European Agriculture in the Wake of Globalisation: What are the Prospects for its Diversity?

The multifunctional European agricultural sector has not lost any of its significance for our society and our rural areas. Five building blocks and fields of action are of particular importance for the future: (1) Fulfilling our political responsibility in the current WTO negotiations, not only in economic, but also in social and ecological terms; (2) Recognising new opportunities and tapping into potential with foresight, potential which is currently becoming particularly apparent in the case of renewable resources; (3) Continuing to focus on the great strengths of the European agricultural sector: the long-term stability of our economic system, large market outlets virtually on our doorstep, high qualification and training levels, modern and efficient agricultural research systems and upstream and downstream industries, along with the wide variety of high-quality products and regional diversity; (4) Eliminating existing weaknesses, in particular by reducing bureaucratic obstacles; and (5) Early detection of threats and ensuring robustness and stability in European agri-food systems through development of adequate prevention and crisis response mechanisms. In this way, the 'European agricultural model' will become a motor for future development. After all, the multifaceted European agricultural sector can trigger and promote regional growth.     

Tourism TV Commercials: A Delicate Balance Between Aural and Visual Information Load

This article content analyzes music in tourism TV commercials from 95 regions and countries to identify their general acoustic characteristics. The objective is to offer a general guideline in the postproduction of tourism TV commercials. It is found that tourism TV commercials tend to be produced in a faster tempo with beats per minute close to 120, which is rare to be found in general TV commercials. To compensate for the faster tempo (increased aural information load), less scenes (longer duration per scene) were edited into the footage. Production recommendations and future research are presented.     

Wirtschaftliche Zwä;nge für offene Volkswirtschaften

Summary Economic Restraints for Open Economies. - In an open economy, the usual budget restraint of equating expenditures and income is softened but the balance-of-payments restraint has powerful implications for allocation and national stabilization policies. These implications are studied. On the trade side, the restraint shows itself in the dependence on imports, in the necessity of exporting, in the opportunity costs of institutional settings as well as taxation in terms of foregone competitiveness and in interest and debt payment in the case of borrowing. From a stabilization point of view, the problem is analyzed to what extent an open economy can make itself more independent from international developments by exchange rate policy and by national institutional arrangements with respect to monetary, fiscal and incomes policy.

---

Resumen Restricciones económicas para economías abiertas. - En una economía abierta la ecuación tradicional que iguala el gasto al ingreso se relaja pero la restrictión del balance de pagos tiene importantes implicaciones para la asignación de recursos y para políticas de estabilización. Se estudian estas implicaciones. En el ámbito del comercio exterior, la restricción influye sobre la dependencia de las importaciones, la necesidad de exportar, los costos de oportunidad de marcos institucionales, los impuestos en términos de competitividad perdida y los pagos de intereses y deuda en caso de endeudamiento. Desde el punto de vista de la estabilización se analiza en qué medida una economía abierta puede llegar a ser más independiente de los mercados internacionales con ayuda de la política cambiaria y de ajustes institutionales que afecten a las polítícas monetaria, fiscal y de ingresos.

---

Résumé Contraintes économiques pour des économies ouvertes. - Dans une économie ouverte, l’ordinaire contrainte budgétaire d’équilibrer les dépenses et les recettes est affaiblie mais la contrainte de la balance des paiements a des implications importantes pour l’allocation et les politiques nationales de stabilisation. L’auteur étudie ces implications. Concernant le commerce extérieur la contrainte se révèle dans la dépendance des importations, dans la nécessité d’exporter, dans les co?ts d’opportunité des cadres institutionnels aussi bien que dans la taxation en terme de la compétitivité perdue et des paiements d’intérêt et de dette en cas d’endettement. Concernant la stabilisation, l’auteur analyse dans quelle mesure une économie ouverte peut se faire indépendante des développements internationaux à l’aide de la politique des taux de change et des arrangements nationaux institutionnels concernant la politique monétaire, fiscale et de revenu.