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This study aims to evaluate the public debt sustainability of Pakistan using the debt sustainability analysis (DSA) framework and fiscal reaction function (FRF). For the empirical analysis, it uses relevant important macroeconomic variables, such as public debt, external debt, primary balance, output growth, current account balance, and oil prices, over the period 1976-2021. The results of the DSA suggest that, at the 10% growth rate with a real interest rate lower than 10%, the public debt level can be brought under the 60% standard sustainable limit from the current 80% by the year 2030. Furthermore, the estimates of the FRF reveal no evidence of debt sustainability. Besides this, the COVID-19 pandemic is positively associated with the primary balance mainly due to the decrease in the primary balance from -3.5% in 2019 to -0.9% in 2020. This is expected as a large amount of debt relief was provided to Pakistan during this period. Overall, our findings indicate that, if the rapid debt accumulation trend continues, the country will be unable to bear such a hefty load of ballooning debt. Therefore, a strategy of continuing coordination of fiscal and monetary policy is crucial for robust growth momentum to keep the debt sustainable.

In this paper, we disentangle tax revenue forecast errors into influences stemming from wrong macroeconomic assumptions and false predictions of the elasticities linking the tax base to its corresponding tax type. Across six tax types and the overall tax sum for Germany, we find a heterogeneous degree of relative importance of both sources. Whereas wrong macroeconomic assumptions matter most for profit-related taxes and the wage tax, false predictions of the elasticities mainly drive the forecast errors of the energy tax and the sales taxes. For the overall tax sum, more than two-third of the error can be attributed to wrong macroeconomic predictions and approximately one-third to false assumptions on the elasticity. Our results suggest that outsourcing the macroeconomic projections to an independent forecaster and methodological improvements can reduce tax revenue forecast errors.

Die von der Regierung Reagan durchgeführte angebotsorientierte Wirtschaftspolitik hat weder das Wirtschaftswachstum stimuliert noch Investitionsanreize intensiviert. Es ist auch kein Einkommen von den Reichen zu den Armen "durchgesickert". Der erhoffte Trickle-Down-Effekt blieb aus. Stattdessen profitierten vor allem die obersten 1 % der US-amerikanischen Gesellschaft von den Steuererleichterungen. Die von den Reaganomics ausgelösten wirtschaftlichen Prozesse zeitigten zahlreiche Verlierer, vor allem unter weniger Qualifizierten und Besitzlosen. Schließlich stellten sie sich gegen das Establishment und brachten einen starken Mann an die Macht-komme was wolle. Der Triumph des Trumpismus ist in diesem Sinne das ultimative Vermächtnis von Ronald Reagan und seiner Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik. Contrary to its intentions, the supply-oriented economic policy implemented by the Reagan administration had neither stimulated economic growth nor intensifi ed investment incentives. Nor has income trickled down from the rich to the low-income households. There was no trickle-down effect. Instead, the top one percent of US society, in particular reaped the benefi ts of the tax breaks. The economic processes triggered by Reaganomics resulted in numerous victims, especially among the less qualifi ed and the poor. Ultimately, they turned against the establishment and brought a strong man to power. In this sense, the triumph of Trumpism is the ultimate legacy of Ronald Reagan and his economic and social policies.

Numerical fiscal rules are implemented to counterbalance the deficit bias in budgetary policy. Over the recent years, an increasing number of studies try to test the actual effectiveness of fiscal rules. This meta-analysis condenses the existing evidence from different regional and federal contexts. It explores the study characteristics which are associated with different findings. Based on a preliminary analysis and a still incomplete sample of primary studies, the results point to a consensus that fiscal rules indeed constrain fiscal policies. This result also appears to hold in light of the criticism that rules are the endogenous reflection of fiscal preferences: even studies with a comprehensive control for fiscal preferences do not lead to systematically weaker levels of statistical significance.

