Monetarist Interpretations of the Great Depression: An Evaluation and Critique

This paper rejects the proposition that there is only a single interesting question to ask about the decade of the 1930s. It is concerned not only with the role of money in the 1929-33 contraction but also with the relative role of monetary and nonmonetary factors in the recession of 1937-38 and subsequent recovery and, in addition, with the division of nominal income change between prices and real output. New empirical evidence bearing on each of these issues is provided The results suggest that both extreme monetarist and nonmonetarist interpretations of the decade of the l930s are unsatisfactory and leave interesting features of the data unexplained. Arguing against acceptance of an extreme monetarist interpretation are (1) the inability of changes in the money supply alone to explain the severity of the initial collapse in income between 1929 and the fall of 1931, (2) the steady weakening of the correlation between changes in nominal income and money as the 1930s progressed, (3) the failure of monetary factors to explain the nature and timing of the 1938-41 recovery, and (4) the apparent absence of any tendency for the mechanism of price flexibility to provide strong self-correcting forces as required by an approach that stresses monetary rules and opposes policy activism. Arguing against acceptance of an extreme nonmonetarist interpretation are (1) the close association between the collapse in income and the lagged effect of monetary changes after the fall of 1931, (2) the milder contraction and earlier recoveries associated with the more expansive monetary policies pursued in Europe, (3) the close association between money and income in the 1937-38 recession, and (4) the failure of the price change data to adhere to the expectational Phillips curve approach imbedded in many postwar econometric models constructed by nonmonetarists.

South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) : part 15, systematic revision of Dilatitibialis Duverger (Coccidulinae; Hyperaspidini)

Dilatitibialis Duverger (61 species) (Coleoptera: Coccinelidae: Coccidulinae; Hyperaspidini) is discussed, species described, illustrations provided, and a key to all recognized taxa included. Cleothera cognata Mulsant, Cleothera cruciferae Mulsant, Cleothera fuscomaculata Mulsant, Cleothera gaynoni Mulsant, Cleothera glyphica Mulsant, Cleothera jucunda Mulsant, Cleothera luteola Mulsant, Cleothera mulsanti Kirsch, Cleothera oseryi Mulsant, Cleothera poortmanni Mulsant, Cleothera scenica Mulsant, Cleothera semicincta Weise, Cleothera tropicalis Mulsant, Hinda guttipennis Weise, Hyperaspis carolinae Crotch, Hyperaspis ceciliae Crotch, Hyperaspis dilatata Crotch, Hyperaspis florifera Vogel, Hyperaspis gravabilis Brèthes, Hyperaspis hybridula Crotch, Hyperaspis laterinotata Brèthes, Hyperaspis silvani Crotch, and Hyperaspis suzannae Crotch are transferred to Dilatitibialis, becoming new combinations. Lectotypes are designated for D. boliviana, D. cognata, D. florifera, D. fuscomaculata, D. gaynoni, D. glyphica, D. gravabilis, D. guttipennis, D. luteola, D. jucunda, D. mulsanti. D. poortmanni, D. retigera, D. scenica, D. semicincta, and D. staudingeri. A total of 38 new species of Dilatitibialis are described: Dilatitibialis annie, D. carmen, D. cindy, D. connie, D. crystal, D. dawn, D. diana, D. edith, D. edna, D. elaine, D. ellen, D. emily, D. ethel, D. fallax, D. florence, D. gladys, D. grace, D. josephine, D. kim, D. lillian, D. lois, D. marjorie, D. norma, D. paula, D. peggy, D. phyllis, D. rita, D. robin, D. rosa, D. shannon, D. sheila, D. sherry, D. sylvia, D. thelma, D. tiffany, D. tina, D. tracy, and D. wendy. Corrections are made to titles of previous Parts of this series, as follows: South American Coccinellidae, Part XII (Gordon 2007) is changed to Part XIII; South American Coccinellidae, Part XII (Gordon et al. 2013) is changed to Part XIV

South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) : part 7, new name for Cyra Mulsant, review of Brachiacanthini genera, and systematic revision of Cleothera Mulsant, Hinda Mulsant and Serratitibia Gordon and Canepari, new genus

