A Test of U. S. National Economic Policy in the Post-World War II Period

Abstract . This inquiry is an effort to evaluate the macroeconomic performance of the United States economy in the period after the close of World War II in terms of the macroeconomic goals to which national economic policy supposedly had been directed. That is, whether policy achieved full employment, price stability or an adequate rate of growth. Insofar as key indicators can be used as a basis for judgment—and there is, as yet, no scientific basis for measuring how far that reliance can be chanced—it would appear that policy was least successful in attaining full employment with price stability, or full employment, or price stability. In certain infrequent periods, growth seems to have occurred. But was its rate “adequate?” And did it result from policy? Analysis by key indicators may not tell us much, if anything; but it helps to delineate an approach toward policy-monitoring researchers need to cultivate.     

Corporate Power and Expansive U.S. Military Policy

Military defense is generally treated in economics texts as a “public good” because the benefits are presumed to be shared by all citizens. However, defense spending by the United States cannot legitimately be classified as a public good, since the primary purpose of those expenditures has been to project power in support of private business interests. Throughout the course of the 20^th century, U.S. military spending has been largely devoted to protecting the overseas assets of multinational corporations that are based in the United States or allied nations. Companies extracting oil, mineral ores, timber, and other raw materials are the primary beneficiaries. The U.S. military provides its services by supporting compliant political leaders in developing countries and by punishing or deposing regimes that threaten the interests of U.S.‐based corporations. The companies involved in this process generally have invested only a small amount of their own capital. Instead, the value of their overseas assets largely derives from the appreciation of oil and other raw materials in situ. Companies bought resource‐rich lands cheaply, as early as the 1930s or 1940s, and then waited for decades to develop them. In order to make a profit on this long‐range strategy, they formed cartels to limit global supply and relied on the U.S. military to help them maintain secure title over a period of decades. Those operations have required suppressing democratic impulses in dozens of nations. The global “sprawl” of extractive companies has been the catalyst of U.S. foreign policy for the past century. The U.S. Department of Defense provides a giant subsidy to companies operating overseas, and the cost is borne by the taxpayers of the United States, not by the corporate beneficiaries. Defining military spending as a “public good” has been a mistake with global ramifications, leading to patriotic support for imperialist behavior.     

Japanese Equity Market Response to U.S. Administered Protection Decisions

The standard capital market event study is used to measure Japanese firm-specific effects resulting from action taken by the US in response to alleged dumping of Japanese imports in US markets. Empirical findings are that winners and losers in the process differ predictably from each other and from the market in the way that Japanese investors view them, with differences being most pronounced at the petition filing date and the final stages of both the ITC and Department of Commerce decisions. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Examination of Proposals for a U.S. Industrial Policy

Abstract . An “industrial policy” for the U.S. appears from the writings and statements of its advocates to involve modification of federal tax laws and expenditures to allow a largely unchanged set of business institutions to better serve the public interest. It employs planning but it is planning of the sort the U.S. has always had. Those who oppose all government activity in the private sector oppose it, not realizing that the anti-trust laws, for example, do not interfere with the economy's operation but aid it to function beneficently. It is those whose activities are anti social who are loudest in their demands for business “freedom.” Does the U.S. need a more efficient economic system? Intercountry comparisons show that in many areas it lags. To achieve stability of income and employment as well as productive efficiency, the U.S. has many policy options it can consider—and it must.     

U.S. Strategic Trade Policy and the Competitiveness of the U.S. Construction Industry in Developing Country Markets

SUMMARY

U.S. government trade policy increasingly reflects “strategic trade” beliefs that, because competition in markets is imperfect, governments can act strategically to affect trade flows and enhance national welfare. The U.S. National Export Strategy targets the infrastructure sector in twelve developing countries as a strategic opportunity for U.S. construction firms. This paper examines whether U.S. government export promotion initiatives effectively implement strategic trade policy by providing appropriate support to these firms in that target market. It concludes that, within limits, they do.     

政府机构节能内涵、机理与政策措施建议

政府机构节能是全社会降低能源消耗、提高能源效率的关键环节。文章系统地分析了政府机构节能的内涵、机理,探讨了政府机构节能政策的适应性,有针对性地提出了我国政府机构节能的管理运行框架体系和政策措施建议。     

充分运用行政和市场手段实现节能降耗根本性突破

节能降耗是科学发展观的本质要求,是降低能源资源需求最廉价、最快捷、最有效的!!途径。节能降耗既要靠行政手段,也要靠市场手段。行政手段明确导向,市场手段因势利导,应将!!两者有机结合起来,双管齐下,把强化政府责任作为实现节能降耗和污染减排目标的关键环节,!把完善市场调节机制作为基本手段,建立长效机制,以取得根本性的突破。     

美军军事物流系统组织机构与职能探析

重点介绍了美军军事物流系统中采购环节、储存环节、运输与配送环节的机构设置和职能,以及各环节主要业务内容,以期对我军军事物流建设有所借鉴.     

