New evidence on the effectiveness of 'Quantitative Easing' in Japan

Central banks have recently introduced new policy initiatives, including a policy called ‘Quantitative Easing’ (QE). Since it has been argued by the Bank of England that “Standard economic models are of limited use in these unusual circumstances, and the empirical evidence is extremely limited” (Bank of England, 2009b), we have taken an entirely empirical approach and have focused on the QE-experience, on which substantial data is available, namely that of Japan (2001-2006). Recent literature on the effectiveness of QE has neglected any reference to final policy goals. In this paper, we adopt the view that ultimately effectiveness will be measured by whether it will be able to “boost spending” (Bank of England, 2009b) and “will ultimately be judged by their impact on the wider macroeconomy” (Bank of England, 2010). In line with a widely held view among leading macroeconomists from various persuasions, while attempting to stay agnostic and open-minded on the distribution of demand changes between real output and inflation, we have thus identified nominal GDP growth as the key final policy goal of monetary policy. The empirical research finds that the policy conducted by the Bank of Japan between 2001 and 2006 makes little empirical difference while an alternative policy targeting credit creation (the original definition of QE) would likely have been more successful

“Subaltern” Remembrances: Mapping Affective Approaches to Partition Memory

http://dx.doi.org/10.13185/ST2013.01103Theorizing affect in relationship to interdisciplinary developments among geographies of memory and subaltern studies, this essay engages the visual art of feminist artist, Pritika Chowdhry, in her latest exhibition, Remembering the Crooked Line, in order to understand the migratory nature of cultural memories as a result of global flows. Situating Chowdhry’s aesthetic contributions alongside the work of postcolonial, feminist scholar, Gayatri Spivak in “Can the Subaltern Speak?,” this essay offers a framework for understanding memory- production beyond spatially-fixed and geographically- bound points of reference, and theorizes how memories are produced across seemingly disparate spaces and geopolitical histories. Thus, corralling multiple geographic vantage points and subjectivities, Chowdhry’s aesthetic motives pull together dispersed geopolitical contexts and subjects as partition memories are re-membered, re-produced, and re-inscribed as a result of globalization and diasporic affiliation. Consequently, this essay moves towards an understanding of subaltern- memory as a “queer” intervention into dominant constructions of partition societies and their corresponding memories

Rummaging Through the Wreckage: Geographies of Trauma, Memory, and Loss at the National September 11th Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center

This dissertation traces the emergence of 9/11 memory as it is shaped in relation to the event\u27s memorialization at nationally-dedicated landscapes of memory. Focusing on the National September 11th Memorial & Museum, The National Flight 93 Memorial, and the National Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, my research examines how cultural memory is mediated through the establishment of `places of memory\u27 within the built-environment. Here, I argue, the preservation of place acts as a repository of national memory by safeguarding the history of 9/11 for future generations. Contextualizing these landscapes of memory within the global war on terrorism, my analytical framework engages the transnational significance of 9/11 memory in a global world. Accordingly, this research situates 9/11 remembrance within interdisciplinary and cross-border conversations that theorize national practices of preservation and commemoration in relation to transnational flows of people, information, and ideas. Here, my research articulates the formation of 9/11 memory as a unique `geography of trauma.\u27 Offering an original contribution to geography, this research theorizes the spatial and temporal movement of traumatic memories across time and space. Aimed at understanding how these historic sites are mediated in relation to other landscapes of violence and cultural trauma--past and present--my research draws on critical geopolitical theorizations of the nation-state, feminist theories of emotion and embodiment, queer deployments of affect, and cultural theories of memory, as tools for navigating post-structural ideas of power, knowledge, discourse, and empire

Site selection criteria for resort development and a case study in northern New England

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1990.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-170).by Hormoz Lashkari and Christopher Voutsinas.M.S

