The German waltzing guinea pig is a new strain of animals with yet unknown gene mutation(s) displaying recessively inherited cochleovestibular impairment. The homozygous animals (gw/gw) are deaf already at birth and display typical waltzing behavior throughout life. The heterozygous animals (gw/+) do not suffer from hearing loss and vestibular symptoms. The present thesis is focused on the homo...

The temperature dependence of the parameters characterizing the first peak in the S(Q) and S(Q ,E50) diffraction patterns of vitreous boron trioxide is considered in some detail. The analysis of the experimental spectra is aided by results derived from molecular-dynamics simulations, which enable us to isolate the most relevant features driving the variation with temperature of both structure f...

The effect of monetary policy on the farm sector remains controversial. Studies attempting to quantify the effects of monetary disturbances on real farm prices report conflicting results: some find that positive monetary shocks increase real farm prices in the short run, while others detect no such effect. We offer a resolution of these conflicting findings by re-estimating existing models on a...

Channel systems for conducting monetary policy are becoming increasingly popular. Despite its popularity, the consequences of implementing policy with a channel system are not well understood. We develop a general equilibrium framework of a channel system and study the optimal policy. A novel aspect of the channel system is that a central bank can “tighten” or “loosen” its policy without changi...

This essay reflects the thoughts and experience of two staff members. Mark Allen has been a resident representative in both Poland (1990–93) and Hungary (1996–1998), two countries that have moved well along the road of transformation. Rick Haas was the resident representative in Belarus (1996–98), a country where much remains to be done. In some respects they had similar experiences, in others ...

Supply-side policies can play a role in fighting a low aggregate demand that traps an economy at the zero lower bound (ZLB) of nominal interest rates. Reductions in mark-ups or future increases in productivity triggered by supply-side policies generate a wealth effect that pulls current consumption and output up. Since the economy is at the ZLB, increases in interest rates do not undo this weal...

We analyze a simple strategic model of interaction between central bank and labor union. We assume that the intransparency of the central bank (labor union) induces Knightian uncertainty faced by the labor union (central bank). Knightian uncertainty means that decision makers are unable to make exact probability judgements. It is modelled by Choquet Expected Utility Theory and its recent applic...

An important question for central banks is how they should report the uncertainty of their forecasts. This paper discusses a way in which a central bank could report the uncertainty of its forecasts in a world in which it used a single macroeconometric model to make its forecasts and guide its policies. Suggestions are then made as to what might be feasible for a central bank to report given th...

——————————————————————————————————— We develop a model where agents can allocate their wealth between a liquid asset, which can be used to purchase consumption goods, and an illiquid asset, which represents a better store of value. Should a consumption opportunity arise, agents may visit a frictional “over-the-counter” secondary asset market where they can exchange illiquid for liquid assets. W...

Renormalization-group methods are applied to the Anderson model for a localized level coupled to a Fermi system in which the density of states varies like ueu near the Fermi energy (e50). This model with r51 or 2 may describe magnetic impurities in unconventional superconductors and certain semiconductors. The pseudogap suppresses mixed valence in favor of local-moment behavior. However, it als...