Can Progressive Taxation Contribute to Economic Development?

Financial instability has increased for many economies in the face of greater capital mobility. Eliminating capital flows, especially portfolio investment flows, may reduce volatility, but it could also result in domestic capital constraints. To overcome this dilemma, policymakers may consider alternatives, such as progressive income taxation, that could raise domestic funds. In this paper, the authors combine several macroeconomic data sources to test the link between progressive taxation and economic stability, economic growth, inequality and fiscal policy. Based on data from 1981 to 2002, they find that progressive taxation provides policymakers with the ability to conduct countercyclical fiscal policies, which in turn contributes significantly to economic stability. They find no evidence that progressive taxation adversely affects economic stability by reducing growth. The authors do find that the possibility of raising progressivity is constrained by capital mobility and by the level of government spending. And policymakers, who may consider consumption taxes such as the value added taxes (VAT), when tax enforcement is ineffective, would see no additional gains in terms of economic stability from the implementation of a VAT in combination with progressive income taxation.Progressive personal income taxation; value added taxes; long-term growth; economic stability; income inequality; government revenue; fiscal balances.

Near Infrared Spectroscopy Describes Physiologic Payback Associated With Excess Postexercise Oxygen Consumption in Healthy Controls and Children With Complex Congenital Heart Disease

Exercise creates a physiologic burden with recovery from such effort crucial to adaptation. Excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) refers to the body’s increased metabolic need after work. This investigation was designed to determine the role of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the description of exercise recovery in healthy controls (NL) and children with congenital heart disease (CHD). Subjects were recruited with exercise testing performed to exhaustion. Exercise time (EXT), heart rate (HR), and oxygen consumption (VO2) were measured. Four-site NIRS (brain, kidney, deltoid, and vastus lateralis) were measured during exercise and into recovery to establish trends. Fifty individuals were recruited for each group (NL = 26 boys and 24 girls; CHD = 33 boys and 17 girls). Significant differences existed between EXT, VO2, and peak HR (P \u3c 0.01). NIRS values were examined at four distinct intervals: rest, peak work, and 2 and 5 min after exercise. Significant cerebral hyperemia was seen in children with CHD post exercise when compared to normal individuals in whom redistribution patterns were directed to somatic muscles. These identified trends support an immediate compensation of organ systems to re-establish homeostasis in peripheral beds through enhanced perfusion. Noninvasive NIRS monitoring helps delineate patterns of redistribution associated with EPOC in healthy adolescents and children with CHD

Enhancing productivity of water under variable climate

Crop productionMaizeClimateRainFamersDecision making

Magnetic suspension characteristics of electromagnetic actuators

Electromagnetic actuators that use a current-carrying coil (which is placed in a magnetic field) to generate mechanical force are conceptually attractive components for active control of rotating shafts. In one concept that is being tested in the laboratory, the control forces from such actuators are applied on the flexibly supported bearing housings of the rotor. Development of this concept into a practical reality requires a clear and thorough understanding of the role of electromechanical parameters of these actuators in delivering the right amount of control force at the right phase into the rotor. The electromechanical parameters of the actuators investigated are the mass of the armature, stiffness of its suspension, electrical resistance, and inductance of the coils. Improper selection of these parameters can result in degradation in their performance, leading to mistuning between the actuator and the rotor. Through a simple analysis, it is shown that use of such mistuned actuators could result in sharp fluctuations in the phase of the control force delivered into the rotor around the critical speeds. These sharp fluctuations in phase, called 'Phase Glitches', are undesirable. Hence, future designs of controllers should take into account the undesirable mistuning effects between the actuator and the rotor caused by the phase glitches