50/50 by 2020: poverty and redistributive politics in post-independence Fiji

The affirmative action program launched by the Fiji Government in 2002 espoused a '50/50 by 2020' vision; that is, by the year 2020, some 50 per cent of all economic activities would be owned by the indigenous population. The surprising impact of this heavy-handed redistribution of income and wealth from the non-indigenous to the indigenous population has been poverty-raising. One in eight in the population lived in poverty in 1977, the figure had risen to one in four by 1990/91 and one in three by 2002/2003; and on current trends, would reach one in two (that is 50 per cent) by 2020. Such an outcome would be a direct consequence of these redistributive policies. While the politics of redistribution may have been compelling, its economic costs, including the impact on poverty, are devastating. The 2006 military takeover was executed to rid the country of corruption and race-based politics. Achieving these goals may have a bonus in terms of reversing the rise in poverty. Only time will tell

Risks and Rewards of allowing seasonal workers from the Pacific into Australia

It is time some considered thought was given to allowing businesses short of workers to recruit from neighbouring Pacific island countries. Pacific island nations have an abundant supply of able and keen workers. It is, therefore, a ‘no brainer’ that a well regulated temporary worker scheme has the potential to be a ‘win-win’ for the employers and their employees in a regionally-deregulated labour market. What is less well recognised is the fact that easing of access to workers from neighbouring Pacific can also be a ‘win-win’ proposition for the participating governments

A microscopic model of wave-function dephasing and decoherence in the double-slit experiment

The act of measurement on a quantum state is supposed to "collapse" the state into one of several eigenstates of the operator corresponding to the observable being measured. This measurement process is sometimes described as outside standard quantum-mechanical evolution and not calculable from Schr\"odinger's equation. There are two general approaches to the study of wave-function collapse: one called the "consistent" or "decoherent" histories approach and the other, the "environmental decoherence" approach, which studies the effect of the environment upon the quantum system, to explain wave-function collapse. In the "environmental decoherence" approach, one usually studies a Markovian-approximated Master equation to study the time-evolution of reduced density matrix and obtains the long-term dependence of the off-diagonal elements of this matrix. We do not make a Markovian assumption and study a particularly simple and calculable example. We find, the short-time behavior of a collapsing system, at least the one considered in this paper, is not exponential, which is a new result (the long-term behavior is, of course, still exponential). This allows one to connect the Fermi-golden rule quadratic-in-time behavior of a transition probability to the exponential long-time behavior of a collapsing wave-function

Building peace in Bougainville: measuring recovery post-conflict

Description: This discussion paper documents the socio-economic status of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and the extent of rebound in investment and access to services since the cessation of conflict there in 1997. Data on the level of income, the age profile of the population, the level of access to basic services, and levels of investment in residential housing were collected via a household-level survey that was administered in the four major urban centres. Analysis of these data shows that per capita income has rebounded to 40 per cent of the pre-conflict level; approximately half of the population is aged less than 20 years; and one-third of school age children are not attending school. These observations have value in assessing the extent of economic recovery following the installation of peace and the levels of public investment required for improving access to basic services

Geomorphology of the Kaikoura area

The major physiographic units in the Kaikoura area are the Peninsula Block, Beach Ridges and Raised Beaches, Hard Rock Areas and the Alluvial Fans. Erosion of the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains and the transfer of the debris to the sea by fan streams have contributed to coastline pro gradation so that a former offshore island, now called the Kaikoura Peninsula, has been joined to the mainland. On the piedmont alluvial plain between the mountains and the sea Otiran Glacial Stage and Holocene fan deposits have covered up older fan surfaces. Stillstands during the tectonic uplift of the Peninsula Block when marine processes cut shore platforms and also higher stands of interglacial sea levels in the Late Pleistocene have contributed to the development of erosion surfaces. Along the coast beach ridges and raised beaches have developed during post-glacial times

Swim or Sink: the predicament of the Fiji economy

In announcing the revised Fiji budget for 2007, the Interim Finance Minister claimed that there was little choice for the economy but to swim, or else it would sink. This survey endorses the Interim Minister's view that the prevailing economic problems are the cumulative outcome of decades of poor economic management but disagrees with his conclusion that the only options are 'swimming' or 'sinking'. Much like the previous three coups, the December 2006 coup exacerbated an economic decline that was well under way when the current administration took office. Each coup, moreover, has on average wiped off three years of economic progress. Hard choices have to be made, and the Interim Government has to learn to swim out of the economic turbulence created by the last coup. Failing that, the administration could 'just float', but is more likely to be sucked into an economic crisis that will draw many more into poverty. Learning to swim will entail restoring political stability, improving governance, and charting a clear and quick path to democratic rule

The Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): Pathophysiology, Diagnosis & Management

Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), characterized by orthostatic tachycardia in the absence of orthostatic hypotension, has been the focus of increasing clinical interest over the last 15 years 1. Patients with POTS complain of symptoms of tachycardia, exercise intolerance, lightheadedness, extreme fatigue, headache and mental clouding. Patients with POTS demonstrate a heart rate increase of ≥30 bpm with prolonged standing (5-30 minutes), often have high levels of upright plasma norepinephrine (reflecting sympathetic nervous system activation), and many patients have a low blood volume. POTS can be associated with a high degree of functional disability. Therapies aimed at correcting the hypovolemia and the autonomic imbalance may help relieve the severity of the symptoms. This review outlines the present understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of POTS