Can the general fraud offence 'get the law right'? Some perspectives on the 'problem' of financial crime

The Fraud Bill, which received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006, created an offence of fraud in English criminal law which marks a departure of utmost significance from the approach adopted hitherto, whereby a number of related offences cover behaviour deemed to amount to fraud. To mark the passage of the Fraud Act 2006 into law, this article examines the references which were made during its consideration in Parliament to fraud as activity which is serious and which is often erroneously portrayed as 'victimless' crime. In joining these key criminal policy-making debates with academic study of white-collar crime, it will be suggested that as yet too little attention is being paid to 'ambiguous' popular perceptions of financial crimes for there to be confidence that the fraud offence will, in the words of the current Solicitor-General, 'get the law right'

Business, state, and community: 'responsible risk takers', New Labour, and the governance of corporate business

In December 1998, Peter Mandelson MP, one of the principal architects of the Labour Party’s victory in the May 1997 general election, dramatically resigned as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Nevertheless, despite his relatively brief period in that office, Mr. Mandelson left his imprint on policy through the publication in November 1998 of a major White Paper, ‘Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy’. The White Paper sets out the New Labour analysis of the national political economy in a globalized world economy and is very much influenced by Mr. Mandelson’s experience of the entrepreneurial spirit during his fact-finding visit to the United States of America. This article seeks to chart the relationship between New Labour’s desire to foster the development of the corporate sector within a vibrant entrepreneurial culture and the need to ensure that the integrity of the market is preserved in an arena which is seen as inimicable to strong regulatory intervention by the state. As well as mapping New Labour’s political rhetoric onto contemporary debates in corporate governance, the analysis will involve an examination of the interface between business practice and morality. In particular, the article will focus upon the role of the conception of company directors as ‘responsible risk takers’ and the upon the use of name-and-shame sanctions in the development of an entrepreneurial culture in which all corporate enterprises are seen as having a legitimate societal ‘licence to operate’

Light-Front QCD and the Constituent Quark Model

A general strategy is described for deriving a constituent approximation to QCD, inspired by the constituent quark model and based on light-front quantization. Some technical aspects of the approach are discussed, including a mechanism for obtaining a confining potential and ways in which spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking can be manifested. (Based on a talk presented by K.G. Wilson at ``Theory of Hadrons and Light-Front QCD,'' Polana Zgorzelisko, Poland, August 1994.)Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, no figure

S-matrices for spinor particles on Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black holes

The scattering problems arising when considering the contribution of the topologically inequivalent configurations of the spinors on Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black holes to the Hawking radiation are correctly stated. The corresponding $S$-matrices are described and presented in the form convenient to numerical computations.Comment: 11 pages, LaTe

Research on spacecraft electrical power conversion

The history of spacecraft electrical power conversion in literature, research and practice is reviewed. It is noted that the design techniques, analyses and understanding which were developed make today's contribution to power computers and communication installations. New applications which require more power, improved dynamic response, greater reliability, and lower cost are outlined. The switching mode approach in electronic power conditioning is discussed. Technical aspects of the research are summarized

Experimental making in multi-disciplinary research

For the past 3 years, Graham Whiteley has been using making in a project to develop a mechanical analogy for the human skeletal arm to inform the future development of prostheses and other artefacts. Other aspects of the work such as use of drawings and the use of a principled approach in the absence of concrete design goals have been documented elsewhere, this paper concentrates on the central role of making in the process. The paper will discuss the role of making in multi-disciplinary research; craft skills and resources appropriate to each stage of a practice centred research project in this area; the use of models in an iterative experimental investigation and the value of models in eliciting knowledge from a broad community of interested parties and experts.</p

Research on spacecraft electrical power conversion

The steady state characteristics and starting behavior of some widely used self-oscillating magnetically coupled square wave inverters were studied and the development of LC-tuned square wave inverters is reported. An analysis on high amplitude voltage spikes which occur in dc-to-square-wave parallel converters shows the importance of various circuit parameters for inverter design and for the suppression of spikes. A computerized simulation of an inductor energy storage dc-to-dc converter with closed loop regulators and of a preregulating current step-up converter are detailed. Work continued on the computer aided design of two-winding energy storage dc-to-dc converters

Designing Water Conservation Policies That Match Sense With Cents: A Case Study Approach

As Georgia increasingly faces the strains imposed by water scarcity, there is growing interest in water conservation programs as a means for dealing with the scarcity problem. There are many types of residential water use conservation programs found in communities across the United States. An important question then becomes: is there one, or possible one set, of conservation policies that apply to all conditions of water scarcity faced by communities with water scarcity problems -- i.e., does a "one size fits all" approach to the design of conservation programs make good sense?In an effort to address this question, we conduct case studies of two cities that face very different water scarcity conditions: Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Phoenix, Arizona. In Albuquerque, where alternative sources of water are very expensive, we find a wide range of incentive-based conservation programs as well as aggressive public outreach and education programs. In Phoenix, where alternative water supplies are relatively inexpensive, incentive-based programs have been rejected; the City relies solely on public outreach and education programs.Examination of the manner in which these two cities have designed their residential water conservation programs provides a clear manifestation of the importance of a government giving close consideration to the benefits and costs associated with any particular conservation program design -- the importance of considering the extent to which the expenditure of "cents" makes good public policy "sense." Such an approach is highly recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is a basic tool that has been used in U.S. cities whose conservation programs are widely recognized as being exceptionally effective. These observations then raise questions as to the efficacy of state-wide policies requiring, for example, restrictions on outdoor water use in all communities in a state. Our study suggests that Georgia's citizens may well be better served by the adoption of policies designed to "fit" the particular circumstances of water scarcity that is faced by communities affected by the policy. Working Paper Number 2005-00