Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2015: Balancing economic recovery and high debt in the Caribbean

The survey provides an overview of the economic performance for 2014 of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago plus the eight member states of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and the outlook for 2015. Data were collected from a review of reports from national governments and through interviews with government officials in each of the countries analyzed.

Crises cambiais e fragilidade financeira externa: uma interpretação minskyana aplicada à economia brasileira entre 1999 e 2013

Pós-graduação em Economia - FCLAR

Crises de fronteira e estruturas complexas no espaço de parâmetros em um mapeamento dissipativo bidimensional

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Plano real e a nova realidade brasileira

This paper analyzes the Real Plan and its effects on two administrations of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC), a period which extends from 1995 to 2002. To this end, the study includes a brief review of the problems faced by previous plans, especially the Cruzado Plan and the reasons for the belief that it has been successfull in relation to inflation control. Additionally, seeking to describe the process of moving to the new currency towards stabilization, the paper describes the theoretical foundations of the Plan. In sequence, it defines the backround of both international and domestic monetary reform which was one important part of the Plan and therefore the reasons for the implementation of the monetary reform. Subsequently the paper deals with the effects of the Plan on the economy as a whole, covering also the way the economic measures were taken concerning the Mexican and Asian crisis, the policies used fot the exchange rate, interest rate, fiscal accounts, balance of payments, among other factors and the relationship between them. Hence, it describes the immediate and the long-term consequences of stabilization program in terms of output, employment, public deficit and debt. Therefore, it is important to note the various junctures to which the economy was exposed, and also to point out the challenges and obstacles arising from these changes for growth, which was sometimes fast, sometimes slowing down - the so-called stop and go. Of course, facts as the moving to floating exchange rate regime, the adoption of inflation targeting regime and the adoption of fiscal responsibility law along with the primary surplus policy were able to create a new economic environment and to contribute to later success of the Cardoso years

O FMI e o Sistema Financeiro Internacional: uma análise das mudanças estratégicas nas décadas de 1980 e 1990

The current study has aimed to analyze changes in strategies at the International Monetary Fund that occurred during the 1980s and 1990s. The analysis is done through the the recovery of the 1980s international economic scene, amid the global recession and debt crisis, and shows how the course of the decade and influenced changes under recommendations provided by the IMF to countries with balance of payments crisis. Furthermore, the paper also describes the changes in the international financial system, in some countries which have adopted them and also to the International Monetary Fund itself

Da crise da dívida financeira à crise da dívida soberana: um debate sobre a Política Fiscal

The financial crisis of 2007 brought the discussion of fiscal policy. This was used as a way for governments to mitigate the potential social and economic impacts of the crisis, since only the monetary policy would not be effective. Historically, banking crises engender increases in public debt, not only for the relief operations, but also by the policies of government primary spending and/or, as in the recent crises, by the purchase of the “toxic” financial assets. The discretionary fiscal policy is then discussed, since it is essential, it is required well articulated and coordinated actions in order to mitigate their respective current and future crisis.

Sobre a idade das crises: as inter-relações sujeito-identidade-feminismo na pós-modernidade

This essay intends to think critically and theoretically on the interrelations among subject, identity, and Feminism in the context of Postmodernity, a context which will be herein denominated ―Age of Crises. These three aspects will be approached under a Historical perspective and put into question in a philosophical sight guided by Post-structuralistic theories, especially Derridian Deconstruction. In general, the main objective is to reach into a discussion about the undecidable inter-relation between Feminist thinking and Postmodernity, which is one of the configurations of the many contemporary crises. In order to do so, it will be necessary a previous discussion on the postmodern subject and its identity. This discussion will open up the possibility of contextualizing and discussing Feminism inside the intended objective. This discussion will be structured around the word ―crises which, in a compositional relation to the word ―age, will be taken as a synonym for ―Postmodernity and ―contemporary. ―Age of Crises, ―Postmodernity, ―contemporary, and ―Feminism will be words haunted by the phármakon phenomenon, a key aspect for Derridian Deconstruction, which will be the gravitational force that approximates and separates, in an undecidable relation, those signs.

Evaluating the legacy of landscape history: extinction debt and species credit in bird and small mammal assemblages in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

There is now an extensive literature on extinction debt following deforestation. However, the potential for species credit in landscapes that have experienced a change from decreasing to expanding forest cover has received little attention. Both delayed responses should depend on current landscape forest cover and on species life-history traits, such as longevity, as short-lived species are likely to respond faster than long-lived species. We evaluated the effects of historical and present-day local forest cover on two vertebrate groups with different longevities understorey birds and non-flying small mammals - in forest patches at three Atlantic Forest landscapes. Our work investigated how the probability of extinction debt and species credit varies (i) amongst landscapes with different proportions of forest cover and distinct trajectories of forest cover change, and (ii) between taxa with different life spans. Our results suggest that the existence of extinction debt and species credit, as well as the potential for their future payment and/or receipt, is not only related to forest cover trajectory but also to the amount of remaining forest cover at the landscape scale. Moreover, differences in bird and small mammal life spans seem to be insufficient to affect differently their probability of showing time-delayed responses to landscape change. Synthesis and applications. Our work highlights the need for considering not only the trajectory of deforestation/regeneration but also the amount of forest cover at landscape scale when investigating time-delayed responses to landscape change. As many landscapes are experiencing a change from decreasing to expanding forest cover, understanding the association of extinction and immigration processes, as well as their interactions with the landscape dynamic, is a key factor to plan conservation and restoration actions in human-altered landscapes.

Risk factors promoting hypertensive crises: evidence from a longitudinal study

Background Current knowledge about risk factors promoting hypertensive crisis originates from retrospective data. Therefore, potential risk factors of hypertensive crisis were assessed in a prospective longitudinal study. Methods Eighty-nine patients of the medical outpatient unit at the University Hospital of Bern (Bern, Switzerland) with previously diagnosed hypertension participated in this study. At baseline, 33 potential risk factors were assessed. All patients were followed-up for the outcome of hypertensive crisis. Cox regression models were used to detect relationships between risk factors and hypertensive crisis (defined as acute rise of systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥200mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥120mmHg). Results The mean duration of follow-up was 1.6 ± 0.3 years (range 1.0–2.4 years). Four patients (4.5%) were lost to follow-up. Thirteen patients (15.3%) experienced hypertensive crisis during follow-up. Several potential risk factors were significantly associated with hypertensive crisis: female sex, higher grades of obesity, the presence of a hypertensive or coronary heart disease, the presence of a somatoform disorder, a higher number of antihypertensive drugs, and nonadherence to medication. As measured by the hazard ratio, nonadherence was the most important factor associated with hypertensive crisis (hazard ratio 5.88, 95% confidence interval 1.59–21.77, P < 0.01). Conclusions This study identified several potential risk factors of hypertensive crisis. Results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that improvement of medical adherence in antihypertensive therapy would help to prevent hypertensive crises. However, larger studies are needed to assess potential confounding, other risk factors and the possibility of interaction between predictors.