Suchergebnisse

With the eclipse of the New Right, politicians now admit that society is in crisis. Something must be done, but, explain the authors, governments will fail again unless they shake off the economic orthodoxy that is now one of the problems rather than the means to a solution. This book investigates the roots of the problem, both historically and theoretically. Dr Michael Hudson draws on archaeology and history, from Bronze Age Mesopotamia through Rome to Byzantium, to show how a destructive virus crept into the body politic. This led to a breakdown in man's relation to the environment and divid

Water issues have been gaining importance on the global political agenda in recentyears. Nevertheless, water scarcity issues are inherently local. The impact of tourismactivities on local water resources remains an understudied issue. Tourism is highlyheterogeneous and offers a plethora of different products which cater for differenttastes and budgets at different times of the year. Tourism products differ in terms oftheir economic impact but also in terms of their demand for water and other resources.Direct use of water by the tourism industry, which includes water used in hotels, golf courses, water parks and other tourism establishments, is relatively well understood. In addition to this volume of water, substantially more is required indirectly to produce food and other products which cater for tourism demand. Quantifying both the direct and indirect components is essential to understanding total water demand and productivity in the tourism sector.The common perception in Cyprus and other tourism economies is that high-spending tourists represent the most desirable market segment. However, this assertion is rarely based on economic yield assessments and ignores environmental impacts. The present research uses Environmental Input-Output (EIO) analysis along with detailed tourism expenditure data in order to quantify economic and water use synergies and trade-offs, for different tourism markets in Cyprus. The results suggest that different market segments vary significantly in terms of their economic return in relation to total water use. Consequently, there are important sustainability implications for policymakers and destination managers in water scarce destinations.

We investigate the extent to which antidepressant use among adolescents varies across racial and ethnic subgroups. Using a representative sample of U.S. adolescents, we find that non-Hispanic White adolescents are over twice as likely as Hispanic adolescents, and over five times as likely as non-Hispanic Black adolescents to use antidepressants. Results from a decomposition analysis indicate that racial/ethnic differences in characteristics, including household income, parental education, health insurance, and having a usual source of care explain between one half and two thirds of the gap in antidepressant use between Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites. In contrast, none of the gap between Whites and Blacks in antidepressant use is explained by differences in observed characteristics. Further analysis suggests that there are large racial/ethnic differences in the extent to which behavioral and mental health problems prompt antidepressant use and that this may, in part, account for the large differences across race/ethnicity observed in our study.

Recent changes in diabetes treatment guidelines and the introduction of new, more expensive pharmaceuticals appear to increase the financial challenges for nonelderly adults with diabetes. The authors used Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to examine changes in the prevalence of diabetes and comorbidities, diabetes treatment, financial burdens, and the relationship between high financial burdens and patient characteristics. From 1997-1998 to 2006-2007, the total number of nonelderly adults treated for diabetes nearly doubled, from 5.4 to 10.7 million, and the proportion of diabetes patients using multiple drugs to treat their condition increased significantly. About a fifth of diabetes patients spent 10% or more of their family income on health care, and about one in nine spent 20% or more of their family income on health care. In 2006-2007, diabetes patients who were older, female, in poor health, or lacked insurance were more likely than others to have high burdens.