Unresolved issues in monetary policy

Solomon held the office of president during a period of notably successful anti-inflationary monetary policy as well as rapid financial innovation and deregulation. In this speech, he discusses monetary strategy — in particular the targeting of monetary aggregates, interest rates, and nominal GNP — in light of trends in inflation and the uncertainties introduced by changing financial markets.Monetary policy ; Money supply ; Federal Reserve System - History ; Gross national product

Data Modeling Patterns: A Method and Evaluation

Patterns capture abstractions of situations that occur frequently in data modeling. Effective use of data modeling patterns can lead to high quality designs and productivity gains. Data modeling patterns are widely available in the public domain, yet there is a lack of studies on usability of such patterns. In this exploratory study we examine the usability of data modeling patterns. Effective use of patterns presupposes the users’ ability to find similarities between task and pattern. We present and evaluate some heuristics for finding the similarities. The results of the empirical evaluation indicate that the heuristics are useful and can lead to accurate solutions. Future research as well as implications for researchers and practitioners is also discussed

Rational use of azithromycin in the control of trachoma : using quantitative PCR to assess distribution of infection and impact of treatment

Trachoma is a chronic keratoconjunctivits caused by ocular infection with Chlamdydia trachomatis (CT). It is a major cause of blindness. This thesis addresses issues important for the rational use of the antibiotic azithromycin, one of the cornerstones of WHO's strategy for trachoma elimination. An entire sub-village in Rombo District, Tanzania was invited to participate. Consenting individuals were examined and had swabs taken for quantitative PCR (directed against the single-copy CT gene ompl), at baseline (before treatment). and two, six, twelve and eighteen months after, mass distribution of single-dose azithromycin. At the time of drug distribution, both weight and height of each treated individual was recorded. Four findings are highlighted. (1) Before treatment, and at each post-treatment time point, children below the age of ten years harboured the bulk of the community's ocular CT. Control programmes should view this age group as their principal target in antibiotic distribution campaigns. (2) Signs of active trachoma were much less useful than age thresholds for predicting population subsets with heavy infections. (3) Based on a summary statistic referred to as the community ocular CT load, or COCTL, the overall community burden of organism fell dramatically following azithromycin distribution, and stayed low for the entire eighteen months of follow-up. The COCTL was 13% of its baseline level at two months. 8% of baseline at six months, and 4% at both twelve and eighteen months. This may have been due to the high treatment coverage (98%) achieved. (4) In the population studied, height was a good proxy for weight for determining azithromycin dose. These studies contribute new information about the epidemiology of ocular CT infection, provide dramatic evidence of the potential effect of azithromycin when uptake is high, and should help to streamline azithromycin distribution efforts by simplifying determination of dose in the field

Application of molecular tools in the control of blinding trachoma.

The use of anti-chlamydial antibiotics for trachoma control is based on the assumption that most people with clinically active disease have conjunctival infection with Chlamydia trachomatis. In high prevalence areas, this is generally true. As prevalence decreases, however, the positive predictive value of clinical signs for C. trachomatis infection also decrease. In this paper, the case for using laboratory assays to guide trachoma control strategies is presented, molecular methods for diagnosis (such as a ligase chain reaction and a polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) are compared with earlier techniques, and recent findings of ongoing studies using a quantitative PCR are reviewed. In addition, the contribution of genotyping to our understanding of the epidemiology and biology of C. trachomatis is considered

Workforce Diversity and Organizational Effectiveness in Nigerian Brewery Industry

The study is aimed at assessing the effects of workforce diversity on organizational effectiveness in Brewery industry using selected Breweries. Workplace diversity is a multidimensional and multi-faceted concept that will continue to evolve as more industries move toward the global marketplace. Survey research design method was employed, stratified sampling method as well as simple random sampling was used. Linear regression and correlation analysis was employed for the analytical purpose to review the nature of statistical significance among variables. The findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between the variables of workforce diversity and organizational effectiveness; in particular cultural diversity was found to be more effective, also Team building & group training-which mediates between workforce diversity and organizational effectiveness. The study concluded that any organization-whose leaders and policy makers are pragmatic, perspicacious and pertinacious, Team building & group training in line with good diversity management will act as panacea to the cankerworm of low employee performance that have set the bottom figure of most organizations balance sheet in bracket. We therefore recommend that for breweries to improve in innovation and creativity, managers and organizational leaders should ensure that diversity-related issues are well managed, and that breweries should create diversity managers in their companies, who are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that organizational effectiveness is maintained. Keywords: Diversity, Gender Diversity, Ethnic Diversity, Workforce Diversity, Organizational effectiveness

Externalities and Planning Failure in the Housing Market of an African City

Purpose Planning is logically applied to address negative externalities, but an alternative is financial compensation to the victim of negative spillover effects. This paper aims to examine the rent discount required to compensate tenants in an African city for a negative externality of the location of a grave within the bounds of their home. It also assesses the suitability of this as a remedy. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a discrete choice experiment to analyse tenants’ acceptability of the level of rent discounts when a grave is imposed on their home. Findings The study estimates that tenants in the Nigerian city of Akure require between 15 per cent and 20 per cent reduction in the rental value of a residential property to compensate for the imposition of a grave. However, many households would prefer to move elsewhere rather than negotiate a discount. Others, especially those on low incomes, were likely to suffer the loss of welfare without a rent discount. The study concludes that a compensatory approach is not an acceptable solution for welfare issues caused by the planning failure. Research limitations/implications The investigation is based on a hypothetical choice experiment. However, the results obtained are subject to a series of validation processes. Practical implications As reductions in the rent to compensate for the effect of a grave in a private home are unlikely in a market with excess demand, it is a clear argument for effective planning and environmental law. Originality/value This study is the first to assess the impact of negative externalities on the housing market of an African city. </jats:sec