The 2008 Financial Crisis and Potential Output in Asia: Impact and Policy Implications

Monitoring the behavior of potential output helps policymakers implement appropriate policies in response to an economic crisis. In the short-run, estimates of the output gap can guide the timing of the implementation and withdrawal of stimulus measures. In the medium- to long-term, these estimates can also provide the basis for gauging productive potential and, hence, guide policies to support sustainable, non-inflationary output growth. In this paper, we investigate the post-crisis behavior of potential output in emerging East Asian economies by employing the Markov-switching model to account for structural breaks. Results show that after the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis, potential output in Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea (Korea); Singapore; and Malaysia reverted to levels consistent with trends prior to the crisis. While there were permanent drops in potential output for both Thailand and Indonesia, growth rates returned to pre-crisis trends. The People’s Republic of China (PRC); Taipei,China; and the Philippines are special cases as explained in the report. Econometric estimates of a simple growth model show that the differences among the patterns of post-crisis recovery can be attributed to the investment-to-gross-domestic-product (GDP) ratio; macroeconomic policies; exchange rate behavior; and productivity, which is proxied by the level of technological activity. These results can be used to guide policy in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis.Potential output; Markov-switching model; structural break; global crisis; East Asia

PRINTO scholarships: the Italian experience

The increasing availability of the internet allows physicians to access actualized medical information quickly and easily, but it is not comparable with the possibility of working in a well known international medical centre

La constitución vigente y sus leyes de desarrollo: ¿guardan compatibilidad con la idea Estado de Derecho?

Este artículo está dedicado al estudio del poder judicial en el Estado de Derecho. Desde aquí, analiza si la normativa constitucional, así como las leyes que se han dictado en su desarrollo, son compatibles con el diseño institucional que cualquier poder judicial debiera tener a efectos de controlar los actos de los otros poderes públicos.This article is mainly focused in the role of the Judiciary Power in the Rule of Law. Taking this as a starting point, it analyzes whether the constitutional regulation as well as the legislative enactments are compatibles with the institutional design that any Judiciary must have in order to review the acts of the other branches of government

La prensa en el proceso emancipador de la América española: Información, propaganda y formación

Spain and the starting of the emancipation processes in the American colonies. There were two groups, royalist and patriots, who share loyalty to the Spanish king but disagree on how to exercise power. The clash between these trends will lead to the independence wars. In those conflicts, both sides used the press to show their ideas, criticize their opponents and educate citizens. Despite the small number of available printers and the small percentage of population that could read, the interest of all of them to start their own publications shows the growing importance of words as war weapons.La invasión de la Península por parte de Napoleón supuso en España el inicio de la Guerra de Independencia y en las colonias americanas el arranque de los procesos emancipadores. Inicialmente, en América encontramos dos tendencias, realistas y patriotas, que comparten la lealtad al monarca español pero discrepan sobre la forma de ejercer el poder. El enfrentamiento entre estas dos corrientes dará lugar a las guerras de independencia. En estos conflictos ambos bandos recurrirán a la prensa para dar a conocer sus ideas, rechazar las del oponente y formar a los ciudadanos. Pese al escaso número de imprentas disponibles y al ínfimo porcentaje de la población que sabía leer, el interés de unos y otros por poner en marcha sus propias publicaciones revela la creciente importancia de la palaba escrita como arma de guerra

Efficacy and safety of open-label etanercept on extended oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, enthesitis-related arthritis and psoriatic arthritis: part 1 (week 12) of the CLIPPER study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of etanercept (ETN) in paediatric subjects with extended oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (eoJIA), enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA), or psoriatic arthritis (PsA). METHODS: CLIPPER is an ongoing, Phase 3b, open-label, multicentre study; the 12-week (Part 1) data are reported here. Subjects with eoJIA (2-17 years), ERA (12-17 years), or PsA (12-17 years) received ETN 0.8 mg/kg once weekly (maximum 50 mg). Primary endpoint was the percentage of subjects achieving JIA American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 30 criteria at week 12; secondary outcomes included JIA ACR 50/70/90 and inactive disease. RESULTS: 122/127 (96.1%) subjects completed the study (mean age 11.7 years). JIA ACR 30 (95% CI) was achieved by 88.6% (81.6% to 93.6%) of subjects overall; 89.7% (78.8% to 96.1%) with eoJIA, 83.3% (67.2% to 93.6%) with ERA and 93.1% (77.2% to 99.2%) with PsA. For eoJIA, ERA, or PsA categories, the ORs of ETN vs the historical placebo data were 26.2, 15.1 and 40.7, respectively. Overall JIA ACR 50, 70, 90 and inactive disease were achieved by 81.1, 61.5, 29.8 and 12.1%, respectively. Treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs), infections, and serious AEs, were reported in 45 (35.4%), 58 (45.7%), and 4 (3.1%), subjects, respectively. Serious AEs were one case each of abdominal pain, bronchopneumonia, gastroenteritis and pyelocystitis. One subject reported herpes zoster and another varicella. No differences in safety were observed across the JIA categories. CONCLUSIONS: ETN treatment for 12 weeks was effective and well tolerated in paediatric subjects with eoJIA, ERA and PsA, with no unexpected safety findings

Graphic interpretations of Ptolemy’s Geographia: the first maps of the Iberian Peninsula and their approach to the Extremaduran territory

La Geographia de Ptolomeo es un importante y conocido tratado del siglo II que ha sido objeto de numerosos estudios. Sin embargo, los mapas basados en ella, conservados en muchos códices datados entre los siglos XIII y XV, apenas han sido analizados atendiendo al conjunto de sus criterios de representación. Tras una amplia tarea de localización y revisión de dichos documentos gráficos, se han considerado cuatro grupos de códices, según los mapas incluidos. Se han seleccionado algunos de ellos con el objetivo de analizar las convenciones gráficas usadas en estas primeras representaciones de la península Ibérica: referencias espaciales –meridianos, paralelos y climas–, configuración territorial –relieve, hidrografía y divisiones del territorio–, elementos singulares –hitos y espacio marítimo– y rotulación. Después, el análisis se completa centrándose en el territorio de la actual Extremadura, atendiendo a la toponimia de sus núcleos de población y a su posición relativa. Conjugando ambas escalas se aporta una inédita aproximación a los elocuentes criterios de representación seguidos. Éstos constituyeron un primitivo lenguaje cartográfico, con signos que se usaron de forma flexible en cada códice y que tuvieron una gran influencia en incontables mapas de siglos posteriores