Merit goods and excise taxation in quasilinear markets for complementary private consumption

This paper models merit goods such as education and health, in a Lindahl-Foley environment in which public goods may be treated as private ones since merit goods are public goods that could have been provided privately. It does so in terms of a Levitan-Shubik quasilinear quadratic utility from complementary commodities and uniform taxation of non-merit commodities to finance the provision of merit goods. This analytical framework serves best the purpose of characterizing the general equilibrium. Complementarity is found to serve as an engine for increased output after the introduction of taxation, with a higher volume of private goods, lower tax rate, and minimal price for the merit goods at the new equilibrium

Indirect Tax Incidence under Inelastic Underground Economy Demand

This paper demonstrates theoretically that a profit tax does not affect the distribution of the firm’s operations between the official and the underground economy. Or, if the firm was initially operating only officially, direct taxation of its business would not be a reason to go underground. Indirect taxation in the form of a sales tax does influence an already existing mix of official and underground activities, favoring the latter. And, it does constitute a reason to “go underground†for an otherwise fully official business. This is a thesis robust to market structure changes and to introducing tax evasion in the usual sense, provided the underground demand is inelastic. The tax authority can still collect the planned tax revenue through a combination of a cash-flow tax with indirect taxation, under only consumersurplus loss by the underground customer

Normas monetarias y normas de retroalimentación fiscal

Based on a Cobb-Douglas social welfare function in terms of the utilities of two concurrent generations, this paper derives a Pareto-efficient, envy-free, and equitable interest rate rule supported by a nonlinear-tax feedback rule in case of steady-state disturbance. The young are taxed to subsidize the elderly, expecting the same treatment when the young become old; hence, fiscal policy matters as much as the monetary policy does with regard to the ‘‘same’’. The emphasis on monetary policy lies rather in the fact that once the equilibrium status quo of a policy accommodative of a given tax subsidy-cum-interest rate scheme is disturbed, the ‘‘interest-rate part’’ will continue being a sensible policy choice only by manipulating the ‘‘tax-subsidy part’’. From the political economy view of tax nonlinearity, the tax policy under instability is expected to be both a self-confirming and a perfect insight majority rule equilibriumBasándose en una función de bienestar social de Cobb-Douglas en términos de las utilidades de 2 generaciones concurrentes, este documento extrae una norma sobre tipos de interés, que es eficiente conforme a Pareto, libre de conflictos, y equitativa, sustentada por una norma de retroalimentación de los impuestos no lineales en caso de alteración del equilibrio. La fiscalidad de los jóvenes se utiliza como subsidio para los mayores, esperándose este mismo tratamiento cuando dichos jóvenes envejezcan; por tanto, la política fiscal tiene tanta importancia como la política monetaria para «los mismos». El énfasis sobre la política monetaria radica más bien en el hecho de que una vez que se altera el statu quo de equilibrio de una política que se acomoda a un programa de tipos de interés unidos a subsidios fiscales, la «parte de tipos de interés» seguirá siendo una elección de política prudente solo si se manipula la «parte de subsidios fiscales». Desde la óptica de la economía política de la no linealidad fiscal,es probable que la política fiscal en condiciones de inestabilidad constituya tanto un equilibrio de la norma mayoritaria autoverificativo como de percepción perfect

A first formal approach to animal spirits beyond uncertainty

Standard Macroeconomics treats animal spirits as a source of uncertainty disturbing otherwise rational expectations. But, Keynesian animal spirits ensue from suboptimal emotional responses to socioeconomic status change beyond matters of uncertainty. This paper identifies such spirits with the disturbance from the optimal decision-making implied by an emotional well-being utility function. The introduction of a policy-maker, holding its own view of private welfare in a society of emotional individuals, generates by itself, i.e. in the absence of animal spirits, uniform business fluctuations. This is the result of the income redistribution needed to reconcile the policy-maker’s with the emotional individual’s view of private welfare. Consequently, if animal-spirits induced fluctuations are already present when a policy-maker is introduced in the economy, the aim of policy intervention should be the design of that income redistribution that would not aggravate the business cycle but that would end up in uniform only cycles, with the aid perhaps of discretionary interest rate policy. Nevertheless, if animal spirits do not exist when the policy-maker enters the system, the income-redistribution induced cycles may incite such spirits by themselves in which case the cycles will not be of the uniform type. All comes down to “income and emotionâ€, to an ageless and ecumenical fact of life, complicated purposefully or not by authority

Mineralogy and chemistry of amphiboles and thermobarometry of Papikion Mt pluton, Rhodope, Northern Greece.

