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Is Europe Ready for EMU? Theory, Evidence and Consequences
Mark Baimbridge
Brian Burkitt
Philip Whyman
Over the last 20 years, economists have studied the potential impact of monetary union between countries under the rubric of optimum currency area theory. It concludes that a single currency boosts participants' living standards when they possess similar economic structures and international trading patterns, but proves detrimental where these diverge. In view of the potentially devastating impact of locking a country's currency within an international regime ill-suited to meeting domestic and external economic goals, as witnessed under the Gold Standard of the 1930s, it is surprising that the need for prior and sustainable real convergence between economies is paid relatively scant attention.
Indeed, the so-called Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) 'convergence criteria' are more concerned with examining transitory cyclical movements in financial indicators, rather than concentrating upon fundamental structural convergence in the real economy. Perhaps this is not entirely surprising, as the EMU project was designed by central bankers! However, not only it is a matter of grave concern that that EMU proposes to proceed upon such a flimsy theoretical base, but this is magnified by the fact that this approach is untried without historical precedent. There has never been a monetary union which existed independently of political union and no independent country has ever unilaterally abandoned its own currency (Goodhart, 1995). EMU is therefore a 'leap in the dark' which has potentially destructive implications if its participants are not sufficiently converged prior to its establishment (Eichengreen, 1992 and 1993).
The October 1997 statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer sought to clarify the Government's approach to EMU, with the detailed argument laid out in the accompanying Treasury document: UK Membership of the Single Currency: An Assessment of the Five Economic Tests (HM Treasury, 1997). However, both the speech and the report are ambiguous. The latter is designed to provide an objective assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of joining a single currency, but it frequently displays a bias in favour of participation unsupported by its own research. A recurrent assertion is that 'participation in EMU will be beneficial', although little evidence is produced, with the balance often implying the reverse.
Therefore the Treasury document is an uneasy blend of assumptions and analysis, prompting doubts concerning the five economic tests created as the guidelines for UK entry into a single currency. Furthermore, their choice is neither explained nor related to contemporary economic theory. Hence, this pamphlet seeks to examine the criteria and tests advanced to support EMU membership, together with analysing the potential impact upon the UK following the adoption of a single currency by other EU member states.
Attainment of Maastricht Convergence Criteria
The determination of which individual European Union (EU) member states are suitable candidates for a single currency is supposedly achieved by their attainment of the five Maastricht convergence criteria (MCC) established in the Maastricht Treaty (EC, 1992):
each country's rate of inflation must be no more than 1.5% above the average of the lowest three inflation rates in the EMS;
its long-term interest rates must be within 2% of the same three countries chosen for the previous condition;
it must have been a member of the narrow band of fluctuation of the ERM for at least two years without a realignment;
its budget deficit must not be regarded as 'excessive' by the European Council, with 'excessive' defined to be where deficits are greater than 3% of GDP for reasons other than those of a 'temporary' or 'exceptional' nature;
its national debt must not be 'excessive', defined as where it is above 60% of GDP and is not declining at a 'satisfactory' pace.
Although the initial two criteria have a clear rationale with respect to the establishment of a single currency area based upon the achievement of prior cyclical convergence, the latter three have fostered both theoretical and empirical controversy. With respect to the third indicator, the 'normal' fluctuation bands cited in the Maastricht Treaty were interpreted until 1992 as the narrow margins of 2.25% around the central parity. However, following the 1992-93 exchange rate crises, these bands widened to +/-15% for an indefinite period whilst Italy and the UK withdrew from the ERM. Consequently, the EU member states initially accepted these wider margins as the exchange rate regime most likely to prevail until the initial wave of countries enter EMU (Aglietta and Uctum, 1996). However, at their June 1996 meeting EU Finance Ministers agreed to ignore the ERM membership precondition since few countries would meet the condition. In the process, they abandoned their earlier policy of successively reducing the level of exchange rate fluctuations and preventing realignments prior to the establishment of a single currency in order to minimise adjustment costs.
The inclusion of the final two indicators as means to establish the compatibility of potential participants within a monetary union is highly questionable. The prominent justifications for their use are, first, that they would result in a stable debt ratio in a steady-state economy with 2 % inflation and 3% real growth (TUC, 1993 ); and second, through advocacy of the 'golden-rule' that current government expenditure and revenue should be equated, together with the estimate that EU public investment approximately averaged 3% over the period 1974-91 (Buiter et al. , 1993) .The first justification is problematic since the fiscal reference values are compatible with any combination of inflation and growth which summate to 5% per annum. Furthermore, there is no evidence that attainment of these criteria would result in a steady-state economy (Arestis and Sawyer, 1996). With respect to the second justification, the operation of such fiscal rules requires the unlikely situation of zero inflation, otherwise inflation accounting must be undertaken. Additionally, the 60% national debt criterion is problematical as it is largely a consequence of the prior accretion of debt, reflecting past fiscal activities rather than current policy (Goodhart, 1992).
Despite the problematic nature of the MCC, it is nevertheless the case that the architects of EMU believed that their attainment would indicate the compatibility of potential participants, together with providing a guide to their subsequent maintenance in both favourable and unfavourable economic conditions (Baimbridge, 1997). Indeed, the prerequisite of prior convergence should be equally significant over each part of the economic cycle, if EMU is to prove robust against symmetric and asymmetric shocks (Eichengreen, 1992; Bayoumi and Eichengreen, 1993). However, examining the extent to which EU member states have actually met the MCC during the past 8 years, a period including both a recession and boom, makes disappointing reading for supporters of European monetary integration. Only in 1997, the crucial year prior to the choice of initial EMU members, does compliance with the MCC begin to approach that necessary for a sustainable monetary union. Although only two EU member states achieve all five MCC based upon strict adherence to their interpretation.
Table1: EU Member States' Status on MCC indicators 1990-97
Country 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Average
Luxembourg 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5
Denmark 5 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4
France 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 4
Germany 5 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 4
Ireland 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4
Austria 4 4 3 2 3 3 3 4 3
Belguim 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3
Netherlands 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 3
UK 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 4 3
Finland 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 4 2
Sweden 2 3 2 1 1 1 2 3 2
Spain 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 1
Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Number Meeting all MCC 4 2 1 0 2 1 1 2 2
Table 1 shows that the achievement of all five criteria was fulfilled on only 13 from a possible 120 occasions. Such a record in the period preceding EMU, when member states retained considerable control over their economies, is highly significant. Indeed, it is only Luxembourg, a country atypical of the other EU members' economies, which appears able to consistently meet the 5 criteria, whilst of the remaining fourteen nations only three have ever secured total compliance with the convergence indicators: France (1990, 1991 and 1997), Germany (1990, 1994 and 1997) and Denmark (1990).
Furthermore, if we take the average number of criteria met to provide an indication of the 'fitness' of a given EU member state to participate in EMU, it would appear that only Luxembourg, Denmark, France, Germany and Ireland come close to satisfying the convergence indicators permanently. Even for these countries, their inconsistency is problematic. Thus, the available evidence provides little support for the ability of member states to both achieve and maintain the stipulated convergence criteria for more than momentary periods. This situation is likely to result in the operation of a single EU currency becoming unsustainable in the medium - to long-term.
The five UK Treasury tests
In view of the rather limited and theoretically suspect set of indicators established by the Maastricht Treaty, the British Government adopted five supplementary tests which are claimed to be criteria for the decision whether EMU membership would be beneficial for Britain. These are:
(i) Whether there can be sustainable convergence between Britain and the economies of a single currency - in a dynamic global economy, it appears increasingly unlikely that the economies of countries can converge. Even if they did, differential productivity, technology and demand changes, together with the discovery of new process and commodities, will inevitably re-establish 'divergence'. Another difficulty is that the Treasury document slips between, and never precisely defines, two different interpretations of convergence. First cyclical, the belief that a single currency is only beneficial when the trade cycles of its members are synchronised, and second structural, the belief that a single currency is only beneficial when the national participants possess homogenous economic structures and international trading patterns. Although the two are inter-related, a determined government could potentially achieve 'cyclical convergence' over consecutive five-year parliaments through appropriate fiscal and monetary policy changes. In contrast, the more fundamental 'structural convergence' would require a focused longer-term strategy, potentially over generations (Burkitt et al., 1992). No government, nor the EU Commission, has ever devised, let alone implemented, such a complex programme and none appears to be immediately forthcoming. Moreover, if all EU economies achieved the easier target of synchronising the business cycle, the effect may be destabilising by its inducement of world inflations and recessions on a greater magnitude than previously experienced.
(ii) Whether there is sufficient flexibility to cope with economic change - a single currency cedes control over exchange rates and monetary policy. Therefore, without flexibility, future economic shocks are likely to impact negatively upon employment. Whilst the Treasury paper addresses significant dimensions of flexibility capable of national solutions, such as skills and long-term unemployment, it fails to confront directly the crucial issues for a single currency, i.e. labour mobility and price-wage flexibility across the EMU zone. It is precisely the absence of significant international labour mobility, restricted by language and cultural factors, together with the risk that wage differential transparency, enhanced by a single currency, will give rise to demands for wage equalisation between countries irrespective of productivity, thereby increasing wage rigidities.
(iii) The effect on investment & (v) whether it is good for employment - for both of these tests the Treasury argues that the single currency possesses the potential to enhance investment, employment and growth, but these benefits would only accrue if sufficient convergence and flexibility exist. However, the argument ignores the crucial role of British overseas investment, approximately 80% of whose destination is outside the EU (Jamieson, 1995), the potentially deflationary impact of the Maastricht convergence criteria and subsequent adherence to the Growth and Stability Pact (Pennant-Rea, 1997), together with the establishment of price stability as the sole legal objective of the European Central Bank (ECB). Indeed, Bill Martin of United Bank Securities estimated that already 'EMU aspirants' suffered a deflation around 4.5% of GDP during the 1990s by pursuing the Maastricht criteria. Moreover, it appears that the Treasury fails to appreciate the enormity of any effective convergence and flexibility strategy. Tables 1.1 and 1.2 in the document show that the British and German economies have in fact steadily diverged; indeed since 1981 a negative correlation exists between their growth rates.
(iv) The impact on our financial services industry - a frequently cited danger for Britain remaining outside EMU is that posed to the City of London which is one of three major world financial centres. International financial services in Britain employ around 150,000 people, generating £10-£15 billion in annual invisible exports (Taylor, 1995). It is often asserted that, if the UK exercises its opt-out, London could lose its pre-eminence to Frankfurt or Paris, because Euro trading will be focused in the EMU area. However, international business within each time zone tends to gravitate towards a single location, this centralisation being propelled by a preference for deep, liquid markets, accommodating legal and tax frameworks, skilled labour and a cluster of supporting services including accountancy, law, software and telecommunications. The City possesses all these attributes, which any EU competitor would find hard to emulate. Hence, providing that complacency is avoided, the existence of such advantages should ensure the City's dominance even if Britain remains outside EMU.
When analysing EMU's consequences for the City of London, it is crucial to distinguish between its role as the premier European financial centre and its position in the world financial markets. The immediate effect of EMU will be a loss of intra-EU foreign exchange transactions, which can be compensated by an increased volume of Euro dealing that will concentrate in London just as French franc-US dollar business does currently. It would also be offset by greater dollar and yen trading against the Euro. A greater threat arises from the official bond market that will inevitably emerge from EMU, which the relevant authority will seek to retain inside the single currency area. However, without effective exchange controls, it will prove impossible to prevent global trading, so that a bond market will inevitably develop in London. Thus, so long as the City retains its competitive advantage, its European pre-eminence will remain even with Britain outside the EMU. Indeed, this constitutes an attraction as London falls outside the potentially restrictive arrangements required to sustain the Euro. Moreover, the City's international position in global markets, where business is growing fastest, would be jeopardised if EMU led to fiscal and political union, since it would become subject to greater regulation leading to its diminution to the benefit of New York and Tokyo. The conclusion therefore appears to be that a Britain outside EMU can provide a bridge between the USA and Europe so that the City of London's status, where the dollar and the Euro financial systems have their interface, is preserved (Baimbridge et al., 1997).
In summary, the five tests selected by the UK Government undoubtedly extend the rather limited usefulness of the Maastricht convergence criteria and highlight a number of important issue for further analysis. However, they ultimately fail to meet the same requirements, namely the absence of a justification for reliance upon this specific set of indicators and the rejection of others (Baimbridge et al., 1998). Moreover, the 'vague' nature of judging compliance with the 'five tests' impairs the clear and unambiguous establishment that a country is either well suited for EMU membership, or alternatively that its inclusion would weaken the union and hamper the effectiveness of its stabilisation policy mechanism. Consequently, a more extensive set of criteria is required in order to establish whether EU member states are ready to join EMU.
EMU and optimum currency area theory
The debate surrounding the prospects for a single EU currency has begun to focus upon the prior necessity for broad economic convergence, which is wider than simply meeting the Maastricht conditions or the Treasury 'tests'. Indeed, many economists argue that there exists a parallel or even superior set of requirements for convergence. The theory of optimum currency areas indicates a number of characteristics that determine the likely consequences of monetary union:
(i) Degree of factor mobility - countries between which there is a high degree of factor mobility are viewed as better candidates for monetary integration, since factor mobility provides a substitute for exchange rate flexibility in promoting external adjustment (Mundell, 1961; Ingram, 1962). However, in practice it is unlikely that the EU, with its different cultures, languages and traditions across member states, displays sufficient inter-regional labour mobility to act as a mechanism for payments adjustment. Available evidence suggests that labour mobility within European nation states is one-third the level found in the USA, despite the existence of greater regional inequality and unemployment in Europe (OECD, 1986; Eichengreen, 1992).
(ii) Degree of commodities' market integration - a further criterion is that countries possess similar production structures. Economies exhibiting such similarity are deemed to be more welfare-efficient candidates for currency area participation than those whose production structures are markedly different (Mundell, 1961). Compared to most EU members, Britain possess a relatively small agricultural and large energy, financial and media sectors; has a greater reliance upon high technology exports; and a large proportion of owner-occupiers who are subject to variable interest rates (Weber, 1991; Taylor, 1995; Bank for International Settlements, 1996; Burkitt et al., 1996; Eltis, 1996).
(iii) Openness and size of the economy - open economies tend to prefer fixed exchange rates, because exchange rate changes in such economies are unlikely to be accompanied by significant effects on real competitiveness. Moreover, in open economies frequent exchange rate adjustments diminish the liquidity property of money, since the overall price index varies more than in relatively closed economies (McKinnon, 1963). Most small - or medium-sized industrialised nations fulfil this condition.
(iv) Degree of commodity diversification - highly diversified economies are better candidates for currency areas than less diversified economies, since their diversification provides some insulation against a variety of shocks thereby forestalling the need for frequent changes in the exchange rate (Kenen, 1969). However, economic and monetary union is likely to generate a degree of specialisation that undermines such insulation. Virtually all industrialised member states will fulfil this particular criteria.
