Business Economics articles from January 1998

Business Economics archives from January 1998

The Adam Smith address: location, clusters, and the "new" microeconomics of competition.
January 1, 1998... The "new" microeconomics of competition is contained in frameworks that structure the complexity of competition and inform managers of the choices they must make. This address focuses on the role of location, which has shifted from factor...

The outlook for the telecommunications industry and the implications for the economy and for business.
January 1, 1998... Information technology, of which telecommunications is a principal part, is going to be the biggest technological driver of economic and business change over the next decade. Understanding the nature and breadth of that change is critical for...

The role of economic policy in current economic performance.
January 1, 1998... The economy has performed surprisingly well over the past several years. The combination of robust economic growth, low unemployment, and modest inflation, while not unprecedented, is the best in a generation. A number of developments have...

The continuing importance of trade liberalization.
January 1, 1998... A major initiative of the Clinton administration is to promote free trade. Renewing the President's authority to negotiate trade agreements on a "fast track " basis is an important step to achieve this goal. This paper demonstrates why we need...

European monetary union in a globalized world economy: the beginning of end for Europe.
January 1, 1998... The establishment of a European Monetary Union by 1999 now seems likely. Problems with meeting the criteria for membership are being overcome, sometimes creatively, and initial participation should cover eleven countries. A further four could...

Implications for international business of European economic and monetary unification.
January 1, 1998... On January 1, 1999, major transactions among European financial institutions will be denominated in euros. Progressively, payments between companies in Europe will be made in euros. After June 2002, the euro will be the only legal tender in the...

Restructuring and its implications for business economics.
January 1, 1998... Restructuring has been a major force in the world economy at least since the 1970s. Restructuring includes takeovers, mergers, divestitures, spin-offs, split-ups, financial recapitalizations, and going private transactions. This paper...

The U.S. Treasury's Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS): market reactions and policy effects.
January 1, 1998... This paper reviews the U.S. Treasury's new series of TIPS and their role in financing federal deficits and the national debt. After describing TIPS and reviewing the early evidence of institutional and individual investor responses to them,...

Industry corner: smart cards for an information-hungry world.
January 1, 1998... Smart cards combine microprocessor technology and credit-card portability to provide a wide range of information storage and processing capabilities in a bewildering range of applications -- from prepaid cards for telephone and mass-transit...

The statistics corner: measurement issues in the U.S. information technology sector as it moves to future migration paths.
January 1, 1998... My guest columnist for this issue is Martin Fleming, who is well known to readers of Business Economics for his many contributions, including former Editor of The Statistics Corner -- Maurine Haver, Editor, Statistics Corner. Economists...

The statistics producers' corner. (Bureau of the Census' construction statistics program)
January 1, 1998... IMPROVING CONSTRUCTION STATISTICS Although the construction statistics programs of the Bureau of the Census have been in place for over thirty years, they have not undergone an extensive review by a wide range of users. In order to...

Chronic Condition: Why Health Reform Fails.
January 1, 1998... Chronic Condition: Why Health Reform Fails By Sherry Glied, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1997, pp. 288, $45.00. The author served a year as staff economist for the Council of Economic Advisers during the end of the Bush term and...

Resisting Hostile Takeovers: The Case of Gillette.
January 1, 1998... Resisting Hostile Takeovers: The Case of Gillette By Rita Ricardo-Campbell, Westport, CT, Praeger Publishers, 1997, pp. 272, hard cover $65.00. NABE Health Roundtable members know Rita Ricardo-Campbell as the "Dean" of health economists and...

Macroeconomic Essentials for Media Interpretation.
January 1, 1998... Macroeconomic Essentials for Media Interpretation By Peter Kennedy, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 1997, pp. 384, paperback, $25.00. Peter Kennedy's new book, Macroeconomic Essentials for Media Interpretation, will interest both educators who...