Inflation Targeting in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico: Performance, Credibility, and the Exchange Rate

Inflation targeting (IT) has been adopted by a growing number of countries and Latin America has been part of this world trend. This paper reviews the recent IT experiences of Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, applying a common empirical framework to the three country cases. Inflation performance under IT and its associated output costs are reported and compared favorably to a control group of other countries. The paper analyzes ways by which IT has contributed to strengthen credibility: the effect of targets on inflation expectations and on actual inflation, the low influence of inflation shocks on core inflation, and the decline in inflation forecast errors. Do the three inflation targeters exhibit fear of floating? No, considering their relatively large exchange rate volatility and moderate international reserve holdings. No, considering strongly declining inflation-to-devaluation passthrough coefficients and little evidence for monetary policy reaction to exchange rate shocks. Yes, considering the frequency and intensity of sterilized exchange interventions in comparison to other inflation targeters that float more cleanly.

Lower Bounds on U_{e3}

We give minimal values for the smallest lepton mixing parameter U_{e3}, applying 2-loop renormalization group equations in an effective theory approach. This is relevant in scenarios that predict an inverted neutrino mass spectrum with the smallest mass and U_{e3} being zero at tree level, a situation known to be preserved at 1-loop order. At 2-loop, U_{e3} is generated at a level of 10^{-12}-10^{-14}. Such small values are of interest in supernova physics. Corresponding limits for the normal mass ordering are several orders of magnitude larger. Our results show that U_{e3} can in general expected be to be non-zero.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Matches published versio

Fairness in the Mail and Opportunism in the Internet - A Newspaper Experiment on Ultimatum Bargaining

On 11 May 2001, readers of the Berliner Zeitung were invited to participate in an ultimatum bargaining experiment played in the strategy vector mode: each participant chooses not only how much (s)he demands of the DM1,000 pie but also which of the nine possible offers of DM100, 200,..., 900 (s)he would accept or reject. In addition, participants were asked to predict the most frequent type of behavior. Three randomly selected proposer-responder pairs were rewarded according to the rules of ultimatum bargaining and three randomly chosen participants of those who predicted the most frequent type of behavior received a prize of DM500. Decisions could be submitted by mail, fax or via the internet. Behavior is described, statistically analyzed and compared to the usual laboratory ultimatum bargaining results.Ultimatum bargaining, newspaper experiment, internet experiment, fairness, distribution conflicts

Gradient Photonic Materials Based on One‐Dimensional Polymer Photonic Crystals

In nature, animals such as chameleons are well‐known for the complex color patterns of their skin and the ability to adapt and change the color by manipulating sophisticated photonic crystal systems. Artificial gradient photonic materials are inspired by these color patterns. A concept for the preparation of such materials and their function as tunable mechanochromic materials is presented in this work. The system consists of a 1D polymer photonic crystal on a centimeter scale on top of an elastic poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrate with a gradient in stiffness. In the unstrained state, this system reveals a uniform red reflectance over the entire sample. Upon deformation, a gradient in local strain of the substrate is formed and transferred to the photonic crystal. Depending on the magnitude of this local strain, the thickness of the photonic crystal decreases continuously, resulting in a position‐dependent blue shift of the reflectance peak and hence the color in a rainbow‐like fashion. Using more sophisticated hard‐soft‐hard‐soft‐hard gradient elastomers enables the realization of stripe‐like reflectance patterns. Thus, this approach allows for the tunable formation of reflectance gradients and complex reflectance patterns. Envisioned applications are in the field of mechanochromic sensors, telemedicine, smart materials, and metamaterials

Using SDDS data sets with MAD-X

The MAD-X program, which is used for the design of the LHC optics and other accelerators, is presently modified to be used as an on-line simulation tool. In this note we describe additional features developped for MAD-X to read and write the data structures used in the LHC Application Software project

Pay Developments in Britain and Germany: Collective Bargaining, ‘Benchmarking’, and ‘Mimetic Wages’

This article examines the impact of national industrial relations institutions on pay movements in Britain and Germany between 1980 and 2000. Pay increases are slightly higher in Britain, despite the breakdown of multi-employer bargaining and agreements in the UK and their persistence in Germany. Evidence shows that pay decisions in Britain are mainly determined by imitation and not by markets. The article suggests that a system of ‘pay benchmarking’ in Britain acts as a substitute for the German ‘sectoral agreement model’ and explains similarities in pay movements

Inhibition of diacylglycerol–sensitive TRPC channels by synthetic and natural steroids

TRPC channels are a family of nonselective cation channels that regulate ion homeostasis and intracellular Ca2+ signaling in numerous cell types. Important physiological functions such as vasoregulation, neuronal growth, and pheromone recognition have been assigned to this class of ion channels. Despite their physiological relevance, few selective pharmacological tools are available to study TRPC channel function. We, therefore, screened a selection of pharmacologically active compounds for TRPC modulating activity. We found that the synthetic gestagen norgestimate inhibited diacylglycerol-sensitive TRPC3 and TRPC6 with IC50s of 3–5 µM, while half-maximal inhibition of TRPC5 required significantly higher compound concentrations (>10 µM). Norgestimate blocked TRPC-mediated vasopressin-induced cation currents in A7r5 smooth muscle cells and caused vasorelaxation of isolated rat aorta, indicating that norgestimate could be an interesting tool for the investigation of TRP channel function in native cells and tissues. The steroid hormone progesterone, which is structurally related to norgestimate, also inhibited TRPC channel activity with IC50s ranging from 6 to 18 µM but showed little subtype selectivity. Thus, TRPC channel inhibition by high gestational levels of progesterone may contribute to the physiological decrease of uterine contractility and immunosuppression during pregnancy