美军军事物流系统组织机构与职能探析

重点介绍了美军军事物流系统中采购环节、储存环节、运输与配送环节的机构设置和职能,以及各环节主要业务内容,以期对我军军事物流建设有所借鉴。     

U.S. Competitive Position and Capital Investment Flows in the Economic Citizen Market:

ABSTRACT Many countries hail economic citizenship as the new mechanism for encouraging capital mobility and economic development. Economic citizenship is the process of granting citizenship or residency to foreign individuals who have investment capital that will create jobs for citizens in the immigrant receiving country. Many developing and developed countries, including the Commonwealth of Dominica and Belize, Canada, Australia, and the United States, have embraced this concept with hopes of massive capital inflows to their countries. While this investment measure has been successful in a few countries, the U.S. has only been able to attract less than 10% annually of the targeted number of investors through this strategy. The U.S. has been further from its targeted annual allocation of visas than Dominica and Canada. The Economic Citizenship Program has less potential of affecting a small nation's levels of investment than a large one's. A number of socio-political and economic reasons, including program cost and social adjustment, cause a slow influx of new immigrants and investments to the U.S.     

The Market Perception of Convertible Debt Versus Straight Debt: some Empirical Evidence from U.S. Firms and Non-U.S. Firms Listed in the U.S.

Accounting for convertible debt has long been a source of controversy in the accounting profession in the U.S. Current U.S. accounting rules require classifying convertible debt at date of issuance as entirely debt until conversion, despite numerous studies that assert that convertible debt is not entirely debt, but is a blend of debt and equity. Convertible debt has taken on international interest because of the issuance of International Accounting Standard (IAS) 32, Financial Instruments; Disclosure and Presentation, which prescribes reporting separate debt and equity components for convertible debt. This study examines convertible debt issued by U.S. firms and non-U.S. firms listed in the U.S. using a levels approach. Specifically, convertible debt is compared to straight debt and contrary to ex ante expectation, convertible debt was not found to be perceived as being significantly different than straight debt for U.S. firms for any years and is statistically different in only two of the six years tested for non-U.S. firms. The validity of this study's findings is underscored by its research design, which compares convertible debt and straight debt issued by the same firms. The findings suggest that investors regard reported amounts of convertible debt similar to straight debt in their assessment of firm value.     

基于社区模式的美国养老地产发展研究与启示

人口老龄化已成为发达国家和发展中国家急需应对的现实挑战,各国养老地产的发展也随之受到广泛的关注。聚焦美国养老地产,分析其发展动因,研究其社区发展模式,总结其服务体系、融资渠道、运营管理和地域分布演化,为我国养老地产的发展提供理论指导,同时,为政府、企业、社会团体等养老事业参与者提供思路和借鉴。     

The Politics of Municipal Employment Policy: A Comparative Study of U.S. Cities

A bstract . Municipal employment policy has been partially ignored in urban research , perhaps because of the implicit assumption that employment policy parallels expenditure and taxation policy. However, a strong relationship is found between municipal employment levels and the specified socioeconomic environment. Relationships between that environment and employment policy deviate considerably from expenditure policy. Expenditure policy analysis suggests hypotheses, but does not accurately predict the relative strength of association. Although expenditure policy is more directly related to municipal economic environment, public employment policy is related to the sociopolitical environment.     

Monetary Policy Indeterminacy and Identification Failures in the U.S.: Results from A Robust Test

We propose a novel identification‐robust test for the null hypothesis that an estimated New Keynesian model has a reduced form consistent with the unique stable solution against the alternative of sunspot‐driven multiple equilibria. Our strategy is designed to handle identification failures as well as the misspecification of the relevant propagation mechanisms. We invert a likelihood ratio test for the cross‐equation restrictions (CER) that the New Keynesian system places on its reduced‐form solution under determinacy. If the CER are not rejected, sunspot‐driven expectations can be ruled out from the model equilibrium and we accept the structural model. Otherwise, we move to a second‐step and invert an Anderson and Rubin‐type test for the orthogonality restrictions (OR) implied by the system of structural Euler equations. The hypothesis of indeterminacy and the structural model are accepted if the OR are not rejected. We investigate the finite‐sample performance of the suggested identification‐robust two‐step testing strategy by some Monte Carlo experiments and then apply it to a New Keynesian AD/AS model estimated with actual US data. In spite of some evidence of weak identification as for the ‘Great Moderation’ period, our results offer formal support to the hypothesis of a switch from indeterminacy to a scenario consistent with uniqueness occurring in the late 1970s. Our identification‐robust full‐information confidence set for the structural parameters computed on the ‘Great Moderation’ regime turns out to be more precise than the intervals previously reported in the literature through ‘limited‐information’ methods. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国四万亿救市计划与美国七千亿救市计划的比较

一、时事背景与国际反响在世界金融危机日趋严峻的背景下,中国政府为抵御国际经济环境的不利影响,近日出台了约4万亿元人民币的经济刺激方案。国际社会对此纷纷给予积极评价,认为中国推出的救市计划既可以拉动内需,还有助于平衡全球经济增长,达到了内外兼顾、多方共赢的效果。