Housing markets and the economy: the assessment

Housing markets have multiple interactions with the rest ofthe economy and these are surveyed in this paper. The driversof house prices include income, the housing stock, demography,credit availability, interest rates, and lagged appreciation,the latter a potential mechanism for overshooting. There israther less agreement on the determinants of new construction,though planning constraints are widely seen as a major issueand one of the causes of the UK housing affordability problem.The paper argues that housing collateral and downpayment constraintsare the key to understanding the role of house-price variationsin explaining medium-term consumption fluctuations. Institutionalvariations between countries and over time account for majordifferences in linkages between house prices and economic activity.This illuminates debates about how monetary and other policyshould react to house-price variations. The paper also discussesthe role of housing markets in explaining regional migrationand location decisions, intergenerational inequality, and restrictingaccess of the less affluent to public goods, such as good schools,which are capitalized in local house prices.     

Between the gift and the market: the economy of regard

'The great transformation' from customary exchange to impersonal markets is incomplete. Reciprocal exchange pervades modern societies. It takes the form of 'gifts', reciprocated without certainty. Reciprocity is driven by the pursuit of 'regard'. Money is avoided in regard exchanges, because it is impersonal. Instead, regard signals are embodied in goods, in services, or in time (attention). The personalization of gifts authenticates the signal. Reciprocal exchange persists in family formation, in intergenerational transfers, in labour markets, in agriculture, the professions, in marketing, entrepreneurship, and also in corruption and crime. Reciprocal exchange is constrained by time and psychic energy, but is likely to persist as a preferred source of regard.     

Monetarism: The issues and the outcome

The paper surveys some main issues in the monetarist-Keynesian debate of the 1960s and 1970s and the outcome of the debate. The debate was not static; the issues changed. At first Keynesians argued that money was largely irrelevant for output and the price level. By the end of the 1970s, issues such as neutrality, the natural rate, and the effect of inflation on nominal interest rates had been settled. Principal remaining issues were the use of money growth as a target, instrument, or indicator of monetary policy and reliance on rules. The paper sketches some of the progress on rules versus discretion in the past 20 years but focuses mostly on the role of money. Some evidence is presented for the U.S. supporting the monetarist position that control of money is useful in a medium-term or rule-based policy to control inflation as now advocated by several central banks.Distinguished Address presented at the Forty-Fourth International Atlantic Economic Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 9–12, 1997. Thanks to Bennett T. McCallum and Robert H. Rasche for helpful comments and to Randolph Stempski for excellent assistance.     

Jobs and the Future of the US Economy: Possibilities and Limits

This paper reviews the presentations and discussions had at the conference on ??Jobs And The Future of the US Economy: Possibilities and Limits?? held at Howard University shortly after the late 2000??s financial crisis. The paper begins with the historical context in which the conference was placed and reviews the various points made by topic. The paper concludes with an outline of potential alternative eventualities facing the economy were the US not to adopt the policies presented.     

Welfare Reform and the Race to the Bottom: Theory and Evidence

Economists have argued that welfare migration leads to a race to the bottom in the choice of welfare benefits. Although a system of federal matching grants can remedy this problem, the recent welfare reform law replaced the existing matching-grant structure with block grants, a policy change that appears undesirable. To judge whether this critique of welfare reform is justified, this paper evaluates the evidence in favor of a race to the bottom. After explaining the theoretical effects of welfare migration, the paper surveys the empirical evidence on the occurrence of such migration, concluding that the evidence is mixed. The discussion also considers recent empirical tests for strategic interaction, which show that benefit levels in nearby states affect a given state's benefit choice. The most plausible source of such interaction is a concern about welfare migration, which leads policymakers to look at benefits in neighboring states when making their own choices. Judging that the evidence appears consistent with the existence of a race to the bottom, the paper concludes that the demise of matching grants may be undesirable from a policy perspective.     

Pakistan and the socialist countries: Trade and aid

The economic relations between Pakistan and the socialist countries are examined against their political background. The sharp deterioration in Pakistan's political relations with the socialist countries in the 1950s was accompanied by a contraction in trade, which had almost been a one-way flow until the early 1960s, consisting of Pakistan's exports. The political rapprochement with the socialist countries following the 1962 Sino-Indian clash coincided with a tremendous spurt in trade, largely under the aegis of barter trade agreements. Trade turnover increased fivefold in the sixties and Pakistan became a recipient of socialist aid. An examination of the structure of trade reveals that Pakistan's exports to the socialist countries diversified considerably less than total exports, but that the terms of trade were more favourable. The quantity, kinds, and sources of socialist aid are also examined.     

