Should central banks really be flexible?

In this paper I show that central bank flexibility may not be desirable when it encourages trade unions to behave more aggressively. The argument is based on a model where risk averse trade unions interact with a central bank. A flexible central bank stabilizes economic shocks and reduces output volatility. This enables trade unions to realize higher real wages without risking the unemployment of some insider workers. Risk averse insiders demand higher real wages, generate more inflation and more unemployment. The overall e ect on welfare may be negative. A conservative central bank instead increases output and employment on average but raises output volatility. The argument also sheds new light on the issue of optimum currency areas. Wage claims are lower and employment is higher in a currency union if national trade unions expect the central bank to do less to secure employment of insider workers in their country. JEL Classification: E52, E58central bank credibility, central bank flexibility, Optimum Currency Area

Review of existing electricity quality label systems in the European Union

Green electricity quality labels have been utilised in the European Union since 1990. Of the seventeen European countries analysed here1, at the time of writing nine had no countryspecific quality label, although all electricity tariffs within Europe were able to apply for accreditation under the EUGENE labelling scheme. Germany had several quality labels, each with slightly different criteria. All of the eighteen labels identified in the report applied to electricity from renewable sources. Of these, seven also allowed co-generation to be a part of the fuel mix and one had a requirement for eligible companies to fulfil some demand side management activities. No existing labelling scheme set an overall requirement for CO2 emissions, although some did set emissions limits for co-generation components. Seven labels required some contribution from new renewable energy plant2. Only three of the labels did not allow publicly funded plant to contribute to a labelled green tariff. A review of labels clearly indicates that: · there are several schemes with varying levels of “greenness”, operating in some countries, which may be confusing for customers; · very few labels are clearly requiring some additionality for the products. It is therefore recommended that the European Union and member states continue to use other support mechanisms to increase the generation of electricity from renewable sources

Regenwald Report. Nr. 1, 2004 : Abholzung Made by Germany

* Papier aus Raubbau * Papierriese stützt Regenvernichter * Weltbank grüner als Rot-Grün * Weißes Papier mit dunklen Flecken * Teilerfolg für eine Gemeinde in Ecuador * Hände weg von Möbeln aus Raubbau-Holz

Off/Scene Representation: on the Construction of Sexuality in Pornographic Cinema

Various manifestations of pornography have been emphatically addressed by feminist studies and critique. In that context, the pornographic movie genre and erotic cinema are often considered part of a phallogocentric universe of meaning. Some dissonant views exist, however, relative to the conception of pornography as a clear reproducer of women’s sexual oppression. Bearing in mind the aforementioned debates, this work analyzes the representational dimension of pornographic films from a socio-cultural standpoint, focusing on the rhetoric of pornography and on its effects on the construction of the contemporary socio-sexual universe.Fil: Kratje, Julia. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Charge-density-wave formation in the Edwards fermion-boson model at one-third band filling

We examine the ground-state properties of the one-dimensional Edwards spinless fermion transport model by means of large-scale density-matrix renormalization-group calculations. Determining the single-particle gap and the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid parameter ($K_\rho$) at zero temperature, we prove the existence of a metal-to-insulator quantum phase transition at one-third band filling. The insulator---established by strong correlation in the background medium---typifies a charge density wave (CDW) that is commensurate with the band filling. $K_\rho=2/9$ is very small at the quantum critical point, and becomes $K_\rho^{\rm CDW}=1/9$ in the infinitesimally doped three-period CDW, as predicted by the bosonization approach.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, contributions to SCES 201

Regenwald Report. Nr. 4, 2004 : Danzer zersägt die Zukunft im Kongo

* Papier aus Raubbau * Papierriese stützt Regenvernichter * Weltbank grüner als Rot-Grün * Weißes Papier mit dunklen Flecken * Teilerfolg für eine Gemeinde in Ecuador * Hände weg von Möbeln aus Raubbau-Holz