Suchergebnisse

Describes the background of the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the legislation's mandate, and how it impacts on children with disabilities and their teachers.

"This paper is based on empirical research on a taxonomy of technological environmental innovations. It draws on a databank with over 500 examples of new technologies (materials, products, processes and practices) which come with benign environmental effects. The approaches applied to interpreting the datasets are innovation life cycle analysis, and product chain analysis. Main results include the following: 1. Innovations merely aimed at eco-efficiency do in most cases not represent significant contributions to improving the properties of the industrial metabolism. This can better be achieved by technologies that fulfill the criteria of eco-consistency (metabolic consistency), also called eco-effectiveness. 2. Ecological pressure of a technology is basically determined by its conceptual make-up and design. Most promising thus are technologies in earlier rather than later stages of their life cycle (i.e. during R&D and customisation in growing numbers), because it is during the stages before reaching the inflection point and maturity in a learning curve where technological environmental innovations can best contribute to improving ecological consistency of the industrial metabolism while at the same time delivering their maximum increase in efficiency as well. 3. Moreover, environmental action needs to focus on early steps in the vertical manufacturing chain rather than on those in the end. Most of the ecological pressure of a technology is normally not caused end-of-chain in use or consumption, but in the more basic steps of the manufacturing chain (with the exception of products the use of which consumes energy, e.g. vehicles, appliances). There are conclusions to be drawn for refocusing attention from downstream to upstream in life cycles and product chains, and for a shift of emphasis in environmental policy from regulation to innovation. Ambitious environmental standards, though, continue to be an important regulative precondition of ecologically benign technological innovation." (author's abstract)

"Geldregal bedeutet das hergebrachte Vorrecht des Staates, in seinem Hoheitsbereich die
offizielle Währung zu bestimmen und die gesetzlichen Zahlungsmittel in dieser Währung
zu schöpfen und in Umlauf zu bringen. Daraus erwächst dem Staat ein Geldschöpfungsgewinn. Dieser wird als Seigniorage bezeichnet. Die Seigniorage besteht in der Differenz zwischen den Produktions- und Bereitstellungskosten der Zahlungsmittel einerseits und ihrer Kaufkraft andererseits, die der Staat realisiert, indem er neu geschöpfte Zahlungsmittel durch öffentliche Ausgaben in Umlauf bringt. Vor der Währungsunion betrugen die Produktionskosten eines 1-Mark-Stücks 16 Pfennige.
Die Seigniorage, hier als Münzgewinn, betrug damit 84 Pfennige oder 84% abzüglich
der Verwaltungs- und sonstigen Transaktionskosten. Die Produktion einer deutschen
Banknote kostete durchschnittlich 15 Pfennige. Auch die Herstellungskosten für
die jetzigen Euro-Banknoten betragen im Durchschnitt 7–8 Cent pro Geldschein. Dabei
handelt es sich zumeist um 10, 20 und 50 Euro-Scheine (Figna 2004). Bei Banknoten ist
die Seigniorage also noch höher als bei Münzen, und bei unbaren Sichtguthaben am
höchsten, da die Herstellungskosten (nicht die Transaktionskosten) in diesem Fall nahe
null liegen – oder richtiger gesagt, sie wären es, würde dieses Geld durch Staatsausgaben in Umlauf gebracht und nicht, wie heute, durch Kredit der Zentralbank an die Banken bzw. der Banken an das Publikum." (Textauszug)

"The following text consists of brief introductory lectures prepared for seminars,
hence its at times colloquial character. The content concerns a proposal for modifying
the monetary system; a modification being a modernisation of money in line
with the ongoing evolution of the monetary system which would be easy to make
from a technical point of view and with considerable advantages for both private
and public budgets. To begin with, a description of the proposal, called plain money, will be given. To do that, it is necessary to look into a number of issues relating to monetary and
financial theory, concerning the understanding of money, the creation and circulation
of money, and the role of the banks and the central bank in the two-tier banking
system. In discussing these and related issues the monetary questions which
the proposal can give an answer to will be explained. In the later sections the focus
will be more on explaning why the proposal is useful in practice and which economic
and political problems the proposal can provide a solution to." (author's abstract)

This study contributes to the economic discounting debate by examining the welfare and policy implications of distorted time preferences for private investments. The analysis is applied to the energy industry, where it is of particular importance. In the transition to low-carbon energy generation, distorted time preferences are shown to induce a further distortion, in addition to that from the emission externality. Its extent varies directly with the time lag in capital accumulation. In order to implement the socially optimal path, environmental policy needs to be complemented by technology policy. The theoretical findings are applied to the upcoming structural change in the German electricity industry in the 2010s.

Geldordnungen und Geldkrisen sowie ihre sozialen Grundlagen stehen in diesem Band im Zentrum: Die Autoren beleuchten Geld und Geldkrisen in der Geschichte, in der soziologischen Theorie, in Bezug auf die Eurokrise und schließlich mit Blick auf die Zukunft des Geldes einschließlich alternativer Geldmodelle.

Mit Beiträgen von Florian Brugger, Christoph Deutschmann, Heiner Ganßmann, Joseph Huber, Klaus Kraemer, Sebastian Nessel, Michael North, Christian Postberg, Jenny Preunkert, Manfred Prisching und Georg Vobruba.