IT IS TIME TO RECONSIDER UK GAMBLING POLICY

Today's irrational regulatory restrictions on the development of full‐scale, destination‐resort casinos are inconsistent with the UK's laissez‐faire attitude towards business in general, hinder growth in a faltering economy and infringe basic civil liberties.     

PRICE EFFECTS OF SHOPPING HOURS REGULATION: EVIDENCE FROM GERMANY

This article investigates the price effects of shopping hours legislation in order to evaluate empirically the theoretical argument that such regulations protect consumers from price increases. The paper first provides a review of the literature; it then analyses the data prior to and following the liberalisation of German shopping hours regulations in 2006 and 2007 in order to estimate the effects of these changes. The article finds that liberalisation resulted in a fall in prices. This conclusion adds to a growing body of literature suggesting that shopping hours regulations entail significant economic costs.     

PRIVATIZATION AND EFFICIENCY: FROM PRINCIPALS AND AGENTS TO POLITICAL ECONOMY

Abstract.  We survey the theoretical literature on privatization and efficiency by tracing its evolution from the applications of agency theory to recent contributions in the field of political economy. The former extend the theory of regulation with incomplete information to address privatization issues, comparing state-owned enterprises with private regulated firms. The benefits of privatization may derive either from the constraints it places on malevolent agents or from the impossibility of commitment by a benevolent government because of incomplete contracts. Contributions dealing with political economy issues separate privatization from restructuring decisions. They either explore bargaining between managers and politicians or analyse the impact of privatization shaped by political preferences on efficiency. The theoretical results regarding the relation between privatization and efficiency do not lead to any definitive conclusion. Privatization may increase productive efficiency when restructuring takes place whereas its effects on allocative efficiency still remain uncertain.     

CLASSIFYING MONETARY ECONOMICS: FIELDS AND METHODS FROM PAST TO FUTURE

Abstract We propose a simple, yet sufficiently encompassing, classification scheme of monetary economics. It comprises three fundamental fields and six recent areas that expand within and across these fields. The elements of our scheme are not found together and in their mutual relationships in earlier studies of the relevant literature; neither does this attempt aim to produce a relatively complete systematization. Our intention in taking stock is not finality or exhaustiveness. We rather suggest a viewpoint and a possible ordering of the accumulating knowledge. Our purpose is to promote discussion on the evolving nature and internal consistency of monetary economics at large.     

PRESCRIPTION FOR CONFLICT: WHY THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND THE ANTI‐TOBACCO MOVEMENT IS NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF SMOKERS

Large pharmaceutical companies are major funders of anti‐smoking lobby groups. The same firms manufacture the products used in Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and stand to gain when governments recommend this approach to smoking cessation. There is growing evidence, however, that NRT is less effective than ‘cold turkey’ methods, and, indeed, that it has a number of harmful side effects. Its continued promotion, together with counterproductive anti‐smoking measures, raises serious questions about the influence of special interests over tobacco policy.