"Critical Realism and the Political Economy of the Euro"

This paper is concerned with two issues. First, it discusses some of the main problems and inferences the methodological approach of critical realism raises for empirical work in economics, while considering an approach adopted to try to overcome these problems. Second, it provides a concrete illustration of these arguments, with reference to our recent research project analyzing the single European currency. It is argued that critical realism provides a method that is partially appropriate to concrete levels of analysis, as illustrated by the attempt to explain the falling value of the euro. It is concluded that the critical realist method is inappropriate to the most abstract and fundamental levels of theory.

LABOR LAW - NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT - POWER OF STATE COURT TO LEVY ON EMPLOYER\u27S OBLIGATION UNDER BACK PAY ORDER - POWER OF FEDERAL COURT TO ENJOIN STATE PROCEEDINGS

A decree of the federal circuit court had been issued enforcing an order of the National Labor Relations Board requiring respondent company to pay back wages to certain employees who had been discharged in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. While the sums payable under the award were still unliquidated, creditors and estranged wives of the employees brought suits in state courts on claims against the employees; and writs of attachment, process of garnishment and injunctive orders were issued by the state courts against respondent requiring it to pay portions of the awards to the creditors rather than the employees. The National Labor Relations Board petitioned the circuit court to enjoin the creditors from maintaining these state proceedings. Held, one judge dissenting, the injunction should issue. Third persons cannot, by resort to judicial process, be permitted to command the payment of the awards to others than those whom the decree had designated as the appropriate recipients. Section 265 of the Judicial Code is not an obstacle to granting the injunction; the authority to enjoin proceedings inimical to the free exercise of the court\u27s exclusive jurisdiction is implicit in the terms and the policy of the National Labor Relations Act. National Labor Relations Board v. Sunshine Mining Co., (C. C. A. 9th, 1942) 125 F. (2d) 757

CORPORATIONS - VOTING TRUSTS - POWER OF VOTING TRUSTEE TO ELECT DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS FOR PERIOD EXTENDING BEYOND TERMINATION OF TRUST

Defendants held all the stock of a corporation as voting trustees under a voting trust which provided that it should terminate November 18, 1941, and that the trustees should deliver the stock to the holders of the participation certificates within thirty days thereafter. The agreement further provided that the trustees might elect themselves directors and officers of the corporation. At the time of the execution of the agreement, the by-laws of the corporation provided for annual shareholders\u27 meetings in March. In 1939, defendant trustees, who had elected themselves directors and officers of the corporation, amended the by-laws to require the annual meetings to be held in October of each year beginning with 1940. Plaintiff, holder of fourteen per cent of the participation certificates, obtained an order restraining defendants from voting for, or electing, themselves . . . or other persons, as directors or officers of the defendant corporation ... for any term . . . terminating beyond or later than November 18, 1941. On appeal from this order, held, affirmed. Trustees may not extend their control of property held in trust beyond the specified period of the trust. Friedberg v. Schultz, 312 Ill. App. 171, 38 N. E. (2d) 182 (1941)

The Causes of Euro Instability

This paper examines the causes of the general decline in the value of the euro by assessing the various explanations proffered in existing literature, then offering a more satisfactory explanation. The argument prevalent in the literatureCthat the decline in value of the euro is due to AU.S. strength@ rather than to any inherent difficulties with its impositionCis viewed as somewhat undeveloped. We suggest that U.S. strength is an important but only partial factor in euro decline; the other side of U.S. strength is eurozone weakness. We review the (poor) performance of the ECB and assess the level of macroeconomic convergence of eurozone countries. We conclude that a combination of eurozone weakness, endogenous to the inception of the euro, and U.S. strength is the most plausible explanation for the euro=s decline in value. We find that although the future value of the euro is uncertain, the prospects for the eurozone will remain bleak as long as the current institutions underpinning the euro, with their inherent tendencies to promote deflation, are in place.

Analyzing Machupo virus-receptor binding by molecular dynamics simulations

In many biological applications, we would like to be able to computationally predict mutational effects on affinity in protein-protein interactions. However, many commonly used methods to predict these effects perform poorly in important test cases. In particular, the effects of multiple mutations, non-alanine substitutions, and flexible loops are difficult to predict with available tools and protocols. We present here an existing method applied in a novel way to a new test case; we interrogate affinity differences resulting from mutations in a host-virus protein-protein interface. We use steered molecular dynamics (SMD) to computationally pull the machupo virus (MACV) spike glycoprotein (GP1) away from the human transferrin receptor (hTfR1). We then approximate affinity using the maximum applied force of separation and the area under the force-versus-distance curve. We find, even without the rigor and planning required for free energy calculations, that these quantities can provide novel biophysical insight into the GP1/hTfR1 interaction. First, with no prior knowledge of the system we can differentiate among wild type and mutant complexes. Moreover, we show that this simple SMD scheme correlates well with relative free energy differences computed via free energy perturbation. Second, although the static co-crystal structure shows two large hydrogen-bonding networks in the GP1/hTfR1 interface, our simulations indicate that one of them may not be important for tight binding. Third, one viral site known to be critical for infection may mark an important evolutionary suppressor site for infection-resistant hTfR1 mutants. Finally, our approach provides a framework to compare the effects of multiple mutations, individually and jointly, on protein-protein interactions.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, 5 table

"The Causes of Euro Instability"

This paper examines the causes of the general decline in the value of the euro by assessing the various explanations proffered in existing literature, then offering a more satisfactory explanation. The argument prevalent in the literature--that the decline in value of the euro is due to "U.S. strength" rather than to any inherent difficulties with its imposition--is viewed as somewhat undeveloped. We suggest that U.S. strength is an important but only partial factor in euro decline; the other side of U.S. strength is eurozone weakness. We review the (poor) performance of the ECB and assess the level of macroeconomic convergence of eurozone countries. We conclude that a combination of eurozone weakness, endogenous to the inception of the euro, and U.S. strength is the most plausible explanation for the euro's decline in value. We find that although the future value of the euro is uncertain, the prospects for the eurozone will remain bleak as long as the current institutions underpinning the euro, with their inherent tendencies to promote deflation, are in place.