O πλουτωνίτης του Παπικίου Όρους που διεισδύει στο Δόμο του Κάρδαμου, αποτελείται από Bi, Hbl και Bi-Hbl τύπους πετρωμάτων. Σε αυτή την εργασία μελετάται η σχέση μεταξύ των αμφιβόλων του κάθε πετρογραφικού τύπου που τις περιέχει. Οι αμφίβολοι του κεροστιλβικού γρανοδιορίτη (Hbl GRD), του βιοτιτικού-κεροστιλβικού διορίτη (Bi-Hbl DR)και του κεροστιλβικού διορίτη (Hbl DR) ταξινομούνται κυρίως ως μαγνησιοκεροστίλβες και σιδηροκεροστίλβες και οι αμφίβολοι του βιοτιτικούκεροστιλβικού γρανοδιορίτη (Bi-Hbl GRD) ως σιδηροεδενίτες και χαστινγκσίτες. Πρέπει να σημειωθεί ότι ορισμένα δείγματα περιέχουν κρυστάλλους αμφιβόλου που παρουσιάζουν κοσκινινοειδή υφή με χαλαζία. Αυτές οι κοσκινοειδείς αμφίβολοι δεν διαφέρουν χημικά από τις υπόλοιπες. Η υφή αυτή μπορεί να προέρχεται από την αποδόμηση των φεμικών ορυκτών ενός αφομοιωμένου ξενόλιθου όπως οι πυρόξενοι αλλά και η ίδια η κεροστίλβη, αφήνοντας πίσω χαλαζία. Χρησιμοποιώντας το γεωβαρόμετρο Al στην κεροστίλβη και το γεωθερμόμετρο κεροστίλβης-πλαγιοκλάστου, υπολογί-στηκαν ελάχιστη πίεση κρυστάλλωσης 4,6 - 5,2 kbar και θερμοκρασίες 700 - 740 °C για το Bi-Hbl DR και 6,4 έως 7,4 kbar και θερμοκρασίες από 620 έως 700 °C στην ομάδα DR.. O Hbl GRD δείχνει τις χαμηλότερες τιμές Ρ-Τ, με μέση πίεση κρυστάλλωσης περίπου 3 kbar και με μέση θερμοκρασία περίπου 600 °C. Papikion Mt pluton which intrudes Kardamos Dome, consists of biotite (Bi), hornblende (Hbl) and biotite-hornblende (Bi-Hbl) bearing rock types. In this work the relationship among the amphiboles of each Hbl-bearing rock type is studied. Moreover, their minimum crystallization pressure and temperature are estimated. The amphiboles of the Hbl granodiorite (GRD), the Bi-Hbl diorite (DR) and the Hbl diorite (DR) are classified mainly as magnesiohornblende and ferrohornblende and the amphiboles of the Bi-Hbl GRD as ferroedenite and hanstingsite. It is to note that some samples contain amphibole crystals showing a sieved texture with quartz. These sieved amphiboles have no chemical differences from the rest amphibole crystals. This texture can probably derive from the breakdown of mafic minerals of an assimilated xenolith such as pyroxenes and hornblende itself, leaving quartz. Using the Al-in-hornblende geobarometer and the plagioclase-hornblende geothermometer), minimum crystallization pressures from 4.6 to 5.2 kbar and temperatures from 700 to 740 °C were estimated for the Bi-Hbl GRD. The DR shows crystallization pressures ranging from 6.4 to 7.4 kbar and temperatures ranging from 620 to 700 °C. The Hbl GRD shows the lowest P-T values, thus an average crystallization pressure about 3 kbar and an average temperature about 600 °C were estimated

