A Monetarist View

Friedman examines the quantity theory of money and the recent application of monetary policy in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In all three countries, the reduction of monetary growth has reduced inflation. In the United States, in 1983, the renewed expansion of the money supply raises the distinct possibility that inflation will resume in 1984 or 1985, according to the author.     

A Growth Theory for the Insurance Industry

Insurance economics models of statics and comparative statics assume that the process of economic adjustment must inevitably lead to equilibrium. The question of attainability of equilibrium has not been addressed so far. This is the domain of dynamic analysis. In this article, we develop a model of economic growth for the insurance industry. The production function of the insurance industry is based on the assumption that the output, "incurred losses," is a function of "invested assets" and "other labor and nonlabor inputs." The latter grow at the rate  n , a proxy of the growth rate of insurance expenses. The assets–inputs ratio,  r , characterizes the steady-state growth path that the insurance industry eventually attains. The adjustment process takes place through the assets–losses ratio,  v , which is affected by the insurance leverage, the loss ratio, and the insurance exposure of the insurance industry. An insurance industry that has reached a steady state will have its output growing at the rate  n  +π, where π is the growth rate of average productivity. The incremental reserve ratio,  s , determines definitely a steady-state growth path for the insurance industry. An increase or decrease in  s  may move the insurance industry to a higher or lower growth path. We suggest that this analysis provides a stronger theoretical context for analyzing dynamic phenomena in the insurance industry.     

Critical resource: An institutional economics of the Internet addressing-routing space

This paper links the analysis of IP address policy to the established vocabulary and concepts of institutional economics. Internet addressing and routing are usually discussed in technical terms, yet embedded in this highly technical discourse are a number of critical economic concepts, such as scarcity, externalities, common pool resources, tragedy of the commons, and conflict over the distribution of costs. To solve these problems, governance institutions native to the Internet have evolved. Yet despite the centrality of addressing and routing to Internet governance, there is very little research literature that bridges economic, institutional and technical discussions of IP addressing and routing. This paper connects the techno-economic discussion to analysis of institutions and governance arrangements.     

Hoarding behavior among consumers: Conceptualization and marketing implications

In the western world, and in the United States in particular, there has been an abundance of food, materials and fuel over the past several decades. However, many futurists suggest this condition will soon change and a wide range of scarcities will result. Conditions in underdeveloped countries suggest one probable reaction to shortages in hoarding. In light of the predicted shortages this paper (1) develops definition and conceptualization of what constitutes hoarding, and (2) examines the influence hoarding activities have on channel decisions. An overriding purpose of the paper is to generate interest and research into the topic before conditions necessitate that concern.