(v) Fiscal integration and inter-region transfers - the higher the level of fiscal harmonisation, the greater is their ability to smooth out divergent shocks through transfers from low to high unemployment regions. If the previously analysed features that assist the smooth functioning of currency unions are not present to a sufficient extent, budgetary policy can be an important tool to cushion individual countries from shocks, given the absence of exchange rate changes. Such fiscal flexibility may involve the discretionary strategies associated with 'fine tuning', but can also arise from the operation of automatic stabilisers (Kenen, 1969). However, the current size of the EU budget, at only 1.24% of total EU GDP, precludes the development of any significant inter-regional fiscal transfer system for the foreseeable future (MacDougall, 1992). Moreover, its cost may effectively defer meaningful consideration of this potential mechanism to stabilise EMU in the medium - and long-term (Burkitt et al., 1997; Whyman, 1997).
(vi) Degree of policy integration - similarity of monetary and fiscal policies between member countries can create equilibria whatever the characteristics of the currency area, thus generating an efficient outcome (Ingram, 1969; Haberler, 1970; Tower and Willett, 1970). The necessity for 'economic' as well as monetary union is recognised by the Maastricht Treaty, but its only practical applications thus far have been the continuation of EMS membership until monetary union and the unduly restrictive Growth and Stability Pact. The urgent need for greater macroeconomic policy co-ordination is no closer to being met.
(vii) Similarity of inflation rates - this criterion focuses upon divergent trends in national inflation rates as the principal source of payments imbalance, due to structural developments resulting, for instance, from differences in trade union aggressiveness or national monetary policies. Therefore it diverts attention from microeconomic disturbances in demand and supply conditions to macroeconomic phenomena (Haberler, 1970; Fleming, 1971; Magnifico, 1973). The available evidence here is more favourable, since ERM membership has caused most EU member states to adapt their economic strategies to achieve similar inflation rates at the cost of persistently high unemployment across most of Continental Europe. However, non-ERM countries, such as the UK, are less likely to meet this criteria unless they reduce growth rates and operate tighter fiscal and monetary policies.
(viii) Price and wage flexibility - when prices and wages are flexible between, or among, regions, adjustment is less likely to be associated with unemployment in one region and inflation in another. Hence, the need for exchange rate changes is diminished (Friedman, 1953). The evidence here is that significant wage-price rigidity persists across Europe, so that market flexibility is unlikely to prevent the generation of areas blighted by high and persistent unemployment (Bruno and Sachs, 1985; Carlin and Soskice, 1990; Dréze and Bean, 1990; Eichengreen, 1990, 1993; Layard et al., 1991; Bini-Smaghi and Vori, 1992; Blanchard and Katz, 1992; Kenen, 1995; Goodhart, 1995).
(ix) The need for real exchange rate variability - the smallness of countries' real exchange rate movements is a crucial characteristic for determining currency area optimality, since real exchange rate changes are clearly measurable and automatically give the appropriate weights to the economic forces of which they are the result (Vaubel, 1976 and 1978). Given that real exchange rate variability depends upon the absence of real wage rigidity, the comments made for (viii) equally apply in this instance.
These criteria for the efficient operation of a single currency are clearly more extensive than either the MCC or the UK Treasury 'tests', both of which constitute an inadequate guide on which to base the decision whether the UK should participate in EMU.
The UK economy is significantly different from the majority of nations who have indicated their desire to join the single currency. This can be established in terms of the development of financial markets, occupational structure, percentage of home ownership and so forth. Consequently, the five-year adjustment period suggested by the Chancellor is far too short to effect the scale of structural changes necessary to make Britain a suitable candidate for EMU. Moreover, such a monumental transformation should only be attempted if its benefits can be conclusively established and their magnitude substantially outweighs the likely costs. It is to such an evaluation we now turn.
The detrimental effect of an EU Single Currency
Compared to most EU members, Britain possesses the following characteristics: a lower level of unfunded pensions; a greater volume of high technology exports; a business structure more orientated to services; an economy where income from overseas investment is greater than from manufacturing exports; a relatively small agricultural, and a relatively large gas and oil sector; a system of variable-rate finance that makes owner-occupiers uniquely sensitive to interest rate changes; a currency linked by foreign exchange markets more closely to the US dollar than to any EU currency; and a comparatively sizeable financial sector related to Wall Street and Tokyo rather than to Frankfurt or Paris. These differences are profound, indicating that EMU is unlikely to foster British prosperity (Burkitt et al., 1996, 1997).
If EMU proceeds with UK participation, Britain's economy and capacity for democratic self-government will be irretrievably affected for four principal reasons. First, the impact of meeting the Maastricht convergence criteria for joining a single currency will be deflationary. An estimate for the UK is that cuts in public expenditure and/or increases in taxation of approximately £42 billion are required in order to meet the 3% budget deficit Maastricht criterion at all points of the economic cycle (Burkitt et al., 1997). A diminution in purchasing power of this magnitude will generate a loss of jobs and a fall in living standards. Holland (1995) calculated that, if the then twelve member states met the criteria by 1999, EU-wide unemployment may increase by 10 million, thereby exacerbating the existing situation of approximately 20 million unemployed persons across the EU.
Second, because the potential participants in a single EU currency posses divergent economies, they respond differently to the changes inevitable in a dynamic environment. Consequently, convergence between countries can only be transitory, requiring an equilibrating mechanism to ensure the long-term survival of a single currency zone. Given that EMU prevents the exchange rate from performing this role, the primary alternative is the adoption of a redistributive federal fiscal structure. MacDougall (1992) demonstrated that such an approach requires an EU budget substantially in excess of the present 1.24% of EU GDP to provide adequate fiscal compensation. However, even MacDougall's recommendation of 5-7% of EU GDP is likely to be insufficient in comparison to the 20-25% of GDP that federal systems usually necessitate. Moreover, language and cultural barriers will continue to inhibit labour mobility on the scale required to act as an equilibrator between rich and poor areas (Eichengreen, 1992; Dyson, 1994). Thus, the only remaining alternative is higher unemployment, which will rise, not only during preparations for a single currency, but also after its inauguration as existing differences become exacerbated through cumulative causation (Myrdal, 1957) with serious consequences for political and social cohesion (Baimbridge et al., 1994, 1995).
Third, given divergent structures, an EU-wide monetary policy cannot meet individual national requirements, but will widen the economic performance between member states (Panic, 1992). A uniform policy for a variegated EU creates economic instability since convergence is difficult to achieve and can persist for merely a brief period. The Maastricht provisions alone are therefore insufficient as they do not refer to the fundamental prerequisites for convergence, instead focusing upon monetary variables only partially related to it.
Fourth, EMU will inevitably affect fiscal policy by limiting budgetary independence both directly through the Maastricht convergence criteria and potentially via the Growth and Stability Pact. Consequently, citizens lose the ability to influence democratically the measures that determine their living standards. This power is instead exercised by unaccountable EU bankers and bureaucrats, as the scope for national self-government is reduced (Baimbridge and Burkitt, 1995a&b). The ECB is governed by bankers independent of national governments and the electoral process. They are prohibited by the Maastricht Treaty from consulting, or being advised by, politicians when framing EU-wide monetary measures. The ECB would return Britain to the situation of the 1920s when Montagu Norman, the unaccountable Governor of the Bank of England, followed policies that fostered mass unemployment (Kitson and Michie, 1994).
The launching of an EU single currency on the basis of the Maastricht conditions, is therefore likely to be both economically inefficient by generating historically high levels of unemployment and undemocratic in reducing the status of national parliaments. EMU will divide Europe because no mechanism exists for achieving real convergence between national economies; its occurrence due to a temporary configuration of influences would be unsustainable in the long-run. Moreover, EMU is particularly inappropriate for Britain's pattern of international trade which depends upon transactions in a global market rather than being over concentrated in the low growth EU-area. For example, UK exports to the Far East grew almost twice as quickly as those to EU members after 1987, whilst over the last decade the EU's share of world trade fell by one-quarter (Burkitt et al., 1996).
The UK opt-out if others go ahead
If some configuration of EU member states press ahead with EMU, the crucial issue becomes, what 'dangers' would Britain face outside? One frequently cited argument contends that countries not participating in the single currency will experience higher interest rates because foreign exchange markets will exact a risk premium against the possibility of devaluation. Such an outcome cannot, however, be predicted with the certainty that is currently fashionable. First, the inclusion of inflation-prone EU members such as Italy in an attempt to maximise the number of participants has led to the Maastricht convergence criteria becoming fudged to facilitate their accommodation. Second, long-term currency strength is primarily determined by relative economic competitiveness which will be enhanced if Britain remains outside the constraints of the convergence criteria and the overall consequences of EMU.
These considerations imply that the Euro may prove weak, so that opted-out currencies will appreciate against it. Indeed, such a view is substantiated by the 40% rise in sterling's value against the deutschmark since 1995, which is partly attributable to the UK opt-out giving the pound an EMU 'safe-haven' status. Moreover, the ECB, for an initial period at least, would lack the credibility gained by the Bundesbank thereby reversing the prevailing interest rate hypothesis (Kenen, 1995). Consequently, interest rates may be higher or lower outside EMU depending upon economic strength and productivity gains which are more likely to be achievable away from its constraints.
A second argument claims that British non-participation in a single currency might divert inward investment to EMU countries. This appears to be a remote possibility given the lack of significant transactions cost savings or benefits from eliminating exchange rate variability. Indeed the evidence to date is unequivocal in dismissing this argument, as Britain enjoyed high rates of inward investment in the 1980s when functioning outside the ERM, whilst it remains the largest EU recipient of inward funds, receiving £7.6 billion of direct investment in 1992 equivalent to 43.6% of the EU total, after its opt-out had been negotiated. Moreover, investment from the rest of the EU accounted for £37.5 billion, or 31% of total inward investment into Britain in 1995. Thus, the suggestion that foreign direct investment comes to the UK merely to gain access to the EU market is unsubstantiated.
Various influences other than exchange rate stability account for Britain's success, including a plentiful supply of skilled labour, access to all European markets, a competitive exchange rate, use of the English language, competitive telecommunications, superior international air services and efficient low cost road transport (Hindley and Howe, 1996). Indeed persuasive reasons exist to believe that inward investment may be threatened by EMU participation. First, the consequent increase in economic instability will reduce the UK's attractiveness as a destination for capital flows, and second, British involvement in EMU would impose the higher non-wage labour costs prevalent in the EU onto business, impairing competitiveness and hence the ability to attract capital flows. Indeed, overseas investors are frequently not attracted by the UK's convergence with the EU but by its divergence. Further integration would undermine the profitable conditions which has brought a disproportionate volume of overseas investment to Britain.
Two key passages from the Chancellor's October 1997 statement were:
"the potential benefits of a single currency are obvious; in terms of trade, transparency of costs and currency stability. Of course, I stress it must be soundly based. But if it works economically, it is, in our view, worth doing."
... "if a single currency would be good for British jobs, business and future prosperity, it is right, in principle to join."
This approach is dependent upon the existence of a theoretically sound, comprehensive set of criteria which unambiguously indicate that the UK is sufficiently similar to other participating nations that we would not suffer from the application of common exchange and monetary policies unsuitable to the needs of the British economy. Unfortunately, as we have demonstrated, neither the Maastricht criteria nor the Government's 'five tests' perform this role. Moreover, using the better guide of optimum currency area theory, it becomes clear that the UK is not an obvious candidate for monetary union without changes which are not justified for any other reason other than a misguided desire to 'be at the heart of Europe' whatever the costs.
Our analysis further indicates that the 'favourable circumstances' implied in the Chancellor's statement are unlikely to prevail, because Britain's very different economic structure and international trading pattern simply do not fulfil the conditions for a single EU currency to operate efficiently. Therefore, if the UK loses control over its monetary policy, it will possess a greatly reduced ability to adapt to an inevitably changing environment. Moreover, our concerns about EMU relate not only to the adventure itself; for instance, the EU possesses neither the labour mobility nor the US-style federal budget needed to compensate for the loss of the exchange rate as a means of economic adjustment. They also focus upon the deflationary policies to which the Maastricht Treaty committed the EU. Hence, the danger exists that the five Treasury 'tests' may divert attention away from fundamental difficulties which surround the establishment of a single EU currency.
We therefore believe that, even if other EU members sign up for a single currency, Britain should not. Prioritising sustainable growth and full employment necessitates the rejection of EMU. Moreover, non-participation gleans many benefits and imposes no substantial costs. The advantages of low inflation and high employment can be obtained by pursuing coherent domestic economic policies, whilst arguments that the City of London and the UK's attractiveness for inward investment would be endangered outside the single currency evaporate under scrutiny. Indeed European co-operation may be undermined more effectively by increasing national divergences within an EMU governed through inflexible rules than by the UK and other countries, opting-out. Hence, through an independent yet global strategy, freed from over-concentration on the European continent to the detriment of economic relations with the rest of the world, the UK could achieve an economic performance the envy of EMU participants. Consequently, the single currency 'Emperor' is without clothes!
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Eltis, W.A. ( 1996) If EMU happens should Britain join?, International Currency Review, 23 (3),61-66.
Fleming, ].M. (1971) On exchange rate unification, Economic Journal, 81,467-488
Friedman, M. ( 1953) The case for floating rates; in Friedman, M. (ed. ) Essays in positive economics, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Goodhart, C.A.E. (1992) National fiscal policy within EMU. the fiscal implications of Maastricht; in Goodhart, C.A.E. (ed) EMU and ESCB aftcr Maastricht, London School of Economics/Financial Markets Group, London.
Goodhart, C.A.E (1995) The political economy of monetary union; in Kenen, P.B (ed.) Understanding independence: the macroeconomics of the open economy, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Haberler, G. ( 1970) The international monetary system: some recent developments and discussions; in Halm, GN. (ed) Approaches to greater flexibility of exchange rates, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Hindley, B and Howe, M. ( 1996) Better off out! The benefits or costs of EU Membership, Occasional Paper No. 99, Institute of Economics Affairs, London.
HM Treasury (1997) UK membershiP of the single currency an assessment of the five economic tests, HM Treasury, London.
Holland, S. (1995) Squaring the circle. the Maastricht convergence criteria, cohesion and employment; in Coates, K. and Holland, S. ( eds ) Full employment for Europe, Spokesman, Nottingham.
Ingram, J. (1962) Regional payments mechanisms the case of Puerto Rico, University of North Carolina Press, North Carolina.
Ingram, J. (1969) Comment: the currency area problem; in Mundell, R.A and Swoboda, A.K. (eds.) Monetary problems of the international economy, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Jamieson, B. (1995) Worlds apart?, Occasional Paper No. 19, The Bruges Group, London.
Kenen, P.B. (1969) The theory of optimum currency areas. an eclectic view; in Mundell, R.A. and Swoboda, A.K. (eds.) Monetary problems of the international economy, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kenen, PB. (1995) Economic and Monetary Union in Europe' moving beyond Maastricht, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Kitson, M. and Michie, J. (1994) Depression and recovery: lessons from the interwar period; in Michie, J. and Grieve Smirh, J. (eds.) Unemployment in Europe, Academic Press, London.
Layard, R., Nickell, S. and Jackman, R. (1991) Unemployment: macroeconomic performance and the labour market, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
MacDougall, D. (1992) Economic and Monetary Union and the European Community Budget, National Institute Economic Review, May, 64-68.
Magnifico, G. (1973) European monetary unification, Wiley, New York.
McKinnon, R. (1963) Optimum currency areas, American Economic Review, 53,717-725.
Mundell, R.A. (1961) A theory of optimum currency areas, American Economic Review, 51, 657-665.
Myrdal, G. ( 1957) Economic theory and underdeveloped regions, Duckworth, London. OECD (1986) Flexibility in the labour market, OECD, Paris.
Panic, M. ( 1992) European Monetary Union: lessons from the Classical Gold Standard, Macmillan, London.
Pennant-Rea, R. ( 1997) The ostrich and the EMU - policy choices facing the UK, Centre for Economic Policy Research, London.
Taylor, M. (1995) A single currency - implications for the UK economy, Institute of Directors, London.
Tower, E and Willett, T.D. (1970) The concept of optimum currency areas and the choice between fixed and flexible exchange rates; in Halm. G.N. (ed.) Approaches to greater flexibility of exchange rates, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Trades Union Congress (1993) European common currency, TUC, London.
Vaubel, R. (1976) Real exchange rate changes in the European Community. the empirical evidence and its implications for European currency unification, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 112,429-470.
Vaubel, R. (1978) Strategies for currency unification, J.B.C. Mohr, Tubingen.
Weber, AA. (1991) Reputation and credibility in the European Monetary System, The European Economy, 12, 57-102.
Whyman, P. (1997) Fiscal federalism and EMU: a proposal for a European federal transfer scheme, Working Paper No.97 .10.5, Department of Social and Economic Studies, University of Bradford.


