Teaching Secular Stagnation

We modify the Dynamic Aggregate Demand – Aggregate Supply model in Mankiw’s widely-used Intermediate Macroeconomics textbook to discuss monetary policy when the natural real interest rate is falling. Our results highlight a new role for the central bank’s inflation target as a tool of macroeconomic stabilization. We show that even when the zero lower bound is not binding, a prudent central bank will need to match every decrease in the natural real interest rate with an equal increase in the target rate of inflation in order to stabilize the risk of the economy falling into a deflationary spiral – an acute case of simultaneously falling output and inflation in which the economy’s self-correcting forces are inactive

A Simple Treatment of the Liquidity Trap for Intermediate Macroeconomics Courses

Several leading undergraduate intermediate macroeconomics textbooks now include a simple reduced-form New Keynesian model of short-run dynamics (alongside the IS-LM model). Unfortunately, there is no accompanying description of how the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates affects the model. In this article, the authors show how the aforementioned model can easily be modified to teach undergraduate students about the significance of the zero lower bound for economic performance and policy. This acquires additional significance because economies such as the United States and Japan have been close to the zero lower bound since 2008 and 1995, respectively. The authors show that when the zero lower bound is introduced, an additional long-run equilibrium exists. This equilibrium is unstable and can lead to a deflationary spiral

Microstructural variables that affect the fatigue crack initiation location in a nickel-base superalloy at 800°C

Fatigue tests under high cycle fatigue loading conditions were performed for Haynes 282® superalloy at 800°C. Fractographic examination of failed specimens indicated that, under the same stressing parameters, the longer life specimens formed fatigue cracks that initiated at a subsurface location, whereas the shorter life specimens formed cracks that initiated near the specimen surface. The microstructural source of variability in the fatigue crack initiation location will be described in this presentation. Larger grains or grain clusters with small misorientation between neighboring grains were identified to be crack initiation locations. It was concluded through electron backscattered diffraction characterization of the material microstructure that the probability of surface crack initiation could be predicated upon the probability of locating a critical microstructural neighborhood in the surface of the specimen. Implications of the analysis for the calculated variability of fatigue lives will be discussed by comparing the predictions with experimental fatigue lives. Research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, Crosscutting Research Program

Search for the excited states of neutron-rich krypton isotopes

1 online resource (vii, 42 pages) : illustrationsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (page 42).The complex nature of nuclear structure is governed by strongly interacting nucleons. As described by the nuclear Shell Model, the building blocks of atomic nuclei, protons and neutrons, arrange themselves in discrete quantized orbitals that group into shells. These shells are considered closed when the number of protons or neutrons equate to the magic nucleon numbers. In neutron-rich nuclei which are created via the r-process in nature's neutron-rich environments, expectedly, potential changes in shell structure and magic numbers is discussed theoretically. Identifying shell closures in neutron-rich isotopes would help constrain theoretical models for r-process nucleosynthesis. Krypton isotopes are of interest as current experimental evidence points towards changes in shell structure taking place in the neutron-rich region of N=50-60. Following the trend of the neighbouring elements, Sr and Zr, there is potential of shape coexistence manifesting in these Kr isotopes. Such a discovery will help provide further information on the nuclear force which governs the evolution of nuclear structure. Therefore, the excited states of select Kr nuclei were investigated to provide further data on the shell structure of neutron-rich isotopes. To investigate this neutron-rich region, a beam of 93Kr was received at the IRIS reaction spectroscopy station located at TRIUMF. Through the use of a solid deuterium target, both the reaction channels 93Kr(d,d)93Kr and 93Kr(d,p)94Kr were investigated

The Friedman Rule and the Zero Lower Bound

We explain why central banks rarely implement the Friedman rule by studying the properties of a simple New Keynesian dynamic macroeconomic model that is generalized to incorporate the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates. We show that two long-run equilibria exist, one stable and the other unstable, and we characterize the conditions under which the economy plunges into a deflation-induced depression following a contractionary demand shock. As long as the sum of the inflation rate and the natural real interest rate stays positive, the economy converges back to the long-run stable equilibrium, even when the zero lower bound is initially binding. On the other hand, a deflationary spiral starts when the sum of the inflation rate and the natural rate of interest becomes negative. The Friedman rule, which calls for a small dose of anticipated deflation, takes the sum of the inflation rate and the natural real interest rate uncomfortably close to zero and thereby raises the probability of the economy plunging into a depression. Our theoretical results also shed light onto the different correlation values between inflation and economic growth in the data

Macroeconomic Stabilization When The Natural Real Interest Rate Is Falling

The authors modify the Dynamic Aggregate Demand–Dynamic Aggregate Supply model in Mankiw’s widely-used intermediate macroeconomics textbook to discuss monetary policy when the natural real interest rate is falling over time. Their results highlight a new role for the central bank’s inflation target as a tool of macroeconomic stabilization. They show that even when the zero lower bound is not binding, a prudent central bank will need to match every decrease in the natural real interest rate with an equal increase in the target rate of inflation in order to stabilize the risk of the economy falling into a deflationary spiral, which is an acute case of simultaneously falling output and inflation in which the economy’s self-correcting forces are inactive

IVOA Recommendation: The UCD1+ controlled vocabulary Version 1.23

This document describes the list of controlled terms used to build the Unified Content Descriptors, Version 1+ (UCD1+). The document describing the UCD1+ can be found at the URL: http://www.ivoa.net/Documents/latest/UCD.html. This document reviews the structure of the UCD1+ and presents the current vocabulary