Ex-Post: The Investment Performance of Collectible Stamps

This paper investigates the returns on British collectible postage stamps over the very long run, based on stamp catalogue prices. Between 1900 and 2008, we find an annualized return on stamps of 6.7% in nominal terms, which is equivalent to an average real return of 2.7% per annum. Prices have increased much faster in the second half of the 1960s, the late 1970s, and the current decade. However, we also record prolonged periods of real depreciation, for example in the 1980s. As a financial investment, stamps have outperformed bonds, but underperformed stocks. After unsmoothing the returns on stamps, we find that the volatility of stamp prices approaches that of equities. There is mixed evidence that stamps are a good hedge against inflation. Once the problem of non-synchronous trading is taken into account, stamp returns seem impacted by movements in the equity market.Alternative investments;Indexes;Long-term returns;Market model;Stamps

High-Resolution Contact Printing with Chemically Patterned Flat Stamps Fabricated by Nanoimprint Lithography

Chemically patterned flat stamps provide an effective solution to avoid mechanical stamp-stability problems currently encountered in microcontact printing. A new method is developed to fabricate chemical patterns on a flat PDMS stamp using nanoimprint lithography. Sub-100 nm gold patterns are successfully replicated by these chemically patterned flat PDMS stamps. \ud \u

INTERNATIONAL FOOD STAMPS

Food Security and Poverty,

Disputes over small territories : a study of the spatial, political and philatelic aspects of such disputes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Geography at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

“Most governments are now alive to the advertising and propaganda value of postage stamps” Sir Dudley Stamp (1966) Professor of Geography Seventy years after the formation of the United Nations, the world continues to be plagued by civil disorder, territorial claims and border disputes. Currently, there are some 150 claims and disputes still outstanding. Previous published work has revealed that postage stamps have played a key role in the propaganda associated with territorial disputes in Latin American countries. This dissertation aims to ascertain whether this finding holds true for disputes outside of Latin America and to what extent postage stamp propaganda can influence these various disputes. This study then describes and examines the background of 20 selected territorial claims and two special situations in small territories in Europe, European Colonies and Asia. The disputes form a cross section of those which have occurred over the last 125 years. A brief historical and geographical review is included along with the known causation and the actual or possible solution to each dispute. Written and visual evidence is collected and presented to illustrate the role played by postage stamps in the propaganda associated with these selected small territorial disagreements. When appropriate, the relevant postal history is described and postage stamp examples illustrated. The results indicate that, in the disputes studied, violence and loss of life was endemic at some stage in the dispute. Potential or real economic gain was not the obvious prime trigger factor which initiated the dispute. Further analysis of the findings indicates that postage stamps do play an important role in the propaganda associated with territorial claims in Europe, European Colonies and in Asia. Specific examples are identified in which the role of the stamp proved to be a key item in exacerbating the discord further. No clear evidence could be demonstrated to indicate that the effects differed significantly in geographic or political terms between Europe and her Colonies. There is some evidence that stamp usage for political purposes may be more frequently used in recent years than in the past. In Asia, Japan has not utilised stamps for propaganda purposes in her territorial disputes. Postage stamps are a powerful source of political propaganda and can play an important role in territorial claims

Defining block character

In this paper I propose a clear, efficient, and accurate method for determining if a block of contiguous buildings has an overall character. The work is needed because most contemporary design reviews presuppose the existence of visual character, but existing design principles are often too vague to make the required determination. Clarity is achieved by shifting from vague notions to a definite concept for block character: a design feature will be perceived as part of the overall character of that block if the frequency of the feature is greater than a critical threshold. An experiment suggested that the critical frequency was quite high: over 80%. A case history illustrates how the new concept of visual character could greatly increase the efficiency and accuracy of actual planning decisions.

Regional Differences in Use of Food Stamps and Food Pantries by Low Income Households in the United States

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of food stamps and private food assistance in different regions of the country during 1999, a year when food stamp use dropped to its lowest point in the recent past. Our results show that impoverished families in the South are less likely than those in other regions to obtain private food assistance, although they are more likely than those in the West or Midwest to use food stamps. Low-income families in the Northeast are also more likely than those in the West or Midwest to use food stamps.food insecurity, food stamps, food pantries, Food Security and Poverty,

Betti diagrams from graphs

The emergence of Boij-S\"oderberg theory has given rise to new connections between combinatorics and commutative algebra. Herzog, Sharifan, and Varbaro recently showed that every Betti diagram of an ideal with a k-linear minimal resolution arises from that of the Stanley-Reisner ideal of a simplicial complex. In this paper, we extend their result for the special case of 2-linear resolutions using purely combinatorial methods. Specifically, we show bijective correspondences between Betti diagrams of ideals with 2-linear resolutions, threshold graphs, and anti-lecture hall compositions. Moreover, we prove that any Betti diagram of a module with a 2-linear resolution is realized by a direct sum of Stanley-Reisner rings associated to threshold graphs. Our key observation is that these objects are the lattice points in a normal reflexive lattice polytope.Comment: To appear in Algebra and Number Theory, 15 pages, 7 figure