Protecting Children: The United States Did Not Get the Lead Out

The lack of education and awareness of the potential of lead based paint hazards in residents across the United States is still a problem today. Simple educational tools and regulation changes can protect children who are at risk from being harmed by this hazard. Currently, there is inadequate outreach to educate the general public about lead based paint. A questionnaire was provided to families that have children under the age of seven and that live in residences built prior to 1978. The research and questionnaires confirm that more education, as well as regulation changes, is needed to keep children safe from lead paint hazards.

Tipografia portuguesa do século XVII na Biblioteca da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa

Este projecto identifica os impressores portugueses do século XVII representados no fundo de livro antigo presente no acervo geral da Biblioteca da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, incluindo aqueles cujas oficinas de impressão não granjearam a glória da dinastia Craesbeeck, mas que, de igual modo, têm lugar cativo na história da tipografia portuguesa. Identificando-os, quantificando-os e enquadrando-os historicamente esperamos conseguir mostrar que não é apenas nas Bibliotecas Públicas com carácter patrimonial como a Biblioteca Nacional e a Biblioteca Municipal de Évora, que se encontram depositados testemunhos importantes para o estudo da tipografia portuguesa. Pretende-se mapear o fundo do século XVII, tentando, na medida do possível, reconstituir a sua história através das pistas deixadas nos exemplares que denotam a proveniência de colecções integradas e, através da análise dos dados disponíveis, contribuir para um melhor conhecimento da tipografia portuguesa do século XVII.

Os livros filosóficos inacabados de Pessoa. Problemas e critérios para a publicação dos escritos filosóficos de Pessoa

O presente artigo debate o alcance filosófico da obra de Fernando Pessoa. Com efeito, no espólio de Pessoa encontramos inúmeros projectos destinados a futuros livros, ensaios, pequenas produções e diálogos filosóficos. Assim, partindo de uma análise dos documentos, em grande parte inéditos, do espólio de Pessoa, pretende demonstrar-se que a dimensão filosófica da obra deste autor se estende muito além dos ecos de leituras filosóficas presentes na sua poesia e nas suas ficções.

How much did China’s WTO accession increase economic growth in resource-rich countries? CEPS Working Document No. 384, 3 October 2013

This Working Document provides an estimate of China’s impact on the growth rate of resource-rich countries since its WTO accession in December 2001. The authors’ empirical approach follows the logic of the differences-in-differences estimator. In addition to temporal variation arising from the WTO accession, which they argue was exogenous to other countries’ growth trajectories, the authors exploit spatial variation arising from differences in natural resource wealth. In this way they can compare changes in economic growth in the pre- and post-accession periods between countries that benefited from the surge in demand for industrial commodities brought about by China’s WTO accession and countries that were less able to do so. They find that that roughly one-tenth of the average annual post-accession growth in resource-rich countries was due to China’s increased appetite for commodities. The authors use this finding to inform the debate about what will happen to economic growth in resource-rich countries as China rebalances and its demand for commodities weakens.

Did the German court do Europe a favor? Bruegel Working Paper 2014/09, July 2014

The European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme was a politically-pragmatic tool to diffuse the euro-area crisis. But it did not deal with the fundamental incompleteness of the European monetary union. As such, it blurred the boundary between monetary and fiscal policy. The fuzziness of this boundary helped in the short-term but pushed political and economic risks to the future. Unless a credible commitment to enforcing losses on private creditors is instituted, these conundrums will persist. The German Federal Constitutional Court has helped by insisting that such a dialogue be conducted in order to achieve a more durable political and economic solution. A study of the European Union Court of Justice’s Pringle decision (Thomas Pringle v Government of Ireland, Ireland and The Attorney General, Case C-370/12, ECJ, 27 November 2012) suggests that the ECJ will also not rubber-stamp the OMT – and, if it does, the legal victory will not resolve the fundamental dilemmas.

