"Basic Principles of Sustainable Development"

This paper explores what a critical commentary on micro principles texts might look like, examining what is to be critiqued and how to do it.sustainable development, economic theory, development, environment, development policy

10-05 "The Macroeconomics of Development without Throughput Growth"

Serious discussion has begun of policies to promote the goal of increasing well-being without material growth. Moving towards this goal requires a profound reorientation of macroeconomic theory. Importantly, the call by ecological economists to move away from traditional growth-oriented models comes at a moment when standard macroeconomics is in considerable turmoil. The financial crisis of 2008/2009 seriously undermined the basis for mainstream macroeconomics and brought renewed attention to various forms of Keynesian analysis and policy previously regarded as outdated. There is a close complementarity between new Keynesian and ecological perspectives. While older Keynesian analysis was oriented towards promoting growth, a true Keynesian analysis of the relationship between investment and consumption does not depend on a growth orientation. What this analysis has in common with an ecological perspective is the rejection of market optimality assumed in classical models. Moving away from the neoclassical goal of inter-temporal utility maximization allows for different, pluralistic economic goals: full employment, provision of basic needs, social and infrastructure investment, and income equity. These goals are compatible with environmental preservation and resource sustainability, whereas indefinite growth is not. But they require a revitalization of the sphere of social investment, seriously neglected (indeed often omitted completely) in standard models. Reintroducing this perspective allows the development of an economic theory suitable for the transition to a stable-population, low-carbon, resource-conserving global economy. The barriers to this transition are primarily political and institutional, not economic. Specifically, an eco-Keynesian perspective emphasizes new macroeconomic categories including: * human-capital-intensive services * investment in energy-conserving capital * investment in natural and human capital The expansion of these categories provides a basis for growth in wellbeing without growth in throughput, while preserving full employment and economic stability. This paper explores some of the implications of this altered macroeconomic perspective for development in both the global "North" and "South". It is suggested that the problems following the global financial crisis cannot be resolved by a return to traditional growth patterns, and will require large-scale practical policies based on eco-Keynesianism.

US GAAP Conversion To IFRS: A Case Study Of The Cash Flow Statement

International Reporting Standards (IFRS) has become the required framework for most of the world financial market economies as of January 1, 2011. This includes, in a non-comprehensive listing, the many European Union countries - Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the United States, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is still required. However, plans are presently in place by the SEC to abandon US GAAP and to adhere to IFRS requirements by as early as for the period ending December 31, 2014. As such, it is important to introduce IFRS accounting rules in the college curriculum and make it a major component of accounting classes. This case study takes a US GAAP Prepared Cash Flow Statement and, based on the facts of the case, requires students to prepare an IFRS-based Cash Flow Statement. The need to understand both US GAAP and IFRS rules is required to adequately address this case study, which is most suitable for an Intermediary Accounting, Accounting Theory and a Financial Statement Analysis class, as well as an Investment Finance course, at the graduate level

A Developmental Model of Congenital Nystagmus

Purpose: Congenital nystagmus (CN) is a spontaneous oscillation of the eyes with an onset in the first few months of life. In 90% of affected children there is an associated underlying sensory defect (foveal hypoplasia, cone dysfunction, cataracts, etc.). In 10% no underlying visual defect can be found, and the nystagmus is labelled as ‘idiopathic’. CN appears to be a developmental anomaly of sensorimotor integration, as it is not have an onset later in infancy or beyond, but why such a wide variety of early onset visual defects should lead to life-long oscillation of the eyes is a mystery. Previous models have focussed on a systems level approach to explain how CN might be generated by known oculomotor circuits. We ask, instead, why CN might occur. Model: Our basic tenet is that infant visuomotor development is highly plastic during some early ‘critical’ period. A defect of foveal vision occurring during (and only during) this period leads to an anomalous connectivity in the oculomotor circuitry, which becomes permanent thereafter. We propose that circuitry normally used for precise foveal registration of a visual object (gaze holding, fixation, and smooth pursuit) develops to maintain some degree of image motion, as this would maximise contrast for a low spatial frequency system. However, this motion is in conflict with maintaining the image on the fovea (or its remnant). We explore the best oculomotor strategy to cope with this conflict. Results: The optimal strategy (in the least squares sense) is to oscillate the eyes in one meridian with alternating slow and quick (saccade) phases. Remarkably, the optimal waveform profile has an increasing-velocity profile. Many of the unique waveforms seen empirically in CN are also optimal strategies given realistic uncertainty in the initial position of a slow phase. Using non-linear dynamical systems analysis, we show that these ‘optimal’ oscillations have similar fractional correlation dimensions to observed data. We also show that a ‘null region’, as commonly observed in CN, would be an inevitable consequence of a velocity driven oculomotor system. Conclusions: We have developed a new approach to understanding oculomotor development, in which we examine the best strategy to maximise visual contrast. In a normal foveate visual system with fine oculomotor control, the best strategy is to develop good foveal registration, which we call ‘fixation’, and ‘smooth pursuit’. If, however, the fovea is absent or not being stimulated (eg. cataracts), the best strategy would be to develop oscillations of the type seen in CN. It implies that the chaotic oscillations are the result of a physiological developmental adaptive process. This is in contrast to the prevailing view that CN is a disease that can be ‘cured’. It is not surprising that CN has proven remarkably refractory to therapeutic intervention with only minimal (if any) long-term successes using drugs, surgery, or even biofeedback. We argue that CN is as adaptive and permanent as normal eye movements are in a normally sighted individual

DISCUSSION: THE INCIDENCE, NATURE, AND IMPLICATIONS OF PRICE-FIXING LITIGATION IN U.S. FOOD INDUSTRIES

Political Economy,