Zero nominal interest rates: why they're good and how to get them

This study shows that in a standard one-sector neoclassical growth model, in which money is introduced with a cash-in-advance constraint, zero nominal interest rates are optimal. Milton Friedman argued in 1969 that zero nominal rates are necessary for efficient resource allocation. This study shows that they are not only necessary but sufficient. The study also characterizes the monetary policies that will implement zero rates. The set of such policies is quite large. The only restriction these policies must satisfy is that asymptotically money shrinks at a rate no greater than the rate of discount.Interest rates

Future Land Use Decisions of North Dakota Conservation Reserve Program Participants

Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

FINANCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTH DAKOTA FARMS 1992-1994

End-of-year financial data from 700 farms enrolled in North Dakota Farm Business Management Education Program for the years 1992 to 1994 are analyzed according to 16 financial standards. All median profitability measures, median term debt coverage, term debt and capital margin, and median net farm income as a percent of gross revenue are lower in 1994 than in 1993. The median for all 16 financial measures deteriorated for 1994 in the south central and west regions due to lower livestock profitability. Financial performance of the north central region improved each of the three years.Agricultural Finance,

FINANCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTH DAKOTA FARMS, 1993-1995

The performance of over 500 North Dakota farms, 1993-1995, is summarized using 16 financial measures. Farms are categorized by geographic region, farm type, farm size, gross cash sales, farm tenure, net farm income, debt-to-asset, and age of farmer to analyze relationships between financial performance and farm characteristics.Farm financial management, farm management, farm income, liquidity, solvency, profitability, repayment capacity, financial efficiency, financial benchmarks, tenure, North Dakota., Agricultural Finance,

Predictions of entry heating for lower surface of shuttle orbiter

A broad base of thermocouple and phase change paint data was assembled and correlated to the nominal design 14414.1 and proposed STS-1 (first flight of the space transportation system) entry trajectories. Averaged data from phase change paint tests compared favorably with thermocouple data for predicting heating rates. Laminar and turbulent radiation equilibrium heating rates were computed on the lower surface of the Shuttle orbiter for both trajectories, and the lower surface center line results were compared both with aerodynamic heating design data and with flight values from the STS-1 and STS-2 trajectories. The peak laminar heating values from the aerodynamic heating design data book were generally 40 to 60 percent higher than the laminar estimates of this study, except at the 55 percent location of maximum span where the design data book values were less than 10 percent higher. Estimates of both laminar and turbulent heating rates compared favorably with flight data

Probing the helium-graphite interaction

Two separate lines of investigation have recently converged to produce a highly detailed picture of the behavior of helium atoms physisorbed on graphite basal plane surfaces. Atomic beam scattering experiments on single crystals have yielded accurate values for the binding energies of several· states for both (^4)He and (^3)He, as well as matrix elements of the largest Fourier component of the periodic part of the interaction potential. From these data, a complete three-dimensional description of the potential has been constructed, and the energy band structure of a helium atom moving in this potential calculated. At the same time, accurate thermodynamic measurements were made on submonolayer helium films adsorbed on Grafoil. The binding energy and low-coverage specific heat deduced from these measurements are in excellent agreement with those calculated from the band structures