Biocatalytic Route to Chiral Precursors of β-Substituted-γ-Amino Acids

In this work, we utilized commercial lipases (from Thermomyces lanuginosa, Rhizopus delemar, and Mucor miehei) as biocatalysts for the efficient synthesis of precursors of β-substituted-γ-amino acids. This biocatalytic route provides a practical and efficient synthesis of a wide range of optically active compounds by accepting a number of aliphatic and aromatic 3-substituted-3-cyano-2-(ethoxycarbonyl)propanoic acid ethyl esters (2) without compromising enantioselectivity or yields. The resolution step allows for the nearly quantitative recovery of the unreacted enantiomer of R-(2) as well as the newly formed 3-substituted-3-cyano-2-(ethoxycarbonyl)propanoic acid (3) in high enantio and diastereoselectivity. The use of a facile thermal decarboxylation of (3) in aqueous solution to produce 3-substituted-3-cyanopropanoic acid ethyl esters (4) enable us to prepare a wide range of optically active precursors of β-Substituted-γ-Amino Acids

Superatomic Boolean algebras constructed from strongly unbounded functions

Using Koszmider's strongly unbounded functions, we show the following consistency result: Suppose that $\kappa,\lambda$ are infinite cardinals such that $\kappa^{+++} \leq \lambda$, $\kappa^{<\kappa}=\kappa$ and $2^{\kappa}= \kappa^+$, and $\eta$ is an ordinal with $\kappa^+\leq \eta <\kappa^{++}$ and $cf(\eta) = \kappa^+$. Then, in some cardinal-preserving generic extension there is a superatomic Boolean algebra $B$ such that - $ht(B) = \eta + 1$, - the cardinality of the $\alpha$th level of $B$ is $\kappa$ for every $\alpha <\eta$, - and the cardinality of the $\eta$th level of $B$ is $\lambda$ Especially, \_{{\omega}_1}\concatenation \$ and \_{{\omega}_2}\concatenation \$ can be cardinal sequences of superatomic Boolean algebras.Comment: 13 page

The Italian Stabilization of 1947: Domestic and International Factors

The paper examines the 1947 monetary stabilization in Italy, tracing the domestic and international political dynamics that allowed ideas and theoretical concepts developed within the Bank of Italy to be applied in a successful action to subdue spiraling inflation. The combination of events and circumstances necessary for the good outcome in a critical juncture of Italian economic history was the fruit of the efforts made by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi in both the domestic and international political arenas and of the collaboration he received from Luigi Einaudi and Donato Menichella. The Government’s economic action in this crucial episode constitutes perhaps the first outstanding example of cooperation between politicians and experts in the annals of the Italian Republic.Economic history; Stabilization; Italy; United States; De Gasperi; Menichella; 1947

Progressive Taxation, Macroeconomic Stabilization and efficiency in Europe

The paper contributes to the debate on the stability/efficiency tradeoff of automatic stabilizers. A simple AD-AS two-country model is presented and illustrates circumstances where a reduction in taxes can foster stabilization. The testable implication from the model is that tax cuts can either increase or decrease volatility depending on the structure of the taxation system. Hence, lowering taxes for efficiency purposes may have not cost in terms of stabilization. This implication is tested for OECD countries over the period 1960-2000 taking account of the endogeneity and omitted variables issues identified in the literature. We found acceptably robust evidence that the size of governments in OECD countries has played a stabilizing role for both output and inflation. However, the relationship between government size and macroeconomic stability is not linear. The composition of public finances, in particular the tax mix, matters for output and price volatility. Distorting taxes, namely taxes on labor, might have negative effects on macroeconomic stability. Consequently, the potential trade off between stability and flexibility might not exist.Automatic stabilizers, efficiency, Europe, Martinez-Mongay, Sekkat

Legal protection to foreign investors

Foreign investment is typically considered an important source of growth for developing countries. This article describes the legal protection granted to foreign investors and its enforcement mechanisms. Governments have signed international investment agreements intended to protect foreign investors from the risk of expropriation and have increasingly chosen to issue sovereign debt in international financial centers, which expose defaulting governments to litigations in foreign national courts. In most cases, governments have complied with unfavorable rulings of international arbitration courts, and many recent sovereign default episodes were followed by relatively friendly debt restructuring agreements. But there have been cases in which expropriated investors or holders of sovereign debt in default have not been compensated, which suggests that the actual legal protection granted to foreign investors is limited.Economic growth ; Business cycles