US Monetary and Fiscal Policies - Conflict or Cooperation?

Most of the literature estimating DSGE models for monetary policy analysis ignores fiscal policy and assumes that monetary policy follows a simple rule. In this paper we allow both fiscal and monetary policy to be described by rules and/or optimal policy which are subject to switches over time. We find that US monetary and fiscal policy have often been in conflict, and that it is relatively rare that we observe the benign policy combination of an conservative monetary policy paired with a debt stabilizing fiscal policy. In a series of counterfactuals, a conservative central bank following a time-consistent fiscal policy leader would come close to mimicking the cooperative Ramsey policy. However, if policy makers cannot credibly commit to such a regime, monetary accommodation of the prevailing fiscal regime may actually be welfare improving.

Private Governance of Financial Markets: the US Regulatory Regime on Hedge Funds

The article investigates the private governance of financial markets by looking at the evolution of the regulatory debate on hedge funds in the US market. It starts from the premise that the privatization of regulation is always the result of a political decision and analyzes how this decision came about and was implemented in the case of hedge funds. The starting point is the failure of two initiatives on hedge funds that US regulators launched between 1999 an 2004, which the analysis explains by elaborating the concept of self-capture. Facing a trade off between the need to tackle publicly demonized issues and the difficulty of monitoring increasingly sophisticated and powerful private markets, regulators purposefully designed initiatives that were not meant to succeed, that is, they “self-captured” their own activity. By formulating initiatives that were inherently flawed, regulators saved their public role and at the same time paved the way for the privatization of hedge fund regulation. This explanation identifies a link between the failure of public initiatives and the success of private ones. It illustrates a specific case of formation of private authority in financial markets that points to a more general practice emerging in the regulation of finance.

Keeping the leaves green above us.

The plant immune system relies to a great extent on the highly regulated expression of hundreds of defense genes encoding antimicrobial proteins, such as defensins, and antiherbivore proteins, such as lectins. The expression of many of these genes is controlled by a family of mediators known as jasmonates; these cyclic oxygenated fatty acid derivatives are reminiscent of prostaglandins. The roles of jasmonates also extend to the control of reproductive development. How are these complex events regulated? Nearly 20 members of the jasmonate family have been characterized. Some, like jasmonic acid, exist in unmodified forms, whereas others are conjugated to other lipids or to hydrophobic amino acids. Why do so many chemically different forms of these mediators exist, and do individual jasmonates have unique signaling properties or are they made to facilitate transport within and between cells? Key features of the jasmonate signal pathway have been identified and include the specific activation of E3-type ubiquitin ligases thought to target as-yet-undescribed transcriptional repressors for modification or destruction. Several classes of transcription factor are known to function in the jasmonate pathway, and, in some cases, these proteins provide nodes that integrate this network with other important defensive and developmental pathways. Progress in jasmonate research is now rapid, but large gaps in our knowledge exist. Aimed to keep pace with progress, the ensemble of jasmonate Connections Maps at the Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment describe (i) the canonical signaling pathway, (ii) the Arabidopsis signaling pathway, and (iii) the biogenesis and structures of the jasmonates themselves.

The Rank Lecture: Has imaging told us anything new about human visual organisation?

The functional architecture of the occipital cortex is being studied with increasing detail. Functional and structural MR based imaging are altering views about the organisation of the human visual system. Recent advances have ranged from comparative studies with non-human primates to predictive scanning. The latter multivariate technique describes with sub-voxel resolution patterns of activity that are characteristic of specific visual experiences. One can deduce what a subject experienced visually from the pattern of cortical activity recorded. The challenge for the future is to understand visual functions in terms of cerebral computations at a mesoscopic level of description and to relate this information to electrophysiology. The principal medical application of this new knowledge has focused to a large extent on plasticity and the capacity for functional reorganisation. Crossmodality visual-sensory interactions and cross-correlations between visual and other cerebral areas in the resting state are areas of considerable current interest. The lecture will review findings over the last two decades and reflect on possible roles for imaging studies in the future.

