Stakeholding Through the Permanent Fund Dividend: Fitting Practice to Theory

Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is the United States’ most significant, if not its only attempted, experiment with universal asset policies. This chapter helps clarify where the PFD fits within the larger portfolio of economic rights and obligations guaranteed by the liberal state. Is the program a realization of “real-freedom-for-all” basic income, or might it have foreshadowed Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott’s Stakeholder Society decades before their proposal emerged? I argue that neither categorization is entirely correct or entirely mistaken. Core features of the PFD demonstrate Alaska’s implicit belief in stakeholding but currently fall short of the sweeping citizenship agenda identified by stakeholding theorists. Like true stakeholder initiatives and basic income schemes, the PFD distributes shared resources on a means-independent basis, does not require recipients to work or otherwise participate in economic affairs, and commits the government to monetary distributions rather than in-kind transfers. Nevertheless, the PFD does not - and in its current format cannot - enable Alaskans to pursue their individual life plans independently of other income sources. This chapter also moves beyond definitions and addresses the PFD’s special characteristic, what I call the “endogeneity condition,” or funding through existing natural resources rather than the public fisc. I focus on how this feature allows us to abstract away from the particulars of financing basic income or stakeholding and analyze the consumption side of the system. The chapter concludes by considering how the State of Alaska might reorient the PFD toward a more comprehensive stakeholding structure and calling for more research into the use of resource-based asset systems so that governments can more aptly choose among basic income, stakeholding, and other funding schemes

The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend and Membership in the State’s Political Community

Despite decades of unmitigated administrative success, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is not immune from political and legal controversy. The symbolic and financial importance that Alaskans ascribe to their annual dividend checks has generated disputes between ordinary residents and executive agencies over eligibility. Litigation concerning three dominant status requirements—minimum residency, U.S. citizenship, and felony incarceration—reveal not only the extent to which Alaskans will pursue what they believe to be valid claims on their share of natural resource wealth, but also the limits of full political membership in the state. This Comment frames a sample of the Alaska Supreme Court’s decisions on PFD eligibility in terms of membership in Alaska’s political community. The PFD reflects the Alaska Legislature’s opinion about valid beneficiaries from oil revenues, and the state courts police eligibility at the margin. This Comment therefore argues that the Alaska Supreme Court implicitly determines, on the basis of statutory intent and administrative rule interpretations, “insiders” and “outsiders” within the state’s political community

An investigation of DTNS2D for use as an incompressible turbulence modelling test-bed

This paper documents an investigation of a two dimensional, incompressible Navier-Stokes solver for use as a test-bed for turbulence modelling. DTNS2D is the code under consideration for use at the Center for Modelling of Turbulence and Transition (CMOTT). This code was created by Gorski at the David Taylor Research Center and incorporates the pseudo compressibility method. Two laminar benchmark flows are used to measure the performance and implementation of the method. The classical solution of the Blasius boundary layer is used for validating the flat plate flow, while experimental data is incorporated in the validation of backward facing step flow. Velocity profiles, convergence histories, and reattachment lengths are used to quantify these calculations. The organization and adaptability of the code are also examined in light of the role as a numerical test-bed

THz Metamaterial Characterization Using THz-TDS

The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with metamaterials and describe terahertz (THz) spectroscopy within metamaterials research. The introduction provides key background information on metamaterials, describes their history and their unique properties. These properties include negative refraction, backwards phase propagation, and the reversed Doppler Effect. The history and theory of metamaterials are discussed, starting with Veselago’s negative index materials work and Pendry’s publications on physical realization of metamaterials. The next sections cover measurement and analyses of THz metamaterials. THz Time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) will be the key measurement tool used to describe the THz metamaterial measurement process. Sample transmission data from a metamaterial THz-TDS measurement is analyzed to give a better understanding of the different frequency characteristics of metamaterials. The measurement and analysis sections are followed by a section on the fabrication process of metamaterials. After familiarizing the reader with THz metamaterial measurement and fabrication techniques, the final section will provide a review of various methods by which metamaterials are made active and/or tunable. Several novel concepts were demonstrated in recent years to achieve such metamaterials, including photoconductivity, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and phase change material (PCM)-based metamaterial structures

THz Metamaterial Characterization Using THz-TDS

The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with metamaterials and describe terahertz (THz) spectroscopy within metamaterials research. The introduction provides key background information on metamaterials, describes their history and their unique properties. These properties include negative refraction, backwards phase propagation, and the reversed Doppler Effect. The history and theory of metamaterials are discussed, starting with Veselago’s negative index materials work and Pendry’s publications on physical realization of metamaterials. The next sections cover measurement and analyses of THz metamaterials. THz Time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) will be the key measurement tool used to describe the THz metamaterial measurement process. Sample transmission data from a metamaterial THz-TDS measurement is analyzed to give a better understanding of the different frequency characteristics of metamaterials. The measurement and analysis sections are followed by a section on the fabrication process of metamaterials. After familiarizing the reader with THz metamaterial measurement and fabrication techniques, the final section will provide a review of various methods by which metamaterials are made active and/or tunable. Several novel concepts were demonstrated in recent years to achieve such metamaterials, including photoconductivity, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and phase change material (PCM)-based metamaterial structures

Changes in the Balance Sheet of the U.S. Manufacturing Sector, 1926-1977

This is a report on the results of a research project, sponsored by the NBER's Program on Financial Markets and Monetary Economics, which involves the collection and organization of income account and balance sheet data, at the firm level, for the years 1926-77. The primary data source for the study is Moody's Industrial Manual. Working at the firm level, it is possible to obtain accurate information on the market values of traded securities.This paper presents and discusses some of the aggregate characteristics of the dataset and also reports the results of estimating a simple portfolio model which attempts to explain changes in firm balance sheet flows for the periods 1927-35 and 1965-77.The data collected for the study, as well as software necessary to manage them efficiently, are available from the authors. An NBER Technical Paper will shortly be available to describe the dataset and software in detail.

A densitometric analysis of commercial 35mm films

IIaO films have been subjected to various sensitometric tests. The have included thermal and aging effects and reciprocity failure studies. In order to compare the special IIaO film with popular brands of 35 mm films and their possible use in astrophotography, Agfa, Fuji and Kodak print and slide formats, as well as black and white and color formats, were subjected to sensitometric, as well as densitometric analysis. A scanning electron microscope was used to analyze grain structure size, and shape as a function of both speed and brand. Preliminary analysis of the grain structure using an ISI-SS40 scanning electron microscope indicates that the grain sizes for darker densities are much larger than the grain size for lighter densities. Researchers analyze the scanning electron microscope findings of the various grains versus densities as well as enhancement of the grains, using the IP-8500 Digital Image Processor