Long-range agricultural policy and program. Report of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, pursuant to S. Res. 147, authorizing a study of agricultural legislation, and of trends, needs and problems of agriculture. Summary of the hearings held by the Subcommittee ... and a statement of a long-range policy and program for American agriculture.

Mode of access: Internet.

Rangeland reform '94 : draft environmental impact statement : executive summary /

"This document summarizes the impacts of five management alternatives and seven alternative fee formulas analyzed in the Draft EIS, including a summary of impacts"--Transmittal letter.

Rangeland management : BLM's hot desert grazing program merits reconsideration : report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives /

"B-245031"--P. [1].

Long-range agricultural policy.

Mode of access: Internet.

Long-range agricultural policy.

pt.1.April 21-23, 1947.--pt.2.April 25,26,29.--pt.3.May 3,6,7,8,29,1947.--pt.4.June 3,4,7,11, July 15,17.--pt.5.Oct.9,10,1947.--pt.6.October 13, 1947.--pt.7.Oct.15, 1947.--pt.8.Oct.17 1947.--pt.9.Oct.20, 1947.--pt.10.Oct.24 1947.--pt.11.Oct.27,1947.--pt.12.Oct.29, 1947.--pt.13.Nov.1, 1947.--pt.14.Jan.13-16,19,20-22, 1948.--pt.15.Statements filed for the record.

A sociolinguistic approach to applied epistemology: Examining technocratic values in global 'knowledge' policy

This special issue presents an excellent opportunity to study applied epistemology in public policy. This is an important task because the arena of public policy is the social domain in which macro conditions for ‘knowledge work’ and ‘knowledge industries’ are defined and created. We argue that knowledge-related public policy has become overly concerned with creating the politico-economic parameters for the commodification of knowledge. Our policy scope is broader than that of Fuller (1988), who emphasizes the need for a social epistemology of science policy. We extend our focus to a range of policy documents that include communications, science, education and innovation policy (collectively called knowledge-related public policy in acknowledgement of the fact that there is no defined policy silo called ‘knowledge policy’), all of which are central to policy concerned with the ‘knowledge economy’ (Rooney and Mandeville, 1998). However, what we will show here is that, as Fuller (1995) argues, ‘knowledge societies’ are not industrial societies permeated by knowledge, but that knowledge societies are permeated by industrial values. Our analysis is informed by an autopoietic perspective. Methodologically, we approach it from a sociolinguistic position that acknowledges the centrality of language to human societies (Graham, 2000). Here, what we call ‘knowledge’ is posited as a social and cognitive relationship between persons operating on and within multiple social and non-social (or, crudely, ‘physical’) environments. Moreover, knowing, we argue, is a sociolinguistically constituted process. Further, we emphasize that the evaluative dimension of language is most salient for analysing contemporary policy discourses about the commercialization of epistemology (Graham, in press). Finally, we provide a discourse analysis of a sample of exemplary texts drawn from a 1.3 million-word corpus of knowledge-related public policy documents that we compiled from local, state, national and supranational legislatures throughout the industrialized world. Our analysis exemplifies a propensity in policy for resorting to technocratic, instrumentalist and anti-intellectual views of knowledge in policy. We argue that what underpins these patterns is a commodity-based conceptualization of knowledge, which is underpinned by an axiology of narrowly economic imperatives at odds with the very nature of knowledge. The commodity view of knowledge, therefore, is flawed in its ignorance of the social systemic properties of ��knowing’.

Macroeconomic impacts of politics and policy: Applications to financial and real markets

A PhD Dissertation, presented as part of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the NOVA - School of Business and Economics

An Empirical Assessment of Optimal Monetary Policy Delegation in the Euro Area

We estimate a New Keynesian DSGE model for the Euro area under alternative descriptions of monetary policy (discretion, commitment or a simple rule) after allowing for Markov switching in policy maker preferences and shock volatilities. This reveals that there have been several changes in Euro area policy making, with a strengthening of the anti-inflation stance in the early years of the ERM, which was then lost around the time of German reunification and only recovered following the turnoil in the ERM in 1992. The ECB does not appear to have been as conservative as aggregate Euro-area policy was under Bundesbank leadership, and its response to the financial crisis has been muted. The estimates also suggest that the most appropriate description of policy is that of discretion, with no evidence of commitment in the Euro-area. As a result although both ‘good luck’ and ‘good policy’ played a role in the moderation of inflation and output volatility in the Euro-area, the welfare gains would have been substantially higher had policy makers been able to commit. We consider a range of delegation schemes as devices to improve upon the discretionary outcome, and conclude that price level targeting would have achieved welfare levels close to those attained under commitment, even after accounting for the existence of the Zero Lower Bound on nominal interest rates.

