Macro-economic Effects of the Fiscal Stimulus Measures in Austria
In order to cushion the impact of the financial and economic crisis on the real economy, the Austrian government adopted fiscal stabilisation packages. Relative to GDP, these are among the largest in an international comparison, amounting to 4.2 percent of 2008 GDP in cumulative terms and including similar measures taken by the Lander (federal states). Simulations with the WIFO macro-economic model suggest that these measures, together with those taken by Austria's major trading partners, contribute substantially towards limiting the repercussions of the crisis, reducing the fall in GDP in 2010 by 2.1 percentage points. With a share of less than 30 percent of the total amount spent, investment geared towards raising potential growth in the future receives less emphasis than in a sample of 11 OECD countries with an average share of almost 40 percent.
Estimating the size of the European stimulus packages for 2009: An Update. Bruegel Policy Contribution 2009/02, February 20, 2009
[Introduction]. In December 2008, the European Council agreed on an EU‐wide economic stimulus of “around € 200 billion”. However, this agreement is not very specific in two important respects. First, it is unclear which country is to contribute how much to the roughly €170 billion part of the fiscal stimulus that is to be effected by member states, with the remaining €30 billion to be contributed at the EU level. Second, there is no clear timeline detailing which part of the stimulus is to be delivered by when. However, both the geography and the timing of the European stimulus are important dimensions when trying to assess the likely economic impact of the pact and the progress towards it implementation. In order to contribute to the debate on the geography and timing of the stimulus, we presented a first estimate of the size of fiscal stimuli that had recently been proposed by member states (and had, in some cases, already been adopted) just in time for the European Council. The present update of that earlier paper simply presents the latest breakdown of the fiscal stimuli in member states using thesame methodology as before. In addition, an heroic attempt is made to compare the total European package for 2009 to the stimulus packages set to be implemented in theUS and China. To keep the complexity of the EU side of the exercise manageable, we only take into account the 13 largest economies in the EU that make up more than 90 percent of the EU’s GDP, plus the planned boost at the Community level. Despite this simplification, the task of estimating the size of the different programmes remains challenging, not least because of the great variety of different instruments used and the rapid evolution of national debates.
Cleat mineralization of Upper Permian Baralaba/Rangal Coal Measures, Bowen Basin, Australia
Abstract Coals from the Permo-Triassic Bowen Basin have been investigated using a variety of complementary analytical techniques. Face cleat minerals in the studied samples are dominated by authigenic clays, notably pure illite or illite-chlorite mixtures. Butt cleats and joints are dominated by carbonates, mostly calcite with less abundant ferroan calcite, ankerite and siderite. K/Ar ages of cleat-fill illites and one fracture illite-smectite fill indicate three phases of illite formation during the Triassic: (1) an early phase with ages clustered around 244 Ma ago; (2) a second phase about 232 Ma ago; and (3) the latest phase about 219 Ma ago. Thermal modelling of selected boreholes from the study area and other geological data indicate that the first phase of illitization occurred when the coal seams were about 1000 m below the surface and at a temperature of between 70 and 80°C, at a time when the basin was rapidly subsiding. These early illites were stable and retained their 1M polytype even after being exposed to temperatures of 150–190°C during maximum burial in the southeastern Bowen Basin. The second phase of illitization (at 232±3) occurred at about the time of maximum burial. The latest phase took place between 223±3 and 212±3 Ma ago and occurred in a wider temperature range (between 170 and 100°C) during a rapid uplift in the Late Triassic. The Bowen Basin area experienced a second cycle of subsidence that commenced in the Early Jurassic with the formation of the Surat Basin, which overlies the Bowen Basin and forms part of the Great Artesian Basin system. Regional uplift and erosion in middle Cretaceous times terminated sediment accumulation in the Surat Basin. During the second cycle of burial widespread carbonate mineralization in butt-cleats and joints took place. Calcite fluid inclusions indicate that calcite was precipitated from meteoric water at about 80°C. The widespread carbonate mineralization in butt cleats and the near-absence of carbonates in the face cleats is here attributed to permeability anisotropy, caused by a change in the direction of lateral compressive stress during Jurassic-Cretaceous times relative to that during the Triassic Hunter-Bowen Orogeny.