1,721,255 research outputs found
Sustainable globalisation
No full textThe recent process of globalisation of international markets has managed to sustain the economic growth of the countries that have actively participated in this process. The available empirical evidence suggests, however, that it has been accompanied by a worldwide increase in environmental degradation and economic inequality. Therefore, there is growing concern that these features of the globalisation process may jeopardise its social and environmental
sustainability. In order to clarify to what extent the recent process of globalisation may be considered as sustainable, this paper draws some hints from a critical assessment of the literature on the Kuznets curve and the environmental Kuznets curve. In particular it is argued that the optimistic implications of this literature on the sustainability of
globalisation are ungranted and that the Kuznets approach is in principle unable to give reliable answers to the questions raised in this work. These curves, however, may be generalised as Kuznets relations whose analysis allows a clarification of a few basic conditions for sustainable globalisation. We conclude that these conditions can be met by implementing a systematic policy strategy aimed at shifting both Kuznets relations downwards
Heterogeneous expectations and strong uncertainty in a Minskyan model of financial fluctuations
No full textWe examine the role of expectations in a model aimed to explain financial fluctuations. The model
restates the core of Minsky’s financial instability hypothesis, focusing on the role of expectations.
The hypotheses concerning the process of formation and revision of expectations are discussed in
light of Keynes’s epistemological view of the behaviour of boundedly rational agents under
conditions of strong uncertainty. These hypotheses are formalized by drawing on recent advances in
complex dynamics, decision theory and behavioural economics. We show that widespread use of
extrapolative expectations by economic agents produces a high degree of financial instability that
may lead to a serious financial crisis, and that the use by economic agents of a mix of extrapolative
and regressive expectations reduces the dynamical instability of the model but may give rise to
complex dynamics
Financial fragility and economic fluctuations: Numerical simulations and policy implications
No full textThis paper proposes a simple prototype model that describes the complex dynamics
of a sophisticated monetary economy. The interaction between the current and intertemporal
financial constraints of economic units brings about irregular fluctuations at the micro and
macro levels. By means of qualitative dynamic analysis and numerical simulations, we
reformulate in more operational terms, and extend in a number of new directions, the model
suggested recently by one of the authors (Vercelli, 2000) to study the interaction between
financial fragility, modelled in terms of structural instability, and dynamically unstable financial
fluctuations
Genesis and foundations of the multiplier: Marx, Kalecki and Keynes
Full text linkThis paper explores the Marxian genetic root of the multiplier in order to clarify its foundations and
validity conditions. Though the analysis is restricted to the first two volumes of Capital and the
early contributions by Kalecki in the 1930s, we argue that we can draw from these works valuable
insights into the theoretical and empirical scope of the Kahn-Keynes multiplier
Globalisation, inequality and health
No full textAs we suggested in a previous work (Borghesi and Vercelli, 2003),
the process of globalisation affects the sustainability of development mainly through three channels: economic growth, inequality and environmental degradation. This conceptual framework may help us to understand also the causal influence of globalisation on health that represents a fundamental dimension of the quality of life enjoyed by the people and of sustainability. For this purpose, the present paper aims to investigate both the direct and the indirect effects of post-war globalisation, with particular attention to the role played by inequality in the globalisation-health relationship. A few policy implications emerging from the analysis are also discussed, suggesting a policy
strategy that can at the same time improve health and make the current globalisation process more compatible with sustainable development
Greenhouse gas emissions and the energy system: decomposition analysis and the environmental Kuznets curve
Full text linkThis paper discusses to what extent the recent trends in energy consumption and production are compatible with the requirements of sustainable development. For this purpose, starting from a simple identity applied to the energy sector, we use the decomposition analysis to derive a few analytical requirements for the long-term sustainability of the energy system and examine whether they are satisfied on the basis of the currently available data. From the analysis conducted in the paper, it emerges that an Environmental Kuznets Curve in energy intensity and/or carbon intensity may be insufficient to satisfy the sustainability conditions identified in the paper. Moreover, using simple graphical analysis, we show that the decomposition approach and the EKC imply two different relationships between per capita income (y) and carbon intensity (gy) and discuss the relative implications
Neuroprotection by DJNKI1 following seizure activity.
No full textSystemic injections of kainic acid (KA) cause epileptic seizures with delayed neuronal damage in the limbic system, particularly in the hippocampus. KA excitotoxicity activates complex signal transduction events that trigger apoptotic cell death. The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway plays an important role in cell death, and the peptide DJNKI1, a competitive JNK inhibitor, represents a potent neuroprotective agent.
To analyze the role of JNK and the effects of DJNKI1 administration on excitotoxic neuronal death we induced epileptic seizures on adult male Sprague-Dawley rats by i.p. injection of KA (15 mg/kg) with or without DJNKI1 i.p. administration, 2h after KA treatment. KA caused massive cell death in the hippocampus, which could be quantified in Cresyl violet stained sections. In fact, stereological counts showed a significant decrease in neuronal density in all CA fields, but not in the dentate gyrus, both at one and five days after seizures, which was partially prevented by DJNKI1 treatment. Evaluation of neuronal degeneration showed that DJNKI1 treatment prevented the appearance of Fluoro-Jade B positive-profiles in all CA fields. Seizure activity also induced marked gliosis as observed with GFAP immunohistochemistry. The peptide reduced the size of damaged area in the entorhinal cortex. We also analyzed c-Jun activation as target of JNK and central trascriptional effector in the adult rat brain following KA injection. Phospho-c-Jun immunoreactivity was absent in the limbic system of untreated animals, but starting from 3h after KA a strong nuclear neuronal labeling was seen in the limbic system. DJNKI1 treatment also reduced positivity for phospho-c-Jun in the hippocampus, thus confirming the specificity of the peptide in blocking JNK.
Therefore, JNK is a promising target for blocking seizure-induced cell death.
Support: EEC Stressprotect project
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