Reform of the CAP : Impact on the Third World

The European Community is under pressure to reform the CAP, mainly due to internal financial reasons. Proposals have been put forward by the EC Commission that reform the CAP with respect to milk, oils and fats, and corngluten and citrus pellets. The authors look at the impact of these proposals on developing countries. They conclude that the effect will be to increase non-tariff barriers to trade and increase the cost of food production both in and outside the EC.     

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On the pricing of forward starting options in Heston’s model on stochastic volatility

We consider the problem of pricing European forward starting options in the presence of stochastic volatility. By performing a change of measure using the asset price at the time of strike determination as a numeraire, we derive a closed-form solution within Hestons stochastic volatility framework applying distribution properties of the volatility process. In this paper we develop a new and more suitable formula for pricing forward starting options. This formula allows to cover the smile effects observed in a Black-Scholes environment, in which the extreme exposure of forward starting options to volatility changes is ignored.Received: July 2004, Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 91B28, 60G44, 60H30, 60E10JEL Classification: G13It is a pleasure to thank the anonymous referee for his valuable comments and suggestions on this paper. Furthermore, we would like to thank Holger Kraft, University of Kaiserslautern, and Alexander Giese, HypoVereinsbank AG Munich, for fruitful discussions and suggestions.     

Der ESM sollte das Finanzsystem stützen,nicht Staatsschulden aufkaufen

Die Einzahlungen und Bürgschaften im Rahmen des Europ?ischen Stabilisierungsmechanismus (ESM) führen zu einer starken Belastung der soliden Eurol?nder — ob das Kapital überhaupt ausreicht, ist zudem nicht sicher. Sinnvoller w?re es, nicht die Staatsschulden in den Fokus zu nehmen, sondern die Banken, die in der Krise hohe Verluste erleiden. Für ein Verfahren zur Bankenrettung gibt es historische Vorbilder: beispielsweise die Tilgungsfonds nach der deutschen Bankenkrise 1931/1932 und den W?hrungsreformen 1948 und 1990.     

Die europ?ische Trag?die: Ein politisches Ordnungsproblem

We argue that self-binding rules in the context of the stabilisation of the eurozone — both monetary and fiscal — are important for a successful long-term European economic policy. The present loss of reputation due to the breaking of fundamental rules such as the no-bailout clause generates high cost, especially with respect to raising money in the financial markets, because no institutional stability and political credibility exist. We propose to install a compliance system similar to what large enterprises have introduced. It would perfectly fit into the system of regulatory principles of the social market economy, but also focus on administrative and implementation issues.