UN overestimates the level of development in central and East Europe

Conclusion With the HDI, the UNDP has attempted to construct a new development indicator which conveys the human development of a country by means of a Single National index number. This deserves recognition as a long overdue step towards the removal of Gross Product as the main indicator of development, putting as it does the development and employment of human abilities and resources in the centre of development efforts. The questionable results generated by the HDI show, however, that the index in its current form has many faults. It is time for the UNDP to change the HDI so that it better reflects differences in development between individual countries. Except for a few developing countries, which could see these results as a welcome reason for demanding increasing development aid at the expense of the transformation countries, nobody benefits if the UNDP certifies the Central and East European countries as having a level of development which they are still far from reaching.     

Der streit um keynes im lichte unserer erfahrungen

Summary The Keynes Controversy in the Light of Our Experience. — In 1953, Erich Schneider in an important paper tried to “solve” the Keynes controversy in Germany. He defended Keynes against attacks by R?pke, Hahn, Meyer, and others, who pretend that an application of his theory inevitably leads to permanent inflation, and he maintained, logically arguing, that Keynes’s theory is “general” in the sense that it leads to certain results in depression as well as inflation. In the present paper it is suggested that the Keynesian revolution changed the attitudes of entrepreneurs, trade unions and politicians considerably so that today the government is expected to run a full employment policy, the result of which is a tendency towards creeping inflation. Though in theory applicable to both depression and inflation, employment of Keynesian tools to control overall monetary demand is really successful in depressions only. Thus, given the above-mentioned expectations of trade unions and entrepreneurs, Keynesian policies have to be sustained by policies on the microeconomic level to allow for steady growth of national incomes and a stable price level.

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Résumé La controverse sur Keynes à la lumière de nótres expériences. -En 1953, Erich Schneider entreprit de ?résoudre?, en un article important, la controverse en Allemagne sur Keynes. Il y défend Keynes contre les attaques de R?pke, Hahn, Meyer, et d’autres, qui disent que le Keynesianisme aboutit nécessairement en une inflation permanente; et il appuie sur la Symmetrie logique des analyses Keynes pour la dépression et l’inflation. Dans l’article que voici, l’auteur maintient que la révolution Keynesienne, tout en avan?ant la théorie, a modifié considérablement les attitudes des entrepreneurs, des syndicats, et des politiciens, de sorte qu’on exige actuellement que le gouvernement adopte toujours une politique de plein emploi, ce qui, à son tour, crée une tendance vers l’inflation lente. Quoi que théoriquement applicables à l’inflation aussi bien qu’à la dépression, les instruments Keynesiens pour le contróle de la demande totale d’argent ne s’appliquent avec le succès désiré qu’à la dépression. Plus on s’approche du plein emploi, plus il est nécessaire d’ajouter aux mesures macroéconomiques Keynesiennes des mesures microéconomiques afin d’assurer un accroissement économique constant avec un niveau stable des prix.

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Resumen La controversia por Keynes vista a través de nuestras experiencias. -En un artfculo publicado en 1953 bajo el titulo ?La controversia por Keynes? Erich Schneider trat? de reducir la teoria económica de Keynes a su justo valor, con el fin de objetivizar las discusiones a que dicha teoria habia dado lugar en Alemania. Defendió a Keynes contra la critica de R?pke, Hahn, Meyer y otros, segün la cual el keynesianismo produciria inevitablemente una inflation permanente, demostrando que la teoria keynesiana era aplicable no solo en situaciones de depresi?n sino también, anàlogamente, en situaciones de inflation. En el présente articulo el autor opina que la ?Teoria General? de Keynes, además de hacer progresar la teoria económica, ha influido en la actitud de empresarios, sindicatos y politicos, por cuanto prédomina la idea de que el gobierno se encargará siempre de asegurar el pleno empleo. Esta expectatita y el comportamiento correspondiente del gobierno producen una tendencia permanente de inflation. A pesar de que la teoria keynesiana es lógicamente simétrica, cabe esperar que la adoption de medidas keynesianas para controlar la demanda total monetaria solo tendràn éxito en fases de depresión. Habiendo pleno empleo, las medidas keynesianas, macroecon?micas, necesitan ser complementadas por medidas microecon?micas con el fin de hacer factible un crecimiento económico adecuado, manteniendo a la vez la estabilidad del nivel de precios.

