Strategic trade policy : how new? how sensible?

This paper reviews some recent developments in the theory of trade policy that have to do with imperfect competition, strategic interactions as a result of oligopoly, and economies of scale. All these developments have been described as the"new international economics."In the view of some they represent major breakthroughs. One purpose of this paper is to examine how new some of this is and how it relates to the orthodox theory. The paper will focus on one major aspect of these developments, namely"Brander-Spencer profit sharing"and its policy implications. The conclusion is that it relates closely to the existing framework of the orthodox theory of trade policy.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade Policy,General Technology

¿Importa la cuenta corriente? El punto de vista tradicional y el moderno

En este artículo compararé el “punto de vista tradicional” y el “punto de vista moderno” sobre la cuenta corriente. Mi propia perspectiva va de acuerdo con el punto de vista moderno, pero dedicaré gran parte de este artículo a explorar posibles salvedades al mismo. Puesto que ambos enfoques son ya bien conocidos, la contribución de este artículo consiste en la búsqueda de estas salvedades. El punto de vista tradicional mantiene que la cuenta corriente es desde luego importante y que, en general, los así llamados desequilibrios en la cuenta corriente son indeseables y requieren medidas, en especial si es improbable que sean “sostenibles”. El punto de vista moderno considera que la cuenta corriente no tiene importancia alguna para la elaboración de la política económica, aunque varios de los elementos que la determinan ciertamente son relevantes para tal propósito.

Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes

Background The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes. Aim To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave. Methods A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records. Findings In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home. Conclusion The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway

Vaccines based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 are a cornerstone of the public health response to COVID-19. The emergence of hypermutated, increasingly transmissible variants of concern (VOCs) threaten this strategy. Omicron (B.1.1.529), the fifth VOC to be described, harbours multiple amino acid mutations in spike, half of which lie within the receptor-binding domain. Here we demonstrate substantial evasion of neutralization by Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants in vitro using sera from individuals vaccinated with ChAdOx1, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. These data were mirrored by a substantial reduction in real-world vaccine effectiveness that was partially restored by booster vaccination. The Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 did not induce cell syncytia in vitro and favoured a TMPRSS2-independent endosomal entry pathway, these phenotypes mapping to distinct regions of the spike protein. Impaired cell fusion was determined by the receptor-binding domain, while endosomal entry mapped to the S2 domain. Such marked changes in antigenicity and replicative biology may underlie the rapid global spread and altered pathogenicity of the Omicron variant