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Disciplines Literary Studies & Poetry Mark Twain
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Mark Twain's Notebooks and Journals, Volume II 1877-1883
by Mark Twain (Author), Frederick Anderson (Editor), Lin Salamo (Editor), Bernard L. Stein (Editor)
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The twelve notebooks in volume 1 provided information about the eighteen years in which the most profound, even dramatic, changes took place in Clemens' life. He early achieved the limits of his boyhood ambition by becoming a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, a position there is no reason to believe he would have abandoned if the Civil War had not forced him to do so. In fleeing from a war which principle and temperament prevented him from supporting, Clemens entered into the first stages of his literary career by serving as a reporter for newspapers in Virginia City and San Francisco. When the restricted experiences available to a local reporter had been thoroughly explored, he moved on as a traveling correspondent to the Sandwich Islands and then still farther to Europe and the Near East. The latter travels provided him with material for The Innocents Abroad, the book that established Mark Twain as a popular author with an international reputation in 1869. In 1872 he further exploited his personal history by publishing Roughing It and in the same year visited England to gather material on English people and institutions. He returned to England the following year, this time accompanied by his family and by a secretary who would record the observations printed as the last notebook in volume 1. Volume 2 of Mark Twain's Notebooks and Journals, documenting Clemens' activities in the years from 1877 to 1883, consists largely of the record of three trips which would serve as the source for three travel narratives: the excursion to Bermuda, a prolonged tour of Europe, and an evocative return to the Mississippi River. Despite the common impulse to preserve observations and impressions for literary use, the contents of the notebooks are remarkably different in their vitality-and the works which developed from the notes are correspondingly varied.
Frederick Anderson, Lin Salamo, and Bernard L. Stein are members of the Mark Twain Project of The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Education, Featured, Global, Headlines, Health, IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse, Regional Categories, TerraViva United Nations
Global Leaders Must Prioritise Children's Wellbeing amid Coronavirus Pandemic – UN
By Samira Sadeque	Reprint | | Print |
This playground just outside the Slovak capital, Bratislava, was sealed off to stop people spreading the virus. Similar measures were in place in cities and towns across Europe. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 17 2020 (IPS) - United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday pleaded with global leaders and families to ensure the protection of the world's children, millions of whom he says are vulnerable to a myriad of threats as a result of the shutdown arising from the global coronavirus pandemic.
While children are at a significantly lower health risk than adults from the coronavirus, the social and economic impacts as a result of both the disease as well as the lockdown can be extremely harmful on children, a new report has revealed.
Why Rich Countries must Protect Developing Nations from Coronavirus Pandemic
**Correction**How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Affecting Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health
Guterres made his remarks at the launch of the policy brief "The Impact of COVID-19 on children" that examines the different areas in which children are affected: health, family life, education, lack of access to healthcare, and increased risks as a result of heightened presence online.
The report claims that about 60 percent of all children around the world are currently in a country that is maintaining some level of a lockdown, which is limiting their mobility and/or access to society. Nearly all the grave impacts arise out of children not being able to go to school anymore.
The report states that with 188 countries enforcing a lockdown, more than 1.5 billion children and youth are being impacted in terms of:
access to food and nutrition,
access to digital teaching tools,
increased exposure to violence and/or conflict in the household,
increased risk of falling prey to cyberbullying and sexual exploitation on the internet.
Furthermore, children with underlying medical conditions, including those living with HIV, are facing a higher risk of not being able to access their appropriate medicines and care.
Many children around the world who previously had their only meals provided through educational institutions, have now been left without. The report estimates that more than 368 million children in about 143 countries are being affected by this, and are having to seek their food and nutrition through alternative means.
Increased threat to family violence
With heightened stress levels among quarantined families, children could face the brunt and fall victim to family violence, the report warned. They're also at a risk of witnessing domestic violence, which has been on the rise given many adults are stuck at home with their abusers.
Other advocates working in the field of children's rights have also raised alarm bells about the issue.
In response to the policy brief released on Thursday, international NGO Save the Children agreed with the Secretary General's concerns and highlighted different ways in which this abuse is carried out.
"Social disruption and high stress at home can have a deep impact on children, and millions of them now face an increased risk of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation," Janti Soeripto, president and CEO of Save the Children, said in a statement on Thursday.
"Families stricken by poverty often see no alternative to marrying off their daughters or putting their children to work just to survive," she added.
With children unable to physically attend schools, many are have had to go online for learning, which requires various digital tools. However, disparity in this access means that not everybody can receive the same level of training.
Only 30 percent of low-income countries have been able to ensure digital training for their students.
There is also gender disparity as more boys have access to digital technology than girls, which makes it fundamentally more difficult for girls to attain their education this way. The report expressed concern that this might, in the long run, lead to girls dropping out of school, and also would increase the risk of teen pregnancy.
Risks online
While many children are accessing their lessons and staying connected with friends online, this too can expose them to a different set of risks altogether.
"School closures and strict containment measures mean more and more families are relying on technology and digital solutions to keep children learning, entertained and connected to the outside world," Dr. Howard Taylor, executive director of the Global Partnership to End Violence, said in a statement on Wednesday, "but not all children have the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to keep themselves safe online."
The Partnership, in collaboration with the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other rights organisations, released a report detailing the layers of this issue and pointing out ways in which different stakeholders can do their part in ensuring safety of children now that they have an increased presence online.
The report points out that children are more likely to exhibit riskier behaviour online or "outreach to new contacts" at a time when they have limited access for socialising. This means they're more prone to be at a risk of grooming by online predators, being cyber-bullied, being manipulated into sharing content such as sexually explicit photos which would later be used for extortion methods.
While these are all matters of concern, it's governments and family members that can play a crucial role in protecting children from these issues.
The UNICEF report recommended that governments must make sure that child protective services be open and accessible; technology companies should make sure their services are built in secure manners that don't compromise the child users' data; and parents should be vigilant about keeping antivirus and software updates on their kids' phones.
The Secretary General further called on social media companies to execute their "special responsibility to protect the vulnerable."
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Though its achievements have remained largely unsung, the Argosy gave loyal service in the United Kingdom as well as in the Near, Middle and Far East, acquitting itself with honour, even when operating in zones that proved inaccessible to other aircraft. This book gives an insight into all this, as well as details of operators and colour schemes relating to this subject which for the most part has remained neglected. 2 colour 5-views. 29 colour profiles. 18 colour and 59 black and white photographs. 1:72 scale foldout plans.
Prenota "ARMSTRONG WHITWORTH A.W. 650/660 ARGOSY"


