ESTIMATING CORE INFLATION IN NORWAY

Central banks are continually considering the problem of how to identify which price changes should be considered permanent and which entirely temporary. Indeed, due to the delayed effect that monetary policy uses to put its choices into action, a wrong valuation of the type of inflation can prove extremely costly for the economy and does not produce the desired results. Since price indexes (as CPI) deliver a distorted picture of underlying inflation, it is necessary to devise a more appropriate target for monetary policy. The need to find a good measure for the latter variable becomes more marked when the central bank adopts price stability as the overriding aim of monetary policy. In this paper we apply the Quah and Vahey (1995) methodology to Norway, oil producing OECD country, and derive measures of core inflation by imposing restrictions from economic theory within the context of a multivariate econometric analysis. To estimate long-term movements of inflation, we present two models that enable the distinction between core and non-core inflation and also between domestic and imported inflation. We conclude that in all the models presented core inflation is a �prime mover� of inflation.Core inflation, Monetary Policy, Norway

CMB-lensing beyond the leading order: temperature and polarization anisotropies

We investigate the weak lensing corrections to the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies. We consider all the effects beyond the leading order: post-Born corrections, LSS corrections and, for the polarization anisotropies, the correction due to the rotation of the polarization direction between the emission at the source and the detection at the observer. We show that the full next-to-leading order correction to the B-mode polarization is not negligible on small scales and is dominated by the contribution from the rotation, this is a new effect not taken in account in previous works. Considering vanishing primordial gravitational waves, the B-mode correction due to rotation is comparable to cosmic variance for $\ell \gtrsim 3500$, in contrast to all other spectra where the corrections are always below that threshold for a single multipole. Moreover, the sum of all the effects is larger than cosmic variance at high multipoles, showing that higher-order lensing corrections to B-mode polarization are in principle detectable.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures. New results about the signal-to-noise amplitude for next-to-leading order corrections, further clarifications about the polarization rotation and references added. Version accepted for publication in Physical Review

The evolutionary dynamics of tolerance

This paper incorporates the phenomenon of tolerance, as the ability to accept diversity, into an economic analysis showing how different aptitudes to trust and cooperation can affect economic outcomes. In the economic system we propose, tolerance is associated with the different weight that agents attribute to their own nature and to the institutional parameters in their utility function. We thus construct a model of overlapping generations, showing that the incentives that influence descendants’ predisposition to tolerance depend on both institutional factors, where behaviour is imposed by rules, and on social (or cultural) factors, found in popular customs and established traditions. Our study highlights the absolute impossibility of affirming tolerance through formal rules. In fact, intolerance is a persistent attitude and its control is only possible through constant and continuous interventions on the educational processes of new generations (intolerance trap).Tolerance; Evolutionary dynamics; Imperfect empathy

Rotation of the CMB polarisation by foreground lensing

We investigate the weak lensing corrections to the CMB polarization anisotropies. We concentrate on the effect of rotation and show that the rotation of polarisation is a true physical effect which has to be taken into account at second order in perturbation theory. We clarify inconsistencies on the treatment of this rotation in the recent literature. We also show that at first order in perturbation theory there is no rotation of polarisation also for vector and tensor modes.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures. One figure and some references added. Version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Galaxy number counts to second order and their bispectrum

We determine the number counts to second order in cosmological perturbation theory in the Poisson gauge and allowing for anisotropic stress. The calculation is performed using an innovative approach based on the recently proposed "geodesic light-cone" gauge. This allows us to determine the number counts in a purely geometric way, without using Einstein's equation. The result is valid for general dark energy models and (most) modified gravity models. We then evaluate numerically the relevant contributions to the number counts bispectrum. In particular we consider the terms involving the density, redshift space distortion and lensing.Comment: 38 pages, 4 figures. Version published in JCAP including an erratum accepted for publication which corrects some errors in the final form of the equation