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Riassunto La controversia su Keynes alla luce délie nostre esperienze. -In un articolo ?La controversia su Keynes?, Erich Schneider nel 1953 ha tentato di ricondurre la discussione sulla teoria economica di Keynes alla sua vera origine. Egli difende quindi Keynes dal rimprovero di R?pke, Hahn, Meyer e di altri che il keynesianesimo conduca inevitabilmente ad una permanente inflazione mettendo in evidenza la simmetria logica dell’analisi di Keynes per depressione ed inflazione. Qui viene supposto che la ?General Theory? di Keynes oltre ai progressi délia teoria produsse anche modificazioni délie opinioni di imprenditori, sindacati e politici che condueono all’attesa che il governo si preoccupi sempre délia piena occupazione. Questa attesa e il corrispondente comportamento del governo producono una permanente tendenza d’inflazione. Sebbene la teoria lógicamente sia simmetrica, i modi di procedere dei soggetti economici condurrebbero a questo che l’applicazione di misure di Keynes per il controllo dell’intera domanda monetaria abbiano il successo desiderato soltanto in depressione. Con alta occupazione, misure macroeconomiche di Keynes devono essere integrate con intervenu sul micropiano per rendere possibile una sufficiente crescenza economica in stabilità di prezzi.

     

The EMF uncertainty problem related to mobile phones: where do consumers place their trust?

This paper addresses the uncertainty problem, i.e. cases characterized by lack of knowledge or scientific uncertainty. In such situations, it can be hard for consumers to ‘voice’ or practise consumer power. One field characterized by the uncertainty problem is electromagnetic radiation. An explicit goal of this study has been to articulate Norwegian consumers' practices, attitudes and beliefs regarding electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones to public authorities and consumer policy makers. The study was based on 1000 telephone interviews collected in 2008. Today, experts disagree on the potential health effects of radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMF), as well as standards for safe limits of exposure to mobile phones, base stations and wireless telecommunication systems. In addition, complicated technology and extremely rapid product development and diffusion leave consumers' security considerations to their own beliefs and trust. Whether or not electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones constitutes a health hazard will not be addressed in this paper. Rather, it will focus on how consumers react to this situation of uncertainty. The material reveals four main ways in which consumers can solve what we have named the EMF uncertainty problem: the confident and comfortable way, the sceptical and cautious way, the responsible and good citizen way, and finally, the neglecting way. The paper also discusses the precautionary principle related to EMF. Who should be precautionary: the public authorities, the mobile phone industry or the consumers themselves? We believe that a consistent governmental precautionary policy in combination with consumers taking their own precautionary measures is a viable solution. In this way, all consumers would be addressed and aided when navigating this field of uncertainty.     

Trade policy: Home market effect versus terms-of-trade externality

We study trade policy in a two-sector Krugman (1980) trade model, allowing for wage, import and export subsidies/taxes. We study non-cooperative trade policies, first for each individual instrument and then for the situation where all instruments can be set simultaneously, and contrast those with the efficient allocation. We show that in this general context there are four motives for non-cooperative trade policies: the correction of monopolistic distortions; the terms-of-trade manipulation; the delocation motive for protection (home market effect); the fiscal-burden-shifting motive. The Nash equilibrium when all instruments are available is characterized by first-best-level wage subsidies, and inefficient import subsidies and export taxes, which aim at relocating firms to the other economy and improving terms of trade. Thus, the dominating incentives for non-cooperative trade policies are the fiscal-burden-shifting motives and terms-of-trade effects.