Genera of Brachiacanthini (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Hyperaspidinae) are discussed and a key to all recognized genera provided. Cyrea, new genus, is proposed, and Serratitibia, new genus, is erected and revised, Cleothera Mulsant and Hinda Mulsant are recognized as valid genera and revised. Helesius caseyi Sicard is transferred to Hinda and recognized as a synonym of Hinda designata Mulsant, new synonymy. Brachiacantha brethesi (Korschefsky), Cleothera abendrothi Kirsch, Cleothera ambigua Mulsant, Cleothera bisquatuorpustulata Mulsant, Cleothera decemsignata Mulsant, Cleothera gaillardi Mulsant, Cleothera humerata Mulsant, Cleothera tortuosa Mulsant, Cleothera traili Brèthes, Cleothera uncinata Mulsant, Hinda joeli Almeida and Milléo, Hinda modesta Weise, Hinda regularis Kirsch, Hyperaspis aliciae Crotch, and Hyperaspis fraudulenta Kirsch are transferred to Serratitibia, becoming new combinations. One new species of Hinda, H. ecuadorica, is described. A total of 73 new species of Serratitibia are described: Serratitibia amanda, S. andrea, S. angela, S. anna, S. ashley, S. barbara, S. barclayi, S. betty, S. beverly, S. bonnie, S. brenda, S. cheryl, S. christine, S. cynthia, S. debra, S. denise, S. donna, S. doris, S. elizabeth, S. evelyn, S. frances, S. gloria, S. heather, S. helen, S. irene, S. jacqueline, S. janet, S. janice, S. jean, S. jennifer, S. joan, S. joyce, S. judith, S. judy, S. julie, S. karen, S. katherine, S. kathleen, S. kathy, S. kelly, S. kimberly, S. laura, S. linda, S. lisa, S. loreto, S. lori, S. louise, S. margaret, S. marilyn, S. mary, S. martha, S. melissa, S. michelle, S. mildred, S. nancy, S. nicole, S. pamela, S. paprzycki, S. patricia, S. quincemil, S. rachel, S. rebecca, S. rose, S. ruby, S. ruth, S. sarah, S. satipoensis, S. shirley, S. stephanie, S. susan, S. tammy, S. teresa, and S. virginia. Lectotypes are here designated for Serratitibia lividipes, S. gaillardi, S. decemsignata, S. abendrothi, and S. ambigua

Impulsive phase solar flare X-ray polarimetry

The pioneering observational work in solar flare X-ray polarimetry was done in a series of satellite experiments by Tindo and his collaborators in the Soviet Union; initial results showed high levels of polarization in X-ray flares (up to 40%), although of rather low statistical significance, and these were generally interpreted as evidence for strong beaming of suprathermal electrons in the flare energy release process. However, the results of the polarimeter flown by the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory as part of the STS-3 payload on the Space Shuttle by contrast showed very low levels of polarization. The largest value (observed during the impulsive phase of a single event) was 3.4% + or - 2.2%. At the same time but independent of the observational work, Leach and Petrosian (1983) showed that the high levels of polarization in the Tindo results were difficult to understand theoretically, since the electron beam is isotropized on an energy loss timescale. A subsequent comparison by Leach, Emslie, and Petrosian (1985) of the impulsive phase STS-3 result and the above theoretical treatment shows that the former is consistent with several current models and that a factor of approximately 3 improvement in sensitivity is needed to distinguish properly among the possibilities

Land Preservation in British Columbia: An Empirical Analysis of the Factors Underlying Public Support and Willingness to Pay

This study extends previous empirical research on land preservation by considering an actual land preservation scheme, the agricultural land reserve in British Columbia, Canada. The reserve was established in 1973 to ensure that development did not occur on the province’s most productive agricultural land. ‘To ensure that local food production is maintained,’ ‘the economic importance of British Columbia’s agricultural sector,’ and ‘to protect the environment’ are the most important factors that underlie support for the reserve. Aggregate, provincewide willingness to pay to maintain the land reserve is substantial, with our most conservative estimate being Can$91.18 million per year.agriculture, contingent, land, preservation, valuation, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, International Development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q15, Q24, Q28, Q51,

Enhanced Molecular Orientation Induced by Molecular Anti-Alignment

We explore the role of laser induced anti-alignment in enhancing molecular orientation. A field-free enhanced orientation via anti-alignment scheme is presented, which combines a linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulse with a half-cycle pulse. The laser pulse induces transient anti-alignment in the plane orthogonal to the field polarization, while the half-cycle pulse leads to the orientation. We identify two qualitatively different enhancement mechanisms depending on the pulse order, and optimize their effects using classical and quantum models both at zero and non-zero temperature

On the design and development of a miniature ceramic gimbal bearing

A review is made of a program to develop ceramic gimbal bearings for a miniaturized missile guidance system requiring nonmagnetic properties and higher load capacity than possible with conventional AISI 440C stainless steel bearings. A new gimbal design concept is described which utilizes the compressive strength and nonmagnetic properties of silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramics for the gimbal bearing. Considerable manufacturing development has occurred in the last 5 years making ceramic bearings a viable option in the gimbal design phase. A preliminary study into the feasibility of the proposed design is summarized. Finite element analysis of the brittle ceramic bearing components under thermal stress and high acceleration loading were conducted to ensure the components will not fail catastrophically in service. Finite element analysis was also used to optimize the adhesive joint design. Bearing torque tests run at various axial loads indicate that the average running torque of ceramic bearings varies with load similarly to that of conventional steel bearings

A new method of observing weak extended x-ray sources with RHESSI

We present a new method, fan-beam modulation, for observing weak extended x-ray sources with the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). This space-based solar x-ray and gamma-ray telescope has much greater sensitivity than previous experiments in the 3-25 keV range, but is normally not well suited to detecting extended sources since their signal is not modulated by RHESSI's rotating grids. When the spacecraft is offpointed from the target source, however, the fan-beam modulation time-modulates the transmission by shadowing resulting from exploiting the finite thickness of the grids. In this paper we detail how the technique is implemented and verify its consistency with sources with clear known signals that have occurred during RHESSI offpointing: microflares and the Crab Nebula. In both cases the results are consistent with previous and complementary measurements. Preliminary work indicates that this new technique allows RHESSI to observe the integrated hard x-ray spectrum of weak extended sources on the quiet Sun.Comment: Publishe