Are TIPS really tax disadvantaged? Rethinking the tax treatment of U.S. Treasury Inflation Indexed Securities

In 1997 the U.S. Treasury introduced Inflation Indexed (or Protected) Securities with substantial promotional fanfare. Yet, due in part to what some in the finance profession have described as a "tax disadvantage" placed upon TIPS, many are questioning whether they should appeal to a wide audience. Some, in fact, advise holding TIPS only in tax-deferred accounts. In this paper, the authors develop a framework that allows us to demonstrate that the tax treatment of TIPS is trivially different from that of conventional Treasury securities. Utilizing an after-tax valuation approach, they further show that under relatively conservative projections for inflation, TIPS generally have after-tax yields comparable to, if not exceeding, conventional fixed-rate Treasury securities.Investments ; Taxation ; Securities ; Interest rates ; Income tax

From Rural to Urban Environments: Human/Systems Simulation Research for Low Altitude UAS Traffic Management (UTM)

This paper describes the human/systems simulation research within NASA's UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) Traffic Management (UTM) project. The paper starts with a short description of the UTM project, then presents the UTM development schedule briefly, before leading into more detailed discussions of the simulation test beds current capabilities, as well as the ongoing and planned human/systems research activities

Allocation of Functions in a Far-Term Air Traffic Control Environment

A human-in-the-loop exploration of a ground-based automated separation assurance concept was conducted that involved the allocation of certain functions between humans and automation. This exploration included operations that were sustained for prolonged periods of time with high levels of traffic in the presence of convective weather and scheduling constraints. An investigation into the acceptability of the defined roles and performance of tasks was conducted where it was found that the participants rated the concept and allocation of functions with a high level of acceptability. However, issues were encountered with the automation related to the detection of and response to tactical conflicts. Lower ratings were given on account of these concerns, and it was found that a key contributor to the underlying problems was transitioning aircraft and the uncertainty of their trajectories. Stemming from those results, participants responded that they would rather have direct control over aircraft transitions as well as more control over the tactical conflict resolution automation. In contrast, participants responded that they would rather have the automation place aircraft back on trajectory, and perform weather avoidance and scheduling tasks

Comparison of surface chlorophyll, primary production, and satellite imagery in hydrographically different sounds off southern New England

Block Island Sound (BIS) and Rhode Island Sound (RIS) are adjacent inner continental shelf ecosystems with contrasting hydrographic regimes. BIS exhibits more energetic tidal mixing, and water column stratification remains weak but persists year-round due to nearby estuarine exchange flow; RIS is less influenced by estuaries, and more seasonal with strong stratification in summer. We compared annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass and primary production in BIS and RIS using measurements (surface chlorophyll, 14C primary production), primary production models (Webb/Platt and BZE models), and satellite ocean color products. During 22 mo of sampling, measured surface chlorophyll was not significantly different between BIS (mean = 1.86 mg m-3) and RIS (1.69 mg m-3), and bimodal peaks of phytoplankton biomass and production occurred concurrently in both Sounds. In contrast, a 12 yr ocean-color based chlorophyll time series indicated higher long-term average surface chlorophyll in the more well-mixed system (BIS, mean = 1.50 mg m-3; RIS, mean = 0.86 mg m-3). BIS annual primary production (318 to 329 g C m-2 yr-1) was higher than RIS (239 to 256 g C m-2 yr-1; p \u3c 0.001). These differences were most apparent during the summer, concurrent with the largest differences in water column stratification. Phytoplankton bloom phenology was driven by physical processes, with chlorophyll significantly related to water column stratification (r = -0.51, p = 0.01), depth of the euphotic zone (r = -0.54, p = 0.05), and surface water salinity (r = 0.54, p = 0.04). Primary production was correlated with surface water temperature (r = 0.57, p = 0.03) but the mechanisms underlying production differences between the Sounds remain unresolved. We hypothesize that different hydrographies give rise to different productivity between the Sounds

