Safe Harbour (Henceforth, SH) has been the main enabler of EU-US personal data transfers since Decision 2000/520/EC came into force. Initially, Safe Harbour was seen as an innovative solution to a difficult problem. However, the problems the agreement was created to solve were never remedied. Thus, it did not come as a surprise that the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter, CJEU), in Case C-362/14 (the Schrems ruling), deemed the agreement invalid. In the story "And he built a crooked house", the infamous 'crooked house', designed by Robert A. Heinlein's character Quintus Teal, mirrors SH's flawed design. It also exemplifies the fact that great innovations can fail if not thought through carefully. Although the Schrems ruling's scope does not go beyond Decision 2000/520/EC, it will force European Data Protection Agencies to look deeper into alternative data transfer mechanisms and possibly, consider transfers to jurisdictions other than the US. Furthermore, this decision highlights the fact that if any progress on this front is going to be made going forward regarding personal data transfers, any solution(s) would have to be made at a global level. This paper will provide an overview of the implications of the CJEU ruling on data transfers between the EU and the US going forward.
Empirical finance suggests that capital markets volatility has a negative relationship with economic growth, in the United States. However, the main focus has been on the equity market volatility dynamics and less on other equally important asset classes, given their significant role in the structure of capital markets. In this thesis, I examine the leading and lagging dynamics between money markets, government debt, corporate debt and equities volatilities, in the U.S., and a real GDP growth proxy, between January, 1963 and March, 2009. I also introduce the concept of aggregate capital markets portfolio volatility, which follows the assumptions of a mean-variance portfolio calculation, and test its interaction with growth. Moreover, it is analysed the degree of explaining power of volatilities to the GDP proxy in specific time periods and also in NBER recessions, slowdowns and expansions periods. The empirical results posit that asset classes and capital markets portfolio volatilities are essentially counter-cyclical of growth, on a contemporaneous basis. However, this interaction changes significantly across decades. Finally, in recessions and slowdown periods rising volatility leads the economic cycle, but in expansions its downtrend lags the cycle. ; Os estudos empíricos financeiros sugerem que a volatilidade dos mercados de capitais evidencia uma relação negativa com o crescimento económico, nos Estados Unidos. No entanto, o maior foco tem sido sobre a dinâmica da volatilidade do mercado de acções e menos noutras classes de activos, igualmente importantes, dada a sua relevância na estrutura do mercado de capitais. Nesta tese, examino as dinâmicas entre as volatilidades dos mercados monetários, das obrigações do tesouro, das obrigações de risco de crédito e das acções, nos E.U.A., e uma variável próxima do produto interno bruto real, entre Janeiro de 1963 e Março de 2009. Também introduzo o conceito de volatilidade de carteira agregada de mercados de capitais, que obedece aos pressupostos de cálculo de rendibilidade e risco de uma carteira de activos financeiros, e testo a respectiva interacção com o crescimento. Adicionalmente, é analisado o grau de poder explicativo de volatilidades para a variável próxima de crescimento, em periodos de tempo específicos e também em recessões decretadas pelo instituto NBER, em conjunturas de abrandamento e de expansão. Os resultados empíricos sugerem que as volatilidades das classes de activos e da carteira de mercados de capitais são essencialmente contra-cíclicas do crescimento, numa base contemporânea. No entanto, a intensidade desta relação varida de forma substancial entre as várias décadas. Finalmente, em periodos de recessão ou de abrandamento, uma tendência de subida da volatilidade lidera a evolução do cíclo económico, mas em periodos de expansão a respectiva tendência de descida segue o crescimento económico.
In spite of the theoretical and empirical diversity we can find some common features in the results of the investigations on racism in Portugal. Firstly, all investigations have in common the fact that they have made clear that the «myth» of the Portuguese «non racism», so widespread among the population is nothing but a myth – there is racism in Portugal. But this national myth became a sort of «self fulfilling prophecy» since, apparently, it has prevented the entry of racism into the political arena. Secondly, another common conclusion of the investigations on racism is that there is no connection between racism, nationalism, national identity issues and immigration. Immigrants are not seen as a threat to the national identity or to the Portuguese culture, and there are no political or common sense discourses on the theme of «invasion». On the other hand, all the studies are unanimous underlining that there really exists a «gypsy issue» in the contemporary Portugal. Indeed, even the investigations that have other groups as a subject of study, conclude that the main victims of racism are the small communities of Portuguese gypsies and that they are probably victims of a racism more intense than the one that affects other groups. This communication aims to do a first evaluation of the results of the research about racism in Portugal in order to guide both the future in-depth studies on the subject and the policies to fight these phenomena.
Lors des deux derniéres décennies, l'intensification de la mondialiste économique a conduit à une restructuration de l'industrie, à la relocalisation des sources de main-d'ouevre, aux changements des flux de capitaux et à de nouvelles formes de compétition internationale. ; De la fin de l´empire aux "banlieues noires": l´inversion des flux migratoires ; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia e Fundo Social Europeu através do IIIº Quadro Comunitário de Apoio
