Liquidity Trap in an Inflation-Targeting Framework: A Graphical Analysis

This paper presents a simple New Keynesian model with alternative assumptions regarding the conduct of monetary policy. The central bank is assumed to either follow a Taylor rule or minimise a social welfare loss function. The model can be tractably described by means of a straightforward graphical apparatus, which, so far, has not been extended to include the treatment of the liquidity trap. The paper presents an analysis of the zero nominal interest rate bound using this apparatus and discusses the implications of pre-emptive monetary easing when the macroeconomic conditions suggest that the bound may restrict future monetary policy effectiveness.

Environmental Influences on Young Adult Weight Gain: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Objectives: This study investigated the importance of environmental influences in explaining weight gain and related behaviors among freshman college students. Methods: We exploited a natural experiment that takes place on most college campuses in the United States - randomized dormitory assignments. We estimated the effects of living in dormitories with varying physical environment characteristics on weight gain and related behaviors (daily number of meals and snacks, weekly frequency of exercise) among randomly assigned freshman students. Results: We found strong evidence linking weight and related behaviors to individual dormitories, as well as to specific characteristics of the dormitories. On average, students assigned to dormitories with on-site dining halls gained more weight and exhibited more behaviors consistent with weight gain during the freshman year as compared with students not assigned to such dormitories. Females in such dormitories weighed .85 kg (p = .03) more and exercised 1.43 (p \u3c .01) times fewer; males consumed .22 (p = .02) more meals and .38 (p = .01) more snacks. For female students, closer proximity of the dormitory to a campus gym led to more frequent exercise (.54, p = .03), whereas living closer to central campus reduced exercise (-.97, p = .01). Conclusions: Using a natural experiment to deal with the potential endogeneity of the living environment, this study found that the physical environment affects both students’ weight changes and weight-related behaviors

A New Keynesian Workbook

A large literature has recently developed to place the New Keynesian framework for analyzing business cycle fluctuations and the conduct of monetary policy into undergraduate economics curricula. New Keynesian models offer several attractive modeling aspects: straightforward linear specifications of structural relations, intuitive and clear dynamic properties, derivation from microfoundations. This paper provides a description of an Excel-based application that presents several versions of the New Keynesian model: static, with adaptive expectations, and with rational expectations. The latter two versions also provide dynamic descriptions of variables' evolution in terms of impulse response functions.

Maternal Weight after Childbirth versus Aging-Related Weight Changes

Background Pregnancy weight gain is believed to contribute to female overweight and obesity. However, most studies do not account for the changes in body weight expected to occur as women age. We examined the long-term weight trajectory of childbearing women relative to weight progression that could be expected in the absence of pregnancy. Methods From the hospital records of 32,187 women with two births in Wisconsin during 2006 to 2013, we extracted the maternal weight at pregravid, delivery, and subsequent pregravid. We predicted the corresponding aging-progressed weights using a weight-for-age equation adjusted for sociodemographic variables. Nonparametric mixed effects models estimated the average maternal weight trajectory and the corresponding aging-related progression through 5 years after birth. Results The estimated aging-related progression predicted a gradual annual weight increase of 1.94 pounds (95% confidence interval 1.90–1.98), from 152.79 pounds at pregravid to 163.76 pounds by 5 years after birth. Actual maternal weight followed a sinusoidal pattern: increasing during gestation, decreasing during the first postbirth year, converging with the aging-related progression during the second postbirth year, and then increasing at 2.89 pounds (95% confidence interval 2.23–3.55) annually and diverging upward from the aging-related progression to 168.03 pounds by 5 years after birth. Conclusion Pregnancy weight gain did not contribute to the aging-related trend, but lifestyle changes of parenthood may later exacerbate the long-term trend

Targeting Rules with Intrinsic Persistence and Endogenous Policy Inertia.

