The impact of the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 in the context of the current financial crisis
The paper critically examines the impact of the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in the context of the current financial crisis. It analyses the pre-Glass-Steagall paradigm, the Glass-Steagall regime and post-repeal paradigm. It discusses the impact of the repeal in specific various forms in this background. It also assesses whether Glass-Steagall should be brought back in its original form, in doing so it offers an alternative approach to deal with the future global financial crisis and it also suggests new rules for the protection of the consumers to avoid moral hazard.
Out of the Corridor: Keynes and the Crisis
We should learn from Keynes to focus on the macroproblems of our day. Today's problem is the financial crisis and the resulting great recession. Neither the standard Keynesian policies of decades past nor the monetary policy doctrine of recent years provides useful solutions. Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium theory is part of the crisis wreckage, but turning to old or to New Keynesian theory will be of little use. A balance sheet recession requires that policy address the problems in the private sector's capital as well as its income accounts. We need serious theoretical work on problems of system stability using, for example, agent-based methods. Monetary theory needs to develop analysis of processes in which intertemporal budget constraints are violated. Network theory will be useful in that quest. Copyright The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.
Human exposure to methylmercury from crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) in China
Methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in aquatic food raises global concerns about human exposure to MeHg. Crayfish is the world’s third largest farmed crustacean species and a favorite aquatic food in many countries. However, human health hazard due to MeHg exposure via crayfish consumption is unclear, partly because appropriate survey data are lacking. We report on mercury concentrations and speciation in edible tail muscle of crayfish collected from restaurants in 23 Chinese cities. On average, MeHg constituted 99.1 % of mercury in tail muscle, and MeHg concentrations were comparable with those reported for fish in China. Variation in MeHg concentrations was not attributable to broad geographic region (i.e., provinces) or tail length. For different populations, potential health risk (characterized by hazard quotient or HQ) of MeHg exposure through crayfish consumption depended largely on crayfish consumption rates. In particular, a health hazard (HQ > 1) was found for high-rate consumers (i.e., 95 %ile or higher) in some cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), during the peak consumption season. Our results suggest that more attention should be paid to dietary MeHg intake via crayfish consumption in China, particularly for communities with high consumption in MLYR.