An Empirical Assessment of Optimal Monetary Policy Delegation in the Euro Area

We estimate a New Keynesian DSGE model for the Euro area under alternative descriptions of monetary policy (discretion, commitment or a simple rule) after allowing for Markov switching in policy maker preferences and shock volatilities. This reveals that there have been several changes in Euro area policy making, with a strengthening of the anti-inflation stance in the early years of the ERM, which was then lost around the time of German reunification and only recovered following the turnoil in the ERM in 1992. The ECB does not appear to have been as conservative as aggregate Euro-area policy was under Bundesbank leadership, and its response to the financial crisis has been muted. The estimates also suggest that the most appropriate description of policy is that of discretion, with no evidence of commitment in the Euro-area. As a result although both ‘good luck’ and ‘good policy’ played a role in the moderation of inflation and output volatility in the Euro-area, the welfare gains would have been substantially higher had policy makers been able to commit. We consider a range of delegation schemes as devices to improve upon the discretionary outcome, and conclude that price level targeting would have achieved welfare levels close to those attained under commitment, even after accounting for the existence of the Zero Lower Bound on nominal interest rates.

Monetary policy strategies, financial institutions and financial markets in the Middle East and North Africa: an overview

Three polar types of monetary architecture are identified together with the institutional and market infrastructure required for each type and the kinds of monetary policy feasible in each case: a ‘basic’ architecture where there is little or no financial system as such but an elementary central bank which is able to fix the exchange rate, as a substitute for a proper monetary policy; a ‘modern’ monetary architecture with developed banks, financial markets and central bank where policy choices include types of inflation targeting; and an ‘intermediate’ monetary architecture where less market-based monetary policies involving less discretion are feasible. A range of data is used to locate the various MENA countries with respect to these polar types. Five countries (Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) are identified as those with the least developed monetary architecture, while Bahrain and Jordan are identified as the group at the other end of the spectrum, reaching beyond the intermediate polar type in some dimensions but not others. The countries in between vary on different dimensions but all lie between basic and intermediate architectures. The key general findings are that the MENA countries are both less differentiated and less ‘developed’ than might have been expected. The paper ends by calling for research on the costs and benefits of different types of monetary architecture.

IPH response to Department of Environment (NI) Planning Policy Statement 7

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) aims to improve health on the island of Ireland by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health.  The Institute promotes cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in public health research, training and policy advice. IPH acknowledge that health is influenced by a wide range of social determinants, including economic, environmental, social and biological factors.  Housing and residential areas are identified as key determinants of health and IPH welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Department of the Environment (DoE), Draft Addendum to Planning Policy Statement 7.

IPH Response to Draft planning policy statement 18 Renewable energy - March 2008

IPH welcomes the Planning Policy Statement 18 Renewable Energy (PPS18) and the opportunity to comment on the publication.  IPH applies a holistic model of health which emphasises a wide range of social determinants, including economic, environmental, social and biological factors. IPH considers that the health impacts of renewable energy should be considered as part of PPS18. We wish to make the following general observations in relation to the Proposed Plan:  IPH welcomes the sustainable approach by the Department of the Environment to encourage and facilitate the provision of renewal energy in Northern Ireland. PPS18 can support the move to reduce pollutants entering the environment. However there is a need to consider wider public health concerns in the adoption of PPS18. Encouraging renewable energy (while balancing this with environmental and conservation concerns) will benefit health locally, and on a global scale. Climate change has been identified as one of the most important public health challenges of the 21st Century and therefore any policy which seeks to address this major issue is welcomed.

National men’s health policy consultation response

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland aims to improve health in Ireland, North and South, by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health. The Institute’s work is based on the premise that improving health and reducing health inequalities will be best achieved through taking a broad determinants of health perspective. It applies a holistic model of health which emphasises a wide range of determinants on health including social, economic, environmental and biological factors. The Institute also recognises the importance of accessible, effective and efficient health and social services in determining health and the quality of life experienced by people. The Institute of Public Health welcomes the consultation process undertaken by the Department of Health and Children on a National Men’s Health Policy. In our response we focus on how inequality impacts on Irish men’s lives and how, as a consequence, ways to combat inequalities need to be at the heart of a health strategy for men

A Policy to Make Best Use of Resources in Plastic Surgery and Related Specialties (PDF 178 KB)

The purpose of this policy is to introduce a transparent approach to making best use of resources in plastic surgery and related specialties. It was finalised after a formal Public Consultation that included distribution of the Consultation Document to a range of organisations and individuals, meetings with Board representatives as requested and press releases in local and regional media outlets. All responses to the Consultation were considered carefully in developing this final policy. åÊ åÊ