The economic recovery plans

Economic recovery plans make up a important part of the wide-ranging package of measures that economic policy-makers worldwide have taken in response to the financial and economic crisis. More specifically, the EU Member States have either approved or announced fiscal measures to boost economic growth amounting to a total of 1.1 p.c. of GDP in 2009 and 0.7 p.c. of GDP in 2010 for the EU as a whole. In the United States, the cumulative budgetary cost of the recovery measures over 2009 and 2010 should reach 5.4 p.c. of GDP. However, fiscal support for economic activity through the automatic stabilisers is greater in the EU than in the US. A comparison of policy responses, as regards both the scope and composition of the recovery plans, shows that there are significant divergences amongst the EU Member States themselves. Differences in terms of the extent of the recovery plans are in accordance with the European economic recovery plan’s call for account to be taken of differences in initial budgetary positions when drafting the national plans. Moreover, the European recovery plans consist of a wide range of measures, which, on the whole, are quite evenly distributed over the revenue and expenditure sides of the equation. The growth-supporting measures may be able to ease the recession in the short term, but the impact they will have is uncertain and possibly even fairly limited. An optimum effect of the recovery plans on economic growth in the short term would only really be reached if a number of preconditions are met first. So it is clear that the growth-stimulating measures need to be timely, temporary and targeted, conditions that are not always met. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the measures taken is to a large extent determined by the reactions from private economic agents. In this respect, an essential precondition is for there to be no doubt about the sustainability of government finances over the long run. However, combined with the already weak budget positions that some countries had to start with, the economic recovery plans and the effect that the recession has on the budget situation via the relatively large automatic stabilisers have seriously affected the state of public finances in many countries.fiscal stimulus, financial and economic crisis, EERP (European Economic Recovery Plan

Interregional transfers and solidarity mechanisms via the government budget

The article examines transfers between regions via the central government budget, referring essentially to the regional household accounts published by the National Accounts Institute. It examines only the aspects concerning allocation between the regions of that part of government revenue and expenditure for which there is no direct counter-consideration. The Flemish Region is currently a net contributor to transfers between regions via the central government budget, whereas the Walloon Region is a net recipient. The Brussels Capital Region also makes a net contribution, though only a small one. These transfers between regions are due largely to variations in the contributions of each region to government revenues. In the case of households, the contribution of the Flemish Region exceeds that of the other two regions; for businesses, it is the Brussels Capital Region that makes the largest contribution. In addition, these transfers originate from the regional allocation of social benefits. Thus, unemployment benefits entail transfers from the Flemish Region to the Walloon Region and the Brussels Capital Region. In contrast, transfers between the regions via pensions currently favour the Flemish Region. In regard to health care expenditure, there are hardly any transfers between the regions at present. Projections also show the importance of both the expected demographic trends and labour market developments for the future pattern of transfers between regions. The influence of demographic trends is most favourable for the Brussels Capital Region and least favourable for the Flemish Region. This is likely to increase the net contribution from the former while the latter’s net contribution will decline, even if the current labour market divergences largely persist in the future. In contrast, in the event of full convergence of employment levels, the inter-regional transfers paid by the Flemish Region would actually disappear altogether, and the Brussels Capital Region would become the sole net contributor, though in that case the inter-regional transfers received by the Walloon Region would decline sharply. Finally, international comparison shows that transfers between regions are relatively small in Belgium, compared to what is seen in other EU Member States.regions, transfers, solidarity mechanisms

Software-sorted geographies.

This paper explores the central role of computerized code in shaping the social and geographical politics of inequality in advanced societies. The central argument is that, while such processes are necessarily multifaceted, multiscaled, complex and ambivalent, a great variety of ‘software-sorting’ techniques is now being widely applied in efforts to try to separate privileged and marginalized groups and places across a wide range of sectors and domains. This paper’s central demonstration is that the overwhelming bulk of software-sorting applications is closely associated with broader transformations from Keynesian to neoliberal service regimes. To illustrate such processes of software-sorting, the paper analyses recent research addressing three examples of software-sorting in practice. These address physical and electronic mobility systems, online geographical information systems (GIS), and face-recognition closed circuit television (CCTV) systems covering city streets. The paper finishes by identifying theoretical, research and policy implications of the diffusion of software-sorted geographies within which computerized code continually orchestrates inequalities through technological systems embedded within urban environments