How did Targeted Government Trade Policies Impact the Productivity of Manufacturing Firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia between 1995 and 2009? ACES Working Papers, 28 August 2012

This study investigates whether trade-related, targeted, government policies had an impact on the total factor productivity (TFP) of manufacturing firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA region) between 1995 and 2009. It does so by looking at how different types of primarily industry-specific trade policies (or their combinations) impacted firm productivity. The dependent variable is firm total factor productivity (TFP), calculated using the Levinsohn-Petrin approach. As an alternative measure of firm productivity, this study uses labor productivity. This study finds that, in most instances (10 out of 14 times), targeted policies do not show a significant impact on manufacturing firms’ TFP. Based on the analysis of 588 manufacturing firms in the ECA region, this study finds that, contrary to proponents of targeted policies, targeted trade-related government policies have a limited impact on the total factor productivity (TFP) in developing countries.

Did Egypt's Parliamentary Election just trump citizens’ rights? Arab Citizenship Review No. 12, 19 November 2015

Since the Muslim Brotherhood rule was toppled in July 2013, the regime of President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi has strived to consolidate his one-man rule; he painted the political opposition and civil society as traitors and foreign agents and exploited the fight against terrorism to suppress freedom of expression, justify a crackdown on the press, eclipse justice in courtrooms, throw thousands in prison, and tighten his grip on police forces. The regime has postponed parliamentary elections for some time, while it marginalised and weakened the non-Islamist political parties that helped Sisi take power. He did so by promoting electoral lists with candidates who are loyal to the president, to ensure control over the new assembly and by obstructing any political alliance that could form an opposition. At the same time, the security apparatus has been given free rein to control the public sphere and engineer the electoral process. This may ultimately lead to a parliament that includes no advocates for rights and liberties, which is particularly significant since the incoming assembly will review the huge amount of legislation that President Sisi has issued in the absence of a parliament. In addition, shortly before elections, President Sisi raised questions about the constitution, calling for it to be amended to reduce the powers of the parliament and increase those of the president. It is thus clear that Sisi seeks not only to consolidate his regime, without political opposition, but to free his rule of any effective oversight from society or parliament.

Did quantitative easing affect interest rates outside the US? New evidence based on interest rate differentials. CEPS Working Document No. 416/January 2016

This paper explores the effects of non-standard monetary policies on international yield relationships. Based on a descriptive analysis of international long-term yields, we find evidence that long-term rates followed a global downward trend prior to as well as during the financial crisis. Comparing interest rate developments in the US and the eurozone, it is difficult to detect a distinct impact of the first round of the Fed’s quantitative easing programme (QE1) on US interest rates for which the global environment – the global downward trend in interest rates – does not account. Motivated by these findings, we analyse the impact of the Fed’s QE1 programme on the stability of the US-euro long-term interest rate relationship by using a CVAR (cointegrated vector autoregressive) model and, in particular, recursive estimation methods. Using data gathered between 2002 and 2014, we find limited evidence that QE1 caused the break-up or destabilised the transatlantic interest rate relationship. Taking global interest rate developments into account, we thus find no significant evidence that QE had any independent, distinct impact on US interest rates.

(Re)Organização da área dos livros e incentivo à leitura na educação pré-escolar

O presente relatório apresenta a descrição e a reflexão da Prática e Intervenção Supervisionada do Mestrado em Educação Pré-escolar, cujo propósito foi (re)organizar a área dos livros e incentivar a leitura na Educação Pré-escolar. Este Projeto foi implementado na sala de atividades onde decorreu a nossa prática, tornando a área dos livros mais acolhedora e atrativa, para que as crianças se sentissem melhor no momento das suas leituras. Como ponto de partida deste Projeto foi fundamental ouvir as opiniões e ideias das crianças acerca da área dos livros da sala de atividades, para assim podermos responder melhor às suas necessidades e gostos. O Projeto seguiu a metodologia de investigação-ação em contexto educativo, que se caracterizou por momentos de observação, recolha, interpretação e análise de dados, que nos levaram aos resultados obtidos. Estes resultados mostram que a nossa principal intenção foi conseguida, uma vez que foram notórias as mudanças que ocorreram na sala de atividades, que proporcionaram um melhor ambiente para desenvolver o intelectual das crianças do grupo.