THE ECONOMICS OF TERRORISM

This paper treats terrorism as an economic phenomenon— as a way to understand it and to control it. It uses the tools of substitution, innovation, and cycles and concludes by noting the importance of intelligence and that the most valuable approach to defeating terrorism is that of denying resources to the terrorists rather than attempting to protect assets at risk. It notes that we are probably not any safer than before the implementation of the post–9/11 strategies and emphasizes that new initiatives must be undertaken to prevent terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction.     

Integration of disciplines for applied scheduling: a workshop report

The purposes of this paper are, first, to introduce several concepts and definitions related to Theory of Constraints design and management of unbalanced lines and, second, to illustrate the concepts of productive and protective capacity and inventory in a constrained line. Drum-buffer-rope is the Theory-of-Constraints based scheduling mechanism used to manage throughput at constraint work stations and flow at non-constraint work stations. A small simulation model is given to illustrate the importance of protective capacity and protective inventory at non-constraint stations. The line consists of several stations with the centre station being the constraint station. The capacity of (and inventory at) non-constraint stations is varied during the simulation. Line output increases as inventory at non-constraint stations increases. This result is contrary to traditional teaching about line design which says that line output is a function solely of the capacity of the slowest station.     

Models,methods and tools for interorganizational logistics operations

Enterprise modelling is today one of the key techniques to improve the performances of an enterprise. This paper first defines enterprise modelling techniques as compared to BPR techniques. Then the latest developments in GRAI methodology are presented. Finally, examples of industrial applications are presented for three methods: GIM (GRAI Integrated Method) for re-engineering, GIMSOFT for the choice of an ERP software package and ECOGRAI for the design and implementation of performance indicator system.     

Care Management and Information Provision: Towards a Reasoned Method of Assessing the Range and Extent of Problems and Needs in Child-Care Social Work

Correspondence to Professor Michael Sheppard, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA Summary The new managerialism associated with care management has, aswith other areas of health and welfare work, promoted ideasof efficient use of resources, quality assurance and the capacityto audit the work of welfare agencies. This approach placesa high premium on measurement, and emphazises a long-standingdesire to develop instruments the use of which would providethe basis for resource allocation. This paper presents a methodby which such data can be rigorously generated and analysed.It uses as its basis an instrument of established reliabilityand validity, designed to collect data on problems identifiedin clients in the child and family care social work group. Ituses a combination of principal component and cluster analysisto provide a clear picture of the nature and range of problemsand the grouping of cases with similar characteristics. Thesedata provide a quantitative basis upon which judgements aboutresource allocation can be made.     

Practice Validity, Reflexivity and Knowledge for Social Work

Correspondence to Professor Michael Sheppard, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, UK Summary In the last few years there have been significant developmentsin conceptualizing the role and nature of knowledge in socialwork. This has been based on a fundamental review of epistemological,ethical and theoretical facets of social work and its knowledgebase. Amongst some of the most significant developments havebeen the emergence of new concepts (for social work) such asprocess knowledge, reflexivity and a range of ideas relatingto hypotheses. In a recent article, Susan White (1997) soughtto critique some of my ideas on this matter. This article representsa response to her paper; one which uses the opportunity to drawout wider issues for a general theory of social work knowledge.In particular, it focuses on three key dimensions: the centralityof the concept of practice validity, the importance of a conceptof reflexivity which is not simply transferred from the disciplineof sociology but which has a social work-specific meaning, andthe dangers of an unrestrained relativism.     

ON THE INFORMATION CONTENT OF ASYMMETRIC FOMC POLICY STATEMENTS: EVIDENCE FROM A TAYLOR-RULE PERSPECTIVE

For over two decades, the FOMC has included in its policy decisions a statement of bias toward subsequent tightening or easing of policy. This article examines the predictive content of these statements in a Taylor-rule setting, finding that they convey useful information for forecasting changes in the federal funds rate target, even after controlling for policy responses to inflation and the output gap. Moreover, the evidence suggests that this asymmetry can be represented in terms of shifts to the parameters of the Taylor-rule equation, indicating a greater or lesser degree of responsiveness to information about inflation and output. (JEL E52 , E58 )     

The Mentally Handicapped and Their Professional Helpers

Summary This article discusses visits paid to fifty-three families witha severely mentally handicapped adult living at home, most ofwhom were also quite severely disabled physically. Varying reactionsto the services offered by general practitioners and mentalwelfare officers are described and those factors influencingthe generally poor opinion of mental welfare officers' servicesare discussed. The importance of the daily routine of the familiesis emphasized and the difficulty of the mental welfare servicein providing services or practical assistance which helps withthe daily routine. Finally it is suggested that the social servicesshould see a greater part of their work as helping and enablingthe community to do better, and with less strain, the caringit does already and that this means that the planning of servicesneeds to start from the locality in which the handicapped personlives