The market for retirement products in Australia

Australia introduced a mandatory retirement savings scheme in 1992. This built on pre-existing voluntary occupational plans. The new scheme has been very successful in expanding coverage and mobilizing large financial savings that are equal to close to 100 percent of GDP. However, Australia does not impose restrictions on payout options. The payout phase used to be dominated by lump sum withdrawals, which accounted for 80 percent of benefit payments as recently as 2002. But pension payments increased in recent years and now represent 45 percent of total payments. The vast majority of these pension payments take the form of term annuities and allocated annuities. The latter are similar to phased withdrawals in Chile but run for fixed terms of up to 25 years rather than for lifetime terms. The demand for life annuities and lifetime phased withdrawals is very limited. The paper discusses the factors that have shaped the pattern of demand for retirement products, including the availability of the universal age pension and the effect of clawback provisions, the impact of the high level of home ownership, and the widespread preference of retiring workers for reliance on self-annuitization. The paper also reviews the prudential regulation of superannuation funds and life insurance companies.,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Economic Theory&Research

Spectral isolation of bi-invariant metrics on compact Lie groups

We show that a bi-invariant metric on a compact connected Lie group $G$ is spectrally isolated within the class of left-invariant metrics. In fact, we prove that given a bi-invariant metric $g_0$ on $G$ there is a positive integer $N$ such that, within a neighborhood of $g_0$ in the class of left-invariant metrics of at most the same volume, $g_0$ is uniquely determined by the first $N$ distinct non-zero eigenvalues of its Laplacian (ignoring multiplicities). In the case where $G$ is simple, $N$ can be chosen to be two.Comment: 10 pages, new title, revised abstract and introduction, minor typos corrected, to appear in Ann. Inst. Fourier (Grenoble

Fungal biofilm resistance

Fungal biofilm infections have become increasingly recognised as a significant clinical problem. One of the major reasons behind this is the impact that these have upon treatment, as antifungal therapy often fails and surgical intervention is required. This places a large financial burden on health care providers. This paper aims to illustrate the importance of fungal biofilms, particularly Candida albicans, and discusses some of the key fungal biofilm resistance mechanisms that include, extracellular matrix (ECM), efflux pump activity, persisters, cell density, overexpression of drug targets, stress responses, and the general physiology of the cell. The paper demonstrates the multifaceted nature of fungal biofilm resistance, which encompasses some of the newest data and ideas in the field

The discount window : time for reform?

For many years, the Federal Reserve's discount window has played an important role in monetary policy. Discount window borrowing helps individual depository institutions manage their reserve accounts in the presence of unexpected deposit and payments flows. Improved reserve management, in turn, helps stabilize the overnight federal funds market by reducing the volatility of short-term interest rates. Moreover, announced changes in the Federal Reserve's discount rate have often signaled important shifts in the stance of monetary policy and have frequently been associated with large changes in market interest rates, exchange rates, and asset prices.> In the 1990s, however, fewer and fewer institutions have relied on the window to meet short-term credit needs. Consequently, the usefulness of the discount window in smoothing reserve imbalances and stabilizing interest rates may have been reduced. In addition, changes in monetary policy operating procedures and the formal announcement of monetary policy decisions by the Federal Reserve may have reduced the effectiveness of discount rate changes in influencing market interest rates and asset prices.> Hakkio and Sellon analyze the changing role of the discount window in monetary policy and examine the case for discount window reform. One alternative to the traditional discount window is a "Lombard-type" lending facility in which depository institutions can borrow more freely than under the current system but at a higher rate. While there appear to be good arguments in favor of modernizing the discount mechanism, a number of conceptual and practical issues must be addressed before implementing a Lombard-type lending facility. An additional consideration, going forward, is the projected reduction in the supply of Treasury debt over the next few years. A shrinking supply of Treasury securities could complicate the use of open market operations in providing reserves to the banking system and require the Federal Reserve to place greater emphasis on the discount window. Consequently, any redesign of the discount window would need to address this issue.Discount window ; Discount ; Monetary policy

HOPE Longitudinal Study: Year 2 Results

Abstract pending

Prior in vitro exposure to voriconazole confers resistance to amphotericin B in aspergillus fumigatus biofilms

