Harnessing Market Competition in PPP Procurement: The Importance of Periodically Taking a Strategic View

Public‐Private Partnerships (PPP) procurement is routinely portrayed as offering greater scope for harnessing competitive market forces to secure Value for Money (VfM) than traditional procurement approaches ( OECD 2008 ). The aim of this article is (a) to demonstrate the importance of periodically taking a more systematic and strategic view when assessing VfM in PPP procurement ( OGC 2003 ), and (b) to develop an analytical framework for such an analysis. Road infrastructure procurement in South East Queensland is used as a case study to test the usefulness of the proposed framework, and to show how a narrow focus on individual contracts increases the risk of overlooking overdependence on one supplier ( OGC 2003 ). Discussion focuses on the need to combine detailed analysis of individual contracts with longitudinal analyses of market competitiveness when assessing best VfM.     

Three paradigms in a single monetary circulation

The nature of money is simple and easy to understand, both what it is and what it was; it is the ＂law of gravity＂ we all understand. Many macroeconomic concepts and operations are based on money. Without it, they would be impossible to comprehend and, in fact, can only be understood by methodically tracking the circulation of money. There are three core paradigms of money and money circulation： the money multiplier, the velocity of circulation of money income and the money-income multiplier. In this paper, we try to demystify or decouple some of these circulatory mechanisms in order to establish, to the extent that is possible, a single comprehensive theory. A comprehensive theory or an approximation to such demands that the three economic operations corresponding to the above three paradigms form part of the same monetary macroeconomic phenomenon. To prove workable, it requires that the formulae arrived at being represented by a single mathematical expression. This paper shows that there is a conflict between, on one hand, the inevitable and persistent economic intuition that relates the three paradigms and, on the other, the mathematical formulae （and their components） that occasionally negate this.     

试论违约责任中定金、违约金、赔偿损失的竞合与适用

本文从违约责任的一般理论入手 ,着重论述了违约责任中定金、违约金、赔偿损失责任形式之间的关系 ,旨在解决现实生活中三者如何具体运用、能否一并适用等法律问题 ,分析了在适用三者的过程中应注意的几个问题。     

联合国反洗钱立法的发展及其对我国的影响

联合国《禁毒公约》最先在国际公约中对洗钱作出了惩治性规定,其后的《制止向恐怖主义提供资助的国际公约》进一步将反恐融资与洗钱犯罪联系起来,之后的《巴勒莫公约》则明确地提出了独立的＂洗钱罪＂概念,2003年《反腐败公约》开始通过专门条文的形式对洗钱行为的预防与定罪作出了更详细的规定。这些联合国公约对反洗钱所作规定的变化,体现了国际反洗钱立法的发展过程,也对我国不同时期的反洗钱立法产生了重要影响。     

电子货币是货币发展规律作用的必然结果

电子货币作为一种新的派生形式,是货币发展规律作用的必然结果。电子货币不仅具有一般货币的共性,而且具有明显的时代特征。因此,电子货币的出现,并没有否定马克思的货币理论,相反却再次证明了马克思货币理论的科学性。     

我国货币供应量与通货膨胀关系实证研究

近期物价上涨已成为人们普遍关心的热点问题,通货膨胀压力在进一步加大。本文选用了2007年-2010年的月度数据,对我国货币供应量M0、M1、M2与通货膨胀的关系进行研究,验证近期货币供应量与通货膨胀之间的具体关系。综合运用协整分析、因果检验以及误差修正模型来揭示我国货币供应量与通货膨胀的长期均衡及短期波动关系,结果显示,货币供应量M1、M2变化是通货膨胀率变化的重要原因。通过调整M1、M2,能够有效控制物价水平的上涨。     

不断完善医疗纠纷赔偿机制的思考

本文对海南省推行全省统一的医疗责任保险方案实施两年来,在运行过程中存在的问题与对策从医院层面进行分析,认为医疗纠纷通过医责险赔偿仍面临诸多矛盾和问题。主要表现在：一是保险公司的逐利性和医院对投保的初衷存在巨大差异,购买医责险并非医院自愿;二是医责险在理赔中困难重重,该赔不赔、随意压价、限制受理范围等等导致调解失败,医院没有真正从医疗纠纷中解脱出来,“医闹”问题仍困扰医院;三是保险方案设计和保费调整系数不合理,医院承担的保费过高,而赔偿过低,未能达到风险转嫁的目的。作者提出不断完善医疗纠纷赔偿机制,尝试建立医疗风险互助金制度。     

An investigation of the relationship between anger and offence-related shame and guilt

Abstract

A number of accounts of shame and guilt emphasise an association between shame and anger difficulties, and it has been suggested that shame and rage may promote one another. The shame–anger relationship may be particularly relevant to the study of forensic populations, as the fact of having committed a criminal offence has the potential to be a highly shame-provoking experience. The current study investigates the prediction that shame and guilt reactions to an offence are differentially related to the propensity to experience and ability to control anger. A measure of offence-related shame and guilt and a measure of anger experience and control was completed by 60 men detained in forensic psychiatric units. The results supported the prediction that offence-related shame is associated with elevated levels of anger difficulties, whilst offence-related guilt is associated with ability to control anger. The findings of the current study are consistent with those of previous investigations of shame, guilt and anger. Specific implications for the understanding and prevention of violent offending are discussed.     

Intellectual property,indigenous knowledge,and biodiversity

ABSTRACT

This is Part 1 of an article arguing for an extended application of Karl Marx’s insight that the apparent reciprocity of free market exchange is to be understood as an ideology that obscures material processes of exploitation and accumulation. Rather than to confine this insight to the worker’s sale of his or her labor-power for wages, and basing it on the conviction that labor-power is uniquely capable of generating more value than its price, the article argues that capital accumulation also relies on asymmetric transfers of several other biophysical resources such as embodied non-human energy, land, and materials. It proposes that the very notions of “price” and “value” serve to obscure the material history and substance of traded commodities. Such a shift of perspective extends Marx’s foundational critique of mainstream economics by focusing on the unacknowledged role of ecologically unequal exchange, but requires a critical rethinking of the concept of “use-value.” It also suggests a fundamental reconceptualization of the ontology of technological progress, frequently celebrated in Marxist theory. Part 1 of the article introduces the argument on unequal exchange, the ideological function of money, some concerns of ecological Marxism, and the conundrum posed by three contradictory understandings of “use-value.”     

Capitalist profit calculation and inflation accounting: A comment

Abstract

Mises’ ‘calculation argument’ against socialism argues that monetary calculation is indispensable as a commensurable unit for evaluating factors of production. This is not due to his conception of rationality being purely ‘algorithmic,’ for it accommodates non-monetary, incommensurable values. Commensurability is needed, rather, as an aid in the face of economic complexity. The socialist Neurath's response to Mises is unsatisfactory in rejecting the need to explore possible non-market techniques for achieving a certain degree of commensurability. Yet Neurath's contribution is valuable in emphasizing the need for a balanced, comparative approach to the question of market versus non-market that puts the commensurability question in context. These central issues raised by adversaries in the early socialist calculation debate have continued relevance for the contemporary discussion.