The decline of US manufacturing productivity between 1941 and 1948

The view that war benefits potential output has been influential in treatments of US mobilization for the Second World War, where it has been largely premised on the benefits of learning by doing in producing military durables. If the thesis that war benefits aggregate supply is correct, it is indeed within manufacturing that we should most likely see its effects. Total factor productivity within the sector in fact fell at a rate of −1.4 per cent per year between 1941 and 1948, −3.7 per cent a year between 1941 and 1944, and −5.1 per cent a year between 1941 and 1945. The emphasis on learning by doing has obscured the negative effects of the sudden, radical, and temporary changes in the product mix, the behavioural pathologies accompanying the transition to a shortage economy, and the resource shocks inflicted on the country by the Japanese and Germans. From a long-run perspective, the war can be seen, ironically, as the beginning of the end of US world economic dominance in manufacturing.     

A multiple criteria methodology for priority based portfolio selection

This paper presents a new methodology combining multiple criteria sorting or ranking methods with a project portfolio selection procedure. The multicriteria method permits the comparison of projects in terms of their priority based on qualitative and quantitative criteria. Then, a feasible set of projects, i.e. a portfolio, is selected according to the priority defined by the multiple criteria method and satisfying a set of resources and logical constraints. The proposed portfolio selection methodology is called Priority Based Portfolio Selection (PBPS) and can be applied in different contexts. We present an application in the urban planning domain where our approach allows us to select a set of urban projects based on their priority, budgetary constraints, and urban policy requirements. Given the increasing interest of historical cities to reuse their cultural heritage, we applied and tested our methodology in this context. In particular, we show how the methodology can support the prioritization of the interventions on buildings with some historical value in the historic city center of Naples (Italy), taking into account several points of view.     

扩大进口背景下中国进口对世界经济的影响——制造业就业的视角

伴随着中国经济的快速增长，中国在成为世界第一大出口国的同时也成为世界第二大进口国。以往对中国贸易的研究多是从供给端出发，然而从需求端来看，中国进口对世界经济的影响又有几何？本文在扩大进口战略背景下从全球制造业就业的视角对中国进口与世界经济的关系进行了实证分析，研究发现，通过对中国出口，相关国家的制造业就业实现正增长，但是两者关系会在不同贸易商品、经济发展程度和时间样本之间存在差异。在此基础上，本文进一步从就业创造和就业破坏等方面展开了机制分析。本文的研究表明，中国通过“世界市场”的角色在一定程度上降低了全球失业率，但同时也需警惕“进口竞争”对我国经济的影响。     

全域旅游视域下世界遗产地可持续发展研究 ——以丽江古城为例

丽江古城是集世界文化遗产、国家历史文化名城、国家5A级旅游景区等荣誉于一身的旅游景区。然而随着旅游业的发展,丽江古城的可持续发展面临着一些危机,如商业化氛围略显浓厚,原真性体验活动深度不够,业态构成和空间布局不合理等。对全域旅游与遗产旅游可持续发展的互动机制进行研究,并从五方面将全域旅游发展理念运用到世界遗产地的可持续发展中,包括建立全域旅游观下的生态保护新格局,依据全域旅游规划调整古城业态和优化空间布局,融合全域旅游资源要素并打造不同主题的旅游线路等。     

原乡小艾 让艾草香飘世界

<正>端午时节，艾草飘香。今年3月，铜梁艾草品牌“原乡小艾流云香”入选第四届“重庆好礼·外事礼品”。近日，重庆真艾农业、铜梁“原乡小艾”创始人陈平做客重庆与世界杂志社，并接受记者专访。艾条、流云香、艾草精油、艾叶香囊、艾绒枕头、艾草青团、足浴包……陈平带来十余款艾草产品展示，并自豪地表示：“这些都是自产自研的产品，我们的艾草不使用化肥农药，百分之百纯天然。”