"Assessing the Constitutional Route to Federal Budget Balance, The Balanced Budget Amendment: Toxic, Not Tonic"

Whalen evaluates the political and economic arguments in favor of a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. He concludes that although today's federal budget process needs reform, the balanced budget amendment is not a solution. In fact, such an amendment would divert attention from what is really needed, namely, establishing priorities and making difficult decisions concerning the deficit. It would be damaging to both the economic and the political systems of the United States. He recommends budget alternatives--a full-employment budget, an investment budget, a narrowly defined federal capital budget, a biennial budget--that would give the budgeting process more direction and encourage more restraint than the amendment would.

"The U.S. Credit Crunch of 2007: A Minsky Moment"

It is now clear that most economists underestimated the widening economic impact of the credit crunch that has shaken U.S. financial markets since at least mid-July. A credit crunch is an economic condition in which loans and investment capital are difficult to obtain. In such a period, banks and other lenders become wary of issuing loans, so the price of borrowing rises, often to the point where deals simply do not get done. Financial economist Hyman P. Minsky (1919–1996) was the foremost expert on such crunches, and his ideas remain relevant to understanding the current situation. This brief by Charles J. Whalen demonstrates that the U.S. credit crunch of 2007 can aptly be described as a “Minsky moment.” It begins by taking a look at aspects of this crunch, then examines the notion of a Minsky moment, along with the main ideas informing Minsky’s perspective on economic instability. At the heart of that viewpoint is what Minsky called the “financial instability hypothesis,” which derives from an interpretation of John Maynard Keynes’s work and underscores the value of an evolutionary and institutionally grounded alternative to conventional economics. The brief then returns to the 2007 credit crunch and identifies some of the key elements relevant to fleshing out a Minsky-oriented account of that event.

Is Their Foundation Solid Enough to Build On: An Investigation into the Information-Seeking Skills and Self-Efficacy Levels of New Nursing Students

Researchers at a mid-sized, Midwest, faith-based university used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pretest posttest design to gather data from newly enrolled nursing students in a baccalaureate, masters and doctorate in nursing practice program. Literature regarding confidence levels, self-efficacy and information literacy skills was reviewed. Specific tools to assess confidence and self-efficacy of information literacy skills were explored. The 28-item Information Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale (ILSES) developed in 2006 by Serap Kurbanoglu was used in fall 2012, spring 2013 and fall 2013 to gather data from over 200 newly enrolled nursing students. Analysis of self-reported information literacy skills and self-efficacy levels were analyzed using SPSS software. Reported changes in self-efficacy as a result of information literacy interventions were reported. Implications for the use of active learning activities and skills assessments within information literacy programs were presented

Hyman Minsky's Theory of Capitalist Development

During the last decade of his life, Hyman Minsky drew on insights acquired from Joseph Schumpeter in an effort to explore the long-term development of capitalism. He believed such an exploration would underscore the economic implications of postwar financial-system innovations and could encourage a broad discussion regarding the appropriate structure of the U.S. economy. This paper focuses on the theory of capitalist development that Minsky produced during that decade. After describing the purposes of Minsky's exploration, his theory is outlined both in terms of its essential elements and as it applies to the U.S. economy. In addition to emphasizing the relations between finance and business, Minsky identified a transition through at least five distinct stages of capitalism: from the merchant-capitalist era to a recent period dominated by money managers. A concluding section identifies a number of research directions suggested by Minsky's analysis.

"Economic Policy for the Real World"

The nation's economic challenges are daunting. Restoring robust American prosperity and widespread economic opportunity will not be easy. But, as Hyman Minsky stressed, "Economic systems are not natural systems…. Policy can change both the details and the overall character of the economy." It's clear that what we are now facing is not simply a cyclical crisis, or even an employment crisis, writes Charles J. Whalen. Rather, it is a standard-of-living-and-economic-opportunity crisis—the latest phase in a decades-long "silent depression." In order to resolve it, our policy response must reflect that we are dealing with a deep-seated structural problem, one rooted in the evolution of U.S. economic development. Policymakers must pursue an agenda of recovery and reform that includes, at minimum, a major assistance package for state and local governments; more relief for the unemployed and those facing foreclosure; tougher supervision of financial institutions; stronger automatic stabilizers (e.g., public service employment); policies that foster economic opportunities for working families; improved retirement security; and labor law reform that gives workers a more realistic chance to organize and bargain collectively.

The Observational Signatures of Primordial Pair-Instability Supernovae

Massive Population III stars from 140 - 260 solar masses ended their lives as pair-instability supernovae (PISNe), the most energetic thermonuclear explosions in the universe. Detection of these explosions could directly constrain the primordial IMF for the first time, which is key to the formation of the first galaxies, early cosmological reionization, and the chemical enrichment of the primeval IGM. We present radiation hydrodynamical calculations of Pop III PISN light curves and spectra performed with the RAGE code. We find that the initial radiation pulse due to shock breakout from the surface of the star, although attenuated by the Lyman-alpha forest, will still be visible by JWST at z ~ 10 - 15, and possibly out to z ~ 20 with strong gravitational lensing. We have also studied metal mixing at early stages of the explosion prior to breakout from the surface of the star with the CASTRO AMR code and find vigorous mixing in primordial core-collapse explosions but very little in PISNe. This implies that the key to determining progenitor masses of the first cosmic explosions is early spectroscopy just after shock breakout, and that multidimensional mixing is crucial to accurate low-mass Pop III SNe light curves and spectra.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of Deciphering the Ancient Universe with Gamma-Ray Bursts, Kyoto, Japan, April 19 - 23, 201

Teaching Information Literacy Skills to Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Collaborative Approach

Background An expectation of baccalaureate nursing education is to prepare nurses to implement evidenced-based practice (EBP). This expectation extends far beyond a basic understanding of the research process. BSN prepared nurses must be able to effectively and efficiently identify, analyze, and synthesize evidence (AACN, 2008). The acquisition of information literacy skills is foundational to the development of EBP. Implementation The study took place at a College of Nursing within a mid-sized, faith-based university located in the Midwest. Historically, students enrolled in their senior level undergraduate nursing research/EBP course underwent one library instruction session with the nursing librarian to reinforce search strategies for accessing single studies and higher levels of evidence. As part of the course, students conducted EBP group projects which required searching for the best evidence to address a clinical problem. Evaluation of EBP projects revealed that students were not effectively performing systematic searches. This deficit was interpreted as critical since the EBP process is built upon accessing the best evidence. To facilitate development of these skills, a collaboration between the College of Nursing and Library Services emerged. Literature regarding teaching nursing research/EBP and information literacy was reviewed. Specific EBP skills and methods to effectively teach those skills were explored. A collaborative approach to teaching was instituted by embedding a librarian in the nursing research course and integrating information literacy content throughout the semester. Research logs and evidence summary grids for 39 student groups, as well as, individual student final exam and course scores across four semesters were evaluated. Conclusions Collaborative teaching/learning activities significantly improved students’ abilities to perform systematic searches and identify, analyze and synthesize evidence as measured by research log and evidence summary scores. Although course scores for those exposed to collaborative teaching/learning activities were not significantly improved, comprehensive final exam scores, a focused measure of students’ EBP knowledge, were significantly improved. Recommendations Collaboration between nursing faculty and librarians is recommended to promote development of students’ information literacy skills. Information literacy is foundational to the EBP process; time must be dedicated to establishing these skills. Information literacy skills should be introduced early in the nursing curriculum and reinforced in multiple courses