Triazoles are the mainstay of treatment for aspergillosis, although resistance to these antifungal agents may be associated with treatment failure. Refractory infections often necessitate a switch to other antifungal agents, including amphotericin B (AmB), although these infections may not resolve. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of prior azole exposure on AmB sensitivity in Aspergillus fumigatus biofilms. It was hypothesised that sequential antifungal therapy has the potential to impact adaptive resistance mechanisms. Antifungal sensitivity was determined for each isolate against AmB ± voriconazole (VRZ) exposure by a broth microdilution method and an XTT metabolic assay. To analyse the role of extracellular DNA (eDNA) and Hsp90 activation, sensitivity to AmB ± DNA-digesting enzyme (DNase) or Hsp90 inhibitor [geldanamycin (GDA)] was also tested. Finally, scanning electron microscopy was performed to assess phenotypic changes. The in vitro data revealed that A. fumigatus sensitivity to AmB was decreased when it was tested in combination with VRZ. In addition, a two- to four-fold decreased sensitivity to AmB was recorded against VRZ-exposed germlings compared with controls. It was also shown that depletion of eDNA by DNase treatment enhanced AmB activity against VRZ-exposed cells by eight-fold, which visually could be explained by destabilisation of the biofilm when examined microscopically. Pharmacological inhibition of Hsp90 by GDA significantly improved biofilm susceptibility to AmB by four- to eight-fold. In conclusion, A. fumigatus pre-exposure to VRZ concomitantly induces eDNA release and activates the stress response, which collectively confers AmB resistance in vitro

The movement for the reformation of manners, 1688-1715

Previously unused manuscript sources and printed sources form the basis for an examination of the motivations, tactics and interactions with existing institutions of the participants in the movement for reformation of manners. Their providential and patriarchal beliefs are highlighted within the 1688 to 1715 period, whose climate of uncertainty and fear were crucial to sharpening the reformers' sense of urgency to achieve a more effective enforcement of secular laws against immorality and profaneness and thus ensure England's survival against foreign and domestic enemies. Founding members of the First Society for Reformation of Manners in London are identified, as well as their allies among the Anglican religious societies and elsewhere. Opposition to the ad hoc reforming societies from the capital's judicial establishment is analysed. The movement's efforts against sexual immoralities, swearing and cursing, and Sabbath-breaking are catalogued, together with attempts to suppress Bartholomew Fair and London's homosexual population. Sermons preached to reformers of manners in London are catalogued and studied for the reformers' views on magistracy, the community and the family. The final chapter examines opinions about the movement held by civil authorities, the Anglican leadership and champions of the High Church party, since reformation of manners became an element in the 'rage of party' in church and state. The conclusion places the movement for reformation of manners as one strand composing 'country ideology', a pervasive historical attitude in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries decrying any unbalancing of the constitution of the commonweal whether by immoralities, hypocrisy or political expediency.Previously unused manuscript sources and printed sources form the basis for an examination of the motivations, tactics and interactions with existing institutions of the participants in the movement for reformation of manners. Their providential and patriarchal beliefs are highlighted within the 1688 to 1715 period, whose climate of uncertainty and fear were crucial to sharpening the reformers' sense of urgency to achieve a more effective enforcement of secular laws against immorality and profaneness and thus ensure England's survival against foreign and domestic enemies. Founding members of the First Society for Reformation of Manners in London are identified, as well as their allies among the Anglican religious societies and elsewhere. Opposition to the ad hoc reforming societies from the capital's judicial establishment is analysed. The movement's efforts against sexual immoralities, swearing and cursing, and Sabbath-breaking are catalogued, together with attempts to suppress Bartholomew Fair and London's homosexual population. Sermons preached to reformers of manners in London are catalogued and studied for the reformers' views on magistracy, the community and the family. The final chapter examines opinions about the movement held by civil authorities, the Anglican leadership and champions of the High Church party, since reformation of manners became an element in the 'rage of party' in church and state. The conclusion places the movement for reformation of manners as one strand composing 'country ideology', a pervasive historical attitude in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries decrying any unbalancing of the constitution of the commonweal whether by immoralities, hypocrisy or political expediency