Involuntary unemployment: getting to the heart of the problem

Bill Mitchell and Joan Muysken explore the evolution of economic theory from a construction of unemployment as a voluntary optimal state to the 1930s conception as a systemic failure (involuntary) to the resurgence in current times to a belief that all unemployment is voluntary. This evolution has allowed policy makers to abandon full employment and replace it with the diminished goal of full employability and waste money on a raft of ineffective supply-side programs that coerce and humiliate the victims - the involuntary unemployed

Full employment abandoned: shifting sands and policy failures

This paper briefly analyses the shifts in economic theory that have moved policy makers from unambiguously pursuing full employment, to the current state where full employability is justified as being optimal. We also explore how these theoretical developments translated in practice, culminating in the 1994 OECD Jobs Study which eschewed a role for macroeconomic policy in reducing unemployment. The final sections of the paper outline an alternative view of macroeconomic theory and policy opportunities. We argue that a central plank in modern macroeconomic policy settings should be the introduction of employment guarantees, which we term the Job Guarantee (JG).Economics (Jel: A)

Human Rights, Environmental Duties: People, Planet & State

All elements of human well-being are ultimately dependent upon a natural environment which provides access to sufficient food and water, promotes both mental and physical health, and ultimately, permits life itself. In seeking the universal achievement of these goods, international human rights law must begin to require States to take strong action to meet the challenges posed by escalating environmental disintegrity. This thesis examines the extent to which the existing international human rights regime provides a means to achieve this. The role of population management as one means of meeting environmental obligations will be discussed, with the goal of demonstrating that the existing law provides a powerful tool both for the advancement of individual rights and for environmental protection. The latter half will consider how the current law incorporates explicit environmental duties, as well as the potential scope for development of these in the future. The debate surrounding the introduction of an 'environmental human right' will be outlined, with the ultimate conclusion that the law as it already exists is more than capable of adequately addressing environmental degradation – all that is required is that it be interpreted and realised in an environmentally cognisant way

Full employment does not mean low unemployment

The authors of this paper argue that the claim by the previous government that inflation fears were a reflection of a strong labour market are erroneous. They estimate a new Phillips curve which shows how underemployment now influences price inflation

Dewey linked data: Making connections with old friends and new acquaintances

This paper explores the history, uses cases, and future plans associated with availability of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system as linked data. Parts of DDC system have been available as linked data since 2009. Initial efforts included the DDC Summaries  in eleven languages exposed as linked data in dewey.info. In 2010, the content of dewey.info was further extended by the addition of assignable numbers and captions from the Abridged Edition 14 data files in English, Italian, and Vietnamese. During 2012, we will add assignable numbers and captions from the latest full edition database, DDC 23. In addition to the “old friends” of different Dewey language versions, institutions such as the British Library and Deutsche Nationalbibliothek have made use of Dewey linked data in bibliographic records and authority files, and AGROVOC has linked to our data at a general level. We expect to extend our linked data network shortly to “new acquaintances” such as GeoNames, ISO 639-3 language codes, and Mathematics Subject Classification. In particular, the paper examines the linking process to GeoNames as an example of cross-domain vocabulary alignment. In addition to linking plans, the paper reports on use cases that facilitate machine-assisted categorization and support discovery in the semantic web environment.This paper explores the history, uses cases, and future plans associated with availability of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system as linked data. Parts of DDC system have been available as linked data since 2009. Initial efforts included the DDC Summaries  in eleven languages exposed as linked data in dewey.info. In 2010, the content of dewey.info was further extended by the addition of assignable numbers and captions from the Abridged Edition 14 data files in English, Italian, and Vietnamese. During 2012, we will add assignable numbers and captions from the latest full edition database, DDC 23. In addition to the “old friends” of different Dewey language versions, institutions such as the British Library and Deutsche Nationalbibliothek have made use of Dewey linked data in bibliographic records and authority files, and AGROVOC has linked to our data at a general level. We expect to extend our linked data network shortly to “new acquaintances” such as GeoNames, ISO 639-3 language codes, and Mathematics Subject Classification. In particular, the paper examines the linking process to GeoNames as an example of cross-domain vocabulary alignment. In addition to linking plans, the paper reports on use cases that facilitate machine-assisted categorization and support discovery in the semantic web environment

Influencing Factors on the Choice of College Business School Major

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether a variety of factors encountered by college students influence choice of college major for undergraduate business students. We examine factors including introductory courses, importance of professors, professor use of classroom resources, professor’s discussion of career and future employment options, employment potential, future earnings potential as well as personal and family characteristics of a student. These findings will provide guidance for department chairs how to staff introductory courses, and professors who have the requisite work experience to emphasize future employment options and benefits of keeping families of students informed on the profession who have interested students