洞穴探险的神秘与挑战

洞穴风光、洞穴生物、以及与洞穴密切相关的种种传说,使洞穴相比普通的地表景观而言,更具独特的魅力。     

国企改革与国企的核心竞争力

企业家是各种经济活动中最关键的主体性因素。本文从企业家职能的角度,按古典经济学、非主流经济学、主流经济学三条理论主线探讨了企业家理论的演进与发展。并指出,在主流经济学中,对企业家职能的研究经历了一个肯定、否定、否定之否定的螺旋式上升过程。     

郑璇:穿行有声无声

除了左耳上戴着不易看见的助听器,33岁的郑璇看起来跟健全人无异.她年轻,阳光,知性. 两岁半就因药物失聪的郑璇是一名聋人,可她比更多健全的“听人”更优秀.她身上有着多个标签:聋人、中国第一个聋人博士、公益舞者、新晋母亲……现在,她又添了一个新标签:手语研究者和宣传者. 从小失聪,郑璇经历过比“听人”更多的艰辛和孤独.失聪后,她的家人每天对着郑璇的耳朵“喊”话,用声音激活她的残余听力,还花光积蓄买来助听器和双卡收录机,让她学习说话.为了说出一个“菜”字,郑璇要足足练习几个月.     

李雪芮:邻家小妹与奥运冠军

2015年4月9日晚,24岁的李雪芮说了一句很“重庆”的话:“我要做一个有梦想有追求的重庆人,用我的名字书写这座城市的骄傲,铸就这座城市的荣光.重庆,雄起.” 那一天,她专程从北京飞回重庆,参加2012-2014年度“富民兴渝贡献奖”颁奖典礼. 羽毛球女单奥运冠军.谨此一项,足以让李雪芮的名字传遍世界. 其实,李雪芮更喜欢大家把她当做普通的邻家女孩.     

"全球国际收支失衡:亚洲和欧洲的观点"综述

全球国际收支失衡是一个在世界范围内引起广泛关注的话题,其对世界经济和各国经济的发展均将带来深远影响.作为影响未来全球经济和中国经济最大变数的国际收支失衡是如何产生的?日益严重的失衡将给全球经济和世界各国带来怎样的风险?它在世界各国引发了什么样的矛盾和冲突?全球国际收支失衡是否可持续?各国如何看待全球失衡?各国应如何制定相应的政策以解决全球国际收支失衡?全球国际收支失衡如果发生无序、紊乱的调整,会给各国带来什么样的负面影响?处于全球经济失衡格局中的中国经济运行将面临怎样的挑战?应当采取什么对策?在2∞6年7月13-14日召开的"全球国际收支失衡:亚洲和欧洲的观点"国际研讨会上,与会中外学者纷纷从各自角度出发,对上述问题展开了分析和讨论.     

Growth and recession in the fifteenth-century economy: the Wiltshire textile industry and the countryside

This study explores regional and chronological variations within the later medieval economy. In the later fourteenth century, the cloth industry grew rapidly in Salisbury and neighbouring Somerset, where it was beginning to break out from an urban core. In the first half of the fifteenth century it grew rapidly in west Wiltshire, until hit by the great slump from c.1450, and revived in the later part of the century. Industrial growth and recession affected the agricultural hinterland, where farming and the demand for land became dependent on the demands of a flourishing industry.     

Forestry and the environment in China: the current situation and strategic choices

Although China has recently expanded its forest area and inventory, it is still facing a severe resource crisis, featuring high demands for wood products and environmental services, a rapid depletion of natural forests, and poor quality of man-made forests. After analyzing the current situation, a new development strategy is presented for China's forestry in this paper. According to this efficiency-based forestry division strategy, three interrelated types of forestry will emerge through more efficient management in the next 30 years: a strong commercial forestry sector including intensive forest plantations and an integrated processing industry, a well-established environmental forestry sector, and an extensive multiple-use forestry sector. Various policy changes for this new strategy are discussed.     

Nanotechnology and the new technological revolution: Expectations and reality

This paper reviews the existing mechanisms of innovative development in the world economy focusing on emerging technologies markets evolution on the example of nanotechnology. The question has been raised of whether nanotechnologies can provide the core of the new technological revolution, and whether these prospects exist for NBIC convergence. In this connection the development of the global market for nano-enabled products following the 2007–2009 crisis and the reliability of the related development forecasts have been assessed. Particular attention has been paid to peculiarities of nanoenabled product market structure and the impact of stagnating R&D costs in the field of nanotechnology.