The socio-economic impact of Reaganomics and its long-run deleterious legacy is documented. The preponderance of data indicate that economic growth was not particularly impressive in the wake of the tax cuts of 1981 or 1986. GDP did snap back to potential but failed to accelerate beyond the rates achieved in prior or subsequent decades. The supposed incentives of supply-side economics failed to materialize. People did not work more, they did not save or invest more than they did before, and the benefits trickled down like molasses and got stuck at the very top of the income distribution. Instead, Reagan’s presidency was a watershed in U.S. economic development in the sense that it reversed many of the accomplishments of the New Deal and inaugurated an era in which low-skilled men’s wages began a long period of decline, and labor’s share of GDP continued to fall. Reagan’s true legacy is a dual economy that accompanied the hollowing out of the middle class, a more business-friendly regulatory and oversight framework for Wall Street that ultimately led to the financial crisis, a stupendous increase in the national debt from 30% to 50% of GDP that put it on a path such that by 2012 it exceeded 100%, anti-statism that contributed to the rise of Trumpism, a remarkable rise in inequality that gave rise to an oligarchy, and the benign neglect of blue-collar workers who eventually became Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables.” Reagan put the economy on a trajectory to ultimately, even if not inevitably, led to the triumph of Trumpism and an economy of malaise.

Poblematic food safety issues are emerging in contemporary societies, especially those undergoing economically and socially rapid developments. In such context, failures in market and governance mechanisms present challenging situations for serving quality and trust-worthy foods and medicine to people. Meanwhile, scientific progresses are slowed down due to unavailability of critical information regarding good practices for food and medicine governance.Keywords. Food, Medicine, Governance.JEL. H12, E62, H50, H69.

The annual electricity investments needed in the Middle East and North Africa region to keep up with demand have been estimated at about 3 percent of the region’s projected gross domestic product. However, in most economies of the region, the ability to make those investments is limited by fiscal and macroeconomic constraints. This paper demonstrates that the solution is readily available: by improving the management and performance of the region’s utilities, more than enough resources could be freed up to make the investments needed. The paper presents the first evaluation of the size and composition of the quasi-fiscal deficit associated with the management of the electricity sector in 14 economies in the Middle East and North Africa region. The estimations are for 2013. They show that the average quasi-fiscal deficit is 4.4 percent of gross domestic product (but goes down to 2.9 percent if Lebanon, Djibouti, Bahrain, and Jordan are excluded). Only five economies have a quasi-fiscal deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Qatar, and the West Bank), and hence would not be able to finance the average investment requirement through elimination of inefficiencies. For most economies, the main driver of the quasi-fiscal deficit is the underpricing of electricity, which costs on average 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (but 2.2 percent without Lebanon, Djibouti, Bahrain, and Jordan). Commercial inefficiency comes next, at an average cost of 0.6 percent of gross domestic product. Technical and labor inefficiencies represent, respectively, 0.4 and 0.2 percent of gross domestic product., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In den letzten Jahren schien der Finanzausgleich unter den Ländern das wichtigste finanzpolitische Thema in der Bundesrepublik zu sein. Zu politischen Schlagzeilen gelangte der darüber geführte Streit durch die Klage Bayerns und Hessens vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht ab März 2013. Dadurch wurde die öffentliche Diskussion über die gesamten Bund/Länder-Finanzbeziehungen "angeheizt"; doch sie ist dabei ausgeufert. Das gilt auch für die schon seit Monaten geführten politischen Verhandlungen der Regierungschefs von Bund und Ländern über eine Reform der Finanzbeziehungen. Ein Fortschritt ist hier nicht zu erkennen. Doch jetzt ist das Thema Länderfinanzausgleich durch die sogenannte Flüchtlingskrise völlig verdrängt worden. For many months, there has been a dispute among the German federal states about the Länderfinanzausgleich. However, neither the German Federal Constitutional Court nor negotiations among the federal and state governments can find a viable solution. The interests of the federal states are extremely different from one another, as the high tax states want to pay less to the other states, which are of course opposed to such a change. Political majorities are not visible, and thus proposals which require a constitutional majority have no chance. In the meantime, other major financial problems have come to the foreground.

