Swamp dredge: Research into grunge

For this project I have researched grunge music and created a body of work influenced by this genre. During my extended contextual research into the genre, I looked at both the artists and producers. I wrote/co-wrote the songs, played some of the instruments and produced the recordings. These are now available for download on www.soundcloud.com/swampdredg

Enforcement Actions under EU Law: The New Member States. EIPA Working Papers 2007

Through the infringement procedure, provided for by Article 226 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), the Commission can stimulate Member States to comply effectively with their obligations under Community law. In cases of non-compliance, the Commission may bring Member States before the Court of Justice of the EC (ECJ). Indeed, the Commission may use this possibility because it is the "guardian of the Treaty" and has to ensure the proper application of Community law, in line with Article 211 TEC. The White Paper on European Governance published by the Commission in 2001 emphasises that the primary responsibility for applying Community law lies with national administrations and courts in the Member States. Therefore, the primary objective of enforcement actions against Member States is to monitor their compliance and to respond to cases of non-compliance. However, through adequate exercise of its discretion and improved cooperation with Member States, the Commission aims to encourage them to comply voluntarily with Community law as quickly as possible. Furthermore, under the current Commission's strategic objectives for the period 2005-2009, prompt and adequate transposition and vigorous pursuit of infringements are considered critical to the credibility of European legislation and the effectiveness of policies. The infringement procedure is of crucial importance to the new Member States and of high relevance to the candidate countries that have applied for accession to the EU. On the one hand, they have to adopt the whole acquis upon accession with only few transitional periods granted in a limited number of areas. New Member States have already submitted a large number of transposition notifications to the Commission. On the other hand and despite their huge efforts, new Member States experience considerable difficulties in implementing directives and other EC legislative instruments. The process of implementation is a challenging stumbling block for all new Member States. This paper will focus on the recent and main trends in the application of enforcement actions against new Member States, not only taking an empirical angle (infringements by Member States and by sectors) but also involving analytical reasoning. This analysis serves to present the fundamentals and relevance of the infringement procedure in the framework of the enlarged European Union (the object of the first part of this paper) where administrations of the new Member States will have to adopt this new way of thinking and of implementing know-how (addressed in the second part) while acquiring a better understanding of the principal characteristics of the EC/EU's legal system (direct effect, supremacy, indirect effect, state liability) and of the EC's general principles of law. Therefore, the second part of the paper will also focus on justifications deemed acceptable by the ECJ and others that are considered inadmissible. New Member States have to adjust to the requirements of the acquis (possibilities of opting out are not included in the Accession Treaties) and this obligation applies to all independent state institutions (including the judiciary where reforms represent a prerequisite for accession by some candidate countries). Efficient further implementation of the acquis and adequate understanding of the infringement procedure will facilitate new Member States' (and candidate countries') integration in the EU and, eventually, make their accession a success

A Decade of Structural Reform in Latin America: What Has Been Reformed and How to Measure It

During the past decade, structural polices in the region have been aimed increasingly at improving economic efficiency and reducing government interference in economic decisions. The effects of this shift have not yet been accurately evaluated due to the lack of systematic measurements of the magnitude of structural reforms. The aim of this document is to summarize the most characteristic features of the reform process during the past decade and to propose a method for quantifying the state of structural policies

What Makes Reforms Likely? Timing and Sequencing of Structural Reforms in Latin America

The wave of structural reforms in Latin America and elsewhere has stimulated the development of a wide body of theoretical literature on the political economy of reform, i. e. , the study of the political constraints that condition the timing, speed and sequencing of reforms. This paper tests some of the hypotheses associated with these theoretical models, using a set of structural reform indicators for approximately twenty Latin American countries for the period 1985-1995. Although there is strong support for some hypotheses, recent reforms in Latin America cannot be adequately explained without either better theories or better data.

Transverse Hilbert Schemes and Completely Integrable Systems

Via the transverse Hilbert scheme construction, we associate a holomorphic completely integrable system to a surface $S$ endowed with a holomorphic symplectic form $\omega$ and a projection onto $\mathbb{C}$. We provide a full characterization of the completely integrable systems that arise in this way.Comment: 12 page

Should Latin America Fear China?

This paper compares growth conditions in China and Latin America to assess fears that China will displace Latin America in the coming decades. China`s strengths include the size of the economy, macroeconomic stability, abundant low-cost labor, the rapid expansion of physical infrastructure, and the ability to innovate. China`s weaknesses, stemming from insufficient separation between market and state, include poor corporate governance, a fragile financial system and misallocation of savings. Both regions share important weaknesses: the rule of law is weak, corruption endemic, and education is poor and very poorly distributed.

Inversión pública en infraestructura en América Latina: ¿Es la deuda la culpable?

Se usaron datos de panel para siete países de América Latina para evaluar la influencia del endeudamiento público de la inversión pública en infraestructura durante el período 1987-2001. Los aumentos de deuda se asocian con inversión alta de infraestructura pública, un efecto que es resistente a la inclusión de muchas otras variables fiscales y macroeconómicas. Este trabajo también encuentra alguna evidencia de complementariedad entre la inversión pública y privada y en el efecto negativo de los préstamos de ajuste del FMI en gastos de infraestructura. No se encuentra evidencia que los incumplimientos de la deuda afectan la inversión pública en infraestructura.