The International Financial Crisis: an Expert Survey

The advent of the international financial crisis, and of its effects on the economy, all the world now face the question how to manage the crisis and what measures to implement to restore a normal condition. In this paper we present and discuss the results and implications of an international expert survey. Our target is to understand the perception with regards to several aspects of the international financial crisis and some possible future implications for policy makers’ authorities.international financial crisis; subprime; expert survey

Czy Zgromadzenie Plenarne włoskiej Rady Stanu staje się sędzią common law?

The article embraces the question of competence of the Italian Council of State (Consiglio di Stato) in the light of orders referred to in Article 99 of the Italian Administrative Procedure Code. The Council of State is a consultative legal-administrative organ, which guarantees the legality of the public administration. It is considered a bastion of the rule of law. Therefore, the author asks questions regarding the transformation of the system of justice in administrative cases towards common law. Conclusion: the administrative jurisdiction applies its competences for the benefit and protection of a citizen. Based on Article 99 of the Administrative Procedure Code, the mechanism consisting in applying the precedential practice imposes the forms of institutional cooperation in the administrative jurisdiction system. The author claims that a binding precedent is fully consistent with the principle of the rule of law and legality.Artykuł obejmuje problematykę kompetencji włoskiej Rady Stanu (Consiglio di Stato) w świetle postanowień art. 99 kodeksu postępowania administracyjnego. Rada Stanu jest organem konsultacyjnym prawno-administracyjnym i zapewnia legalność administracji publicznej. Uznawana jest za bastion rządów prawa. Wobec powyższego autor zadaje pytania dotyczące przekształcenia wymiaru sprawiedliwości w sprawach administracyjnych w kierunku procesu common law. Konkluzja: sądownictwo administracyjne wykorzystuje swoje kompetencje w kierunku ochrony i korzyści obywatela. Mechanizm polegający na wykorzystaniu praktyki precedensowej, mający swoje podstawy w art. 99 kodeksu postępowania administracyjnego, narzuca formy współpracy instytucjonalnej w sądownictwie administracyjnym. Autor uważa, że wiążący precedens jest w pełni zgodny z zasadą praworządności i legalności

Dyskrecjonalna władza administracji publicznej i kontrola długu publicznego: obywatel i sędzia między prawem a precedensem

Discretionary power, a central feature of administrative power, comes into play when administration is called to select an option between two or more solution and a way of balancing between public and private interests. After the 20th century, devastated by wars, public deficit and debt, most State models circumscribed their markets to the detriment of the global one, turning the old economic models into new ones after the 1958 Treaty of Rome and, after the phase following the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, and the crisis of 2008, the final concept is that the EU Members States should restructure the public finances, facing the increase of the public goods and services demand and with the rested rights. The purpose of this article was to enquire whether the European and national rules may limit the discretionary power while expanding the administrative one.Władza dyskrecjonalna jako główna cecha władzy administracyjnej ma miejsce wówczas, gdy administracja jest upoważniona do przypisania konkretnego znaczenia, dokonując wyboru spośród kilku możliwości, który jest sposobem zrównoważenia interesów publicznych i prywatnych. Po XX stuleciu, zdewastowanym wojnami, deficytem publicznym i długiem, większość modeli państwowych ograniczyła swoje rynki ze szkodą dla rynku globalnego, zmieniając stare modele ekonomiczne w nowe po traktacie rzymskim z 1958 r., traktacie z Maastricht z 1992 r. i kryzysie, jaki nastąpił w 2008 r. Ostateczną propozycją jest to, że państwa członkowskie UE powinny zrestrukturyzować finanse publiczne w obliczu wzrostu popytu na dobra publiczne i usługi. Celem artykułu było zbadanie, czy regulacje europejskie i krajowe mogą ograniczać uprawnienia dyskrecjonalne przy rozszerzaniu zakresu przepisów administracyjnych

Longterm Influence of Inertia on the Diffusion of a Brownian Particle

We demonstrate experimentally that a Brownian particle is subject to inertial effects at long time scales. By using a blinking optical tweezers, we extend the range of previous experiments by several orders of magnitude up to a few seconds. The measured mean square displacement of a freely diffusing Brownian particle in a liquid shows a deviation from the Einstein-Smoluchowsky theory that diverges with time. These results are consistent with a generalized theory that takes into account not only the particle inertia but also the inertia of the fluid surrounding the particle. This can lead to a bias in the estimation of the diffusion coefficient from finite-time measurements. We show that the decay of the relative error is polynomial and not exponential and, therefore, can have significant effects at time scales relevant for experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Open Source, Free Software e Open Format nei processi di richerca archeologica. Atti del II workshop (Genova, 11 maggio 2007)

IOSA is a working group that has been often called a project, started in 2004 within grupporicerche, with the aim of evaluating if and how free and open source software could be used in everyday archaeological practice. The activity of IOSA has been going through several phases, from the initial cataloguing of software programs on the http://www.iosa.it/ website, to the development of dedicated software tools, advanced documentation and the involvement in international initiatives. In 2007 IOSA was in a moment of passage between the first “explorative” phase and the following phase, with the first applications in our respective fields of studies, some experiments in programming with high-level languages (Python), the management of web-based information systems and the never ending cataloguing of cultural heritage. The 2007 workshop is to date the only one organised by neither a university nor another public institution. Together with the 2008 meeting, this workshop has been the only one not organised by employed staff. Although this exceptional situation is no justification, it is useful to understand both the delay of this publication and the great freedom we enjoyed in making choices on our own. This book presents the fruits of our researches and collaborations realised at the 2007 workshop

Effects of organic additives on calcium hydroxide crystallisation during lime slaking

Organic compounds, often used in cement systems as admixtures, may affect the crystallisation and carbonation kinetics of Ca(OH)2, an important phase of hydrated cement. Here, we investigated changes in Ca(OH)2 morphology in the presence of 3 organic compounds, commonly encountered in cement and lime-based materials: sucrose, pectin and calcium lignosulfonate. The additives were introduced either before or after lime slaking to determine the influence of temperature. Ca(OH)2 crystals and supernatant solutions were characterised at time of slaking and after 6 months of ageing using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and optical emission spectroscopy. Our results indicate that the morphology of Ca(OH)2 crystals is modified by the characteristics of the organic molecules which promote formation of Ca(OH)2 with habits that can result in faster carbonation, an effect that is detrimental to cement used in reinforced concrete. These effects are enhanced when the additives are introduced before slaking, likely as a result of thermal degradation

Dating of Old Lime Based Mixtures with the "Pure Lime Lumps" Technique

A number of studies carried out over the last forty years describe the application of radiocarbon dating of lime mixtures such as mortars, plasters and renders. Despite the fact that this method is very simple in principle, several studies have highlighted various practical challenges and factors that must be considered. These arise mainly from the contamination of samples with carbonaceous substances such as incompletely burnt limestone and aggregates of fossil origin including limestone sand. However, recently studies have shown that accurate sample processing allow a significant reduction of these error sources and moreover adoption of a special sampling procedure based on the careful selection of lumps of incompletely mixed lime, provides an interesting alternative that avoids problems associated with contamination. The founding principle underlying this technique is the use of the pure lime lumps. These are thought to originate from imperfect mixing and are most prevalent in mortars, renders and plasters predating mechanical mixing. Previous sampling methods for radiocarbon dating did not discriminate between pure and contaminated lime lumps. As pure lumps contain the same lime as that used in other parts of the mixtures but importantly are free of contaminants such as sand grains or under burned pieces of limestone, they can dramatically reduce the errors in the radiocarbon dating