UMTEB-2017 1st Internatıonal Congress On Vocational And Technical Sciences was held first of its conference series on April 08-10, 2017, at Batumi, Gorgia. This congress organized by Institution of Economic Development and Social Researches (IKSAD). The purpose of congress is to present their research papers in the areas of vocational, technical, politics, economics and social. On the first day of the conference, four panels were made after the opening speeches. The second day sessions were held in parallel on four seas. Average of five presentations were planned to be delivered in each session. In general, the topics of parallel sessions was about to technical sciences, occupational sciences, social studies, literature, history, economic research and political research. Submitted papers as well as presentations and discussions at the conference was conducted in English or Turkish In this way, it was more participation in conference and scholars have opportunity to share easily their academic studies. The papers presented in this congress will be considered in the conference book, in full text or in abstract, after review process. In terms of importance of the conference was highly informative and to provide significant out comes to its participants.Keywords. Global economic crisis, Fiscalpolicy, National government expenditures and related policies, National fund.JEL. H12, E62, H50, H69.

Derzeit beklagen die Länder Bayern und Hessen vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht ihre Zahlerlasten im Länderfinanzausgleich. Sie wollen erreichen, dass das geltende Finanzausgleichsgesetz nicht erst Ende 2019, sondern schon vorher durch eine Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts außer Kraft tritt. Aber auch auf der politischen Ebene - das sieht der Koalitionsvertrag der Großen Koalition vor - soll über die gesamten Bund-Länder-Finanzbeziehungen und dabei auch über den Länderfinanzausgleich verhandelt werden. The federal financial equalisation among the 16 German federal states has once again become politically controversial. Two highly taxed states (Bavaria and Hesse) have appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court against excessive payments. Most of the other states have objected to this action. The contested regulations, created in 2001, are to apply until the end of 2019. How long the Court will need to reach a decision in the case is an open question. Parallel political negotiations on federal financial relations are also taking place. This short report provides an overview of the current financial dispute.

In this paper I study the public debt dynamics of three episodes (the crises of the 1950s, the 1980s and 2010-15) in Ireland’s modern economic history. By using traditional debt dynamic decomposition formulae, I measure the components which contributed most to public debt ratio reduction following previous high debt episodes. I also employ the case of Sweden for comparative purposes, in how it emerged from the increase in public debt in the aftermath of its banking crisis 1991-1993. The key findings which emerge are 1) the reduction of the public ratio following the 1980s episode was predominantly driven by cumulative primary surpluses, though a favourable growth and interest rate differential emerged as the key determinant in the late 1990s. Additionally, public debt in the 1980s was considerably more difficult to service in terms of tax revenues and maturity structures than the current event. 2) Public debt continued to increase following the crisis of the 1950s due to higher interest rates and lower inflation, despite a recovery in growth and fiscal contraction. 3) In line with other research isolating the uniqueness of open economy debt reductions, I find that though Sweden (like Ireland) reduced public debt in an environment of strong international growth, it did so in a macroeconomic environment of higher interest rates and falling inflation, entirely through budget surplus accumulation.

Eurobonds sind seit langem als Instrument zur Lösung der europäischen Staatsschuldenkrise in der Diskussion. Allerdings können sie in Hinblick auf Haftungsausdehnung, Umfang, Besicherung, Konditionierung und institutionell-rechtliche Formen sehr unterschiedlich ausgestaltet werden. Der Autor spricht sich aus ordnungspolitischen Gründen gegen Eurobonds aus und plädiert für die Einhaltung des marktwirtschaftlichen Haftungsprinzips auf nationaler Basis. This research focuses on the question of to what extent Eurobonds are feasible and which problems may arise in the political, economic and juridical areas. The contribution shows possible forms of the arrangement and discusses a justifi cation from the regulatory point of view. It also examines the extent to which Eurobonds have already become reality by the rescue aid of the European Union. The economic analysis demonstrates the interrelated benefi ts and problems, especially redistribution, misdirected incentives and misallocation of capital. Finally, establishing Eurobonds is the cornerstone of the political and normative question of which direction the Eurozone will or rather should move within the scope of the sovereign debt crisis.

