Report and Review of Microbacterium Infections

Microbacterium species (formerly CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] coryneform group A-4 and A-5 bacteria) are widely distributed in the environment and rarely cause infections in humans. We present a case of endophthalmitis due to Microbacterium species that occurred after accidental trauma and review the literature on microbacterium infections. If the infected tissue or medical device is removed and antimicrobial therapy (preferably with β-lactams or glycopeptides) is instituted, the prognosis is usually favorable for patients with microbacterium infection

Biogas Production From a Mixture of Cow Manure with Chicken Manure

Biogas technology with zero waste concept is expected to be the alternative energy and to reduce environmental problems. The purpose of this study is to know the biogas yield per kilogram of each chicken and cow manure comparison. The study was conducted in six treatments with the addition of chicken manure of 0, 100, 300, 500, 700 and 1000 grams. The fermentation process is done using a batch system and biogas measurement was taken daily. The parameters to be observed were organic matter, the degree of acidity (pH), temperature, volume of biogas, biogas productivity, and C / N ratio of each treatment. The results showed that the overall pH at the beginning and end of the study tend to be close to neutral. The highest biogas yield was resulted from a mixture of chicken manure and cow manure at the composition of 1:1 or 50%:50% with biogas total amount of 35.690 ml and biogas productivity of 0,33 liters/g (volatile solid)

Aureobacterium resistens sp. nov., exhibiting vancomycin resistance and teicoplanin susceptibility

Two similar strains of a coryneform bacterium were isolated from human clinical material. Both strains were resistant to vancomycin but susceptible to teicoplanin. Detailed biochemical, chemotaxonomical, and molecular genetic investigations revealed that both isolates were members of a hitherto undescribed species of the genus Aureobacterium. The name Aureobacterium resistens sp. nov. is proposed for the new bacterium and the type strain is CCUG 3831

TUNER-compliant error estimation for MIPAS: methodology

This paper describes the error estimation for temperature and trace gas mixing ratios retrieved from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) limb emission spectra. The following error sources are taken into account: measurement noise, propagated temperature and pointing noise, uncertainties of the abundances of spectrally interfering species, instrument line shape errors, and spectroscopic data uncertainties in terms of line intensities and broadening coefficients. Furthermore, both the direct impact of volatile as well as persistent gain calibration uncertainties, offset calibration and spectral calibration uncertainties and their impact through propagated calibration-related temperature and pointing uncertainties are considered. An error source specific to the MIPAS upper atmospheric observation mode is the propagation of the smoothing error crosstalk of the combined NO and temperature retrieval. Whenever non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modelling is used inthe retrieval, also related kinetic constants and mixing ratios of species involved in the modelling of populations of excitational states contribute to the error budget. Both generalized Gaussian error propagation and perturbation studies are used to estimate the error components. Error correlations are taken into account. Estimated uncertainties are provided for a multitude of atmospheric conditions. Some error sources were found to contribute both to the random and the systematic component of the total estimated error. The sequential nature of the MIPAS retrievals gives rise to entangled errors. These are caused by error sources that affect the uncertainty of the final data product via multiple pathways, i.e., on the one hand directly, and on the other hand via errors caused in a preceding retrieval step. These errors tend to partly compensate each other. The hard-to-quantify effect of the horizontally non-homogeneous atmosphere and unknown error correlations of spectroscopic data are considered as the major limitations of the MIPAS error estimation

TUNER-compliant error estimation for MIPAS

This paper describes the error estimation for temperature and trace gas mixing ratios retrieved from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) limb emission spectra. The following error sources are taken into account: measurement noise, propagated temperature and pointing noise, uncertainties of the abundances of spectrally interfering species, instrument line shape errors, and spectroscopic data uncertainties in terms of line intensities and broadening coefficients. Furthermore, both the direct impact of volatile as well as persistent gain calibration uncertainties, offset calibration and spectral calibration uncertainties and their impact through propagated calibration-related temperature and pointing uncertainties are considered. An error source specific to the MIPAS upper atmospheric observation mode is the propagation of the smoothing error crosstalk of the combined NO and temperature retrieval. Whenever non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modelling is used inthe retrieval, also related kinetic constants and mixing ratios of species involved in the modelling of populations of excitational states contribute to the error budget. Both generalized Gaussian error propagation and perturbation studies are used to estimate the error components. Error correlations are taken into account. Estimated uncertainties are provided for a multitude of atmospheric conditions. Some error sources were found to contribute both to the random and the systematic component of the total estimated error. The sequential nature of the MIPAS retrievals gives rise to entangled errors. These are caused by error sources that affect the uncertainty of the final data product via multiple pathways, i.e., on the one hand directly, and on the other hand via errors caused in a preceding retrieval step. These errors tend to partly compensate each other. The hard-to-quantify effect of the horizontally non-homogeneous atmosphere and unknown error correlations of spectroscopic data are considered as the major limitations of the MIPAS error estimation