John Dee and the English Calendar: Science, Religion and Empire

Paper given at British history c1500 - c1650 [E-seminars

Explaining the Rent-OER Inflation Divergence, 1999-2006

Between 1999 and 2006, there were two episodes during which inflation in the Rent index in the CPI diverged markedly from inflation in the index for Owner’s Equivalent Rent (OER); early in 2007, these series began to diverge again. Such divergence often prompts many to question CPI methods. A key difference between these two series is that OER indexes are based upon rents which have received a utilities adjustment – an adjustment which is necessary because the OER index is intended to track pure rent-of-shelter, not shelter-plus-utilities. Critics have claimed that the Rent-OER inflation divergences stem from an inappropriate utilities adjustment. This claim is false. In this paper, we decompose the Rent-OER inflation differential into its various determinants, and explore the multiple causes of this divergence over time. There is only one divergence episode – of only six months duration – which is primarily attributable to the utilities adjustment procedure. Indeed, the utilities adjustment sometimes reduced potential divergence between the two series. Instead, the main culprit is rental market segmentation; that is, different rent inflation rates were experienced by different parts of the rental market. Before 2003, the Rent-OER inflation divergence mainly resulted from divergent rental inflation rates within metropolitan areas: areas with a higher proportion of renters experienced higher rental inflation. After 2004, similar divergent inflation across metropolitan areas resulted in higher Rent inflation. Compared to other units, rent control units experienced higher inflation in 2004 (and, to a lesser extent, before mid-2001 and in 2006), which increased Rent inflation but not OER inflation. Finally, in early 2007, there was a sizable divergence between OER and Rent inflation, driven mostly by divergent rental inflation rates within metropolitan areas; the extent of the divergence only becomes evident once the effect of the utilities adjustment is accounted for.Owners' Equivalent Rent, Utilities Adjustment, Rental Market Segmentation, Rent Control, Inflation Measurement, Core Inflation

Perfecting the market's knowledge of monetary policy

The rational expectations revolution made clear that a complete macro model requires a specification of the government's economic policy. We argue that monetary policy should be conducted in such a way that the market can predict policy actions. An implication of market success in predicting policy actions is that interest rates move ahead of the policy actions, and such a timing relationship may appear to some as the central bank following the market instead of leading it. Another implication of the market predicting policy actions is that nominal interest rate changes provide no useful information to the central bank about the strength of aggregate demand or inflationary expectations. Finally, the failure of the market to predict policy actions reflects a problem that needs to be addressed. We explore the theoretical implications of a monetary policy that is completely specified and perfectly understood by the market. We construct a bare-bones model to illustrate the key concepts. Finally, we conduct an empirical investigation of these issues, especially in the context of monetary policy since 1988 when the establishment of the federal funds future market made available well-defined market information on expectations about Fed policy actions.Monetary policy ; Federal funds rate

The impact of changes in FOMC disclosure practices on the transparency of monetary policy: are markets and the FOMC better "synched"?

This analysis examines how expectations of market participants about future Federal Open Market Committee policy actions have changed over the period since 1989, during which the FOMC made a sequence of changes to improve the transparency of monetary policy.Monetary policy - United States ; Federal Open Market Committee

Flation

“Flation” is an article adapted from a speech of the same title presented before the International Mass Retail Association Leadership Forum, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 21, 2002.Monetary policy ; Inflation (Finance) ; Deflation (Finance)

Samuel Bamford, the Radical

A short biography of Samuel Bamford (1788-1872), the Lancashire weaver, radical and author

Afterword: Peterloo 1819

An historical afterword to the short story 'The Cap of Liberty' by Martin Edward

What Does the Development of Independent Female Artists Mean for the Japanese Music Industry?

The recent emergence of strongly independent female singers necessitated an analysis specifically into the treatment of women in music and the representation of these women to the public. Based on a review of current literature and a series of interviews with women living in the Tokyo area and working in various parts of the industry, this paper seeks to capture the real life experiences of women in the Japanese music industry in order to ascertain the reality of feminist issues in Japanese music. A wide variety of themes are addressed and explored, including the historical trends in Japanese music, the rise of independent labels, the issue of media influence and the consumer perspective to these issues. This multidisciplinary research summarises the experiences of women in a society that traditionally limits them according to the Confucian tradition and then looks into the future to discover further opportunities for equality. Finally, several barriers to freedom that female musicians still face are identified and discussed and this discussion forms the basis for the conclusions that present the industry with ideas for how to better deal with the issue

Luminescent lanthanide complexes for cellular applications

The tetraazatriphenylene chromophore, dpqC, efficiently sensitises europium(III) and terbiiim(lll) emission. It has been incorporated into a series of ligands, based on the :yclen macrocycle, which saturate the coordination sphere of the metal ion and lead to complexes that exhibit high luminescent quantum yields in aerated aqueous media of the order of 15 - 50 %, with long emission hfetimes of the order of milliseconds.The complexes have been shown to be taken up by a number of eukaryotic cell lines and are amenable to time resolved fluorescence microscopy. By relating the structure of the complexes to their uptake and locahsation profiles, it should be possible to design complexes for specific intracellular applications, for example, as probes or components in biological assays.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Heartbreak on the Serengeti

To the Maasai it’s the place where the land runs on forever, but beyond the protected core of this iconic landscape, the land is running out