Escapist policy rules

We study a simple, microfounded macroeconomic system in which the monetary authority employs a Taylor-type policy rule. We analyze situations in which the self-confirming equilibrium is unique and learnable according to Bullard and Mitra (2002). We explore the prospects for the use of 'large deviation' theory in this context, as employed by Sargent (1999) and Cho, Williams, and Sargent (2002). We show that our system can sometimes depart from the self-confirming equilibrium towards a non-equilibrium outcome characterized by persistently low nominal interest rates and persistently low inflation. Thus we generate events that have some of the properties of "liquidity traps" observed in the data, even though the policymaker remains committed to a Taylor-type policy rule which otherwise has desirable stabilization properties

Escapist policy rules

We study a simple, microfounded macroeconomic system in which the monetary authority employs a Taylor-type policy rule. We analyze situations in which the self-confirming equilibrium is unique and learnable according to Bullard and Mitra (2002). We explore the prospects for the use of ‘large deviation’ theory in this context, as employed by Sargent (1999) and Cho, Williams, and Sargent (2002). We show that our system can sometimes depart from the self-confirming equilibrium towards a non-equilibrium outcome characterized by persistently low nominal interest rates and persistently low in- flation. Thus we generate events that have some of the properties of “liquidity traps” observed in the data, even though the policymaker remains committed to a Taylor-type policy rule which otherwise has desirable stabilization properties.Monetary policy ; Inflation (Finance) ; Interest rates

Escapist Policy Rules

We study a simple, microfounded macroeconomic system in which the monetary authority employs a Taylor-type policy rule. We analyze situations in which the self-confirming equilibrium is unique and learnable according to Bullard and Mitra (2002). We explore the prospects for the use of ‘large deviation’ theory in this context, as employed by Sargent (1999) and Cho, Williams, and Sargent (2002). We show that our system can sometimes depart from the self-confirming equilibrium towards a non-equilibrium outcome characterized by persistently low nominal interest rates and persistently low inflation. Thus we generate events that have some of the properties of “liquidity traps” observed in the data, even though the policymaker remains committed to a Taylor-type policy rule which otherwise has desirable stabilization properties.Learning, monetary policy rules, escape dynamics

PRISE2: software for designing sequence-selective PCR primers and probes.

BackgroundPRISE2 is a new software tool for designing sequence-selective PCR primers and probes. To achieve high level of selectivity, PRISE2 allows the user to specify a collection of target sequences that the primers are supposed to amplify, as well as non-target sequences that should not be amplified. The program emphasizes primer selectivity on the 3' end, which is crucial for selective amplification of conserved sequences such as rRNA genes. In PRISE2, users can specify desired properties of primers, including length, GC content, and others. They can interactively manipulate the list of candidate primers, to choose primer pairs that are best suited for their needs. A similar process is used to add probes to selected primer pairs. More advanced features include, for example, the capability to define a custom mismatch penalty function. PRISE2 is equipped with a graphical, user-friendly interface, and it runs on Windows, Macintosh or Linux machines.ResultsPRISE2 has been tested on two very similar strains of the fungus Dactylella oviparasitica, and it was able to create highly selective primers and probes for each of them, demonstrating the ability to create useful sequence-selective assays.ConclusionsPRISE2 is a user-friendly, interactive software package that can be used to design high-quality selective primers for PCR experiments. In addition to choosing primers, users have an option to add a probe to any selected primer pair, enabling design of Taqman and other primer-probe based assays. PRISE2 can also be used to design probes for FISH and other hybridization-based assays

Review of \u3ci\u3e Grave Injustice: The American Indian Repatriation Movement and NAGPRA\u3c/i\u3e By Kathleen S. Fine-Dare

Fine-Dare tells the story of the American Indian movement to recover human remains and cultural objects taken from them by non-Indians for the purposes of study, display, and profit from the viewpoint of an anthropologist supportive of Indian issues who wants her profession used in a more positive way regarding Native peoples. To her, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a means for understanding boarder historical currents invol ving the treatment of Indians, whether bad, good, or indifferent. She argues that relating this history is vital for fathoming the complexities of repatriation that began during the 1880s and continues to present times in both the United States and Canada. Fine-Dare also traces the development of federal and state laws related to Indian burial rights and repatriation. In discussing the impetuses behind non-Indian motives for the sacrilege, she examines the connection between the views of John Locke, Calvinists, Thomas Jefferson, Franz Boas, and others about the alleged superiority of Western society, along with their declarations proclaiming Native peoples\u27 inferiority, and the rise of scientific enquiry and museums. Out of these intellectual processes grew a moral climate, supported by a power relationship and public sentiments, that sanctioned the practices of collecting, studying, and exhibiting Native remains and cultural items in museums through heinous means, including the decapitations of fallen warriors, grave looting, and theft

Review of \u3ci\u3e Grave Injustice: The American Indian Repatriation Movement and NAGPRA\u3c/i\u3e By Kathleen S. Fine-Dare

Fine-Dare tells the story of the American Indian movement to recover human remains and cultural objects taken from them by non-Indians for the purposes of study, display, and profit from the viewpoint of an anthropologist supportive of Indian issues who wants her profession used in a more positive way regarding Native peoples. To her, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a means for understanding boarder historical currents invol ving the treatment of Indians, whether bad, good, or indifferent. She argues that relating this history is vital for fathoming the complexities of repatriation that began during the 1880s and continues to present times in both the United States and Canada. Fine-Dare also traces the development of federal and state laws related to Indian burial rights and repatriation. In discussing the impetuses behind non-Indian motives for the sacrilege, she examines the connection between the views of John Locke, Calvinists, Thomas Jefferson, Franz Boas, and others about the alleged superiority of Western society, along with their declarations proclaiming Native peoples\u27 inferiority, and the rise of scientific enquiry and museums. Out of these intellectual processes grew a moral climate, supported by a power relationship and public sentiments, that sanctioned the practices of collecting, studying, and exhibiting Native remains and cultural items in museums through heinous means, including the decapitations of fallen warriors, grave looting, and theft

Is There Really a de Sitter/CFT Duality

In this paper a de Sitter Space version of Black Hole Complementarity is formulated which states that an observer in de Sitter Space describes the surrounding space as a sealed finite temperature cavity bounded by a horizon which allows no loss of information. We then discuss the implications of this for the existence of boundary correlators in the hypothesized dS/cft correspondence. We find that dS complementarity precludes the existence of the appropriate limits. We find that the limits exist only in approximations in which the entropy of the de Sitter Space is infinite. The reason that the correlators exist in quantum field theory in the de Sitter Space background is traced to the fact that horizon entropy is infinite in QFT.Comment: 12 Figures, STIAS Workshop on Quantum Gravit