On The Difference Between Tax And Spending Policies In Models With Finite Horizons

This paper uses the Blanchard (1985) finite horizon model to study how taxes and government spending can be managed to stabilize aggregate demand. It is shown that tax policy cannot stabilize demand in less time than it stabilizes the public debt, but that, if government spending is the instrument of policy, demand can be stabilized independently of the dynamics of the debt. These results imply that if the objective is to stabilize the debt while maintaining demand as close as possible to a pre-determined target path, and taxes are the instrument, taxes would have to be changed temporarily as much as feasible. On the other hand, if the instrument is government spending, it can be changed gradually to achieve the objectives. The dynamic effects of taxes are a straightforward implication of the intertemporal budget constraint, when it is assumed that agents cannot be surprised by government policies. More traditional dynamics can be obtained if it is assumed that the government succeeds in announcing a policy and implementing a different one. If however the announcement is no credible, discretion is inferior to a predetermined tax rule.

Italexit is not a solution for Italy’s problems

Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement riding high in the polls in Italy has led to speculation over the prospect of the country leaving the euro. Lorenzo Codogno and Giampaolo Galli argue that an ‘Italexit’ would be a catastrophic scenario, with incommensurable economic, social, and political costs lasting for many years. They note that redenomination, and a likely default on debt obligations, would not be a solution to the problem of a high public debt and would produce significant financial and economic instability. A far better and less costly solution would be to address Italy’s underlying problems, allowing the country to survive and thrive within the euro by enhancing potential growth and economic resilience

Populism and the broken engine of the Italian economy

In Italy, the temptation to go back in time, or shut the door to Europe and globalisation is strong, especially after a quarter of a century of poor economic performance, argue Lorenzo Codogno and Giampaolo Galli. Anti-establishment parties, which gained an outright majority in Parliament in the country's recent elections, blame the past reform process, together with the threats arising from globalisation, European integration and immigration, instead of arguing for an even bolder reform agenda

The Political Red Queen

In ‘The law of selection in the public economy as compared to the market economy’, Professor Francesco Forte (1982) – contemporary doyen of the Scienza delle finanze tradition – extended an invitation to consider the public economy by means of evolutionary principles of selection. Not many replied to Professor Forte’s invitation. This article is a delayed response to the invitation. Through a parallel with a metaphor from Lewis Carroll, it proposes the Political Red Queen hypothesis: politicians work to stay in power by weakening the evolutionary pressure under which they would otherwise naturally operate. A Political Red Queen exerts effort – runs, in the language of Carroll’s original Red Queen metaphor – to make policy, promulgate laws, supply public and merit goods, and so on with the prime objective to survive by reducing the uncertainty linked to maintaining a political role. A Political Red Queen thus works to weaken ‘natural’ political selection. The Political Red Queen hypothesis is shown to hold, mutatis mutandis, for both democratic and non-democratic political environments. It can be viewed as incorporating a positive public choice nexus between politics-as-exchange and politics-as-power

The past and future of the Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice

This is the Editorial presenting the relaunch of the Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice in partnership with Bristol University Press. The editorial defines the aims and scope of the relaunched journal as well as summarizes its previous history

New Directions in Understanding Atopic March Starting from Atopic Dermatitis

Recent evidence showed that the postulated linear progression of the atopic march, from atopic dermatitis to food and respiratory allergies, does not capture the heterogeneity of allergic phenotypes, which are influenced by complex interactions between environmental, genetic, and psychosocial factors. Indeed, multiple atopic trajectories are possible in addition to the classic atopic march. Nevertheless, atopic dermatitis is often the first manifestation of an atopic march. Improved understanding of atopic dermatitis pathogenesis is warranted as this could represent a turning point in the prevention of atopic march. In this review, we outline the recent findings on the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to atopic dermatitis that could be targeted by intervention strategies for the prevention of atopic march

Retroperitoneoscopic single site renal biopsy surgery: right indicatioBMC Urology ns for the right technique.

