Speeding solar energy commercialization: A Delphi research of marketplace factors

A two-stage Delphi research study was undertaken to determine and measure the attitudes of the public regarding factors that may either inhibit or stimulate solar energy commercialization today and over the next 10 years. Some factors judged important were product cost, lack of product knowledge, lack of governmental support, and public concern over the energy crisis. The factors were determined by a group of energy conscious respondents who completed the Delphi research. They also indicated the likely and desirable actions to be taken by government and business. These included more funding of research and development, tax incentives, increased public education, and reduced prices. The Delphi research proved to be an effective method for investigating solar energy commercialization, as the attitudes expressed in the second survey converged with those identified during the first stage. Furthermore, governmental and business actions suggested in the study could help to initiate greater solar energy use and developmental efforts.     

A mathematical note on Msgr. John A. Ryan's thought on the minimum wage

This paper examines Msgr. John A. Ryan's economic thought regarding the mechanics by which an increase in the minimum wage is funded. In particular, a mathematical comparative-static model is used to explore Msgr. Ryan's economic assumptions concerning the channels by which income is redistributed to workers from other factor owners. The analysis shows that Msgr. Ryan's approach includes assumptions regarding economic relationships and implies specific values of wage elasticities.     

John Atkinson Hobson and the roots of John Dewey's economic thought

Abstract

American pragmatist John Dewey's economic thought has remained relatively unknown by both philosophers and economists. This article addresses this lack of interest and replies to criticism of pragmatism as the philosophy of ‘corporate liberalism’ by tracing one source of Dewey's economic thought to British New Liberal John Atkinson Hobson. General similarities are discussed first, followed by a presentation of Dewey's use of Hobson's theory of underconsumption during the Great Depression. It concludes by presenting Dewey's understanding of a liberalism that had truly become corporate.     

Buffalo Bill' Wild West and John M. Burke

Abstract

Public relations and advertising textbooks either ignore or treat the old fashioned press agent with contempt. Yet the origin of modern day sports and entertainment promotion dates back to a group of press agents who made important contributions to the marketing communication tactics we take for granted. From 1884 to 1917, the promotion of Buffalo Bill' Wild West incorporated advertising, public relations, and integrated marketing communication strategies and tactics. Many of these tactics are still in use today. A case will be made to view Buffalo Bill as a ?brand“ By doing so, the promotion of the Wild West takes on a new meaning. Buffalo Bill' press agent, John M. Burke, for more than 30 years increased the ?brand equity“ of the Buffalo Bill product through effective and strategically sound advertising and public relations campaigns. For example, building upon the long circus tradition in American folk culture, Burke staged parade events headed by Buffalo Bill to generate major press coverage when the Wild West arrived in local communities. Although Burke might not have had the formal education and access to the latest in communication technology to promote the Wild West, he certainly had the brains and skills     

The Economic Problem of Happiness: Keynes on Happiness and Economics

By stressing the substantial continuity of vision between John Maynard Keynes’s early unpublished essays and his more mature writings, the paper discusses Keynes’s ethics and focuses on his thoughts about happiness. In particular, we emphasize the anti-utilitarianism of Keynes’s vision and his belief that material wealth is but a precondition to enjoy the possibilities of a good life, and direct attention to problems of incommensurability raised by the multidimensional nature of happiness as considered by Keynes. We then argue that the rediscovery of Keynes’s legacy in this respect may be a precious counterweight to the most controversial aspects of today’s happiness research.     

History,utility and liberty: John Stuart Mill's critical examination of Auguste Comte

This paper shows that Mill's assessment of Comte's work casts light on his own attitude towards the historicity of social phenomena and on the way he connects the notions of utility and liberty. It underlines the relative stability of Mill's views. While the tone of his remarks about Comte varied through time, their content remained basically unchanged. The paper untangles the complex web of the two thinkers’ intellectual relationship by gathering information scattered across many texts, assesses the effects of the Comtian influence on Mill's epistemology and shows how Mill's liberalism was partly built on his opposition to Comte's ideas.     

High pressure and black clouds: Keynes and the frequentist theory of probability

The thesis of this paper is that Keynes wrote A Treatise onProbability in opposition to the frequentist theory of probability,systematised by John Venn, which denied any role for probabilityin decision theory. Keynes was interested in finding an alternativeconception of probability that could be utilised as a guideof life. To analyse this point, the paper considers Keynes'scriticisms of frequentist tradition in the two versions of hisFellowship dissertation, and in the published edition of hisTreatise. Keynes's project is then illustrated with the famousexample of whether or not to go out with one's umbrella in thesituation in which the pressure is high and the clouds are black.     

Microeconomic influences on operating leverage

The concept of operating leverage generally has been visualized in the context of linear break-even analysis. This paper evaluates the properties of two measures of the degree of operating leverage using a more general short-run microeconomic model of the firm. In this model, the degree of operating leverage is related positively to the price elasticity of demand for a firm's output, to its elasticity of supply for an input, and to its output elasticity. In addition, operating leverage measures are usually derived from models inconsistent with firm wealth maximizing behavior and are too simplistiic for complex models with stochastic demand, supply, and production functions.     

International bank lending: Political risk and portfolio diversification

The extent to which a large U.S. bank, all U.S. banks, and banks in the Group of Ten took account of political risk in their international country exposures in 1976 is tested using a simple portfolio diversification model. Assuming that political risks are important relative to economic risks, and that political risks are uncorrelated across countries, these banks' exposures should be negatively related to political risk indices. However, the portfolios of these banks appear to be related to political risk only insofar as political risk is roughly approximated by GNP per capita. International banks were not yet able to systematically vary their international portfolios with respect to political risk.