The Science of Monetary Policy: A New Keynesian Perspective

MONETARY POLICY; STABILIZATION; CREDIBILITY.

Defining Agency and Its Scope (II)

Fiduciary law necessarily raises issues of delineation and demarcation, which this paper demonstrates through examples involving common-law agents. Serving as an agent, and thus as a fiduciary, does not necessarily mean that agency law prescribes all duties that the agent owes the principal. The agent may have rights external to the relationship that the agent may exercise, distinct from the duty of loyalty owed the principal. When an agent acts outside the bounds of an agency relationship, the principal’s consent is not requisite to conduct that would constitute disloyalty within the bounds of the agency relationship. The paper illustrates the significance of this point through a series of examples drawn from a range of contexts, including auctions of art objects. Prior scholarship neglects the implications of demarcations that define the scope of an agency relationship and of fiduciary relationships more generically. More generally or theoretically, the paper examines the qualities of fiduciary duty as a default rule, arguing that the relative “stickiness” of the default varies. Agency law contains two different kinds of altering rules—necessary and sufficient conditions to vary a default rule—consisting of agreements that define the scope of the agent’s representative role on behalf of the principal, and consent by the principal to actions by the agent within that scope that relieve the agent of liability for breach of fiduciary duty, which impose significantly different requisites. The basic distinction between agreement and consent has parallels elsewhere in agency law; for example, ratification, like consent, requires specificity because to be legally effective ratification requires that the principal know, as a matter of historical fact, what the agent has done. Agreement, on the other hand, requires less specificity, comparable to manifestations that confer actual authority on an agent which necessarily does not require that the principal foresee all actions that the agent may take that fall within the scope of the grant of authority. And ratification, like effective consent, is a matter of historical fact, not hypothesis. These implications follow because agency law, by positioning an agent as the principal’s representative for purposes of legally-salient interactions with third parties and facts about the world, frames the agent as an extension of the principal, not the principal’s substitute

Recent Developments

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Aliens\u27 Rights--The Refugee Act of 1980 as Response to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees: The First Test Gali Hagel The Refugee Act of 1980, reflecting United States commitments under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, went into effect during a wave of immigration that created a state of emergency in strongly affected southern Florida. Under a severe test of its commitment to the terms of the 1967 Protocol and its implicit sense of moral obligation to grant asylum to individuals fleeing dictatorial rule, the United States responded positively in accepting the Cubans. Although the Administration undoubtedly did not intend by its treatment of the Cubans to lend credence to the theory that the individual has a right to asylum, its behavior, at least with respect to those Cubans who actually arrived in southern Florida, was consistent with that theory. The policy and actions of the United States, however, can be analyzed only in view of the emergency situation created by the influx. It is conceivable that the United States might have pursued other alternatives had the wave of immigration occurred more slowly. ======================================================== Jurisdiction--Foreign Defendants and Their Defective Products: An Application of World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson John Russell Heldman With the advent of these recent decisions involving foreign corporate defendants, it appears that World-Wide\u27s use of minimum contacts analysis to further interstate federalism will not provide as much of an impact in international products liability as will World-Wide\u27s foreseeability doctrine and its quantitative inquiry into defendant\u27s forum-related activities. These latter two components of World-Wide are the basis for the different results achieved by the Supreme Court in the World-Wide decision itself and in Justice White\u27s hypothetical. Likewise, these two components produced the different results in Oswalt and DeJames

Monetary Policy Rules and Macroeconomic Stability: Evidence and some Theory

We estimate a forward-looking monetary policy reaction function for the postwar U.S. economy, pre- and post-October 1979. Our results point to substantial differences in the estimated rule across periods. In particular, interest rate policy in the Volcker-Greenspan period appears to have been much mors sensitive to changes in expected inflation than in the pre-Volcker period.BUSINESS CYCLES ; MONETARY POLICY

Assessment of serum total protein, albumin and calcium in pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital

Background: Pregnancy is a normal physiological phenomenon with many biochemical changes including calcium metabolism. Calcium requirement increases during pregnancy, thereby increasing the chances of developing hypocalcaemia and hypoalbuminaemia. Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess serum levels of total protein, albumin, and calcium among pregnant women in University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital Maiduguri, Borno State. Methodology: A total of two hundred (200) subjects were recruited for this study. One hundred and twenty (120) are confirmed pregnant women and 80 non pregnant women age matched were used as controls, out of the 120 pregnant women that participated in the study, 30 were in first trimester, 50 were in second trimester and 40 were in third trimester. Blood chemistry analysis was conducted spectrophotometrically using Biurets method (For Total protein), Bromocresol green method (for Albumin) and O-Cresolphthalein complex one (for calcium). Results: The results show a significant lower value of calcium and albumin (p<0.05) among first trimester pregnant women when compared to the control subjects. The results show a significant decrease in calcium and albumin (p<0.05) among second trimester pregnant women when compared to control subjects. The results show a significant lower value in calcium and albumin (p<0.05) among third trimester pregnant women when compared to control subjects. The results between 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester pregnant women subjects show a significant difference in calcium and albumin (p<0.05), but there were no significant differences in total protein (p>0.05). The result shows no significant difference in total protein level (p> 0.005)among the first trimester pregnant women when compared to the control subjects. It also shows no any significant difference in total protein level (p> 0.005) among the third trimester pregnant women when compared to the control subjects. Conclusion: There is reduction or decrease in calcium and albumin levels in pregnant women especially in the third trimester. Key words: Pregnancy; Total Protein; Albumin; Calciu

A prospective comparative study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of olopatadine eye drops and bepotastine eye drops in subjects of vernal kerato conjunctivitis

Background: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is an allergic eye disease that especially affects young boys. Both olopatadine and bepotestine are dual acting drugs that provide rapid symptomatic relief coupled with the long-term disease-modifying benefit. The present study is conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of olopatadine eye drops and bepotastine eye drops in patients of vernal keratoconjunctivitis.Methods: A prospective, randomized, parallel-group, comparative study is conducted over a period of 4 weeks on paediatric patients with VKC. 50 patients are recruited and randomized into two treatment groups. They received the assigned drugs for 4 weeks and are called for follow up at the end of 1st week, 4th week and 12th week. At each follow-up, patients are examined and the clinical parameters are graded.Results: This study shows that both olopatadine and bepotastine are equally efficacious. Bepotastine provided quicker relief to symptoms of watering, ocular discomfort and conjunctival hyperaemia. Number of responders are also more in the bepotastine group. Absolute eosinophilic count improved with both the drugs but there is no statistically significant difference between them. Both drugs showed good safety profile. However, 24% patients reported aversion to bitter taste with bepotastine. There is no treatment related severe adverse effects in both the groups.Conclusions: Both olopatadine and bepotastine are effective in treating vernal keratoconjunctivitis. However, bepotastine performed better in reducing tearing, ocular discomfort and conjunctival hyperaemia

COVID-19 Antibody Testing as a Precondition for Employment: Ethical and Legal Considerations

Employers and governments are interested in the use of serological (antibody) testing to allow people to return to work before there is a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. We articulate the preconditions needed for the implementation of antibody testing, including the role of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration