Mohamed A. Ayadi, Walid Ben Omrane, Jiayu Wang and Robert Welch
This study aims to better understand the effects of speeches as a valuable communication tool for central banks. It extends the analysis of the effects of public speeches on jumps…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to better understand the effects of speeches as a valuable communication tool for central banks. It extends the analysis of the effects of public speeches on jumps to determine whether individual speakers matter partly because of their name, position or institution.
Design/methodology/approach
This study detects intraday jumps using a robust-to-jump volatility estimator that accounts for deterministic seasonality. As a result, this study removes spurious jumps that occur when volatility is high and consider the relatively small jumps that occur when volatility is low. After identifying jumps, this study examines their reactions to senior official speeches and macroeconomic news surrounding the US and European Union (EU) financial crises.
Findings
Despite having the most influential individual speakers, this study finds that the impact of the Federal Reserve (Fed) and European Central Bank (ECB) is mitigated because the two institutions have a relatively small impact on currency jumps. This finding shows that the speaker’s name is more important than his or her institution affiliation. While the Federal Reserve Bank President and Chief Executive, as well as ECB board members, significantly reduce jump sizes, particularly during the EU crisis period, both the Fed Chairman and the ECB President increase the magnitude of the jump in both the US crisis and noncrisis periods, contributing to market instability.
Practical implications
The implications of the results include international portfolio management, currency derivatives pricing and hedging, risk management and market efficiency.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to a better understanding of the effects of senior official speech attributes on currency jumps in various economic states. The results raise questions about the speaker’s name, institution and position’s effectiveness in calming markets and reducing uncertainty.
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UEG launches £½m research programme. At a time of strengthening confidence in the offshore industry UEG, the offshore research and information group, has launched a new portfolio…
Abstract
UEG launches £½m research programme. At a time of strengthening confidence in the offshore industry UEG, the offshore research and information group, has launched a new portfolio of research proposals.
The objective of this study is to examine the impact that changes in minimum wage and the main income transfer programmes have had on the economic participation of the population…
Abstract
The objective of this study is to examine the impact that changes in minimum wage and the main income transfer programmes have had on the economic participation of the population and the informal sector in Argentina. The magnitude and importance that both policies have had in the Argentine case makes it possible carry out an in-depth analysis of these topics. In effect, minimum wage was periodically modified between 2002 and 2014 to be among the highest in the Latin American region while the mentioned income transfer programme – called the Universal Child Allowance – has benefited some 40 per cent of children residing in the country since its implementation.
The obtained evidence suggests that modifications to minimum wage did not produce adverse effects on employment or have a substantial impact on the probabilities of entering the informal sector. Regarding the income transfers, it was possible to confirm that it did not encourage adults in beneficiary households to become economically inactive.
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Roots of global Terrorism are in ‘failed’ states carved out of multiracial empires after World Wars I and II in name of ‘national self‐determination’. Both sides in the Cold War…
Abstract
Roots of global Terrorism are in ‘failed’ states carved out of multiracial empires after World Wars I and II in name of ‘national self‐determination’. Both sides in the Cold War competed to exploit the process of disintegration with armed and covert interventions. In effect, they were colluding at the expense of the ‘liberated’ peoples. The ‘Vietnam Trauma’ prevented effective action against the resulting terrorist buildup and blowback until 9/11. As those vultures come home to roost, the war broadens to en vision overdue but coercive reforms to the postwar system of nation states, first in the Middle East. Mirages of Vietnam blur the vision; can the sole Superpower finish the job before fiscal and/or imperial overstretch implode it?
Punitive damages is a controversial topic in the legal profession and in the field of economics. This chapter explores the economics of punitive damages as they relates to…
Abstract
Punitive damages is a controversial topic in the legal profession and in the field of economics. This chapter explores the economics of punitive damages as they relates to corporate defendants. The economic difference between large corporations and other potential defendants, such as individuals or smaller closely held companies, causes the effects of a punitive award to be different. In some circumstances, these differences raise significant questions as to the appropriateness of punitive damages when imposed on large corporations.
