How can monetary policy be improved?

Monetary policy - United States ; Monetary policy ; Banks and banking, Central

The Harvard-Circle

This brief note reflects on the times when Joseph A. Schumpeter was engaged at Harvard University in Boston/Mass, 1932-1950. A description of Schumpeter’s interaction with friends and collaborators as well as opponents, of the intellectual struggles he was engaged in as well as the ideological dimensions of his life and approaches sheds an interesting light on a scholar whose oeuvre received full admiration only some decades after he passed away in 1950

Volatility term structures in commodity markets

In this study, we comprehensively examine the volatility term structures in commodity markets. We model state‐dependent spillovers in principal components (PCs) of the volatility term structures of different commodities, as well as that of the equity market. We detect strong economic links and a substantial interconnectedness of the volatility term structures of commodities. Accounting for intra‐commodity‐market spillovers significantly improves out‐of‐sample forecasts of the components of the volatility term structure. Spillovers following macroeconomic news announcements account for a large proportion of this forecast power. There thus seems to be substantial information transmission between different commodity markets

Maximum Principles in Analytical Economics

Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 11, 1970general equilibrium;

Mesoscopic Thermovoltage Measurement Design

Quantitative thermoelectric measurements in the mesoscopic regime require accurate knowledge of temperature, thermovoltage, and device energy scales. We consider the effect of a finite load resistance on thermovoltage measurements of InAs/InP heterostructure nanowires. Load resistance and ac attenuation distort the measured thermovoltage therefore complicating the evaluation of device performance. Understanding these effects improves experimental design and data interpretation.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figure

Summing up on business cycles: opening address

Business cycles

Study of the ammonia ice cloud layer in the north tropical zone of Jupiter from the infrared interferometric experiment on Voyager

An average of 51 Voyager 1 IRIS spectra of Jupiter's North Tropical Zone was analyzed to infer the abundance, vertical extent, and size distribution of the particles making up the ammonia cloud in this region. It is assumed that the cloud base coincides with the level at which 100% saturation of ammonia vapor occurs. The vertical distribution of particulates above this level is determined by assuming a constant total ammonia mixing ratio and adjusting the two phases so that the vapor is saturated throughout the cloud. A constant scaling factor then adjusts the base number density. A radiative transfer program is used that includes the effects of absorption and emission of all relevant gases as well as anisotropic scattering by cloud particles. Mie scattering from a gaussian particle size distribution is assumed. The vertical thermal structure is inferred from a temperature retrieval program that utilizes the collision induced S(0) and S(1) molecular hydrogen lines between 300 and 700.cm, and the 1304.cm methane band

An Interview with Paul A. Samuelson

This paper consists of the page proofs of W. A. Barnett's interview of Paul A. Samuelson, to appear in print in the journal, Macroeconomic Dynamics, in September 2004. To our knowledge, this is the first and only interview of Paul A. Samuelson published in a professional economics journal. In addition, this is the only interview conducted personally by the Editor of Macroeconomic Dynamics, William A. Barnett. The interview covers Samuelson's views on the economics profession from 1929 to the present and an overview of Samuelson's career as one of the greatest economists of all time.history of economic thought, Samuelson, macroeconomics, microeconomics, policy