Some private institutions of higher learning in the US have come under severe financial distress and succumbed to extinction after the COVID epidemic (2019-2020). Using data on 139 institutions of ...higher education in the US, macroeconomic data from 2012 to 2022, classifications of the institutions into three categories-public undergraduate, non-parochial undergraduate, and parochial Christian undergraduate-, eleven (shock) variables or indicators, and factor analysis, this paper finds that private undergraduate institutions, including Christian colleges, are failing at a faster rate relative to their counterparts. Ironically, the internal rate of return (IRR) to investment in parochial colleges is higher than the negative IRR that correlates with their non-parochial counterpart. The paper finds that the stability of public academic institutions is strongly associated with revenues from in- and out-of-state tuition, which could be attenuated by the diminutive effects of inflation. Public sector education is more stable because of in- and out-of state tuition-coinciding with relatively robust rates of enrollment-though the general rate of enrollment in the US is negatively correlated with the stability of education in the private sector. The paper concludes that despite the critical role of human capital for economic growth and development, and the ability of the parochial institutions to promise higher rates of return to investment in human capital, financially weaker institutions have become critically endangered after the COVID epidemic.
While autonomous central banks in large open economies are usually predisposed to use monetary rules to target inflation, output, and long-term interest rates, central banks in small open economies ...face peculiar challenges in their attempts to attain and maintain liquidity, stable prices and full employment. This paper investigates the effects of monetary policy in the case of Sierra Leone, assuming that information for rule-based monetary policy is insufficient and imprecise. We use the Bayesian model to evaluate primitive (priors), posterior enhancements and responses of key variables to exogenous perturbations based on information from 2007 to 2018. We find that the effects of disturbances that are associated with crude oil prices have a more persistent effect on national output than the dominant monetary instrument (T-Bills). The response of monetary policy to exogenous perturbations is generally weak and less persistent. Granger-causality tests reveal that internal conditions make it less likely for the central bank to robustly react to external shocks. JEL codes: E42, E 47, E50, E52
This paper evaluates market and policy responses to the healthcare problem in the US. It examines pricing mechanisms, medical malfeasance, and the judicial and legislative valuations of human lives. ...It affirms the theory that perfunctory public policies are ineffective when markets are inefficient and incapable of dealing with social issues that have positive external effects. I find that the decomposition of penury classes for federal assistance is not statistically different though the decomposition provides an expedient framework for public policy and federal government assistance to the poor. Additionally, the philosophical motives for valuing human lives in the US courts of law and legislatures produce inconsistent results, with the legislative response-and contrary to expectation-showing a large degree of variability in the value of human lives. The paper proposes that specificity rules be utilized to address the problem of inadequate healthcare when healthcare markets and policies produce inefficient outcomes.
This paper investigates the effects of population growth and economic activity on intergenerational equity and environmental preservation. Time series data from 1970 to 2015 suggest that positive ...time preference, induced by poverty and virtually unrestrained economic activity, pose dynamic and systemic risks to environmental preservation more so than the population growth. With the aid of economic models and empirical evaluation, the paper concludes that the viability of environmental conservation will ultimately be dependent on levels of poverty, life expectancy, the availability of diverse sources of income, restrained commercial consumption of environmental resources, and the preference for long-term investment.
The negative interest rate policy (NIRP), which is an unconventional monetary policy, is increasingly being diagnosed for symptoms of secular stagnation as some central banks exploit anticipatory ...inflation to achieve full employment. Notwithstanding, the efficacy of the unconventional monetary policy (UMP) is precarious and rather ambivalent. This paper argues that NIRP is unsuitable for structural (long-term) macroeconomic problems and that its adoption generates inconsistent and precarious results that are transient and potentially harmful.