Using fiscal reaction functions for a panel of actual euro-area countries the paper investigates whether euro membership has reduced the responsiveness of countries to increases in the level of inherited debt compared to the period prior to succession to the euro. While we find some evidence for such a loss in prudence, the results are not robust to changes in the specification, as for example an exclusion of Greece from the panel. This suggests that the current debt problems may result to a large extent from pre-existing debt levels prior to entry or from a larger need for fiscal prudence in a common currency, while an adverse change in the fiscal reaction functions for most countries does not apply.

This Working Paper presents an overview of structural budget balance models and the adjustments most relevant for Australia. Three models (the OECD model, the IMF model and Treasury’s previously published model in the Australian Government’s 2009-10 Budget and McDonald et al (2010)) are discussed. Updated estimates of the Australian Government’s structural budget balance are presented alongside analysis showing the sensitivity of the results to plausible changes in key parameters. The updated structural budget balance estimates are based on the model used by McDonald et al (2010) and updated for the Australian Government’s 2013-14 Budget.

This paper examines fiscal projections based on three consecutive budget forecasts (2009-2011) and provides cautionary insights as to how these projections only a year or two apart can lead to dramatic differences in projected debt levels in the future. Projections of net debt from a Budget 2011 forecast base are much lower, by 2050, than those for Budget 2009. This is largely due to the Budget 2011 forecast base having lower expenditure and higher revenue than the forecast base of the Budget 2009 projections. The paper also underscores how short-term policy changes, if sustained, can make a big difference over the long term and how, over time, the more fundamental structural factors such as demographics can prove to be more durable in influencing fiscal sustainability. Finally, it argues that, even though the level of debt-to-GDP shifts by mid-century, the messages we take from these projections remain the same: spending and possibly tax policies need to change, if we are to avoid passing debt that generates little social return onto our descendants, and early changes alleviate the need for more drastic revisions in the future.

Background: Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) has poor prognosis and remains orphan from targeted therapy. MET is activated in several tumour types and may be a promising therapeutic target. Methods: To evaluate the role of MET in SCLC, MET gene status and protein expression were evaluated in a panel of SCLC cell lines. The MET inhibitor PHA-665752 was used to study effects of pathway inhibition in basal and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-stimulated conditions. Immunohistochemistry for MET and p-MET was performed in human SCLC samples and association with outcome was assessed. Results: In MET mutant SCLC cells, HGF induced MET phosphorylation, increased proliferation, invasiveness and clonogenic growth. PHA-665752 blocked MET phosphorylation and counteracted HGF-induced effects. In clinical samples, total MET and p-MET overexpression were detected in 54% and 43% SCLC tumours (n=77), respectively. MET phosphorylation was associated with poor median overall survival (132 days) vs p-MET negative cases (287 days)(P

This paper provides the results of analyses of key problems related to pension systems and their reforms in Russia and Ukraine. The pension systems and their reforms in both countries are compared. They are also compared with the general picture observed in the OECD or selected countries belonging to that area. The analysis focuses on long-term trends rather than short-term shocks. The recent economic crisis is not covered since the analysis was mostly completed by 2008. First, we present the general picture which describes the current demographic and economic situations as well as the challenges that are being faced. Then we turn to reform options and actions already taken. We particularly focus on issues that are specific to the countries analyzed.

We previously reported that anthracyclines, which could generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), could induce the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) gene expression in human RC-K8 malignant lymphoma cells and in H69 small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells. In screening other uPA-inducible anti-cancer agents, we found that camptothecin (CPT) and its derivative, SN38, could induce uPA in RC-K8 and H69 cells. CPT and SN38, which are also used for the treatment of lymphoma and SCLC, significantly increased the uPA accumulation in the conditioned media of both cells in a dose-dependent manner. The maximum induction of uPA mRNA levels was observed 24 h after stimulation. Pretreatment with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), an anti-oxidant, inhibited the CPT-induced uPA mRNA expression. Thus, CPT induces uPA through gene expression, and, therefore, CPT may influence the tumor-cell biology by up-regulating the uPA/plasmin system.