A note on an application of Arrow's theorem: sufficient conditions for Lucas' inflation and welfare

Bellman's methods for dynamic optimization constitute the present mainstream in economics. However, some results associated with optimal controI can be particularly usefuI in certain problems. The purpose of this note is presenting such an example. The value function derived in Lucas' (2000) shopping-time economy in Infiation and Welfare need not be concave, leading this author to develop numerical analyses to determine if consumer utility is in fact maximized along the balanced path constructed from the first order conditions. We use Arrow's generalization of Mangasarian's results in optimal control theory and develop sufficient conditions for the problem. The analytical conclusions and the previous numerical results are compatible .

O lugar da cidade do Rio de Janeiro na federação brasileira: uma questão em três momentos

Cabeça do Império, vitrine da nação republicana, caixa de ressonância das questões nacionais, são expressões usualmente empregadas para qualificar o papel que o Rio de Janeiro vem ocupando na memória e na história do país. Mais delicada, no entanto, é a questão sobre o lugar que a cidade ocupa na federação brasileira. O objetivo desse trabalho é entender a natureza dessa questão, a partir de três momentos que significaram inserções diferenciadas do Rio de Janeiro no quadro federativo nacional: Distrito Federal republicano (1889-1960); estado da Guanabara (1960-75); e município do Rio de Janeiro (de 1975 em diante).

Forecast comparison with nonlinear methods for Brazilian industrial production

This work assesses the forecasts of three nonlinear methods | Markov Switching Autoregressive Model, Logistic Smooth Transition Auto-regressive Model, and Auto-metrics with Dummy Saturation | for the Brazilian monthly industrial production and tests if they are more accurate than those of naive predictors such as the autoregressive model of order p and the double di erencing device. The results show that the step dummy saturation and the logistic smooth transition autoregressive can be superior to the double di erencing device, but the linear autoregressive model is more accurate than all the other methods analyzed.