A stunning master en-suite. Tiled in our Premium Silver Grey Limestone and painted with Farrow & Ball Elephant's Breath.
A large walk in linear shower with a neat and tidy LED lit storage recess.
A large natural stone freestanding bath from Clearwater Baths.
Our bespoke oak vanity unit with his and hers basins.
The possibilities are endless with our bespoke stone surface. In this bathroom we went for a solid silver grey limestone to compliment the natural stone tiles.
A large drencher rainshower from Hansgrohe.


text:
Minimizing Risk
Discovering Drones
Working with Wolves
U of I Researchers Discuss the Effects of Climate Change on Idaho Agriculture
Interdisciplinary Research Lab Integrates Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences
Changing the World by Making Theatre
Wildfire in the West
Bringing Science to the Citizens
Examining the Health of Lake Coeur d'Alene
On the Northern Front of Climate Change
Maximizing Cover Crops
Uncovering Chinese Mining History in Idaho
Improving Communication Through Creative Storytelling
Harnessing the Power of Human Energy
Contemplating Nature
Invention Pipeline
Feeding Idaho
Hub for Shared Breakthroughs
Research and Scholarship in the News
Fire Science Research Highlights
Projects and People
Research and Scholarships in the News
2016 UI Research Highlights
Scholars and Researchers
Office of Research & Economic Development
Email: vpresearch@uidaho.edu
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Research and Faculty Development
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Web: Office of Research and Faculty Development
Office of Research Assurances
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Technology, Innovation and Economic Development - Moscow
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Technology, Innovation and Economic Development - Boise
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News & Features >
Scholars and Researchers Newsletter >
From the Vice President
Janet E. Nelson, VP of the Office of Research and Economic Development
Most researchers believe, on some level, that their work is good for society. Here at the University of Idaho, we have an especially rich culture of producing research that aims for positive societal impact, from contributions to public health to various ways of engaging with environmental policy and natural resource management.
I'm looking forward to Tuesday May 7, when from 4-7:30 p.m. the IRIC Atrium and Step Auditorium will be abuzz with excitement during our fourth Short and Sweet (SAS) Research Talks. The theme for the May event will be Public Impact Research. Eight faculty speakers and one doctoral student, from disciplines across the university (and from as far away as the Aquaculture Research Institute in Hagerman!), will succinctly describe examples of their research that address societal needs and sometimes even include the public in the research process. Each presentation will last only six minutes and forty seconds (20 slides per person, 20 seconds per slide).
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), through its Council on Research, is currently in the midst of developing a report on Public Impact-focused Research (known as "PIR"). I am centrally involved in the APLU effort to define PIR and gather information about processes and structures at universities throughout the country that facilitate or obstruct such research. A parallel initiative, Highly Integrative Basic and Responsive Research (known as "HIBAR Research"), is also underway, and Idaho is one of the 10 core universities belonging to the HIBAR Research Alliance. Recognizing and encouraging the public impact of our research dovetails seamlessly with our mission as a land-grant university.
I have asked our nine SAS speakers to address the question "How does research make the world a better place?" in their May 7 presentations. I am excited to hear their brief presentations, and I warmly invite all of you to attend as well. The goal of the SAS events is not only to showcase examples of the University of Idaho's fascinating research, but to bolster a sense of community on campus and off. This event is free and open to university faculty, staff, and students and members of the community.
Whether you've always understood that research makes the world a better place or have wondered whether this is actually the case, I hope you will join us May 7 to experience nine wonderful presentations on this theme and to network with friends and colleagues over refreshments during the intermission and post-event reception.
Go Vandals!
Janet E. Nelson Ph.D.
Vice President for Research and Economic Development
Upcoming ORED Events
Photo: Jeremy Tamsen
How do U of I Researchers Make the World a Better Place?
Find out when nine researchers from across disciplines give "Short and Sweet" presentations on topics ranging from the detection of tick-borne diseases with electric fields to putting the "public" in public impact research.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members are invited to take part in an evening of SAS (Short and Sweet) talks from 4-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, in the IRIC Atrium on the Moscow campus, or via U of I Live. These fast-paced, yet easy-to-understand presentations (20 slides, 20 seconds each), will cover U of I research making a difference in the world.
Learn more about the speakers and topics on the SAS Talks website.
Deadline April 29 for ORED RISE Funding Programs: Advancing Collaborative Efforts and Arts and Humanities Project Support
Internal Idaho NSF EPSCoR Seed Funding Opportunity available. Deadline: May 13
Register now for the Fourth Annual Active Learning Symposium, April 30
Learn more about ORED's new Research and Faculty Development (RFD) team and its services.
U of I Hosts Congressman Russ Fulcher on Campus
President Chuck Staben, Vice President for Research and Economic Development Janet E. Nelson and several other university senior administrators were honored to welcome Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher April 17 to the U of I Moscow campus. The group provided overviews of our educational and research opportunities across Idaho and included updates of several major projects, such as the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE), the ICCU Arena and our fire sciences programs.
ORED RISE Jumpstart Program Awardees Announced
Seven U of I faculty members from CALS, CLASS, Engineering and CNR were awarded seed funding from ORED to support research, scholarly or creative efforts that significantly differ from those currently being pursued. This funding will help the principal investigators become proficient in a new arena of investigation in preparation for the future development of a competitive extramural proposal.
Marek Borowiec, CALS, Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology
Katherine Lee, CALS, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
Clarissa Richardson, CLASS, Psychology and Communications Studies
Dilshani Sarathchandra, CLASS, Sociology and Anthropology
Dakota Roberson, Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ting-Yen Shih, Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mark Kimsey, CNR, Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences
Faculty, Professionals from Region Meet at the Pitman Center for Proposal Development Workshop
The Office of Research and Economic Development recently hosted a program officer from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Mark Silver, Ph.D., senior program officer in the NEH Division of Research Programs, conducted a two-day regional workshop, where he shared information about the variety of NEH funding opportunities, tips and strategies for developing successful proposals, as well as proposal review criteria during his formal presentation. His overview of programs and funding opportunities that are available through the agency provided insight as to how NEH funding may play a role to support humanities projects within the region.
Faculty members from U of I, Washington State University and Lewis-Clark State College, as well as professionals from regional museums and libraries, attended the presentation and witnessed a mock review panel of actual proposals submitted to NEH. Three U of I faculty members served as reviewers during this process to demonstrate how proposals are peer-reviewed and recommended for NEH funding. Many participants also met individually with Silver in one-on-one meetings to discuss their proposed projects and gain advice on how to increase the competitiveness of their proposals.
"Public outreach is a very important part of the staff's work at NEH," Silver said. "The grants we are making are made with taxpayer dollars, so we have to be sure that the word is out there about the grants that are available, and we have to make sure that people understand what it takes to get a grant."
NEH holds 12 to 18 regional workshops across the county each year to inform the public about their funding opportunities. Silver said these workshops provide important outreach to help boost the number and strength of applications submitted, especially from areas with lower submission rates, such as Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
Celebrate Awards
Raju Pokharel
Jane Lucas
ORED, COGS Fund Postdoctoral Travel for Conference
The Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED) and College of Graduate Studies (COGS) provided the funds for two postdoctoral researchers to attend the 2019 National Postdoctoral Association's conference in Orlando, Florida. CNR Postdoctoral Fellow Raju Pokharel and CALS Postdoctoral Associate Jane Lucas learned new information, best practices and research on issues impacting postdocs today. They attended sessions on career development, research fellowships, mentoring and networking for success, and a keynote delivered by Immunocore CEO Bahija Jallal: "From the Bench to the Boardroom: Unlocking a World of Possibilities."
Margaret Vaughn
Margaret Vaughn Brings Home Two Educational Research Awards
Congratulations to College of Education, Health and Human Sciences Associate Professor Margaret Vaughn for her paper, "Documenting Adaptive Instruction: The Adaptive Teaching Observation Protocol." The paper earned her the American Educational Research Association's (AERA) Classroom Observation Special Interest Groups' 2018 Exemplary Paper Award. Vaughn also won AERA's 2019 'Review of Research' Award for the paper, "Teachers' Instructional Adaptations: A Research Synthesis."
Clint Elg to Receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Two U of I Students Earn Udall Honorable Mentions
Congratulations to Promotion and Tenure Recipients
Get to Know ORED
Kiah Stewart, Laboratory Animal Research Facility Manager
Wild About Animals
One of Kiah Stewart's fondest memories comes from her childhood home in Sandpoint. Each winter, she watched moose eat fermented apples off the trees in her front yard, then fall asleep in the snow.
"That was the first time I can remember falling in love with animals," Stewart said. It was a love that would continue throughout her life.
Stewart now leads U of I's Laboratory Animal Research Facility (LARF), managing all of its operational activities. Among other things, she oversees animal care staff and ensures compliance with state and federal laws.
Stewart is no stranger to U of I. She earned her Bachelor of Science in wildlife resources with a minor in fishery resources from U of I in December 2015.
"I started out in pre-med, and it was just not my path," Stewart said. "By the time I changed majors, I knew animals were going to be part of my future."
Shortly after graduation, Stewart looked for work in the Moscow area.
"I applied to the LARF as an animal research aide a few months after I graduated, but I didn't hear back for over a month," Stewart said. "The day after my husband and I decided to move back to Sandpoint I got called in for an interview."
Stewart says her love for animals got her the job.
For the next two years, Stewart honed her skills as an animal research aide, engaging in animal husbandry and custodial care, managing records and training staff before taking a brief hiatus and returning as the facility manager.
"My facility-specific knowledge helped a lot with my transition to the management role," Stewart said. "I know some of the inner workings of the facility and can provide assistance with minimal training."
Stewart truly enjoys her new role.
"It's been a great transition," she said. "I get to interact with the animals and spend time with a diverse group of people, from new and really established researchers to students, principal investigators and lab techs."
Animals are a constant theme in Stewart's life. She has had a dog, a cat, birds and fish to constantly entertain her, both at and away from home.
"Our dog, Shadow, would go camping and huckleberry picking with us," she said. "When we were done, we'd go swimming in the river. Shadow would always think we were drowning and would jump in to save us. When she got to us, she would turn around, let us hold her tail and tow us back into shore."
Stewart gravitated toward animals as she looked for work, volunteering to walk dogs and play with cats at the local animal shelter during high school. During college, she interned at Mystic Farm Wildlife Rescue in Sagle, caring for injured and orphaned fawns.
"That was the best summer ever," Stewart said. "I lived in a tiny, dry, rustic cabin. Getting direct contact with wildlife every day was amazing."
ORED Tip of the Month
Carly Cummings, Ph.D. Director, Office of Research and Faculty Development
Did you know that there is nearly $60 billion in funding available through the Pivot funding opportunity database? Pivot provides access to an ever-expanding source of funding opportunities covering all disciplines. Pivot allows you to easily establish ongoing searches for funding opportunities matching keywords relevant to your field, as well as find potential collaborators from both inside and outside of the University of Idaho. Questions about using Pivot? Our Office of Research and Faculty Development team is happy to help (ored-rfdteam@uidaho.edu)!
— Carly Cummings, Director Office of Research and Faculty Development
Feedback or suggestions? Please pass them along to ored-news@uidaho.edu.


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Let's process this together
The 8 worst mass shootings in the U.S. since 2012
Margeaux Baulch Klein
Getty Images/Larry W. Smith
When a gunman opened fire on a crowd of country music fans at a music festival in Las Vegas on the evening of October 1, 2017, reportedly killing more than 50 people and injuring hundreds more, the event became the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Sadly, mass shootings have become common in recent years, causing many, including celebs, to call for stricter gun-control laws. Here are the eight of the deadliest U.S. mass shootings that have occurred since 2012.
October 1, 2017:
December 2, 2015:
July 1, 2017:
By Margeaux Baulch Klein
This week's Democratic debates are historic for this feminist reason
Gossip Girl is officially getting a reboot, and we're ready to go back to the Upper East Side
J.Lo and Cardi B's Hustlers trailer just dropped, and we cannot WAIT to see this movie
IMHO: Why presidential candidates with no chance of winning should exit the race gracefully
IMHO: Politicians waiting to leave office before challenging Trump are useless
Gigi Hadid just accessorized with a seashell bag worthy of Ariel herself
Modcloth just launched a super-affordable outlet store—here are 11 of our favorite finds
Gina Rodriguez will play the POTUS in a new TV show, and that's an America we can get behind
Use these 8 Harry Potter World hacks to plan your trip like Hermione would
AOC called out a violent and sexist private U.S. Border Patrol Facebook group, and now it's being investigated
New York might become the first state to ban pet owners from declawing their cats
Here are the best Nordstrom Anniversary Sale beauty deals, from Bobbi Brown to Drybar
MTV and Diddy are officially bringing back Making the Band, so are you ready for the next O-Town?
Hannah and Tyler C.'s Bachelorette date got real about consent, and our feminist hearts are swooning
Netflix has removed 13 Reasons Why's graphic suicide scene after consulting with mental health experts
The judge who said a teen accused of rape deserves leniency because he came from a "good family" has resigned
Target has a line of wheelchair-adaptive Halloween costumes, and we're loving these inclusive offerings
AOC and the rest of The Squad called out Trump's racist tweets: "We're not going anywhere"
Trump's ban on abortion provider referrals will go into effect immediately, but Planned Parenthood "will not stop fighting"


