De Viti de Marco vs. Ricardo on public debt: self-extinction or default?

The most prominent Italian theorist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Antonio de Viti de Marco, accepted David Ricardo’s proposition that an extraordinary tax and a public loan are equivalent. Despite this common point of analytical departure, their theories of public debt diverged sharply. In this divergence, moreover, lies a fundamental gulf between two distinct analytical schemes for connecting the micro and macro levels of analysis. Ricardo treated macro aggregates as analytical primitives, with individual action being induced from those aggregates. In sharp contrast, de Viti took individual variables as primitive, with aggregate conditions being induced from interaction among those individual variables. Within de Viti’s framework of a fully cooperative state, public debt would be self-extinguishing. De Viti also recognized that democracies were never exclusively cooperative, as continuing competition among elites striving for power would enable politically dominant groups to pass cost onto the remainder of society, thereby operating as a de facto form of default

Performance of laminar-flow leading-edge test articles in cloud encounters

An extensive data bank of concurrent measurements of laminar flow (LF), particle concentration, and aircraft charging state was gathered for the first time. From this data bank, 13 flights in the simulated airline service (SAS) portion were analyzed to date. A total of 6.86 hours of data at one-second resolution were analyzed. An extensive statistical analysis, for both leading-edge test articles, shows that there is a significant effect of cloud and haze particles on the extent of laminar flow obtained. Approximately 93 percent of data points simulating LFC flight were obtained in clear air conditions; approximately 7 percent were obtained in cloud and haze. These percentages are consistent with earlier USAF and NASA estimates and results. The Hall laminar flow loss criteria was verified qualitatively. Larger particles and higher particle concentrations have a more marked effect on LF than do small particles. A particle spectrometer of a charging patch are both acceptable as diagnostic indicators of the presence of particles detrimental to laminar flow

The UN’s’ Development Goals, the AACSB, and the Political Economy of Illusion

In 1903 the Italian economist Amilcare Puviani articulated a theory of fiscal illusion to promote better understanding of the course of political action. Puviani created his theory to explain the failure of political pronouncements to reflect the reality to which those pronouncements claimed to pertain. Several commentators have since amplified Puviani’s recognition that political action operates through fomenting illusion within the citizenry. In contemporary times, the United Nations has articulated 17 pleasant sounding goals for global development. Further, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) amplifies the UN in insisting that business schools incorporate those development goals into their curricula. After describing the theory of fiscal illusion, this essay explains how the AACSB’s promotion of the UN’s development goals provides a case study of the bureaucratic imperative which both the AACSB and the UN reflect, and with that imperative illustrating the political economy of fiscal illusion

The UN’s’ Development Goals, the AACSB, and the Political Economy of Illusion

In 1903 the Italian economist Amilcare Puviani articulated a theory of fiscal illusion to promote better understanding of the course of political action. Puviani created his theory to explain the failure of political pronouncements to reflect the reality to which those pronouncements claimed to pertain. Several commentators have since amplified Puviani’s recognition that political action operates through fomenting illusion within the citizenry. In contemporary times, the United Nations has articulated 17 pleasant sounding goals for global development. Further, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) amplifies the UN in insisting that business schools incorporate those development goals into their curricula. After describing the theory of fiscal illusion, this essay explains how the AACSB’s promotion of the UN’s development goals provides a case study of the bureaucratic imperative which both the AACSB and the UN reflect, and with that imperative illustrating the political economy of fiscal illusion

Direct Measurement of 2D and 3D Interprecipitate Distance Distributions from Atom-Probe Tomographic Reconstructions

Edge-to-edge interprecipitate distance distributions are critical for predicting precipitation strengthening of alloys and other physical phenomena. A method to calculate this 3D distance and the 2D interplanar distance from atom-probe tomographic data is presented. It is applied to nanometer-sized Cu-rich precipitates in an Fe-1.7 at.% Cu alloy. Experimental interprecipitate distance distributions are discussed

Biological activities of phthalocyanines-X. Syntheses and analyses of sulfonated phthalocyanines

Synthetic methods to obtain selectively sulfonated metallo phthalocyanines are compared. Both condensation and direct sulfonation procedures lead to mixtures of mono- to tetrasulfonated products which are resolved by reverse phase liquid chromatography in buffered aqueous-methanol. The proportion of sulfonated derivatives is examined as a function of the starting reagents in the case of the condensation method. and as a function of the temperature and reaction time in the case of the direct sulfonation procedure. The number of sulfonate groups per phthalocyanine molecule is determined by oxidative degradation of the phthalocyanine ring followed by quantitative chromatographic analysis of the sulfophthalamide and phthalamide fragments

introduction to the jipd special issue on infrastructure

Our intention in assembling this special issue of the Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development is to offer a state-of-the-art tour through the political economy issues associated with the provision of public infrastructure, and with the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in particular. Anyone who is familiar with PPPs cannot fail to be impressed by the diversity of positions and claims regarding their properties. Some scholars maintain that PPPs are an efficient tool to enhance productivity due to their ability to manage demand-side risk. In contrast, other scholars see in PPPs a scheme whereby the public assumes the risk while the private partner takes the profit