The Social Limits to Markets

In spite of the failure of the old totems of socialism, much remains to offer contemporary socialists a body of ideas to which they can add strands of market thinking. But the market mentality, argues Raymond Plant, Professor of Politics at Southampton University, neglects values that socialists hold to be more important than mere efficiency.     

Tourism in the East Midlands — some environmental considerations

The East Midlands has hitherto claimed only a small proportion of domestic and international tourism to the UK. However as patterns of holidaying change and day trips to the countryside increase in popularity the rural East Midlands, because of its central UK location, is likely to find itself under increasing environmental pressure. Mark Cook and Raymond Wells of Nene College, Northampton, identify some of the shifting holiday habits of the region and the environmental problems that may result if planning for the future is not undertaken.     

INTEREST RATE RISK HEDGING FOR DUE-ON-SALE MORTGAGES WITH EARLY TERMINATION

The impact of random early termination on the interest rate elasticity and the related implications of hedging a mortgage security are examined. The common approach to computing duration using average mortgage life is shown to be biased and insufficient. Because the prepayment distributions of mortgages tend to have wide dispersions, substantial errors result from using average mortgage life. These results are also applicable to other financial obligations subject to prepayment.     

THE PUZZLE OF HOUSING PRIVATIZATION IN EASTERN EUROPE

This paper focuses on the part of the housing sector proving most difficult to reform in Eastern Europe-State-owned rentals—which typically constitute about 20 percent on the housing stock overall and half of the units in the largest cities. The paper argues that two objectives must be pursued simultaneously: (1) selling units at or near market prices to tenants or other households willing to purchase them; and (2) integrating the remaining state-owned rentals with the nascent but expanding rental market. The six elements of a strategy for achieving these objectives are described.     

用窒息价格辅助定价

本文重点阐述了在假定线性需求是合理的以及窒息价格的相关信息可用的情况下计算均衡价格的公式。它能够让分析人员信服,即使在数据非常有限以及缺乏数学支持的情况下,有效的基准计算也是可以实现的。此外,它还有助于阐明价格弹性与需求变化之间的变化趋势,