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Books on the 38th President of the United States
Home > History > USA > Presidents > Gerald Ford
The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (American Presidency)
Hardcover / Published 1995
Gerald Ford : Thirty-Eighth President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents)
Paul P. Sipiera
School & Library Binding / Published 1989
Gerald Ford (United States Presidents)
Paul Joseph
Library Binding
The Ford White House : A Miller Center Conference Chaired by Herbert J. Storing
Herbert Storing (Editor)
Paperback / Published 1986
Memories of the Ford Administration : A Novel
by John Updike
When junior college professor Alfred Clayton is asked to record his impressions of the Ford Administration, he recalls a turbulent piece of personal history as well. In a decade of sexual liberation, Clayton was facing a doomed marriage and the passionate beginnings of a futile affair with an unattainable Perfect Wife. But one memory begets another: Clayton's unfinished book on James Buchanan. In John Updike's fifteenth novel, he masterfully alternates between two men, two lives, two American centuries -- one Victorian, the other modern -- shining an irreverent, witty, and sometimes caustic light on the contrasting views of social fictions and sexual politics. Amazon.com
Squeaky : The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme
Jess Bravin
Would-be presidential assassin, erstwhile groupie, eco-activist, keeper of the Manson Family faith during Charlie's imprisonment, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme rubbed elbows with fame and the famous. Booklist.
Listed under Crime Books
Time and Chance : Gerald Ford's Appointment With History
James M. Cannon
You Get Two for the Price of One
Ed Gamble, et al
With forewords by two former presidents, this collection of cartoons by the editorial cartoonist for the Florida Times Union focuses on the ups, downs, and pitfalls of the political world. The Publisher
John Robert Greene(Compiler)
Gerald R. Ford and the Politics of Post-Watergate America
Bernard J. Firestone, Alexej Ugrinsky (Editor)
Gerald R. Ford's Date With Destiny : A Political Biography
Edward L. Schapsmeier, Frederick H. Schapsmeier (Editor)
The Press and the Ford Presidency
Mark J. Rozell
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, 1975, Bk 2 : Gerald Ford
(Special Order)
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, 1976-77, Bk 2 : Gerald Ford
Greater Grand Rapids : City that Works (Urban Tapestry Series)
Gerald R. Ford, et al
Rediscovering American Values : The Foundations of Our Freedom for the 21st Century
Dick Devos, Gerald R. Ford
Gerald R. Ford (Presidential Perspectives from the National Archives)
Frank H. MacKaman
S/N 069-000-00104-1
Gerald Ford and the Future of the Presidency
Jerald F. Terhorst
Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States (Presidents of the United States)
David R. Collins / Library Binding / Published 1990