We investigate the optimality of monetary policy targeting rules in a macroeconomic model based on explicit micro-foundations for intrinsic persistence in inflation and real output. For the corresponding social welfare loss function to be minimized by the central bank, inertia arises endogenously in both the inflation and output gap stabilization objectives. In this framework, inflation targeting closely approximates the optimal precommitment policy for empirically relevant parameter values. Alternative policy rules, such as nominal income growth targeting, “speed-limit” targeting, or price level targeting, do not performas well. Previous research has demonstrated lower social welfare losses with these alternative targeting rules; such findings are shown to be primarily a consequence of assuming the central bank minimizes a simple social loss function that is not consistent with the micro-foundations of a model with intrinsic persistence.Habit formation, inflation persistence, targeting rules, time consistency, institutional design of monetary policy

Peer effects and the Freshman 15: Evidence from a natural experiment

This study investigates the importance of peer effects in explaining weight gain among freshman college students. We exploit a natural experiment that takes place on most college campuses in the US - randomized roommate assignments. While previous studies suggest that having an obese spouse, friend, or sibling increases one\u27s likelihood of becoming obese, these social interactions are clearly non-random. We collect data from female students living on campus at a private Midwestern university at the beginning and end of their first year of college. Our findings suggest that the amount of weight gained during the freshman year is strongly and negatively correlated to the roommate\u27s initial weight. Further, our analysis of behaviors suggests that female students adopt some of their roommates\u27 weight-loss behaviors which cause them to gain less weight than they otherwise would have. In particular, we find evidence that this effect may be through influences in eating, exercise, and use of weight loss supplements

Obesogenic Environmental Influences on Young Adults: Evidence From Randomized Dormitory Assignment

This study utilizes a natural experiment—conditionally random dormitory assignments of first-year US college students—to investigate the influence of obesogenic environmental factors in explaining changes in weight and exercise behavior during the 2009–2010 academic year. The design addresses potential selection biases resulting from the likelihood that individuals sort into built environments that match their preferences for exercise and healthy eating. We find some evidence that the food environment, specifically access to campus dining, significantly affected the weight of female students in our study. Females assigned to dormitories where the nearest campus dining hall was closed on the weekends gained about 1 lb less over the course of the year than females assigned to dormitories near dining halls that were open 7 days a week. We also find some evidence that female who lived in close proximity to a grocery store gained less weight over the course of the year. Finally, females who lived closer to campus gym reported more frequent exercise over the course of the year. We do not find significant effects of the built environment on weight changes of males in our sample, but we are cautious to draw strong conclusions from this because the male weight change in our sample was quite small

Operating Damages of Bushings in Power Transformers

In the paper there are presented typicaloperating damages of bushings in transformers installed inthe national power system. In the paper there are describedthe basic diagnostic methods for preparation of appraisal oftechnical conditions of a bushing installed in a powertransformer. It is emphasized that it is necessary to increasethe frequency of tests in the framework on ongoing controlof the bushing technical state . The result of above is anincrease of the transformer availability in the power system

One protagonist of three short stories by Ivan Bunin

The paper of Yelena Kapinos One Protagonist of Three Short Stories by Ivan Bunin analyzes three short stories by Ivan Bunin (Grammar of Love, A Winter Dream and In a Never- Never Land). The stories are connected through the same recurring protagonist, Ivlev, who functions as a “mediator” between the world of the characters and that of the author. The three texts are structured as a kaleidoscope of similar motifs, details and narrative techniques that reveal the key elements of Bunin's poetic universe.The paper of Yelena Kapinos One Protagonist of Three Short Stories by Ivan Bunin analyzes three short stories by Ivan Bunin (Grammar of Love, A Winter Dream and In a Never- Never Land). The stories are connected through the same recurring protagonist, Ivlev, who functions as a “mediator” between the world of the characters and that of the author. The three texts are structured as a kaleidoscope of similar motifs, details and narrative techniques that reveal the key elements of Bunin's poetic universe.The paper of Yelena Kapinos One Protagonist of Three Short Stories by Ivan Bunin analyzes three short stories by Ivan Bunin (Grammar of Love, A Winter Dream and In a Never- Never Land). The stories are connected through the same recurring protagonist, Ivlev, who functions as a “mediator” between the world of the characters and that of the author. The three texts are structured as a kaleidoscope of similar motifs, details and narrative techniques that reveal the key elements of Bunin's poetic universe

Occupational Learning, Financial Knowledge, and the Accumulation of Retirement Wealth

This study explores the relationship between general human capital investment, financial knowledge, occupational spillovers, and the accumulation of wealth in a primarily descriptive manner. Drawing upon human capital theory and following previous related work by Delavande, Rohwedder and Willis (2008), we hypothesized that individuals with daily exposure to financial knowledge through their occupation would benefit by having greater financial knowledge that would translate into greater wealth accumulation than individuals who do not enjoy such spillovers from their occupation. Using data from the Cognitive Economics Study and the Health and Retirement Study, we find strong evidence that individuals in financial occupations tend to have greater financial knowledge and moderate evidence that they also have greater wealth accumulation.