Bacground: Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) has been developed in an attempt to further reduce the morbidity and scarring associated with laparoscopic surgery. In patients in whom there are indications to perform a laparoscopic renal biopsy, LESS surgery is a valid alternative to mini invasive surgery and is becoming more common. We report our experience on 14 renal biopsy procedures performed in a retroperitoneal LESS. Methods: LESS renal biopsy was performed in 14 patients 18 to 80 years old (mean age 58.3 years) during a 36 month period. All procedures were performed by a single operator. The patient was in a standard flank position. The procedure was performed using a 2.5 cm, single incision via a retroperitoneal access at the Petit ’ s triangle. A 5 mm biopsy forceps was used to collect the specimen under direct vision, and haemostasis was obtained with an Argon beam probe and the application of oxidized regenerated cellulose gauze. Results: Biopsy was performed successfully in all cases. Mean operative time was 52.64 min, blood loss was minimal, and the hospital stay ranged from 12 to 24 hours. None of the patients required narcotics or additional analgesia in the postoperative period. No postoperative complications occurred. Conclusions: The LESS technique is safe, reliable (100% success), easy to learn, and offers subjective cosmetic benefits to the patient. Minimal hospitalization requirement following retroperitoneal LESS biopsy is an additional timely advantage over laparoscopic renal biopsy. We think that with the right indications (marked obesity, failure of previous percutaneous biopsy attempts, a solitary kidney and coagulopathy) LESS renal biopsy is a good alternative to laparoscopy. Our next step will be a randomized prospective study of LESS compared with laparoscopy for renal biopsy to support our findings

ORal anticoagulants In fraGile patients with percutAneous endoscopic gastrostoMy and atrIal fibrillation: the (ORIGAMI) study

BACKGROUND: Randomized trials support the safety and efficacy of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) versus vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, leading to increased use of these compounds. Crushed forms of DOACs have been shown to be reliable, but evidence supporting percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) delivery is lacking. PEG is a long-term option for enteral food and drug delivery in patients unable to maintain oral intake, bypassing the risks and disadvantages of parenteral nutrition.AIMS: The ORal anticoagulants In fraGile patients with percutAneous endoscopic gastrostoMy and atrIal fibrillation (ORIGAMI) study investigates the safety and efficacy of Edoxaban administered via PEG in patients with atrial fibrillation and a clinical indication for a long-term anticoagulation.DESIGN: In this prospective, single-centre observational study, 12 PEG-treated patients with indication to anticoagulation will receive edoxaban via PEG and will be followed up to 6 months. Plasma antifactor Xa activity and edoxaban concentrations will be assessed. Thromboembolic (ischaemic stroke, systemic embolism, venous thromboembolism) and bleeding events (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction) will be recorded at 1 and 6 months.PRELIMINARY CASES: A retrospective analysis of five atrial fibrillation cases undergoing PEG implantation at our Institution who received edoxaban via PEG showed plasma anti-FXa levels at a steady state of 146 ± 15 ng/ml, without major adverse event at a mean follow-up of 6 months.CONCLUSION: ORIGAMI prospectively investigates PEG-administration of edoxaban in PEG-treated patients requiring long-term anticoagulation. Our preliminary retrospective data support this route of DOAC administration. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT04271293

The instrument control unit of the ARIEL payload: design evolution following the unit and payload subsystems SRR (system requirements review)

ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing InfraRed Large-survey) is a medium-class mission of the European Space Agency, part of the Cosmic Vision program, whose launch is foreseen by early 2029. ARIEL aims to study the composition of exoplanet atmospheres, their formation and evolution. The ARIEL’s target will be a sample of about 1000 planets observed with one or more of the following methods: transit, eclipse and phase-curve spectroscopy, at both visible and infrared wavelengths simultaneously. The scientific payload is composed by a reflective telescope having a 1m-class elliptical primary mirror, built in solid Aluminium, and two focal-plane instruments: FGS and AIRS. FGS (Fine Guidance System)1 has the double purpose, as suggested by its name, of performing photometry (0.50-0.55 µm) and low resolution spectrometry over three bands (from 0.8 to 1.95 µm) and, simultaneously, to provide data to the spacecraft AOCS (Attitude and Orbit Control System) with a cadence of 10 Hz and contributing to reach a 0.02 arcsec pointing accuracy for bright targets. AIRS (ARIEL InfraRed Spectrometer) instrument will perform IR spectrometry in two wavelength ranges: between 1.95 and 3.9 µm (with a spectral resolution R > 100) and between 3.9 and 7.8 µm with a spectral resolution R > 30. This paper provides the status of the ICU (Instrument Control Unit), an electronic box whose purpose is to command and supply power to AIRS (as well as acquire science data from its two channels) and to command and control the TCU (Telescope Control Unit)