The leading electronic company, Samsung is creating quite buzz due to its foldable smartphone. The market of the discussions has been quite hot since the past several days. There are many latest information related to this phone everyday. Now there is one more news about this phone and that is this phone can have 512 GB inbuilt storage, which will greatly increase its value.
According to media reports, the South Korean company Samsung is organizing the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) between November 7 to 8. It is expected that the Samsung Foldable smartphone will be screened during the Samsung Developer Conference. Apart from this, there are reports that the company will present this phone to the world at the beginning of the year 2019.
According to the information, the model of this Foldable smartphone will be SM-F900x. It can be launched in dual-sim support and silver color variants. No information has been found about its price. At the same time, it comes with 7.29 inch internal olead panel and the external display can be 4.58 inches. Samsung Electronics Senior Vice President Harksang Kim has already claimed that Samsung has been working on the Foldable Smartphone project for the last four years.


Now back to the notion of a "Patch Penguin," that is, someone dedicated to tracking all the patches submitted to Torvalds and making sure none of them get dropped inadvertantly. This ties directly to the VM problem because patches submitted by van Riel for his VM code were simply ignored by Torvalds, and these patches could have prevented many of the VM problems seen in the earlier versions of the 2.4 kernel. And in spite of a "healing" of the rift between Torvalds and Cox which has been reported in the press, there are recent signs that Cox is unhappier than ever.
Granted, you need a very thick skin to participate for long on the Linux kernel mailing list, and Alan Cox is not known for pussyfooting around controversial issues, but even in that context Cox has scared some people on the list with a few recent comments. Things like this snippet taken from a post Cox made to the list: "If you want something in 2.5 don't bug me. I simply don't care."
Torvalds has spoken in the past of the evolutionary nature of the development of Linux. For the first time -- at least the first time that I am aware of -- major figures in both the Linux kernel developer community and in the greater circle of open source/free software are openly speaking of rebellion. However, not everyone is confident that Linux can survive and thrive without its creator and lead architect at the helm.
A simple replacement of Linus has the same problems the original did, coupled with probably having poorer taste and less people skills. Short term I suspect we'll have a shouting match, everyone will then go back to doing things roughly the same way but modified a bit by what they learned.
In time if Linus can't keep up something that can will form of its own accord and everyone will begin using it. egcs wasn't exactly an overthrow it was a bunch of people doing extra stuff. It won, and became gcc 3. If that was to happen with 2.5 I guess 2.5-dj would become the defacto tree, if it had happened in 2.4 2.4-ac would have become that tree.
Since then, Torvalds has announced that he is making some changes to the way he works and is testing a new tool to help him handle the patch load: a proprietary package called Bitkeeper. The first week of use, Torvalds has said, has slowed him down, which is definitely not the desired goal. But he is going to continue beating on Bitkeeper, and this bodes well for the future of Linux. Not because of the software, but because it shows Torvalds is willing to listen to the Linux developer community. A better way to handle the ever-increasing number of patches to an ever-more-complex kernel simply has to be found.
Linus has been working on the kernel for 11 years now. It's time for a _long_ vacation. People burn out on projects. How could he not be burned out after this long? But I think the main criticism is directed to Linus' style of work, which was great when Linux was small. It does need to change, and source control is part of that. Just not this particular source control tool.
I think it's tragic that just as Arch goes 1.0 and is introduced to the world, Linus moves the kernel tree into Bitkeeper, but the reality is that Arch needs a bit more testing before it should host that big a project. It would be nice if they would move the work to Arch later on.
Eric (he of the parabolic voice) Raymond chimed in on the kernel mailing list as well. Raymond has lots of experience with having his patches dropped. 33 consecutive times, as a matter of fact, with his submission of documentation for configure.help. Raymond pointed out to Rob Landley, and the rest of the kernel mailing list, that "All movements founded by charismatic leaders like Linus eventually hit this same wall -- the point at which the charisma of the founder and the individual ability of the disciples he personally attracts are no longer adequate to meet the challenges of success, and some way to institutionalize and distribute the leader's role has to be found. Movements that fail to make this transition die, generally by implosion or fragmenting into feuding sub-sects."
Well, no. But you do have to realize that there are developers and there are developers. Some of the stuff going on in 2.5.x, and in particular the upheaval as a result of all the block device cleanups, means that the people who have a specific area and want _that_ code to be stable, tend to work on 2.4.x.
So in 2.5.x, there's lots of filesystem work, block device work, the USB-2.0 stuff, the new scheduler, and things like that. At the same time, people who work on the VM, for example, do not want to get bitten by unrelated changes in the 2.5.x tree, so the VM work and many of the low-level drivers are maintained largely on top of the 2.4.x tree.
Think of it this way: 2.5.x (like most early development trees) is where the upheaval happens. Things like the new device management stuff simply doesn't even _exist_ in the 2.4.x tree, and probably never will even get backported. And it will take some time before 2.5.x calms down in some areas, which means that people who don't care about the upheaval areas are definitely better off holding back.
My own rather inconsequential opinion is that things are going along pretty much as they should, but with an abnormally high fear-factor at present. I agree with Alan Cox's assessment that a new leadership would mean a downturn in "taste" and people-skills. My greatest admiration of Torvalds has always been for his ability to lead the hard-headed, highly intelligent, highly egotistical group of social outliers that make up the bulk of the community of Linux hackers from one release to the next. The problem is that it may tax even his great skills to successfully reduce the current uproar to a loud and healthy level of discontent, and continue the incredible voyage that is Linux development.


