Francisco Pereira de Moura, (1925–1998)

A bstract . The Portuguese economist Francisco Pereira de Moura passed away on April 4, 199B. During the late 1960s and well on into the 1970s, Moura gained international fame when he stood with the students against the repressive fascist regime in Portugal. After the fall of the dictatorship on April 25, 1974, he returned to Portugal's celebrated Superior Institute of Economic and Financial Sciences (ISEG) to carry on the work of curriculum reform. In the essay that follows he is remembered by one of his most distinguished students who now serves as a Professor of Economics at the ISEG.     

An assessment of another decade of capital controls in Colombia: 1998–2008

We explore the effectiveness of capital controls in Colombia. We analyze the impact of administrative restrictions to capital flows on aggregate capital flows, the composition of capital flows, the real exchange rate, and economic activity using restricted versions of vector error correction models (VEC) that control for exogenous global financial conditions. The models are estimated using monthly data ranging from August of 1998 to May of 2008. In addition we estimate GARCH models to identify if capital controls have had relevant impacts on the volatility of the nominal exchange rate and of other relevant asset prices. These models are estimated using weekly data covering the same time period. Results suggest that the capital controls used since 1998 have been ineffective in reducing capital flows and the trend of the Colombian peso to appreciate. In addition there is no evidence suggesting a change in the composition of capital flows induced by capital controls. We find some evidence in favor of capital controls reducing nominal exchange rate volatility at high frequencies.     

Brain drain and institutions of governance: Educational attainment of immigrants to the US 1988–1998

We investigate the impact of home country institutions on the skill level of immigrants to the United States over 1988–1998. Specifically, we explore the hypothesis that institutions are multidimensional and that the different dimensions have conflicting impacts on the migration of skilled labor. Using an exploratory factor analysis on fifteen institutional variables, we identify the following dimensions of institutional character: credibility, transparency, democracy, and the security of civil society. We find that credibility and transparency increase the magnitude of brain drain, security reduces it, and democracy has no significant impact.     

House Prices and Housing Investment in Sweden and the UK: Econometric Analysis for the Period 1970–1998

We estimate quarterly dynamic housing demand and investment supply models for Sweden and the UK for the sample period 1970–1998, using an Error Correction Method (ECM). To facilitate comparisons of results between Sweden and the UK we model both countries identically with approximately almost the similar type of exogenous variables. The long–run income elasticities for Sweden and the UK are constrained to be 1.0, respectively. The long–run semi–elasticity for interest rates are 2.1 and 0.9 for Sweden and the UK. The speed of adjustment on the demand side is 0.12 and 0.23, while on the supply side it is 0.06 and 0.48 for Sweden and the UK, respectively. Granger causality tests indicate that income Granger causes house prices for Sweden, while for the UK there is also feedback from house prices to income. House prices Granger cause financial wealth for Sweden, while for the UK it is vice–versa. House prices cause household debt for Sweden, while for the UK there is a feedback from debt. Interest rates Granger cause house prices for the UK and Sweden. In both countries Tobin's q Granger cause housing investment. Generally, the diagnostic tests indicate that the model specifications were satisfactory to the unknown data generating process.     

RIP – SME

The government says it wants to encourage the growth of small business. But it is regulating small companies to such an extent that it risks putting many out of business. Small and medium sized companies should be exempted from further regulation.     

GOOD BOOKS – AND OTHER

Book reviewed in this article:
Maximilian Hall Monetary Policy since 1971 Macmillan, 1982
Patrick Minford Unemployment: Cause and Cure
D W Challen & A J Hagger Macro-economic Systems
Nick Bosanquet After the New Right
Ed. Sydney Weintraub and Marvin Goodstein Reaganomics in the Stagflation Economy
Herman Kahn The Coming Boom: Economic, Political and Social     

Good Books – and Others

Book reviewed in this article:
AGAINST EQUALITY Readings on Economic and Social Policy Ed William Letwin
LAW OF THE SEA: U.S. POLICY DILEMMA eds. Bernard Oxman. David Caron, Charles Buderi
THE THREAT OF JAPANESE MULTINATIONALS How the West Can Respond Lawrence Franko
AGRICULTURE THE COUNTRYSIDE AND LAND: USE AN ECONOMIC CRITIQUE J. K. Bowers and Paul Cheshire
INFLATION- DEBT AND INDEXATION ed. Rudiger Dcrnbusch and Mario Henrique Simonson
MRS THATCHER'S ECONOMIC EXPERIMENT William Keegan     

gary becker – nobel prizewinner

Who is Gary Becker and why did he win the 1992 Nobel Prize for economics? J.R. Shackleton, of Westminster University, explains why Gary Becker has earned his high reputation as an economist and gives an outline of his major publications.