Implicit oligopolistic collusion is destroyed by uncertainty

Uncertainty is introduced into the simplest (mineral spring) conjectural variation model of oligopoly. It is shown that the only equilibrium to survive is the Bertrand or competitive outcome.     

A National Policy and Budgetary Framework for Housing and Community Development*

Recent legislation has determined that federal budget allocations and tax expenditures for housing should be tied to specific housing goals or “missions.” The major issues of national housing policy can be organized within six problem areas—three relating to production and three to consumption. Current federal housing programs can be classified into four broad budget categories (involving mortgage credit and thrift institutions, housing assistance, community development, and tax expenditures) and a fifth off-budget category of credit market activities. By examining a matrix that relates these five areas of federal involvement to the six broad problem areas, this article attempts to provide an analytical foundation for a national policy and budgetary framework for housing, housing finance, and community development.     

Managerial perspectives of the shorter workweek in Georgia manufacturing firms

Conclusions At present, great opposition exists among Georgia's 50 largest manufacturing firms toward the adoption of the shorter workweek. More than twice as many (61 percent) of the managers opposed it as favored it (26.7 percent), with a representative number (12.3 percent) indifferent to the idea. This opposition appears to be based upon anticipated problems in the areas of scheduling, communication difficulties, costs, and employee considerations. Employee acceptance of the shorter workweek (as perceived by the managers surveyed) already exists in approximately two-thirds of the firms surveyed. This perceived acceptance is reflected in the potential shorter workweek advantages as reported by the same surveyed managers, namely decreased absenteeism and turnover and the ease of recruiting employees. While the probability of the modified workweek gaining wide acceptance in Georgia seems at best small, the shorter workweek movement cannot be ingnored. Its advocates promise to provide the key to greater productivity, increased efficiency and improved employee relations. This study has served to determine the attitudes of Georgia's largest manufacturing firms toward what may be the accepted work schedule of the future.     

Saving for Life-time Risks

The welfare state, and especially the state pension system, has lessened the British people's prudential urge to save. The free market would have ensured that competition invigorated traditional methods of saving and introduced new ones.