One-Year Treatment With Exenatide Improves β-Cell Function, Compared With Insulin Glargine, in Metformin-Treated Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A randomized, controlled trial

0.0001). beta-Cell function measures returned to pretreatment values in both groups after a 4-week off-drug period. A1C and body weight rose to pretreatment values 12 weeks after discontinuation of either exenatide or insulin glargine therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Exenatide significantly improves beta-cell function during 1 year of treatment compared with titrated insulin glargine. After cessation of both exenatide and insulin glargine therapy, beta-cell function and glycemic control returned to pretreatment values, suggesting that ongoing treatment is necessary to maintain the beneficial effects of either therap

The heritability of beta cell function parameters in a mixed meal test design

Aims/hypothesis: We estimated the heritability of individual differences in beta cell function after a mixed meal test designed to assess a wide range of classical and model-derived beta cell function parameters. Methods: A total of 183 healthy participants (77 men), recruited from the Netherlands Twin Register, took part in a 4 h protocol, which included a mixed meal test. Participants were Dutch twin pairs and their siblings, aged 20 to 49 years. All members within a family were of the same sex. Insulin sensitivity, insulinogenic index, insulin response and postprandial glycaemia were assessed, as well as model-derived parameters of beta cell function, in particular beta cell glucose sensitivity and insulin secretion rates. Genetic modelling provided the heritability of all traits. Multivariate genetic analyses were performed to test for overlap in the genetic factors influencing beta cell function, waist circumference and insulin sensitivity. Results: Significant heritabilities were found for insulinogenic index (63%), beta cell glucose sensitivity (50%), insulin secretion during the first 2 h postprandial (42-47%) and postprandial glycaemia (43-52%). Genetic factors influencing beta cell glucose sensitivity and insulin secretion during the first 30 postprandial min showed only negligible overlap with the genetic factors that influence waist circumference and insulin sensitivity. Conclusions/interpretation: The highest heritability for postprandial beta cell function was found for the insulinogenic index, but the most specific indices of heritability of beta cell function appeared to be beta cell glucose sensitivity and the insulin secretion rate during the first 30 min after a mixed meal. © The Author(s) 2011

Variance components associated with long-echo-time MR spectroscopic imaging in human brain at 1.5T and 3T

<div><p>Object</p><p>Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) is increasingly used in medicine and clinical research. Previous reliability studies have used small samples and focussed on limited aspects of variability; information regarding 1.5T versus 3T performance is lacking. The aim of the present work was to measure the inter-session, intra-session, inter-subject, within-brain and residual variance components using both 1.5T and 3T MR scanners.</p><p>Materials and methods</p><p>Eleven healthy volunteers were invited for MRSI scanning on three occasions at both 1.5T and 3T, with four scans acquired at each visit. We measured variance components, correcting for grey matter and white matter content of voxels, of metabolite peak areas and peak area ratios.</p><p>Results</p><p>Residual variance was in general the largest component at 1.5T (8.6–24.6%), while within-brain variation was the largest component at 3T (12.0–24.7%). Inter-subject variation was around 5%, while inter- and intra-session variance were both generally small.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Multiple variance contributions associated with MRSI measurements were quantified and the performance of 1.5T and 3T MRI scanners compared using data from the same group of subjects. Residual error is much lower at 3T, but other variance components remain important.</p></div

Microclimates of urban reproduction : the limits of automating environmental control

Enclosed, controlled environments, stretching from sites of luxury consumption to urban food production, are proliferating in cities around the world, utilising increasingly advanced techniques for (re)creating and optimising microclimatic conditions for different purposes. However, the role of automated control systems – to filter, reprocess and reassemble atmospheric and metabolic flows with growing precision – remains under-researched. In this article, we explore the phenomenon of automated environmental control at three sites in the UK city of Sheffield: a botanical glasshouse, a luxury hotel and a university plant growth research lab. In doing so, we first show how controlled environments are constituted through specific relations between the inside and outside, which are embedded in inherently political urban contexts and processes. Second, we identify the technical and ecological tensions and limits of indoor environmental control at each site which limit the scope of automation, and the considerable amount of hidden labour and energy required to maintain and restabilise desired conditions. Drawing on these more established examples of ecological interiorisation in a key moment of transition, we raise urgent questions for critical urban and environmental geographers about the possible futures of controlled environments, their practical or selective scalability, and who and what will be left ‘outside’, when they are emerging as a strategic form of urban adaptation and immunisation in the face of converging ecological pressures