Welfare Effects of Fiscal Policy under Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes : The Role of the Scale Variable of Money Demand

This paper investigates the implications of alternative scale variables of money demand for the comparison of a flexible exchange rate regime with a monetary union in a NOEM setup. The welfare evaluation of exchange rate regimes depends on the exchange rate response under the flexible regime. When the scale variable is private consumption, a domestic fiscal expansion yields a depreciation. As the associated expenditure switching and terms-of-trade effects are beneficial to the domestic country, households prefer flexible exchange rates. However, when the scale variable is total absorption, we obtain an appreciation and the welfare results are reversed. --Fiscal Policy,New Open Economy Macroeconomics,Money Demand Specification,Flexible Exchange Rates,Monetary Union,Pricing-to-Market

What do cyber- attacks and pandemics have in common? Some lessons from the German medical practices behaviour.

Abstract: An independent IT security consultant and one of Germany's best-known hackers compares the issue of cyber-attacks in Germany with the rise of the Covid 19 pandemic. Both risks are growing enormously fast, are very difficult to stop and cause very great damage. Possibilities of mitigation and treatment are provided by vaccines and intensive care beds as well as the elimination of vulnerabilities in the company and cyber insurance. However, there is often a lack of understanding of prevention and treatment. A look at Germany shows the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021 (Hiscox, 2021). Out of 1030 companies surveyed in Germany in 2021, 46% said they had experienced a cyber-attack in the last 12 months. In 2020, this figure was still 41%. Own conducted in-depth interviews with doctors in private practice in autumn 2020 have shown that the need for such insurances is non-existent. It is very easy to take appropriate measures in Germany and there are many companies and service providers that offer their products for example a cyber insurance for this purpose. Nevertheless, many companies or doctors’ practices decide against taking out an insurance, or do not deal with these existentially threatening issues. Possible explanations are provided by behavioural economics. In particular, judgement heuristics or "classical" heuristics such as representativity, availability and anchoring/adjustment show such explanations (Pfister et al. 2019 p.133 ff and Theil 2002 p.55 ff). This study reports on the situation in German medical practices. In particular, doctors in private practice (self-employed) with employees. As a self-employed medical practitioner, one not only bears the responsibility for the patients, but also for one's own existence and the employees. The current research is a report of an ongoing dissertation that deals, among other things, with the topic of cyber-attacks and the possibility of protecting a cyber insurance. The research question emerged from the researcher's prior understanding and practical experience of over 20 years of client counseling

How do doctors evaluate insurance for their surgery and what decisions are made for or against taking out insurance?

A practising doctor in his own surgery has a professional responsibility to earn a regular income for the maintenance of his existence and his employees. Professional risks arise from his activity, which the doctor should regulate with appropriate insurances and powers of attorney. Which of these insurances do doctors have and how important do doctors feel it is to take out such insurances? Are updates made to the insurance policies and what criteria do doctors use to decide for or against insurance? In order to answer this questions, in-depth interviews, mostly face-to-face, were conducted with five doctors of different specialities, professional experience in their own surgery. It was found that doctors contracted insurances that were obligatory, the professional liability and known from their private environment, the legal expenses insurance. Likewise, some insurances were considered unnecessary (i.e. cyber risk) and insurances that sound very similar were confused (i.e. business interruption). The decision-making behaviour for and against insurance was also very different and no clear trend emerged. Due to the rather small sample, further interviews and surveys are necessary to show whether the result is consolidated. It is also advisable to delve deeper into the decision-making behaviour of doctors

Welfare effects of fiscal policy under alternative exchange rate regimes: the role of the scale variable of money demand

This paper investigates the implications of alternative scale variables of money demand for the comparison of a flexible exchange rate regime with a monetary union in a NOEM setup. The welfare evaluation of exchange rate regimes depends on the exchange rate response under the flexible regime. When the scale variable is private consumption, a domestic fiscal expansion yields a depreciation. As the associated expenditure switching and terms-of-trade effects are beneficial to the domestic country, households prefer flexible exchange rates. However, when the scale variable is total absorption, we obtain an appreciation and the welfare results are reversed

Continuous Noninvasive Monitoring of Lung Recruitment during High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation by Electrical Impedance Measurement: An Animal Study

Background: Ventilatory pressures should target the range between the upper and lower inflection point of the pressure volume curve in order to avoid atelecto- and volutrauma. During high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), this range is difficult to determine. Quadrant impedance measurement (QIM) has recently been shown to allow accurate and precise measurement of lung volume changes during conventional mechanical ventilation. Objectives: To investigate if QIM can be used to determine a static pressure-residual impedance curve during a recruitment-derecruitment manoeuvre on HFOV and to monitor the time course of alveolar recruitment after changing mean airway pressure (MAP). Methods: An incremental and decremental MAP trial (6 cm H₂O to 27 cm H₂O) was conducted in five surfactantdepleted newborn piglets during HFOV. Ventilatory, gas exchange and haemodynamic parameters were recorded. Continuous measurement of thoracic impedance change was performed. Results: Mean residual impedance (RI) increased with each stepwise increase of MAP resulting in a total mean increase of +26.5% (±4.0) at the highest MAP (27 cm H₂O) compared to baseline ventilation at 6 cm H₂O. Upon decreasing MAP levels, RI fell more slowly compared to its ascent; 83.4% (±19.1) and 84.8% (±16.4) of impedance changes occurred in the first 5 min after an increase or decrease in airway pressure, respectively. Conclusions: QIM could be used for continuous monitoring of thoracic impedance and determination of the pressure-RI curve during HFOV. The method could prove to be a promising bedside method for the monitoring of lung recruitment during HFOV in the future

The COVID-19 crisis: what explains cross-country differences in the pandemic’s short-term economic impact?

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the most universal health and socio-economic crisis in recent history. However, the magnitude of the economic damage has differed widely; some countries were hit particularly hard, while others have managed to weather the storm much better. In this paper, we employ a cross-country analysis to identify factors that help explain the differences in the growth impact of the COVID-19 shock. Our findings underscore the critical role of balancing health and economic concerns in managing the pandemic as both a country’s exposure to the coronavirus and the stringency of containment measures are strongly correlated with its growth performance. In addition, our results shed light on several aspects of economic resilience. Good governance, provision of fiscal support and strong macroeconomic fundamentals all helped cushion the economic impact. By contrast, a lack of economic diversification – reflected in overreliance on the tourism sector or oil production – has significantly amplified the shock

Review of FFTF and CRBRP control rod systems designs

The evolution of the primary control rod system design for FFTF and CRBR, beginning with the initial choice of the basic concepts, is described. The significant component and systems tests are reviewed together with the test results which referenced the development of the CRBR primary control rod system design. Modifications to the concepts and detail designs of the FFTF control rod system were required principally to satisfy the requirements of CRBR, and at the same time incorporating design refinements shown desirable by the tests