Influencing Factors on the Choice of Accounting Versus Other College Business School Majors

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether a variety of factors encountered by college students influence choice of accounting versus other college majors for undergraduate business students. We examine factors that include introduction to financial accounting, opinions of family members and friends of the family, the mentoring of high school teachers on career choice, and the information obtained from business people and recruiters. In addition, there is some evidence that the timing of the first major course taken by students in the sequence of business school courses may have an impact on choosing accounting versus other business majors. These findings will provide guidance for department chairs how to staff introductory courses, and professors who have the requisite work experience to emphasize future employment options and benefits of keeping families of students informed on the profession who have interested students

The effect of bracken distribution on moorland vegetation and soils

Despite the existence of an extensive literature on the morphology, autecology, utilisation, and eradication of Pteridium aquilinum, relatively little research has been done on the Pteridium-grassland ecosystem of Scottish rough grazings. This study is a systematic and semi-quantitative investigation of the influence of Pteridium competition on its associated vegetation and soils, based on field and soil laboratory techniques. It is postulated that the differential response of moorland species to varying degrees of bracken dominance and the modification of soil morphological and chemical characteristics by the dominant plant species is partly responsible for the well-known association of Pteridium aqutlinum with Festuca-Agrostis - brown forest soil ecosystems. This hypothesis is tested in the field in three contrasting upland environments in Scotland. The influence of varying densities of bracken on three facets of the vegetation - soil association is examined: (I) the characteristic particularly the biomass, of the ground vegetation as a whole (2) the species composition of the herb layer and (3) the morphological characteristics of the soil. The degree of dominance of bracken is defined in a semi-quantitative manner and correlated with indices of the vigour of the ground vegetation and its species composition. A classification of common dry moorland species, according to their response to Pterldlum competition is produced. The association of Ptertdlum aqutltnum with soils of brown forest soil morphology is studied and the importance of the rhizome system In modifying the physical characteristics of the soil and the distribution of organic matter in the profile demonstrated. The tendency of bracken to modify the morphological characteristics of podsolised soils is shown. Subsequent laboratory analysis substantiates the morphological evidence of the relationship between Pteridium-dominated vegetation and soil type. By revealing the differences in nutrient status between bracken soils and podsolised heath soils and the seasonal variation In nutrient levels, the efficiency of Pteridium in cycling nutrients through the ecosystem Is suggested. The ability of Pterldium to release phosphate from inorganic sources in the soil is demonstrated by laboratory experiment, anomalously high available phosphate levels in the subsoil of bracken soils having been revealed by routine analysis. Laboratory experiment also suggests that the modification of iron pans by Pteridium rhizomes may have a chemical as well as a physical component. The evidence of Pteridium's Influence on vegetation and soil characteristics allows preliminary comment to be made on the ecological significance of bracken eradication schemes

Prevalence of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Physical Activity by Gender and Race/Ethnicity - California, 2005-2006

Diets high in fruits and vegetables and participation in regular physical activity are associated with a lower risk for several chronic diseases and conditions. The present study analyzed the combined prevalence of these two activities by race/ethnicity and gender among adults in California and among adults in California at or below 130% of the federal poverty level (FPL), using self-reported data from the 2005 and 2006 California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Findings for California were similar to findings for the nation, showing gender and racial/ethnic differences for each of these variables, singly and in combination. Also, low-income men had a significantly lower prevalence of goal-level fruit and vegetable consumption than did low-income women. Although some demographic disparities are evident among Californians, the prevalence of achievement of two key healthy lifestyle behaviors concurrently remains quite low. These results emphasize the need for promoting diets high in fruits and vegetables and regular physical activity among all Californians

Micromanipulation of InP lasers with optoelectronic tweezers for integration on a photonic platform

The integration of light sources on a photonic platform is a key aspect of the fabrication of self-contained photonic circuits with a small footprint that does not have a definitive solution yet. Several approaches are being actively researched for this purpose. In this work we propose optoelectronic tweezers for the manipulation and integration of light sources on a photonic platform and report the positional and angular accuracy of the micromanipulation of standard Fabry-Pérot InP semiconductor laser die. These lasers are over three orders of magnitude bigger in volume than any previously assembled with optofluidic techniques and the fact that they are industry standard lasers makes them significantly more useful than previously assembled microdisk lasers. We measure the accuracy to be 2.5 ± 1.4 µm and 1.4 ± 0.4° and conclude that optoelectronic tweezers are a promising technique for the micromanipulation and integration of optoelectronic components in general and semiconductor lasers in particular