In his paper presented at last month's annual conference of the Institute of Weights and Measures Administration Mr. J. D. Derbyshire, B.Sc. (Econ.), makes some far‐reaching…
Abstract
In his paper presented at last month's annual conference of the Institute of Weights and Measures Administration Mr. J. D. Derbyshire, B.Sc. (Econ.), makes some far‐reaching suggestions for improving the machinery now in use to protect the purchasing public. Under the title “Caveat Venditor” he discusses the present position and outlines possible lines of development for the future. He defines “consumer protection” as “that area of service which aims at guaranteeing the consumer certain recognised or defined standards of quantity or quality in his commercial transactions which he may then use as a basis on which to exercise his personal preferences as a consumer. The machinery which affords this protection is at present variegated in the extreme: some of it national, some of it local, some of it public, some of it private; a confused collection of agencies, as yet showing few signs of co‐ordination and order. Included in this broad category will be found, in addition to the weights and measures service, the sampling and analytical service; the former safeguarding standards of quantity, the latter standards of quality. Within the sampling and analytical service will be found the public analysts, the food and drugs sampling officers, the fertilisers and feeding stuffs inspectors and samplers, and that other, as yet small but growing, band of men and women which, privately or with public backing, seeks to protect and raise quality standards of merchandise at present lying beyond the reach of specific legislative control.”
The estimated population of the City of Madras at the present time is about one million. This fact alone, considered in relation to public health, speaks for itself. The Public…
Abstract
The estimated population of the City of Madras at the present time is about one million. This fact alone, considered in relation to public health, speaks for itself. The Public Analyst for the city, who has drawn up this report, acts under the Madras Prevention of Adulteration Act, 1918. The Act, therefore, has been operative for about thirty years. Two graphs are given in the report. One of these shows the number of samples of foods submitted by, it may be supposed, officials corresponding to our food inspectors, each year from 1931 to 1948. The other shows the percentage of samples returned as adulterated for the years 1931 to 1948. From the first graph it appears that the number of samples submitted was about 750 in 1931. In 1948 the number rose to 4,035. From 1931 to 1946 the rise on the whole was steady. From 1946 it was rapid—2,000 in 1946. The curve which expresses the percentage of samples returned as adulterated seems to bear little relation to the first curve. It is most irregular. During the first three or four years the rate of adulteration kept pace with the number of samples collected for analysis. We may suppose that milk is as necessary a constituent of food in Madras as it is elsewhere. Out of the 4,035 samples of food analysed in 1948, 2,054 were milk samples. Out of these 915 were cows‘ milk. The rest consisted of buffalos’ milk or a mixture of cow and buffalo milk, and a number were unspecified. Added water, in nearly every case, was the offence. This ranged from 2 per cent to 81 per cent. Nearly half the cows‘ milk was reported against; half the buffalos’ milk; and about 45 per cent of the mixed milk. If these figures be a measure of the efficiency of the Act of 1918 so far as it relates to the purity of the milk supply the statute would seem to be almost a dead letter. Admittedly many circumstances, especially at the present time, are responsible for the nature and extent of food adulteration in any given district, and these would lead to the unsatisfactory nature of the results just referred to. However, it is suggested that a powerful contributory cause is the inadequacy of the average fine that is inflicted for the offence of food adulteration. In 1944 this was Rs. 59. In 1948 it was Rs. 43, a drop of nearly 25 per cent. “ Let the punishment fit the crime.” The collection and analysis of samples is plainly in the nature of futility unless it be followed by correspondingly vigorous action on the part of the courts against proved offenders. The report remarks: “ Unless a more serious view of offences under the Food Adulteration Act is taken and the maximum penalties provided under the Act are imposed the good effect of increased sampling will be annulled, and much progress cannot be made of effectively suppressing the evil practice of adulteration in the city.” Other samples of foods were analysed and details of the results are given in the report. These show in many cases deliberate, heavy and unscrupulous adulteration which is, unfortunately, but too evident in the milk supply of the city.
It is now about twelve years since the first discovery —by accident—that antibiotic supplements to the feeding stuffs of young livestock produced increased weight gains and…
Abstract
It is now about twelve years since the first discovery —by accident—that antibiotic supplements to the feeding stuffs of young livestock produced increased weight gains and improved conversion of food into flesh. Already a commercial practice of some magnitude in the U.S.A., it has grown in this country to such an extent that the trend is being reviewed at high level authority.
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The second article of the “Library Bill of Rights” proclaims: “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues…
Abstract
The second article of the “Library Bill of Rights” proclaims: “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Keeping this article in mind, have librarians always adhered to it? Cal Thomas, vice president of the Moral Majority, does not think so. In Book Burning (1982), he accuses the liberal establishment of censoring the writings of conservatives. For too long, conservatives have been branded as the arch banners when, in fact, they have faced prohibitive treatment from liberals. Thomas insists that some liberal publishing houses do not want to bring out a work espousing conservative ideals no matter how well‐written it is. Liberal extremist groups pressure publishing houses to reject their manuscripts. Liberal critics dismiss their books in a few sentences or do not review them at all. The large bookstore chains fail to stock their books, therefore depriving the reading public of exposure to them. And Thomas' final regret is that librarians turn a cold shoulder to books by conservatives, excluding them from their collections and, more importantly, from the judgment of history.