This paper analyzes the evolution and challenges of acquiring human capital in the US. It revisits the omitted variable bias in formal and informal pedagogical evaluations and underscores the ...importance of public investment in human capital. The paper subsequently evaluates the importance of human capital by alluding to exogenous and endogenous growth models. Using time series data from 1990 to 2017 to evaluate the contributions of human capital to macroeconomic growth, empirical findings suggest that exogenous growth theory, more than endogenous growth theory, can still be applied to some countries of the world, where the residual-to-investment ratio is exceedingly high
By analyzing cross-sectional data to evaluate three hypotheses of insignificant differences in the US, this paper finds that divergent opportunities exist to acquire human and financial capital. ...Additionally, empirical estimates reveal that complaints of divergent opportunities do not show significant statistical variation in spending on corrections and the investment in education, relative to per capita spending on corrections. Indicators of human development index (HDI) suggest that Blacks who do not have equitable access to human capital and income are performing poorly relative to their white counterparts. Lack of human capital degrades the employable workforce of the US, exacerbates structural unemployment, and increases crime and unproductive consumption of scarce economic resources. The difficulties of acquiring human capital are compounded by microaggressive behavior and dysfunctional institutions. The paper concludes that lack of opportunities has counterproductive economic consequences for nations that want to improve the wellbeing of their citizens and allocate human capital in such a way that good human capital is not liquidated to increase the supply of relatively worthless capital (a new Gresham's law). Further, the paper argues that as a development policy, public policy should be oriented towards the optimal acquisition of social benefits when social benefits have greater value than private benefits.
International Trade And Industrial Recovery In The Usa Warburton, Christopher ES
Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies = Estudios Economicos Regionales y Sectoriales,
01/2017, Letnik:
17, Številka:
1
Journal Article
This paper explores relationships among technological innovation, alternative sources of energy, international trade agreements, and sustainable development. There has been growing concern that ...international trade destroys domestic industries, increases levels of unemployment, and exacerbates poverty levels. While older or classical deglobalization arguments have historic and legitimate concerns, technological innovation in the energy sector is creating a new paradigm for a re-evaluation of the effects of trade agreements. The energy revolution is creating new jobs that are insulated from outsourcing and amending some of the opprobrious results of trade agreements. In this paper, I argue that international trade and innovation can spur the revival of moribund industries even in the aftermath of resentful trade agreements, largely because trade-induced innovation can reduce levels of poverty and promote sustainable development. The paper uses time series and cross-sectional data to analyze the effects of innovation on: trade, the resuscitation of collapsing industries and the diminishing levels of poverty in some cities of the USA.
Trade Treaties and Deglobalization Warburton, Christopher Es
Applied Econometrics and International Development,
01/2017, Letnik:
17, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The central issue in this paper is whether technological innovation and international trade can spur economic growth and sustainable development within a structured environment of trade agreements. ...By analyzing historical precedents of the United States and data on trade imbalances, innovation, dynamic comparative advantage, weighted exchange rates, poverty, and wages, the evidence suggests that freer international trade very often has a greater potential for increasing welfare and sustainable development, although a few exceptions hold when free trade implies unfair trade, diminution of industrial production per head and strong trade deficits. Implicitly, exports must be strongly encouraged when wages are stagnant, poverty is substantial, production costs are low, and disposable income is insufficient to substantially absorb domestic production. On the other hand, trade imports have positive effects on domestic market when they increase production, productivity and income per head.
Purpose of the studyTo measure the number and distribution of crackles in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and assess how this relates to measures of disease severity.Study ...designFourteen patients with IPF had both the number of crackles per litre of lung volume and lung function measured every 3 months for 1 year. Crackle counts were expressed according to position (upper and lower zones) and whether they occurred during inspiration and expiration.ResultsAt baseline, crackle count per unit volume was higher at the bases than the apices and higher during inspiration than during expiration. There was a significant relationship between lung function and number of crackles per unit volume. Upper zone crackles during inspiration (crackle count vs forced vital capacity (FVC): r=0.69, p=0.007) and lower zone crackles during expiration (crackle count vs FVC: r=0.55, p=0.04) demonstrated the strongest relationship with lung function.ConclusionsNumber and distribution of crackles in IPF relate to physiological measures of disease severity. Inspiratory lower zone crackles were universal and extensive but the presence, hence, development of inspiratory upper zone crackles and expiratory lower zone crackles correlated with measures of poorer lung function. The presence or appearance of these assessed using chest auscultation provides a clinician with simple measure of disease severity, and possibly progression, prompting further physiological assessment and review of treatment.
