A finance policy for Scotland

At the national level, monetary policy is regarded as an important tool for government influence on the economy; this importance has been highlighted in the debate over the future of UK monetary policy in a European monetary union. The relevant (interrelated) questions are: how would the UK economy fare with monetary policy applied on a uniform basis across Europe, and with the full integration of national capital markets, and what would be the relative costs and benefits for the UK of a single European currency? These questions are equally valid with respect to the Scottish economy, as part of a single currency area, with a significant degree of financial integration, and with uniform UK monetary policy. It is particularly apposite at this time to consider these questions again for Scotland. Institutional change is proceeding apace within the UK financial sector, both with respect to the organisation and behaviour of the private sector, and also with respect to the policy environment within which it operates. In addition, the devolution debate raises questions about the desirability of policy-making at the Scottish level with respect to the financial sector, either within the present constitutional environment, or within the range of alternative environments under consideration

Hume e o Iluminismo Escocês: Duas Culturas

David Hume’s philosophy and economics are central to any account ofthe Scottish Enlightenment. It is now well-established that this enlightenment ischaracterised by a particular epistemological approach which distinguishes it fromother, particularly rationalist, enlightenments. While a variety of explanations hasbeen offered for this distinctive approach, little attention has been paid to the presencein Scotland of two quite different cultures: Highland (specifi cally, Gaelic) andLowland. Most Enlightenment fi gures were, like Hume, lowland (the main exceptionbeing Ferguson). But it seems implausible that the proximity to a very different culturehad no impact on enlightenment thought. Hume himself addressed issues ofGaelic culture in terms of the controversial Ossian poems, for example, and issuesof economic development of the Highlands. The purpose of this paper is to conductan initial exploration into how far it is possible to identify any Gaelic infl uences onHume in particular, and Scottish Enlightenment thought in general. This requiresin turn a characterisation of Gaelic epistemology, for which purpose we will drawon Foucault’s structuring of thought into epistemes. If we can understand Highlandand Lowland thought in terms of different epistemes, then some further refl ectionis required on Foucault’s framework of sequential epistemes.A fi losofi a e a economia de David Hume são fundamentais para qualquerconsideração do Iluminismo Escocês. Está atualmente bem estabelecido que esseiluminismo se caracterizou por uma abordagem epistemológica particular que odistingue de outros, especialmente de iluminismos racionalistas. Enquanto muitasexplicações têm sido oferecidas para essa abordagem distinta, pouca atenção tem sidodada para a presença na Escócia de duas culturas completamente distintas: Highland(especialmente a Gaélica) e Lowland. A maioria dos membros do Iluminismo pertencia,assim como Hume, à Lowland (a principal exceção foi Ferguson). No entanto,parece implausível que a proximidade a uma cultura tão diferente não tenha tidonenhum impacto no pensamento iluminista. O próprio Hume se referiu a questõesda cultura Gaélica em termos dos controversos poemas Ossiânicos, por exemplo, ea questões de desenvolvimento econômico das Highlands. A proposta deste artigoé conduzir uma exploração inicial a respeito de se é possível identifi car quaisquerinfl uências Gaélicas sobre Hume em particular e sobre o pensamento IluministaEscocês em geral. Isto, por sua vez, requer uma caracterização da epistemologiaGaélica, para o que nós recorreremos à estruturação do pensamento de acordo comepistemes tal como desenvolvida por Foucault. Se nós podemos entender o pensamentoda Highland e da Lowland em termos de epistemes, então alguma refl exãoposterior é requerida sobre a estrutura Foucauldiana de epistemes seqüenciais

Prospects for the Progress of Heterodox Economics

While progress in orthodox economics is understood as an internal concept, progress in heterodox economics has both an internal and external dimension, where the latter refers to persuasive success. This broader understanding of progress reflects the fundamental, methodological level at which we distinguish between orthodox and heterodox economics. Regarding internal progress, orthodox economics retains cohesion at the level of formalism, but this cohesion is showing strains because of the inevitable limitations imposed by formalism. While more apparently disparate, heterodox economics can be seen to be more methodologically cohesive; this is explained in terms of a qualified form of pluralism at a range of levels. A discussion of progress of ideas in terms of persuasion (with sociological and institutional, as well as linguistic, dimensions) provides the basis for a considering a pluralist strategy for promoting the progress of heterodox economics

CEO compensation, change, and corporate strategy

CEO compensation can influence the kinds of strategies that firms adopt. We argue that performance-related compensation creates an incentive to look for overly ambitious, hard to implement strategies. At a cost, shareholders can curb this tendency by precommitting to a regime of CEO overcompensation in highly changeable environments. Alternatively shareholders can commit to low CEO pay, although this requires a commitment mechanism (either by the board of the individual company, or by the society as a whole) to counter the incentive to renegotiate upwards. We study the conditions under which the different policies for CEO compensation are preferred by shareholders.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exploration of Interplanetary Space by Unmanned Vehicles

Scientific objectives of interplanetary space exploration by unmanned spacecraf

Class Mobility And Reproduction For Black And White Adults In The United States: A Visualization

The relationship between where people start out in life (class origin) and where they are likely to end up (class destination) is central to any question about the fairness of contemporary society. Yet we often don’t have a good picture—literally or metaphorically—of the contours of that relationship. Further, work on class mobility in the United States often glosses over the large differences between white and Black Americans’ class positions and mobility trajectories. This visualization, based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, shows the association between occupational class origin and destination for Black and white employed Americans ages 25 to 69. Stark racial inequality, produced by the legacy and ongoing operation of white supremacy, is evident in each aspect of these figures

Detection of Mycobacterium avium ss. Paratuberculosis in Blau Syndrome Tissues

Background and Aim of the Work. Blau syndrome is an inherited granulomatous inflammatory disorder with clinical findings of uveitis, arthritis, and dermatitis. Although rare, Blau syndrome shares features with the more common diseases sarcoidosis and Crohn's disease. The clinical findings of Blau syndrome are indistinguishable from juvenile sarcoidosis; the mutations of Blau syndrome are on the same gene of chromosome 16 (CARD15) that confers susceptibility to Crohn's disease. The product of this gene is part of the innate immune system. Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis (MAP) is the putative cause of Crohn's disease and has been implicated as a causative agent of sarcoidosis. Methods. Archival tissues of individuals with Blau syndrome were tested for the presence of MAP. Results. DNA evidence of MAP was detected in all of the tissues. Conclusions. This article finds that MAP is present in Blau syndrome tissue and postulates that it has a causal role. The presence of MAP in Blau syndrome—an autosomal dominant, systemic inflammatory disease—connects genetic and environmental aspects of “autoimmune” disease