This paper provides evidence on the size, composition and cyclicality of discretionary tax measures (DTM), using a new database developed by the Output Gap Working Group. While their average magnitude is fairly limited over a long period with discretionary tax cuts being offset by discretionary tax hikes, they can be non-negligible at any given point in time. The cyclical pattern of DTM appears irregular and depends on the policy regime. While small pro-cyclical discretionary tax cuts were seen during the pre-crisis period, larger counter-cyclical tax breaks were adopted at the start of the crisis period, followed by pro-cyclical tax hikes in a context of substantial public finance consolidation. The paper also examines the impact of DTM on tax elasticities in the EU for broad tax categories over the period 2001-12: DTM do not seem to explain the bulk of the large short-term fluctuation in gross elasticities of tax receipts to GDP. The availability of DTM also allows for an analytical illustrative exercise, computing variants of the cyclically adjusted balance (CAB) based on time-varying elasticities (net of discretionary measures) instead of on constant elasticities. However, the indicators turn out to be extremely erratic and plagued by statistical 'noise', which makes them difficult to interpret in practice. The fact that elasticities change sign frequently and that their strong movements offset each other over a number of years also suggests that the short-term variations may largely be driven by time lags between revenue collection and revenue bases. Therefore, the CAB variants cannot be seen as an adequate solution for addressing the issues faced by the CAB."--Document home page.
The cyclically-adjusted budget balance (CAB) is the backbone of the EU framework of fiscal surveillance, both in its preventive and corrective arms. The concept corresponds to the budget balance prevailing if the economy was running at potential. After correcting for the one-off and temporary measures, it is called structural budget balance and used to assess the fiscal policy stance. The importance of the CAB has been restated forcefully with the recent reform of the European economic governance. This paper aims at methodologically improving the CAB to better measure the reaction of the balance-to-GDP ratio to cyclical conditions. This was achieved by using a more precise concept of the cyclical-adjustment parameter and by updating the decade-old fiscal elasticities underlying the computation of the CAB. This paper reviews and explains in detail these recent improvements and describes the impact thereof on the CAB results."--Document home page.
The Liberating Mission of Jesus deals with the central message of the Gospel of Luke, provocatively arguing that the liberating mission of Jesus has two central themes: the universality of the love of God and the special love God has for the defenseless of society. Both of these pillars form the bedrock of Luke's theological vision, animate his Gospel throughout, and summarize the good news of the reign of God in subversive and radical form. This book shows how the liberating message announced by Jesus, as well as his liberating practice, is manifested throughout the Gospel and its implications for Christian life today. Through this thorough treatment, the full depth of Luke's vision of the liberating mission of Jesus is shown to be a paradigm for the personal and collective witness of believers, regardless of the social, political, cultural, or religious boundaries that try to inhibit them from giving witness to the God of life.
The violinist Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) is considered among the most influential performers in history and still maintains a strong following among violinists around the world. Dario Sarlo contributes significantly to the growing field of analytical research into recordings and the history of performance style. Focussing on Heifetz and his under-acknowledged but extensive performing relationship with the Bach solo violin works (BWV 1001-1006), Sarlo examines one of the most successful performing musicians of the twentieth century along with some of the most frequently performed works of the violin literature. The book proposes a comprehensive method for analysing and interpreting the legacies of prominent historical performers in the wider context of their particular performance traditions. The study outlines this research framework and addresses how it can be transferred to related studies of other performers. By building up a comprehensive understanding of multiple individual performance styles, it will become possible to gain deeper insight into how performance style develops over time. The investigation is based upon eighteen months of archival research in the Library of Congress’s extensive Jascha Heifetz Collection. It draws on numerous methods to examine what and how Heifetz played, why he played that way, and how that way of playing compares to other performers. The book offers much insight into the ’music industry’ between 1915 and 1975, including touring, programming, audiences, popular and professional reception and recording. The study concludes with a discussion of Heifetz’s unique performer profile in the context of violin performance history.
The Astronaut: Cultural Mythology and Idealised Masculinity interrogates the historical and cultural dynamics of one of the most revered icons of the 20th century. Analysing a diverse range of cultural representations the book postulates the construction of an intertextual mythology through which the astronaut becomes an embodiment of American ideological values and heroic manhood. The discursive processes at work in the range of media texts examined serve to embed the astronaut into the cultural imaginary as a largely coherent and uncontested exemplar of idealised masculinity. Using a range of interdisciplinary analytical tools the book examines how the social construction of this masculine ideal iterates and naturalises gender hegemony. The book situates the astronaut within the context of a modern/postmodern theoretical framework linking shifts in gender perspectives to the contradictory narratives and characterisations that inform the mediation of the astronaut. In so doing, the book argues for a re-evaluation of the, often oversimplified, use of the term hegemonic masculinity as an anchoring point for the critique of masculinity. The strength of this work is its interdisciplinary diversity and its interconnection of a range of themes including gender, representation, history, ideology, the postmodern and the media. Drawing upon contemporary theoretical debates while redeploying seminal theoretical texts the book offers new cultural interrogations of a highly familiar historical subject.
I am Tony Valentino, the prime narrator of Rose of the Flats, a novel about prejudice in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I had thought I was writing about the experiences of my younger brother Dante, a Korean War combat veteran who was successfully becoming an English teacher at our local high school after the war. Unlike me, he could easily "pass" for white. But he had been arrogant enough to marry Rose, our sweetheart since childhood, who could not pass. Although I narrated the story in 1957, it is just as relevant now as it was then. Our father was an immigrant Jew from Italy, married to our immigrant French Canadian mother, who was Catholic and was partially black. When the novel opens, I am living with Rose, taking care of Dante. Two years ago, someone in a passing car had taken a shot at him one night. His car swerved and crashed into a tree, leaving him severely brain damaged. Our isolated little community is really part of Berlin, the only city in the northern part of our state, which, back then, was like Quebec. Most of the people in Berlin could not understand English. Cascade Flats is technically within the town line of Gorham, a tourist town five miles down the road. It is proudly American. Our state motto is "Live free, or die." In my senior year in high school, I fell madly in love with my attractive young English teacher, the epitome of American womanhood, the woman I had planned to marry, to live free or die with. I wasn't going to be stuck with a woman of the flats, not I. But having been thrust into such close proximity with Rose, I became aware of our deep feelings for each other, especially of our strong sexual attraction, which I had refused to fully acknowledge when she had given me the opportunities. The Joy of my life, I had thought, had been white. In trying to tell Dante's story, I was really telling my own story, forced by Rose to face my own demons, my deepest anxieties and feelings of guilt for having coveted the devoted, passionate wife of my own brother. To finally survive our situation, I was compelled to overcome my own prejudices.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.