Creating Capitalism: Using Growth Models to Assess Transition

Five generic reforms, price liberalization, property privatization, macroeconomic stabilization, microeconomic restructuring and trade liberalization, are integrated into both exogenous and endogenous growth models. This integration allows one to assess the implications of each reform for a representative consumer. If one assumes that in assessing a prospective reform each voter, given his unique characteristics and circumstances, acts as if he were the representative consumer, then this framework allows one to evaluate quantitatively the prospects of each reform for each distinct group. This model can be used to forecast how different voters, young-old, flexible-rigid, working-retired, taxpayer-transfer recipient, will respond to each proposal. This can in turn be used to determine the likelihood of success of a democratic polity in transition to capitalism.transition; reforms; exogenous growth models; endogenous growth models

Depreciation, Deterioration and Obsolescence when there is Embodied or Disembodied Technical Change

The paper considers how to measure capital in a model where technical progress is either embodied in new units of capital or it is "disembodied" and simply causes the price of capital services to fall. The disembodied case is considered in sections 2-4. Sections 2 and 3 set out standard vintage capital aggregation models when there is no embodied technical progress. Section 4 discusses disembodied obsolescence in more detail. Section 5 introduces new (more efficient) models of the capital good so that technical progress is embodied in the new models. Section 6 shows how the parameters in the Jorgenson model of capital services could be estimated by statistical agencies if their investment surveys covered sales and retirements of used assets as well as purchases of new assets. Section 7 concludes.Aggregation of Capital, embodiment of technical progress, depreciation, deterioration, obsolescence, index number theory

Fracture of the Axis

A male collie was admitted to the Stange Memorial Clinic on Oct. 1, 1945, with the history of having been shot through the neck. The symptoms observed were depression and incoordination indicating a central nervous disturbance. Upon examination a puncture wound about one-fourth inch in diameter was found on the left side of the neck in the region of the fourth cervical vertebra

Qualitative Analysis of Luminol Efficacy on Bleach-Cleaned and Paint-Concealed Blood

The presence of blood at a crime scene can provide investigators with a treasure trove of information regarding the nature and circumstances of a particular crime and aid in crime scene reconstruction; however, attempts at concealing blood are common scenarios. The development of chemiluminescent and fluorescent-based presumptive tests, such as the luminol and fluorescein tests, have made it more challenging to definitively remove or mask blood on a surface. The purpose of this experiment was to qualitatively measure the overall efficacy of luminol, concerning its ability to positively detect small bloodstains found on common household floor surfaces (wood, carpet, and tile) that have either been cleaned with bleach, painted, or both bleach-cleaned and painted. The results of the three experiments concluded that luminol was ineffective at detecting small, fresh bloodstains on tile or wood surfaces that had been either painted over or bleach cleaned and painted over but was effective at detecting small, fresh bloodstains on carpet that had been cleaned with bleach (50% and 100%) and painted with up to 10 layers of solvent-based paint

The Ninth Myth of Appalachia

Many stereotypes afflict our much-maligned region, and the Jonesborough­­–Washington County History Museum displays eight of these myths of Appalachia. Here, our Editor-in-Chief suggests a ninth—that the people of Appalachia do not care about their health—and argues that regional health disparities result not from apathy but from a confluence of socioeconomic factors

Lymphatic Leukemia

Leukemia has been recognized by the veterinary and medical profession for a number of years. However, its etiology has still remained obscure with many theories having been postulated. It has been proven to be of an infectious nature in fowl where a filterable virus has been established as the direct etiologic agent

All Prisoners are Equal, but Some Prisoners are More Equal Than Others: An Inmate’s Right To Sex Reassignment Surgery After Kosilek v. Spencer, 889 F. Supp. 2d 190 (D. Mass. 2012)

In a system where all prisoners are equal, some prisoners are more equal than others. Despite the progression of the LGBT community, one very overlooked group is transgender prisoners. This Note explores a transgender prisoner’s rights to sex reassignment surgery. In 2012, a federal district judge held for the first time that a DOC prisoner must receive sex reassignment surgery. In a ten-year battle, Michelle Kosilek presented evidence that his Gender Identity Disorder was so severe that the only way to medically treat the condition was to have a sex reassignment surgery. This case presented new, unprecedented law regarding the medical rights of transgender prisoners. In examining Kosilek’s claim under the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, medical principles related specifically to transgender prisoners were presented to the court. This case is currently up on an appeal, and as a divisive issue, it could potentially end up in front of the United States Supreme Court. This Note examines the narrow holding of Kosilek, considers the role of public policy in Kosilek’s claim, and hypothesizes about the future of transgender prisoner litigation

Energy, Obsolescence, and the Productivity Slowdown

The growth rate of output per worker in the U.S. declined sharply during the 1970's. A leading explanation of this phenomenon holds that the dramatic rise in energy prices during the 1970's caused a significant portion of the U.S. capital stock to become obsolete. This led to a decline in effective capital input which, in turn, caused a reduction in the reduction in the growth rate of output per worker. This paper examines a key prediction of this hypothesis. If there is a significant link between energy and capital obsolescence, it should be revealed in the market price of used capital: if rising energy costs did in fact render older, energy-inefficient capital obsolete, prospective buyers should have reduced the price that they were willing to pay for that capital. An examination of the market for used capital before and after the energy price shocks should thus reveal the presence and magnitude of the obsolescence effect. We have carried out this examination for four types of used machine tools and five types of construction equipment. We did not find a general reduction in the price of used equipment after the energy price shocks. Indeed, the price of used construction equipment - the more energy intensive of our two types of capital - tended to increase after 1973. We thus conclude that our data do not support the obsolescence explanation of the productivity of slowdown.

Creating Capitalism: Politics, Reforms, and Economic Performance

Building on a model that integrates reforms into exogenous and endogenous growth models, this paper designs an econometric model of the interplay between economic reform measures, political decisions and economic performance. Several key hypotheses about transition are tested using two-stage least squares on a logit model using data for six countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Russia and Slovakia) over their first ten years of freedom. We draw three conclusions from the empirical evidence. (1) Contrary to the litany that everyone favors reforms, we find that voting for strong reform parties leads to more reforms. (2) History matters, even in a model of forward looking rational agents. Where communism was relatively popular, Russia, Hungary and Bulgaria, reform is slower, more problematic, and aimed toward a welfare state not US-style capitalism. The cost of debunking communist ideology evidently slows progress considerably. (3) Better economic performance does not result quickly from reforms. From a public choice perspective the immediate identifiable social costs of reforms often appear stronger than the eventual diffuse benefits. Though not surprising this result does not auger well for reformers. Finally, critical macroeconomic data for the earlier years around the transition period are very poor quality. Indeed economic data seems to be too poor to reveal much about changing economic circumstance. Measured output may actually move in the opposite direction of realized output. International agencies could contribute greatly to analysis of transition by quickly and deeply engaging the local statistical agencies.transition; reforms; growth; voting; public choice; Central Europe; Russia; two stage least squares; logit