Ohio Employment and International Economic Policy

This paper analyzes the relationship between international economic policy, in particular the taxation of corporation income, and employment in Ohio. Back-of-the-envelope calculations are used to provide a rough measure of the size of potential employment gains resulting from changes in tax rates and tax treatment.corporate tax rate, deferral, employment

Employment Effects of Reducing Capital Gains Tax Rates in Ohio

Entrepreneurial activity is a key driver of job creation, and entrepreneurs and their financiers are especially sensitive to capital gains taxes. As a result, a cut in the capital gains tax rate should be expected to stimulate job creation to some degree. We measure the magnitude of this effect by examining the treatment of capital gains across the 50 states over roughly the past 40 years. Our results suggest that a complete elimination of the taxation of capital gains realized by Ohio taxpayers would lead to the creation of 40,000 new jobs. Applying this estimate to proposals currently under discussion suggests a somewhat smaller effect.capital gains tax rate, employment

Foreign exchange and the liquidity trap

When short-term interest rates hover near zero, central banks may have difficulty offsetting downward momentum on prices and economic activity through traditional monetary-policy channels, since commercial banks have little incentive to make loans. Economists refer to this situation as a liquidity trap. Do exchange rate targets and foreign exchange operations, as some have suggested, offer a way to escape such a trap?Foreign exchange ; Liquidity (Economics) ; Economic conditions - Japan

An option for anticipating Fed action

Options contracts on federal funds futures, a new financial instrument introduced earlier this year, can be analyzed to gauge public expectations of future Fed actions. The real bonus is that they can detect differences of opinion when markets see more than two possible outcomes for an FOMC meeting as well as the likelihood associated with each.Options (Finance) ; Federal funds rate ; Federal Open Market Committee

Option prices, exchange market intervention, and the higher moment expectations channel: a user’s guide

A vast literature on the effects of sterilized intervention by the monetary authorities in the foreign exchange markets concludes that intervention systematically moves the spot exchange rate only if it is publicly announced, coordinated across countries, and consistent with the underlying stance of fiscal and monetary policy. Over the past fifteen years, researchers have also attempted to determine if intervention has any effects on the dispersion and directionality of market views concerning the future exchange rate. These studies usually focus on the variance around the expected future exchange rate—the second moment. In this paper we demonstrate how to use over-the-counter option prices to recover the risk-neutral probability density function (PDF) for the future exchange rate. Using the yen/dollar exchange rate as an example, we calculate measures of dispersion and directionality, such as variance and skewness, from estimated PDFs to test whether intervention by the Japanese Ministry of Finance had any impact on the higher moments of the exchange rate. We find little or no systematic effect, consistent with the findings of the literature on the spot rate as Japanese intervention during the period 1996-2004 was not publicly announced, rarely coordinated across countries and, in hindsight, probably inconsistent with the underlying stance of monetary policy.Options (Finance) ; Foreign exchange administration

In what ways does the workplace influence trainee learning?

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.In a time when skills shortages are in the forefront of Australia’s training agenda this thesis involved a mixed mode study entitled: “In what Ways Does the Workplace influence Trainee Learning?” Over the last ten to fifteen years a significant amount of government funding has been diverted from Australia’s public vocational education provider to encourage the growth of private providers including employer-based providers and community providers. The aim of this agenda included facilitating work-based learning as a legitimate alternative to conventional forms of institutional provision. As a result government funding cuts had a flow on effect for trainees includes a reduction in delivery costs (time) and increased reporting costs both of which impact on teaching and learning. With this trend to delivering training and assessment in the workplace the area that was explored in this thesis is how the workplace influences trainee learning. The thesis arises from the problem that while there are various theories about workplace learning there was a significant gap in the understanding of ‘in what way’ and ‘how’ trainee learning was being influenced by the workplace. The research investigated on-the-job learning in order to understand how ‘the learning’ was being influenced by the practices and culture that exist within the workplace systems and/or under the influence of the supervisor. The research design consisted of a case study approach in conjunction with qualitative (interviews) and a quantitative (semi-structured questionnaire). This thesis was informed by data collected from the following main sources: document searches; a semi-structured cross-section questionnaire (for 70 trainees; 20 teachers/trainers and 10 workplace supervisors) and interviews from three case study worksites, a public RTO; a medium sized security organization and an online group buying organization. The selected traineeships involved learning in the context of Business Services Training Package BSB07 – specifically Certificate III and IV levels in Business Administration and Technology and Customer Contact. The data collected indicated a major disconnect between the requirements as set down by traineeship legislation and current practices. It also highlighted a significant disconnect between the various interpretations and expectations (by key stakeholders) as to what constitute workplace learning for trainees. The thesis makes an important contribution to the telling of the stories of those struggling to undertake training and the barriers and lack of support they experience. It is a modest study of three case studies that provides a lens to expose issues and challenges in the workplace learning for these business sector trainees

On the synoptic and mesoscale organization of mid-latitude, continental convective snow events

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on June 10, 2009)Vita.Includes bibliographical references.Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2008.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Soil, environmental and atmospheric sciences.An ingredients-based methodology was pursued in order to evaluate the likelihood of thunderstorms occurring in the presence of snowfall (i.e. thundersnow; TSSN). In order to properly distinguish from typical snowstorms (i.e. non-TSSN), the detailed examination focused on stability characteristics of wintertime convection across the central United States immediately leading up to the onset of the event. More specifically, the research primarily analyzed the value of the seldom applied growth rate parameter ([sigma]²). Identification of a separate collection of non- TSSN events helped to highlight the differences, and ultimately, the significance in the findings for the TSSN subset. The current work substantiated the premise that atmospheres were more unstable in episodes of convective snow with the analyses also revealing pronounced forcing mechanisms. The development of TSSN and any associated banding was correctly and most accurately predicted from trends in plots of [sigma]² analyzed at the level at which the highest significant growth rates occurred. An outlook can be more accurately issued by identifying regions where reduced values of equivalent potential vorticity (i.e. small symmetric stability or instability) are collocated with estimates of high [sigma]² (i.e. where small-scale slantwise perturbations will grow). Given the overall success, it is hoped that some of the conclusions established by this work will be implemented routinely in an operational environment and provide forecasters an additional, essential tool in dealing with snowcasting situations of hazardous winter weather events

FOMC communications and the predictability of near-term policy decisions

In February 1994, the FOMC began a new era in transparency, gradually building a communications apparatus that conveys information about the Committee’s decisions and expectations. Has the new apparatus improved the public’s ability to predict FOMC interest rate decisions? New research based on the prices of fed funds futures shows that over the past decade, it has, especially over horizons of two to three months.Federal Open Market Committee ; Federal funds rate

Scaling of the Strain Hardening Modulus of Glassy Polymers with the Flow Stress

In a recent letter, Govaert et al. examined the relationship between strain hardening modulus $G_r$ and flow stress $\sigma_{flow}$ for five different glassy polymers. In each case, results for $G_r$ at different strain rates or different temperatures were linearly related to the flow stress. They suggested that this linear relation was inconsistent with simulations. Data from previous publications and new results are presented to show that simulations also yield a linear relation between modulus and flow stress. Possible explanations for the change in the ratio of modulus to flow stress with temperature and strain rate are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures: clarified arguments on linear proportionality. Accepted for publication in J. Poly. Sci Part B - Polym. Phy