Policy Credibility and Delegation to Independent Regulatory Agencies: A Comparative Empirical Analysis

Independent regulatory agencies are one of the main institutional features of the 'rising regulatory state' in Western Europe. Governments are increasingly willing to abandon their regulatory competencies and to delegate them to specialized institutions that are at least partially beyond their control. This article examines the empirical consistency of one particular explanation of this phenomenon, namely the credibility hypothesis, claiming that governments delegate powers so as to enhance the credibility of their policies. Three observable implications are derived from the general hypothesis, linking credibility and delegation to veto players, complexity and interdependence. An independence index is developed to measure agency independence, which is then used in a multivariate analysis where the impact of credibility concerns on delegation is tested. The analysis relies on an original data set comprising independence scores for thirty-three regulators. Results show that the credibility hypothesis can explain a good deal of the variation in delegation. The economic nature of regulation is a strong determinant of agency independence, but is mediated by national institutions in the form of veto players.

Men and Domestic Violence: What research tells us

Men and Domestic Violence: What research tells us In late 2000, the Department of Health and Children, in conjunction with the North Eastern Health Board, commissioned Kieran McKeown Limited, Social and Economic Consultants to prepare a literature review of research carried out in other jurisdictions Click here to download PDF 578kb Background Note PDF 10kb Peer Review 1 PDF 21kb Peer Review 2 PDF 17kb

Men and Domestic Violence: What research tells us

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Help us to prevent infections spreading

This leaflet is part of an extension of the cleanyourhands campaign, aimed at preventing the spread of healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) in community healthcare settings including primary care and dental services, residential and nursing homes (including independent sector homes), hospices and independent clinics/hospitals. It is designed to heighten awareness in patient/relative waiting areas of how healthcare staff can help protect patients from avoidable infections by cleaning their hands using proper techniques. Due to licensing restrictions, this leaflet is not available for download. Limited numbers are available from local HSC Trusts (Belfast HSCT and South Eastern HSCT on 028 9056 5862; Southern HSCT on 028 3741 2887; Northern HSCT on 028 2563 5575; Western HSCT on 028 7186 5127).

Breastfeeding - good for both of us

This poster promotes breastfeeding and highlights the fact that it has health benefits for both mother and baby. It also provides contact details of local organisations that can offer help and advice on breastfeeding.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Brazilian subtype B variant showed an increasing avidity of the anti-V3 antibodies over time compared to the subtype B US/European strain in São Paulo, Brazil

The Brazilian variant of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype B, (serotype B"-GWGR), has a tryptophan replacing the proline in position 328 the HIV-1 envelope. A longer median time period from infection to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) for serotype B (B"-GWGR) infected subjects compared to the B-GPGR US/European strain was reported. In a cohort study, in São Paulo city, 10 B"-GWGR patients had a statistically significant increased avidity of the anti-V3 antibodies, from 79% ± 33% to 85% ± 75%, versus from 48% ± 59% to 32% ± 17% for the 10 B-GPGR subjects (p = 0.02). The T CD4+ cells showed a mean increase of + 0.45 cells/month for the B-GPGR subjects and for B"-GWGR the slope was + 1.24 cells/month (p = 0.06), for 62 and 55 months of follow up, respectively. RNA plasma viral load decreased from 3.98 ± 1.75 to 2.16 ± 1.54 log10 in the B"-GWGR group while B-GPGR patients showed one log10 reduction in viral load from 4.09 ± 0.38 to 3.17 ± 1.47 log10 over time (p = 0.23), with a decreasing slope of 0.0042 ± log10,/month and 0.0080 ± log10/month, for B-GPGR and B"-GWGR patients, respectively (p = 0.53). Neither group presented any AIDS defining events during the study, according to Center for Diseases Control criteria. Although the sample size is small, these results may indicate that differences in the pathogenicity of the 2 HIV-1 B serotypes which co-circulate in Brazil may be correlated to the avidity of anti-V3 antibodies.