Using Fuzzy Rule–Based Systems to Evaluate Overall Financial Performance of Governments: An Enhancement to the Bond Rating Process

Credit ratings remain a key feature of municipal debt management. The primary objective of this article is to develop a new methodology for evaluating the financial performance and creditworthiness of governments and to illustrate this approach for a sample of large American cities. Specifically, we develop a fuzzy rule–based system (FRBS) that uses economic, debt, and other financial information as well as a measure of financial management to produce rankings of city financial performance. The FRBS credit ratings are highly correlated with actual Moody's ratings for these cities. FRBS have the potential of enhancing the rating process by standardizing the information used and encouraging consistent rules about what combinations of inputs result in good, fair, or poor performance.     

Do state balanced budget requirements matter? Testing two explanatory frameworks

Balanced budget requirements (BBRs) affect all aspects of financial operations. Previous studies relied on characterizations that highlight a constitutional-statutory distinction. Hou and Smith (Public Budgeting & Finance 26(3):22–45, 2006) instead propose a political-technical construct. This article uses probit estimation, six measures of balance, and long panels to test which framework offers more explanatory power. The findings suggest that BBRs matter to varying degrees. Technical requirements exert bigger effects than political ones, the effects are more obvious on narrower than broader measures of balance and in the later phases of the budget cycle, and the political-technical construct offers more explanatory power than the constitutional-statutory distinction.     

乡镇概念:内涵与特征

在一般意义上,乡镇有两种解释,一是从行政区划的角度解释,二是从城镇的角度解释。乡镇的基本特征,可以根据对乡镇基本内涵的两种解释,来分别进行探究。     

美国奉行双重防扩散标准为了啥?

反恐和防扩散是美国国家安全战略的要务.但美国防扩散的主要目的,不是维护世界的和平与安全,而是维护其自身在全球的安全利益,实现其主导世界事务的战略目标.因此,美国认为,扩散国家有"好"、"坏"之分,具体标准由美国定.美国对"好"的扩散国给予默认奖赏,对"坏"的扩散国则给予严惩.     

《唱支山歌给党听》的故事

1962年8月,雷锋同志因公殉职。次年的2月21日, 《文汇报》登载了朱践耳谱曲的"雷锋的歌"。3月5日,毛 泽东题词"向雷锋同志学习"发表。不久,才旦卓玛以演唱 "雷锋的歌"一举成名。然而,在这首广为流传的歌曲背后, 却是一段鲜为人知的--     

当代发达国家移民政策的特点

国际移民呈现出移民类型多样化、移民方向多元化、移民结构多层次化等特点,其影响从经济领域向政治、文化、社会等领域多层次、多方位扩散,并直接影响到移民迁入国的民族组成和治国理念.本文对主要发达国家应对移民与本民族融合的问题进行了探讨.     

美国图谋扼杀中国核武器计划内幕(中)

蒋经国与肯尼迪密谈采取行动的可行性 1963年9月,蒋介石派儿子蒋经国访问华盛顿,探讨对北京的核计划应采取的措施.中情局局长麦科恩与蒋经国集中讨论华盛顿与台北在对中国大陆采取军事行动上的分歧.谈话最终转移到对大陆的核计划采取军事行动的可能性上.     

美国图谋扼杀中国核武器计划内幕(上)

美国密切注视中国的核计划 1954至1955年,中美在台湾海峡的金门和马祖两岛对峙期间,毛泽东做出了发展核武器的重大决定.发展核武器需要科学和技术,需要巨大的工业投入,需要生产裂变材料.     

论“第一类自诉案件”存在的问题及完善

第一类自诉案件也就是告诉才处理的案件在实践当中存在着许多问题,如侵占罪作为自诉案件在实践当中很难操作;侮辱、诽谤罪中“严重危害社会秩序和国家利益”的理解问题;以及检察机关担当自诉问题。本文从这类自诉案件存在的问题入手,提出了相应的完善途径,以期对这类自诉案件的完善有所帮助。     

The Defense Lawyer in the Scales of Chinese Criminal Justice

Western critics are keenly interested in the defense lawyer as an advocate within the human rights movement in China and fear that under the impact of state persecution the defense lawyer is becoming an ‘endangered species’. This article argues that, while there are significant problems, there has also been progress in Chinese lawyering reform that ties together greater professionalism with a new emphasis on due process. The revised Lawyers’ Law of 2007 is an important new benchmark in lawyer reform. This law has challenged the limited dimensions of earlier reform. This law, itself, has been challenged in bureaucratic resistance that is deploying outdated criminal procedural law to negate the reforms supporting the new process and protected lawyer–client relations. The National People's Congress has supported the latter, arguing that it represents the latest in reform and is, therefore, superior to the more restrictive provisions of the 1996 Criminal Procedural Law and supporting public security regulation.