To the knowledge of the author, this is the first time it has been shown that interest rates that are extremely high by modern standards are necessary within a zero-sum monetary system. Extreme interest rates persisted for long periods of time in many places. Prior to the invention of banking, most money was hard-money in the form of some type of coin. Here a model is presented that examines th...

We study the problem of a policymaker who seeks to set policy optimally in an economy where the true economic structure is unobserved, and he optimally learns from observations of the economy. This is a classic problem of learning and control, variants of which have been studied in the past, but seldom with forward-looking variables which are a key component of modern policy-relevant models. As...

This paper examines the macroeconomic costs and benefits of adopting a common currency (the yen) for 18 Asian and Pacific countries. Economic theory suggests that the main benefit is enhanced price stability, while the main cost is higher business-cycle volatility if the adopting country’s output is not sufficiently correlated with that of Japan. Using data from 1960–2001, the paper finds that ...

We study the problem of a policymaker who seeks to set policy optimally in an economy where the true economic structure is unobserved, and he optimally learns from observations of the economy. This is a classic problem of learning and control, variants of which have been studied in the past, but seldom with forward-looking variables which are a key component of modern policy-relevant models. As...

The crisis recovery program in Indonesia has failed badly in relation to the two key objectives of development economics policy-making: efficiency and equity. The economy went into a very severe recession within a few months of the IMF appearing on the scene, and five years later output was still only at approximately the pre-crisis level. The collapse of the banking system and the associated b...

The European sovereign debt crisis revived the discussion concerning pros and cons of exchange rate adjustment in the face of asymmetric shocks. In the spirit of Keynes, exit from the euro area is to regain rapidly international competitiveness. In the spirit of Schumpeter, exchange rate stability with structural reforms would be beneficial towards the long-run growth performance. Previous lite...

In‡ation targeting is shown to imply in‡ation forecast targeting: the central bank’s in‡ation forecast becomes an explicit intermediate target. In‡ation forecast targeting simpli...es both implementation and monitoring of monetary policy. The weight on output stabilization determines how quickly the in‡ation forecast is adjusted towards the in‡ation target. Money growth or exchange rate targeti...

Gap junctions formed between transfected cells expressing connexin (Cx) 40 and Cx43 (Cx43-RIN, Cx40-HeLa, and Cx43-HeLa) revealed a relationship, gj5f(Vj), at steady state, that is typified by a nonsymmetrical behavior similar to that previously reported for other heterotypic channels (gap junction conductance [gj]; transjunctional voltage [Vj]). The unitary conductance of the channels was sens...

Pig embryonic tissues represent an attractive option for organ transplantation. However, the achievement of optimal organogenesis after transplantation, namely, maximal organ growth and function without teratoma development, represents a major challenge. In this study, we determined distinct gestational time windows for the growth of pig embryonic liver, pancreas, and lung precursors. Transplan...

In a network individual nodes can have differing numbers of links. Barabási (2003), among others, proposes that self-organizing networks in nature are scale-free, yielding many nodes with few connections and few nodes with many connections; the (log-log) frequency of connections per node should follow a power law. In contrast, random graphs should produce non-power-law connections-per-node dist...