ECONOMICALLY OPTIMAL WILDFIRE INTERVENTION REGIMES

Wildfires in the United States result in total damages and costs that are likely to exceed billions of dollars annually. Land managers and policy makers propose higher rates of prescribed burning and other kinds of vegetation management to reduce amounts of wildfire and the risks of catastrophic losses. A wildfire public welfare maximization function, using a wildfire production function estimated using a time series model of a panel of Florida counties, is employed to simulate the publicly optimal level of prescribed burning in an example county in Florida (Volusia). Evaluation of the production function reveals that prescribed fire is not associated with reduced catastrophic wildfire risks in Volusia County Florida, indicating a short-run elasticity of -0.16 and a long-run elasticity of wildfire with respect to prescribed fire of -0.07. Stochastic dominance is used to evaluate the optimal amount of prescribed fire most likely to maximize a measure of public welfare. Results of that analysis reveal that the optimal amount of annual prescribed fire is about 3 percent (9,000 acres/year) of the total forest area, which is very close to the actual average amount of prescribed burning (12,700 acres/year) between 1994-99.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Simulation Capabilities and Laboratory Environment

NASA has engaged in collaborative research with the FAA to explore the concepts and requirements necessary to enable the safe and scalable application of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in low-altitude airspace. In this effort, the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project has developed a multi-faceted simulation component that supports near-term live flight testing in addition to further term concept exploration. This paper provides an overview of the simulation capabilities currently available as part of the UTM project and the laboratory environment in which they are applied

Functional Allocation for Ground-Based Automated Separation Assurance in NextGen

As part of an ongoing research effort into functional allocation in a NextGen environment, a controller-in-the-loop study on ground-based automated separation assurance was conducted at NASA Ames' Airspace Operations Laboratory in February 2010. Participants included six FAA front line managers, who are currently certified professional controllers and four recently retired controllers. Traffic scenarios were 15 and 30 minutes long where controllers interacted with advanced technologies for ground-based separation assurance, weather avoidance, and arrival metering. The automation managed the separation by resolving conflicts automatically and involved controllers only by exception, e.g., when the automated resolution would have been outside preset limits. Results from data analyses show that workload was low despite high levels of traffic, Operational Errors did occur but were closely tied to local complexity, and safety acceptability ratings varied with traffic levels. Positive feedback was elicited for the overall concept with discussion on the proper allocation of functions and trust in automation

Case Study: Influences of Uncertainties and Traffic Scenario Difficulties in a Human-in-the-Loop Simulation

This paper presents a case study of how factors such as wind prediction errors and metering delays can influence controller performance and workload in Human-In-The-Loop simulations. Retired air traffic controllers worked two arrival sectors adjacent to the terminal area. The main tasks were to provide safe air traffic operations and deliver the aircraft to the metering fix within +/- 25 seconds of the scheduled arrival time with the help of provided decision support tools. Analyses explore the potential impact of metering delays and system uncertainties on controller workload and performance. The results suggest that trajectory prediction uncertainties impact safety performance, while metering fix accuracy and workload appear subject to the scenario difficulty

Is Fed Policy Still Relevant for Investors?

Using 38 years of data, we show that U.S. monetary policy has had, and continues to have, a strong relationship with security returns. Specifically, we find that U.S. stock returns are consistently higher and less volatile during periods when the Federal Reserve is following an expansive monetary policy. Further, firms considered to be more sensitive to changes in monetary conditions, such as small firms and cyclicals, exhibit monetary-policy-related return patterns that are much more pronounced than average. Lastly, the influence of U.S. monetary policy is shown to be a global phenomenon, as international indices have return patterns similar to those for the U.S. market. Overall, our evidence suggests that investment professionals should continue to use monetary conditions when performing fundamental analysis of both U.S. and international securities

A Research Platform for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Concepts and Application

The purpose of this paper is to describe a research platform for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept. UAM was conceived to enable short-range, low-altitiude service to commuters in metropolitan areas. At the NASA Ames Airspace Operations Laboratory (AOL) user interfaces have been developed to support small UAS operations for the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project. Due to operational similarities between UAM and UTM, the UTM architecture offers a convenient starting point for research and development of UAM operations. Herein, we begin with an overview of the primary need and expectations characterizing concepts for modern air transportation systems, followed by a brief description of the UTM and UAM concepts. We then describe the UTM architecture, as well as the AOL's research platform and capabilities. The potential applications for UAM research and development are then discussed, providing some direction for future research efforts