Minsky, Monetary Policy and Mint Street: Challenges for the Art of Monetary Policymaking in Emerging Economies

This paper examines the emerging challenges to the art of monetary policymaking using the case study of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in light of developments in the Indian economy during the last decade (2003-04 to 2013-14). The paper uses Hyman P. Minsky's financial instability hypothesis as the conceptual framework for evaluating the endogenous nature of financial instability and its potential impact on monetary policymaking, and addresses the need to pursue regulatory policy as a tool that is complementary to monetary policy in light of the agenda of reforms put forward by Minsky. It further reviews the extensions to the Minskyan hypothesis in the areas of setting fiscal policy, managing cross-border capital flows, and developing financial institutional infrastructure. The lessons learned from the interplay of policy choices in these areas and their impact on monetary policymaking at the RBI are presented

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Thyroid Autoimmunity and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Since 2010, three meta-analyses have been published on the impact of thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) on pregnancy outcomes in infertile women treated with assisted reproductive technology (ART). The initially observed high risk for miscarriage became very low in the most recent meta-analysis, published in 2016. Objective: To investigate whether the lower risk for miscarriage in the latest meta-analysis was associated with the increased use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in recent studies. Data Source: MEDLINE was searched from January 1990 to May 2017. Study Selection: Data from case-control and cohort studies on ART (in vitro fertilization/ICSI) pregnancy outcomes in women with and without TAI. Only studies in which women were treated with ICSI were included. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Four studies were retained, including 1855 ICSI cycles (290 with and 1565 without TAI). In women with a clinical pregnancy (114 ICSI cycles with TAI and 651 without), there was no difference in miscarriage or live birth rates: respective combined odds ratios, 0.95 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.48 to 1.87] and 1.12 (95% CI, 0.62 to 2.03), respectively. Age did not differ between women with and without TAI: combined mean difference of 0.13 years (95% CI, 20.51 to 0.76 years), but serum thyroid-stimulating hormone was higher in women with TAI: combined mean difference of 0.20 mIU/L (95% CI, 0.07 to 0.33 mIU/L). Conclusion: Infertile women with TAI treated with ICSI had no increased risk for a first-trimester miscarriage compared with women without TAI.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe