Neo-conservatism, social democracy and 'province building': the experience of Manitoba

La crise économique en cours a eu un impact majeur sur le climat idéologique ce qui normalement entraine des débats politiques au Canada. L'émergence du néo-conservatisme qui jouit considérablement de l'attention des médias et du respect largement répandu dans les cercles intellectuels et gouvernementaux est l'évidence la plus visible de ce fait.
La crise économique a aussi déclenché une crise de la démocratie sociale canadienne. Dûà la nature des sociétés libérales démocratiques, succès de la démocratie sociale dépend de l'habileté de la publication saillante sur les classes précisément à un moment où elles seront réprimées. Cette contrainte est amplifiée par le rôle des provinces créant des stratégies du développement afin de répondre au statut économique des provinces dans lesquelles la démocratie sociale s'est établie comme une option politique competitive. La province du Manitoba depuis de récentes années nous fournit un forum instructif où Ton voit l'expression de ces forces au travail dans la société canadienne.     

SEALED-BID VERSUS OPEN AUCTIONS: THE EVIDENCE

Data from U.S. Forest Service timber auctions are used to test Vickrey's original proposition that sealed-bid and open auctions yield equal revenue. Models for the high-bid in an auction are specified and estimated using three different procedures: ordinary least squares, two stage least squares, and maximum likelihood. The second two procedures include a second equation which accounts for the Forest Service's auction choice and therefore control for selection bias. These two procedures, which unlike ordinary least squares yield consistent estimators, imply a statistically and economically insignificant difference in high-bids between sealed-bid and open auctions.     

Letters and Visits to Long-stay Broadmoor Patients

Summary Long-stay psychiatric patients are at risk of being institutionalisedand abandoned by their relatives. Special Hospital patientsare particularly vulnerable due to the compounded features ofmental disorder and criminality, together with the long termnature of their detention. A survey of 132 long-stay Broadmoor patients showed that a largenumber were neglected by their families but that many were sociallyisolated before admission. There was a significant differencebetween the amount of contact enjoyed by male and female patients.It is suggested that isolated patients should be identifiedand encouraged to take a more active interest in the outsideworld, and relatives given more encouragement to maintain theirinterest.     

Image‐Based Empirical Importance Sampling: An Efficient Way of Estimating Intensities

Abstract. Very recently, it has been suggested in the biomedical literature to combine computerized image analysis with non‐uniform sampling to increase the efficiency of estimators of intensities of biological cell populations. We give this ingenious idea of empirical importance sampling a stochastic formulation, using point process theory and modern sampling theory. We develop statistical tools for assessing its efficiency and construct optimal model‐based estimators of intensities. Examples of applications of empirical importance sampling in microscopy are provided.     

A Bourgeois Geography of Domestic Bicycling: Using Public Space Responsibly in Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1890–1900

Abstract  Domestic bicycling emerged in the fin de siécle as a response to perceived violations of haute bourgeois public decorum and comportment. It promoted domestic, aestheticized and "womanly" bicycling and bicycling activities as alternatives to the anti-domestic bicycling behaviour demonstrated by reckless men and indecorous women. The domestic notion of responsible bicycling in public included the bicycle gymkhana, where the competition was not so much athletic as floral. Accordingly, Toronto's interest in the Niagara-on-the-Lake bicycle gymkhana demonstrates a progressive era impulse to substitute the chaotic with bourgeois constructions of the orderly.     

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIAN LEGISLATOR IN U.S. TRADE POLICY: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

In this historical analysis of U.S. trade policy, we apply the median voter model to explain legislative decision making. In this model, the level of tariff protection is expected to change with changes in the median legislator. We show that this simple model does a remarkable job if explaining trade policy until the mid-1930s, when it breaks down. We offer several possible explanations for the breakdown of this model, focusing particularly on the impact of domestic and international institutional changes that may have altered the role of the median legislator in trade policy formation.