Business Economics articles from April 2004

Business Economics archives from April 2004

From the Editor.(Editorial)
April 1, 2004... The themes that emerge from this issue are consumers, monetary policy, inflation, and developing countries. In the first article, Ana Aizcorbe, Martha Starr, and James T. Hickman use household-level data to examine changes in behavior...

Vehicle purchases, leasing, and replacement demand: evidence from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances.
April 1, 2004... The motor vehicle industry has undergone important changes in recent years, including a shift in production from autos to light trucks and growth of vehicle leasing. This paper uses household-level data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of...

U.S. consumers and the war in Iraq: the non-economics of consumer confidence.
April 1, 2004... Consumer confidence receives close attention as a driver of present and future consumer spending prospects. Understandably, concerns about job security and bonuses have an effect on behavior at the shopping mall, but attitudes also seem to...

Monetary policy actions and the incentive to invest: the "value of waiting" may overwhelm low interest rates.
April 1, 2004... The ability of monetary policy actions to affect the private sector's incentive to invest in fixed capital is hotly debated. Whereas a downward shift in the yield curve increases the present value of expected cash flows and should spur...

Inflation targeting: why it works and how to make it work better.
April 1, 2004... Inflation targeting has worked well because it leads policymakers to debate, decide on, and communicate the inflation objective. In practice, this process has led the public to believe that the central bank has a long-term inflation objective....

Do high oil prices presage inflation? The evidence from G-5 countries.
April 1, 2004... We estimate the effects of oil price changes on inflation for the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan using an augmented Phillips curve framework. We supplement the traditional Phillips curve approach taking into account...

Does FDI contribute to economic growth? Knowledge about the effects of FDI improves negotiating positions and reduces risk for firms investing in developing countries.(Foreign direct investment)
April 1, 2004... Using data from an Arab country, this paper shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) contributes to higher growth both directly and indirectly through its effects on exports. Knowledge of the positive influence of FDI on growth could enable...

Global financial governance: whose ownership?(Forum on Emerging Issues)
April 1, 2004... Over the past two decades, many changes that have taken place in international financial markets have had an important impact on developing countries. Because of increased global integration, what happens to developing countries is increasingly...

Economic statistics: new data available in 2004.(Focus on Statistics)
April 1, 2004... Economic statistics released in 2004 will feature several new programs from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The reports reviewed in this article include the first data from the...

Swiss Reinsurance.(Economics at Work)(Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd.,)(Company Profile)
April 1, 2004... For those unfamiliar with the insurance industry, reinsurance companies provide insurance to "primary" insurers, the insurance companies that provide individuals with auto, home, and life insurance and businesses with commercial insurance. The...

A Guide to Econometrics, 5th ed.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... A Guide to Econometrics, 5th ed By Peter Kennedy, 2003. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Pp. 623. $75.00 cloth, $37.95 paper. The fact that there is a new fifth edition of Peter Kennedy's A Guide to Econometrics is eloquent testimony to...

Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies?(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies? By James J. Heckman and Alan B. Krueger. 2004. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pp. 370. $40.00 hardcover. From time to time, the economics deities gather on Mt. Olympus and battle....