IDENTIFICATION OF TREATED-COLOR FRESHWATER CULTURED PEARLS

Ta τελευταία 30 χρόνια η ζήτηση των χρωματιστών μαργαριταριών (όπου είναι σπανιότερα από τα λευκά) έχει ανέβει κατακόρυφα. Αποτέλεσμα αυτού είναι η εισροή στην αγορά μαργαριταριών με τεχνητό χρώμα, η αναγνώριση των οποίων απασχολεί έντονα τους γεμμολόγους. Για την αναγνώριση, τα μαργαριτάρια εξετάζονται μακροσκοπικά και μικροσκοπικά, γίνονται μετρήσεις φθορισμού σε ακτίνες-Χ (EDXRF) και τέλος μελετώνται οι ακτινογραφίες τους. Με τη χρήση ωστόσο των παραπάνω μεθόδων δεν καθίσταται, πάντα, εφικτή η αναγνώριση των τεχνητά χρωματισμένων μαργαριταριών. Παλαιότερες έρευνες έδειξαν ότι η φασματοσκοπία Raman είναι χρήσιμη στην αναγνώριση των χρωστικών ουσιών των μαργαριταριών γλυκού νερού. Στη παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζονται μετρήσεις του φαινομένου Raman, με τη χρήση πράσινου laser, σε 35 φυσικά και 15 τεχνητά χρωματισμένα δείγματα. Όλα τα φάσματα Raman των φυσικά χρωματισμένων δειγμάτων παρουσιάζουν δύο κορυφές, όπου είναι χαρακτηριστικές για τις πολυακετυλενικές χρωστικές ουσίες. Αυτές οι κορυφές είναι παρούσες, ανεξαρτήτως του χρώματος των δειγμάτων, και οφείλονται στη δόνηση τάσης (stretching) των μορίων του των διπλών δεσμών άνθρακα (C—C) -στα 1530(±25) cm'1- και των μονών δεσμών άνθρακα (CC) -στα 1130(±10) cm'1- των χρωστικών ουσιών. Στη παρούσα εργασία προτείνεται ότι  η πιθανή απουσία των παραπάνω κορυφών Raman σε ένα χρωματιστό μαργαριτάρι γλυκού νερού αποτελεί απόδειξη ότι το χρώμα του μαργαριταριού αυτού είναι τεχνητό.Demand for colored pearls has grown during the last thirty years. Colored pearls are rarer than white ones. Thus treated-color pearls have entered the marketplace and their identification became a challenge for the gemologists. With only the help of visual observation, EDXRF and X-radiography, methods that are used today for pearls identification, it is not always easy to identify them. Previous studies, have established that Raman scattering is useful to detect pigments in cultured freshwater pearls. The present study is based on the measurement of the Raman spectroscopy of 35 natural colored freshwater pearls and 15 treated-color freshwater pearls, covering a wide range of typical colors for this material, with green excitation. All natural- color pearls show the two major Raman resonance features of polacetyenic pigments assigned to C=C stretching-at about 1530(±25) cm'1- and C-C stretching - at about 1130(±10) cm' -, regardless of their specific hue. In this paper it is proposed that the absence of these Raman features prove the artificial origin of pigments in a colored freshwater cultured pearl

On the Religion-Public Policy Correlation

The interplay between religious and political authorities has been commonplace and study subject of political science. The interplay between politics and economics has been commonplace too, and the focus of political economy. That is, politics emerges as the link between religious and economic matters. This paper tries to rationalize analytically this link between religion and resource allocation through the religion-public policy correlation. It is found out that such a correlation is welfare-enhancing unless fanaticism forces society to choose between Pareto efficiency under a fundamentalist minority dictatorial rule on the one hand, and the broader socioeconomic aspirations of the majority of people on the other. Yet, fundamentalism is expected to subside in the long-run to the extent fanaticism is the result of an emotional outburst

Global Recession: A Money Gift Cure Possibly

Today, the world economy is at the brink of a major recession at zero lower bound. The recession has been fomented by the underconsumption induced by (i) the increasing income inequality, which is inherent in the neoliberal policymaking followed the last third of a century, and (ii) the declining wages being brought about by the increasing globalization and hence, international competition. And, the zero lower bound has been the aftermath of continuous interest rate reductions to confront the latent recessionary trends by stimulating investment but by increasing at the same time the prices of assets, bonds, and housing inciting several kinds of “bubbles” and inhibiting investment. The policy of “quantitative easing” in the place of interest rate reductions, a surrogate only of the latter has proved to be so far, for the simple reason that the money injections involved to spur business and household demand, are channeled towards the banking system, which withholds and does not pass on the money to the public. A money gift policy in the sense of transferring money directly to the public as a permanent asset for the private sector but not liability for the public sector, activating subsequently the Pigou effect, is advocated herein to be a viable policy alternative out of the current deadlock, ceteris paribus

Information and Competitive Equilibria in the Housing Market

This paper derives necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and occurrence likelihood of competitive equilibria in urban land and housing markets: (i) when there is imperfect information causing costly search trips and (ii) when land and housing are differentiated according to betweenzone and within-zone heterogeneity. Such competitive equilibria are contingent on the possibility that consumers spill over into the markets of less preferred zones. The main conclusions are that markets tend to be partitioned into homogeneous sub-groups and when they do not, heterogeneity may hamper the effectiveness of search and hence work against the existence of competitive equilibria

Local Taxation, Private-Public Consumption Complementarity, and the Optimal Number of Jurisdictions

Viewing local finances under the approach to private-public consumption complementarity, we conclude that foot voting and tax competition become extinct when the (capital) tax structure across jurisdictions is the one forging close ties between the burgher and his/her jurisdiction. Feeling the burgher attached to the local public goods offered and to the local business activity, prevents labor and capital relocation. The optimal number of jurisdictions is that which is conducive to the adoption of that local taxation that fosters such an attachment; taxation made possible by capitalizing upon private-public consumption complementarity. The intuitive appeal of this result is then contemplated within the broader framework of fiscal policymaking accommodative of citizen heterogeneity. In view of complementarity, there appears to be scope for decentralized treatment of citizen preferences via the localities, leaving the treatment of endowment differences to the central governmen