Comparing Exchange Market Pressure in West and Southern African Countries

We compare the performance of Cape Verde and Mozambique concerning financial credibility as measured by Exchange Market Pressure, an institutional feature that has often been overlooked in the literature as a relevant institution for economies. Drawing on previous research by Macedo et al. (2009), we expand their analysis and, using several definitions of “financial credibility”, all related to different angles on Exchange Market Pressure indices, we conclude that - against reasonable benchmarks in their respective regions - financial credibility has been very good for Cape Verde and fairly good for Mozambique. JEL codes: C22, E44, F31, F33Exchange Rate Regime, Exchange Market Pressure, EGARCH

De la habitación China al laboratorio de I.A.

¿Es legítimo atribuir �mente� a un interlocutor mecánico (demostrablemente) competente? El experimento mental de la �Habitación China�, concebido por Searle en 1980, ha generado un torrente de literatura, de réplicas y contrarréplicas, que llega hasta nuestros días. Veinticinco años después, ¿queda algo interesante que añadir a la discusión, aparte de resucitar viejas objeciones? ¿O acaso hemos alcanzado un impasse filosófico, una suerte de equilibrio insulso? A mi modo de ver, la posición de Searle plantea, aún hoy, un serio desafío al sueño de una Inteligencia Artificial fuerte. No obstante, considero que dicho desafío no es en modo alguno insuperable. Para ello, propongo adoptar un punto de vista diferente, no el de la Habitación China sino el de un laboratorio de I.A

Primordial Non-Gaussianity from the 21 cm Power Spectrum during the Epoch of Reionization

Primordial non-Gaussianity is a crucial test of inflationary cosmology. We consider the impact of non-Gaussianity on the ionization power spectrum from 21 cm emission at the epoch of reionization. We focus on the power spectrum on large scales at redshifts of 7 to 8 and explore the expected constraint on the local non-Gaussianity parameter f_(NL) for current and next-generation 21 cm experiments. We show that experiments such as SKA and MWA could measure f_(NL) values of order 10. This can be improved by an order of magnitude with a fast-Fourier transform telescope like Omniscope