A note on US excess bank reserves and the credit contraction

This paper reports aggregate bank excess liquidity preference curves for the pre-crisis and crisis periods. It is argued that the flat curve reflects a threshold lending rate at which point banks accumulate reserves passively. Moreover, the expansion of reserves – when the lending rate threshold is binding – does not lead to credit expansion. The latter would require policies that directly increase the demand for loans, particularly by the business sector.bank reserves, minimum loan interest rate, credit crunch

The simple analytics of oligopoly banking in developing economies

Previous studies have documented the tendency for the commercial banking sector of many developing economies to be highly liquid and be characterised by a persistently high interest rate spread. This paper embeds these stylised facts in an oligopoly model of the banking firm. The paper derives both the loan and deposit rates as a mark up rate over a relatively safe foreign interest rate. Then, using a diagrammatic framework, the paper provides an analysis of: (i) the distribution of financial surplus among savers, business borrowers and banks; (ii) exogenous deposit shocks; (iii) exogenous loan demand shocks; and (iv) the impact of interest rate control on financial intermediation.Oligopoly, commercial banks, developing economies, distribution

Excess liquidity, oligopolistic loan markets and monetary policy in LDCs

Evidence about commercial banks’ liquidity preference says the following about the loan market in LDCs: (i) the loan interest rate is a minimum mark-up rate; (ii) the loan market is characterized by oligopoly power; and (iii) indirect monetary policy, a cornerstone of financial liberalization, can only be effective at very high interest rates that are likely to be deflationary. The minimum rate is a mark-up over an exogenous foreign interest rate, marginal transaction costs and a risk premium. The paper utilizes and extends the oligopoly model of the banking firm. A calibration exercise tends to replicate the observed stylized facts.excess bank liquidity, oligopoly loan market, monetary policy

What does excess bank liquidity say about the loan market in Less Developed Countries?

Evidence about developing countries’ commercial banks’ liquidity preference suggests the following about their loan markets: (i) the loan interest rate is a minimum mark-up rate; (ii) the loan market is characterized by oligopoly power; and (iii) indirect monetary policy, a cornerstone of financial liberalization, can only be effective at very high interest rates that are likely to be deflationary. The minimum rate is a mark-up over a foreign interest rate, marginal transaction costs and a risk premium. A calibration exercise demonstrates that the hypothesis of a minimum mark-up loan rate is consistent with the observed stylized facts.Excess bank liquidity, oligopoly banking, loan market, monetary policy

Elected Oligarchy and Economic Underdevelopment: The Case of Guyana

This study proposes the idea that Guyana’s present government can be categorized as an elected oligarchy. It highlights the existence of several binding constraints (or structural bottlenecks) and demonstrates how these constraints are exacerbated by the elected oligarchy to impair the economic development of the country. Using stylized data on economic trends, the paper illustrates the direct and indirect channels through which the elected oligarchy stifles the private sector and consequently economic progress. As such, the paper presents the elected oligarchy as an alternative channel through which private investments are crowded out by the political strategy of the state.Private sector crowding out; Elected oligarchy

Monetary sterilization and dual nominal anchors: some Caribbean examples

This paper notes that a high sterilization coefficient plus a de facto pegged exchange rate indicates the existence of dual nominal anchors. The econometric evidence presented shows that several Caribbean economies with fixed exchange rate regimes also possess high sterilization coefficients. Given open capital accounts in the various economies, the paper argues that this finding contravenes the money neutrality thesis, which holds that only one nominal anchor can prevail in the long-term. The paper presents a simple theoretical model to explain this phenomenon. The model combines the liquidity preference of commercial banks with an augmented uncovered interest parity equation.sterilization coefficient, dual nominal anchors, foreign exchange regime

Study of \u3ci\u3eRickettsia parkeri\u3c/i\u3e Colonization and Proliferation in the Tick Host \u3ci\u3eAmblyomma maculatum\u3c/i\u3e (Acari: Ixodidae)

Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf coast tick) ticks are prevalent across the Atlantic to Gulf Coast region of United States. These ticks are recognized vectors of Rickettsia parkeri, a spotted fever group of Rickettsia (SFGR) known to cause American boutonneuse fever associated with fever and eschar rashes localized to the site of bites. We hypothesized that Rickettsia parkeri colonization and proliferation in the tick vector involve pathogen-symbiont dynamics and tick-pathogen interactions, which influence rickettsial transmission to the victims after tick bites. The rickettsial infection is maintained across the tick life cycle for many generations due to transovarial and transstadial transmission of the pathogen. In the first part, we hypothesized that dynamic interaction among pathogenic R. parkeri and other tick symbionts inside the tick favors the rickettsial pathogen to survive, which multiply and infect vertebrates host upon infestation. We maintained R. parkeri infected and uninfected tick colonies in our lab to study their colonization with I tick. The bacterial loads for R. parkeri, Francisella like endosymbionts and “Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii” were estimated in both tick colonies during different life stages and within various tick organs that are vital for blood-feeding, reproduction, and disease transmission by using specific qRT-PCR primers. Our results showed that R. parkeri thrives when CMM is present but displaces FLE along the tick life-cycle. In the second part, we hypothesized that tick SECIS binding protein (SBP2) and selenoprotein P (SELENOP) are essential in selenoprotein biosynthesis, and thereby play a role in overall tick redox balance and rickettsial colonization. RNAi assays were employed to specifically silence tick SBP2 and SELENOP. The silencing of SBP2 and SELENOP impaired synthesis of many known selenoproteins except selenophosphate synthetase (SEPHS2) and selenoprotein O (SELENOO). Neither of the genes impaired tick feeding, but SBP2 silencing significantly impacted tick oviposition success and egg hatching. The silencing of SBP2 further impaired rickettsial colonization and reduced transovarial transmission, whereas the SELENOP did not show role in tick feeding success or ovipositioning, but it did impair rickettsial colonization and transovarial transmission. This study provided new avenues of pathogen-symbiont dynamics and tick-pathogen interactions within vectors. Link to thesis - http://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/272

Data Science and Management : A Study of Theoretical Approaches to computer System with Organisation using Advanced Analytics

A firm's Data Management department is in charge of the corporate data capture, retention, security, management, and safety, as well as the formulation and execution of all datarelated regulations inside that company. The Data Management team, on the other hand, merely maintains the data resources; it is underrecognized in the fundamental technological uses of the material. All data is owned by the Data Function of management. The Data Science department in an organisation, on either extreme, conceptualises, develops, executes, and practises all "terms of improving" of information assets. In this context, "technical implementations" refer to the research, technologies, skill, and business practises that use corporate data

An Insight Into the Microbial Diversity and Expression of Cysteine Protease Inhibitors (Cystatin) in \u3ci\u3eRickettsia parkeri\u3c/i\u3e Infected \u3ci\u3eAmblyomma maculatum\u3c/i\u3e

Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast tick) is an emerging tick species of public health significance in United States. It is a competent vector of Rickettsia parkeri, an etiological agent of a human rickettsiosis. In this study, we investigated the spotted fever group of rickettsial diversity in A. maculatum based on rickettsial ompA gene PCR. Our results showed A. maculatum harbors R. parkeri, R. amblyommii, and R. endosymbiont of A. maculatum. While only R. parkeri was detected in female salivary glands which suggest its ability to traffic from midgut to salivary glands via hemocoel. The presence of R. parkeri was further confirmed by probe based qPCR assay. We found R. parkeri infection rate ranged 12-40% in field collected ticks. We also provided evidence of R. parkeri infection transovarially and transstadially transmitted in A. maculatum. We used a pyrosequencing approach to further study all possible bacterial diversity residing in field collected A. maculatum. The huge bacterial profiling in A. maculatum provided the basis of Amblyomma-bacterial interactions particularly in relation to R. parkeri. On the other side, we observed cystatins temporal transcriptional expression in A. maculatumacross the blood meal cycle and our finding suggested their importance during blood feeding. Further, we saw R. parkeri differentially regulates gene expressions of cystatins in A. maculatum, suggesting a possible role of cystatins in R. parkeri infection in ticks. This study encourages further study to assess the exact relationship of R. parkeri with bacterial diversity in A. maculatum and cystatins role during tick blood feeding and R. parkeri transmission. Link to doctoral dissertation - http://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1381