Taking the Law Seriously: The Imperative Need for a Nuclear Weapons Convention

Jonathan Swift famously said, Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. Swift was no doubt referring to the propensity of the law to shrink from prosecuting the lords of the realm, while going vigorously after smaller fry. But his aphorism applies equally to issues: the more portentous the issue, the less likely it is to yield to legal restraints. This is evidenced by such lawless pronouncements as international law is not a suicide pact or, more recently, I believe that all nations-strong and weak alike-must adhere to standards that govern the use of force. I-like any head of state-reserve the right to act unilaterally if necessary to defend my nation. It follows that a compilation of a large volume of laws, treaties, regulations, and resolutions, no matter how thorough and exhaustive, from which the illegality of the threat and use of nuclear weapons can be deduced, will not necessarily bring about a nuclear-weapons-free world. Indeed, the main article recognizes this dilemma by describing the negative position of the United States, which may be characterized as desperately seeking Lotus. What is needed, therefore, is a clear, absolute, and enforceable mandate, akin to the biological and chemical weapons conventions. It is this logic that has led to movement for a nuclear weapons convention. This Essay will briefly describe the movement for a model nuclear-weapons convention ( MNWC or Convention ) in Part I and outline its contents and discuss some issues that it raises in Part II

Staggering and Synchronisation of Prices in a Low Inflation Environment: Evidence from German Food Stores

Only a few studies have analysed staggering and synchronisation in pricing behaviour of multi-product firms. These studies used low-frequency data in an environment of high rates of inflation. This paper investigates staggering and synchronisation of weekly prices for ten food products in 131 grocery stores in Germany over the period from May 1995 to December 2000 (296 weeks). Different forms of staggering and synchronisation (across-store synchronisation, within type-of-store synchronisation, within retailer synchronisation or across-product synchronisation) have been analysed. None of these forms of synchronisation is supported empirically however. In contrast, perfect staggering can only be rejected in very few cases indicating that fixed or firm specific menu costs are not major causes for price stickiness. --Food Retail Market,Germany,Pricing Behaviour,Menu Costs

Demand for Pharmaceuticals: Impacts on Production and Employment in Nearly Every Sector of the Economy

The pharmaceutical industry employs around 106 000 people and produces a good 9 billion euros or 2.5% of value added in the manufacturing sector in Germany. But it contributes a bigger part to value added and employment in the economy as a whole than these figures show. Its particular role results from the fact that almost its entire output (96%) goes direct to end user (final demand), while demand for its products is subject to the special regulations in the health system. With its purchases of intermediate products and capital goods the pharmaceutical industry gives rise to production and employment effects in nearly every area of production. That applies particularly to high quality services, like business-related services, research and development, leasing, services in the real estate and housing sector and data processing and data bank services. State regulations in the health system thus also have an effect in other sectors of the economy. This article presents analyses by DIW Berlin of the linkages between the pharmaceutical industry and the rest of the economy. It shows that deliveries by the pharmaceutical sector to final demand in private households and public authorities (the social insurance institutions, especially the compulsory health insurance) and abroad have considerable indirect production effects in other sectors of the economy, amounting to about 60% of the direct deliveries by the pharmaceutical industry to final demand. So for every person employed in the pharmaceutical industry one other person is employed in the rest of the economy.

Social Cohesion - a priority after enlargement?

The referendum on EU accession confirmed a principal civilization decision of Slovaks on long-term direction of Slovakia. EU integration provides an opportunity to modernize Slovakia, to overcome its lagging behind Western Europe in economic performance3 and living Standard as well as to overcome big disparities between individual regions within Slovakia4. It should also ensure social cohesion ofthe society as a whole and specifícally ofless developed regions. Thus they aimed to create equal opportunities for numerous marginalized groups, mainly Roma, as well as stop the decrease in the quality of life, especially for those living in rural areas