Money velocity in an endogenous growth business cycle with credit shocks

The paper sets the neoclassical monetary business cycle model within endogenous growth, adds exchange credit shocks, and finds that money and credit shocks explain much of the velocity variations. The role of the shocks varies across subperiods in an intuitive fashion. Endogenous growth is key to the construction of the money and credit shocks because these have similar effects on velocity, but opposite effects upon growth. The model matches the data's average velocity and simulates well velocity volatility. Its Cagan-like money demand means that money and credit shocks cause greater velocity variation, the higher is the nominal interest rate

Identification of dothistromin biosynthetic pathway genes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Molecular Genetics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Dothistromin is a polyketide-derived toxic secondary metabolite produced by the filamentous fungus Dothistroma pini which causes the disease Dothistroma needle blight in Pinus radiata. Dothistromin is considered to be an important component in the disease process, although its exact function is yet to be identified. By isolating and identifying genes involved in dothistromin biosynthesis, and subsequently obtaining mutants blocked or altered in the synthesis of dothistromin, the role of this toxin in pathogenicity will be able to be assessed. Dothistromin is structurally related to the mycotoxins, aflatoxin (AF) from Aspergillus parasiticus and A. flavus, and sterigmatocystin (ST) from A. nidulans. Three intermediates in the ST and AF biosynthetic pathways (averantin, averufin, and versicolorin B) are thought to also be intermediates dothistromin biosynthesis. Due to these similarities, cloned AF pathway genes were used as heterologous probes in Southern hybridisation analysis to provide a direct method for identifying dothistromin biosynthetic genes. A fragment of the A. parasiticus nor-1 gene, encoding a reductase involved in the conversion of norsolorinic acid (NA) to averantin (AVN) in the AF biosynthetic pathway, was used as a probe to detect a region of sequence similarity to D. pini genomic DNA. A D. pini genomic library was then constructed and screened, resulting in clone λCGN2. However, Southern hybridisation analysis suggested that this clone did not contain a homologue of the nor-1 gene from A. parasiticus. A fragment of the Aspergillus parasiticus ver-1 gene, encoding a reductase involved in the conversion of versicolorin A (VA) to ST in the AF biosynthetic pathway, was also used as a probe to detect a region of sequence similarity to D. pini genomic DNA. The D. pini genomic library was then screened. Two clones, λCGV1 and λCGV2, were isolated and Southern hybridisation analysis confirmed that these clones contained sequences hybridising to the A. parasiticus ver-1 gene fragment. Fragments of these clones which hybridised were then sequenced and compared to the GenBank database. The amino acid coding sequence of a 0.8 kb SalI region from clone λCGV1 exhibited a high degree of similarity with the A. nidulans verA and A. parasiticus ver-1 genes, involved in the ST and AF biosynthetic pathways, and the Magnaporthe grisea ThnR, and Colletotrichum lagenarium Thr1 genes, involved in melanin biosynthesis. This data suggested a ver-1 homologue is present in the D. pini genome. Limited sequence analysis of a 2.1 kb region from clone λCGV2 suggested that a second independent copy of a ver-1-like gene may also be present in the genome

On Keynes's Theory of the Aggregate Price Level in the Treatise: Any Help for Modern Aggregate Analysis?

The paper explores the theory of the aggregate price and profit in Keynes's Treatise for its implications for modern macroeconomic analysis. Here profits are defined in terms of aggregate investment and saving. Deriving aggregate total revenue and aggregate total cost from this price theory, the paper shows how to construct a version of the Keynesian cross diagram. It then examines an IS-LM model from the perspective of the Treatise's price theory, focusing on an interpretation of the business cycle in which savings and investment may not equal. Comparing the Treatise's price theory with a neoclassical definition of profit, the paper reconstructs the cross diagram and reconsiders a related IS-LM model, with a focus on fiscal policy. This clarifies how microfoundations affect the standard cross and IS model. Further, the reconstructed cross diagram allows for derivation of neoclassical aggregate supply, to which the derivation of neoclassical aggregate demand can be added. Comparative statics of this AS-AD analysis suggests that a focus on profit might be useful in identifying the manifestation of exogenous technology shocks of real business cycle theory.Aggregate Price Level, Keynes

Evaluating Government Policy in Transition Countries

The paper examines neoclassical measures to evaluate government policy in transition countries: 1) marginal factor prices and the return to capital, 2) growth rates and taxes, 3) inflation rates, and 4) debt/GDP ratios, related to international real business cycle and endogenous growth theory. It further postulates a way to consider the debt/equity position of the government, related to a risk-yield framework. This gives a potentially more useful indicator than the debt/GDP ratio alone. Empirically these measures are examined in an illustrative way for a set of Central European countries plus Germany and the US for comparison, for the period of 1990-1998, using an internally standardized data set from the on-line International Financial Statistics.government policy, transition countries