Enhancement of Free Vortex Filament Method for Aerodynamic Loads on Rotor Blades

The aerodynamics of a wind turbine is governed by the flow around the rotor, where the prediction of air loads on rotor blades in different operational conditions and its relation to rotor structural dynamics is one of the most important challenges in wind turbine rotor blade design. Because of the unsteady flow field around wind turbine blades, prediction of aerodynamic loads with high level of accuracy is difficult and increases the uncertainty of load calculations. An in-house vortex lattice free wake (VLFW) code, based on the inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational flow (potential flow), was developed to study the aerodynamic loads. Since it is based on the potential flow, it cannot be used to predict viscous phenomena such as drag and boundary layer separation. Therefore, it must be coupled to tabulated airfoil data to take the viscosity effects into account. Additionally, a dynamic approach must be introduced to modify the aerodynamic coefficients for unsteady operating conditions. This approach, which is called dynamic stall, adjusts the lift, the drag, and the moment coefficients for each blade element on the basis of the two dimensional (2D) static airfoil data together with the correction for separated flow. Two different turbines, NREL and MEXICO, are used in the simulations. Predicted normal and tangential forces using the VLFW method are compared with the blade element momentum (BEM) method, the GENUVP code, and the MEXICO wind tunnel measurements. The results show that coupling to the 2D static airfoil data improves the load and power predictions while employing the dynamic stall model to take the time-varying operating conditions into consideration is crucial

Rotating sample magnetometer for cryogenic temperatures and high magnetic fields

We report on the design and implementation of a rotating sample magnetometer (RSM) operating in the variable temperature insert of a cryostat equipped with a high-field magnet. The limited space and the cryogenic temperatures impose the most critical design parameters: the small bore size of the magnet requires a very compact pick-up coil system and the low temperatures demand a very careful design of the bearings. Despite these difficulties the RSM achieves excellent resolution at high magnetic field sweep rates, exceeding that of a typical vibrating sample magnetometer by about a factor of ten. In addition the gas-flow cryostat and the high-field superconducting magnet provide a temperature and magnetic field range unprecedented for this type of magnetometer.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Development of Free Vortex Wake Model for Wind Turbine Aerodynamics under Yaw Condition

The aerodynamics of a wind turbine is governed by the flow around the rotor. One of the most severe operating conditions for a wind turbine is the yaw misalignment, when the mean upstream flow is not perpendicular to the rotor plane. This asymmetrical flow changes significantly the velocity field around the rotor blades which in turn reduces power production of the wind turbine. It also makes a periodic load variation along the rotor blade which accordingly increases the fatigue load from the design point of view. In this paper, the effect of the skewed wake, due to the yaw misalignment, on the wake aerodynamics of wind turbine is studied. For this purpose, an in-house Vortex Lattice Free Wake (VLFW) code, based on the potential, inviscid and irrotational flow, is developed. The results are compared with the MEXICO wind tunnel measurements. For the axial traverses, there is a good agreement between the measured axial (w) and tangential (u) velocity components and the simulations. Although the magnitude of the mean radial velocity component (v) is fairly well predicted, its fluctuation is not captured by the simulation. Moreover, for the radial traverses, the simulations are remarkably verified by the measurements

Numerical Studies of the Upstream Flow Field around a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

The aerodynamics of a wind turbine is governed by the flow around the rotor. Prediction of the velocity field, both upstream and downstream, is one of the challenges for wind turbine performance in terms of the aerodynamic loads and the generated power at different operational conditions. For simplicity, the wind velocity at the rotor plane is assumed to be equal to far upstream flow where the interaction of the rotor blades with upstream flow, close to the rotor plane, is not taken into account. This paper aims to study the effect of the rotor blade azimuthal position and the trailing wake, on upstream and downstream flow near to the rotor plane. For this purpose, an in-house Vortex Lattice Free Wake (VLFW) code, based on the potential, inviscid and irrotational flow, is developed. The results are compared with the MEXICO wind tunnel measurements. They show that the wind speed decreases in the axial direction upstream the rotor plane because of the induced velocity field by the rotor blades and the trailing wake vortices. This leads to a power reduction of the wind turbine. Furthermore, contrary to the traditional actuator disk model, the VLFW simulations predicts a tangential velocity component upstream the rotor due to the blade rotation which is in agreement with the measurement data. Finally, it is found that the flow field downstream and upstream the rotor blades depends on the blade azimuthal direction