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Global Health, Conflict and Violence
0:03Skip to 0 minutes and 3 secondsA bomb blast at the District hospital this morning has left between 10 and 20 people injured. The explosion happened at dawn, damaging the hospital kitchen in the side wing of the building. The wounded victims of the blast are believed to be mostly kitchen staff who are being treated for minor injuries in the hospital's emergency unit. The Governor of the province has spoken out, blaming Muslim separatist insurgents for the attack which he said "marked a new level in the conflict". There has been an escalation in violence during recent months after 10 years of bitter fighting.
0:33Skip to 0 minutes and 33 secondsPolitical reactions at both the regional and national level have been quick to point to the insurgent rebels as the authors of the attack, however no organisation has yet claimed responsibility. Investigations into the source of the bomb are underway. Military personnel have secured the hospital, restricting civilian access to the compound with road blocks and barbed wire fences. A spokesman for the military described the action as "protective measures designed to ensure the continued functioning of the hospital". This is the first time a hospital has been targeted in a rebel attack and staff are said to be concerned about the impact of the military involvement, which they believe could restrict important outreach health programmes.
The bomb blast
This is the kind of news we routinely hear coming from conflict areas.
As a health or development worker, what are your first reactions to this breaking news?
Write your comment in the discussion area below. If someone has already shared one of your thoughts, reply to their post and take the discussion forward.
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text:
Q: I need to assign a number to a letter I would like to allocate a number to a letter in excel.
For instance, if I type a, it must equate to 33, b must be 44, c must be 51, and so on.  How do I do this?

A: Assuming the letter to enter is in A1, then put this in B1 :
=INDEX({33,44,51},MATCH(A1,{"a","b","c"},0))

done.
p/s : please share if you din't get how to generate the 'list' /edit the formula.. ( :

A: Just enter the value in some cell, then click the name box (the text box on the top left corner that shows the current cell name like A1, B2, etc.) and name the value, for example var
Alternatively open Formulas > Defined Names Section > Name Manager to manage variable names and their values
See

*

*Use the Name Manager in Excel

*Define and use names in formulas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Amazon: Google book deal possibly illegal, definitely bad
As time runs short for comments on the proposed Google book settlement to be …
John Timmer - Sep 3, 2009 6:48 pm UTC
This Friday is the deadline for documents to be filed with the court that's overseeing the Google book settlement, which will absolve the search giant from liability for its book scanning activities and set up an independent entity that will oversee the distribution of e-books from its digital stacks. Amazon, given its sales of both print and e-books, has joined a group that opposes the deal, but that hasn't stopped it from filing an objection to it individually. Amazon's lawyers spend over 40 pages arguing why that the deal should be rejected on copyright and antitrust grounds, while throwing in a very explicit admission that it's bad for its business model.
The proposed settlement arose from a series of lawsuits that accused Google of violating copyrights via its book-scanning agreements with various libraries. The settlement would absolve the company of further claims and set up an independent body, the Books Rights Registry, which would oversee payments for authors arising from Google's use of the works; the Registry would also have the right to license the digital library to commercial or private entities.
It's this Registry that comes in for the majority of Amazon's legal ire. For starters, a copyright holder's works will be covered by the agreement unless they choose to opt out of it, which Amazon considers expropriation of the copyright. The agreement will also cover out-of-print books and "orphaned works," books that are known to be copyrighted where the owner of the copyright cannot be identified. Orphaned works are a contentious issue in a number of fields, and there has been little consensus about how they should be handled.
This combination of features, in Amazon's view, "represents an unprecedented rewriting of copyright law through judicial action." And, in general, that sort of thing shouldn't be handled by the courts: "in each such instance in the past, that task has been performed by the United States Congress." Amazon cites a large number of cases where Congress has amended copyright law in response to technological developments.
However, it also cites the various Webcaster Settlement Acts, which would seem to undercut its case. In these cases, Congress did nothing to alter copyright; rather, it extended deadlines in order to allow private parties to come to an agreement on licensing—precisely the sort of thing that Google and the publishers are trying to do here. Either someone wasn't paying careful attention, or Amazon is hoping that nobody else is.
The Registry is also criticized for creating many antitrust issues. If it launches, it will do so with a single client: Google. Although the registry can add additional licensees, doing so isn't compulsory, and the conditions under which it might decline aren't spelled out in detail by the agreement.
More worrisome, in Amazon's view, is that the Registry will bring disparate publishers and rightsholders together under a single umbrella, essentially forming a pricing cartel. The agreement, as Amazon notes, stipulates that things will be set up so that the money flowing to the rightsholders will be maximized: "Those provisions explicitly provide that Google's task will be to 'find the optimal... price for each Book and, accordingly, to maximize revenue for each Rightsholder.'"
And that is possibly what worries Amazon executives the most, as it undercuts the company's negotiating power. "Amazon currently negotiates with publishers for the price of book titles. It is able to drive prices down by playing one publisher off against another," the document states. "Under the settlement, the Books Rights Registry will be empowered to negotiate the price to be charged to consumers for all of the publishers who give it consent to do so."
There are a host of other complaints, as well. For example, the agreement spells out how to handle various current technologies, but Google is absolved of all copyright violations going forward, even if a disruptive technology completely changes the face of publishing. There's also some sour grapes; Amazon started its own book-scanning efforts, but played by the rules, arranging agreements with the relevant rightsholders before placing anything where end users could see it. Google didn't, but the settlement will essentially let it get away with its bad behavior.
To an extent, this sort of response was predictable; most of Google's primary competitors have signed up for the same group that Amazon joined, while one of its partners, Sony, has apparently made a filing that praises the agreement. Still, that doesn't mean that some of the complaints lodged by Amazon are without merit, and other groups, such as library associations, have also voiced concerns about the Registry's pricing power.
The judge overseeing the case plans on reaching a decision on the case by early October, and there has been little indication which way he's leaning. The only thing that's certain is that he and his clerks are going to have a lot of reading to do.
Amazon's filing.
John Timmer John became Ars Technica's science editor in 2007 after spending 15 years doing biology research at places like Berkeley and Cornell.
Email jtimmer@arstechnica.com // Twitter @j_timmer


text:
Lesson 24b
Lesson 24b - Ryan and Najla - Exercise 9
Watch the regular video, and try to answer the questions. Watch the video with subtitles after you answer the questions:
Regular video With subtitles
It is probable that
Ryan has found his dream job.
Ryan is unemployed. He is looking for a job.
Ryan has a job but he doesn't like it.
Choose the best answer. Ryan implies that he is very lucky because
he has a job in the first place, and also because it's his dream job.
he has a job!
he really loves what he does.
Najla says that her job as veterinarian is sometimes "heart-wrenching" (also spelled "heartwrenching").
What does "heartwrenching" mean?
Causing great sadness, heartbreaking
Causing great joy, joyful or happy.
Heart-wrenching is a medical term concerning the heart.
Najla says that her job as veterinarian is almost her dream job. She says "it's close". What would she prefer?
She would prefer to be a volunteer, working with wildlife.
She would prefer to work with Ryan as a park ranger.
She would prefer to work as a park ranger on her own.
If you need a translation to your own language, use the Google Translate button at the top-right of the screen.


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