BUSINESS CYCLES AND RACIAL DISPARITIES IN PUNISHMENT

Deeply rooted historical patterns allow us to make a correlation between imprisonment and unemployment and the marginalization of blacks. This paper examines the interrelationships among criminal activity, punishment, and cycles of the economic system based on the influence of political and economic forces on forming penal policies. The penal system is viewed as a device by which labor market fluctuations can be regulated. We examine differences between blacks and whites and between the North and the South to arrive at this paper's thesis: that race provides the link among economic cycles, employment, and crime.     

Impact of energy audits on home energy consumption

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of energy audits on home energy consumption rate, and to determine factors affecting participation in energy audit/weatherization programmes. Objectives included: (i) developing a linear model for predicting home energy consumption; (ii) examining the role of home energy audits in consumption rate; (iii) determining whether audit participation had increased over a two-year period; (iv) surveying reasons for non-participation, and (v) identifying sources of audit/conservation information which were most acceptable to consumers. The model expressed home energy consumption per square foot as a linear function of demographic, attitudinal and structural variables. The three most significant predictors in the model were adequacy of information, housing tenure and income. Eight out of 10 conservation measures studied were significantly more likely to exist in the homes of those who had had an audit. Three of these measures were also significant in the model. Study findings included a 7% increase in audit participation from 1981 to 1983. Lack of money and information were the two major factors inhibiting participation. Consumers indicated a need for conservation information from acceptable sources such as short courses or workshops, county extension agents, or skilled craftspeople.     

Economic and Political Factors in Formal Grievance Resolution

The resolution of formal grievances is largely determined by the applicable rights of grievant and the facts surrounding disputes. However, to the extent these rights and/or facts are unclear, the granting or denial of grievances is also partially determined by economic and political factors. A model of the impact of such factors on the favor ability of grievance decisions is developed and tested. The tests yield support for the general thesis and for several specific hypotheses.     

IMPACT OF ANTI-APARTHEID SANCTIONS ON SOUTH AFRICA: SOME TRADE AND FINANCIAL EVIDENCE

Economic sanctions against South Africa presumably are intended to cause economic damage. Trade sanctions should induce the South African terms of trade to deteriorate, and investment sanctions should cause capital flight and cause the exchange rate to deteriorate. However, due to the nature of the South African economy and to certain policies of the South African government, these impacts may be difficult to achieve.     

SAVING MEASURES AS ECONOMIC GROWTH INDICATORS

The decline of the U.S. saving rate during the 1980s and its potential impact on future economic growth has been the subject of considerable concern. The National Income Accounts (NIA) measures of saving are the empirical basis for the concern. However, the economics literature has soundly criticized the NIA concepts of saving and investment. Moreover, little evidence exists that the United States suffered a capital shortage during the 1980s, when it enjoyed its second longest peacetime economic expansion. This paper examines the relation of NIA and other saving measures to future real GDP. Findings indicate that no measurable relation exists between the lagged NIA saving measures and real GDP. However, findings also indicate a significant relation does exist between real GDP and the sum of personal saving from the flow-of-funds accounts plus an approximation of government saving for infrastructure purposes. Unlike the NIA saving rate, this constructed saving rate did not decline precipitously in the 1980s. Since the saving rate relevant to economic growth did not fall, the future of the U.S. economy might not be nearly so bleak as many assume.     

The Adjustment of Stock Prices to Information About Inflation

This paper analyzes the reaction of stock prices to the new information about inflation. Based on daily returns to the Standard and Poor's composite portfolio from 1953–78, it seems that the stock market reacts negatively to the announcement of unexpected inflation in the Consumer Price Index (C.P.I.), although the magnitude of the reaction is small. It is interesting to note that the stock market seems to react at the time of announcement of the C.P.I., approximately one month after the price data are collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.