Economy – Page 38 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Crisis in Academic Publishing

By Guest PostJune 18, 2012Economy, Media, Scienceacademic journals, academic publishing, academic spring, arxiv, berlin declaration, bethesda declaration, boycott, commercial publishers, crisis, diane sauve, digital publishing, dominique berube, elsevier, erudit, george lozano, harvard university, internet, jean claude guedon, joanie lavoie, latin america, marie lambert chan, open access, parallel system, personal websites, public funds, springer, taxpayers, université de montréal, vincent lariviere, yves gingras

“In almost every country in the world, research is supported by public funds. When researchers publish their results in academic journals, they do so for free. The results are also reviewed by peers for free. And journals often require researchers to give up their rights to these articles. Then, major publishers or learned societies sell their journals at exorbitant prices to libraries… which are also financed by public funds! It’s a vicious circle in which taxpayers pay for the production and access to researchers while publishers and societies make profits of 30-45% before taxes. It’s outrageous!” exclaimed Jean-Claude Guédon. This professor of comparative literature at the Université de Montréal is far from being the only one to protest. In recent months, more than 11,000 researchers worldwide have expressed their dissatisfaction through a petition calling for a boycott of Elsevier. This academic publishing giant earned profits of more than US $1.1 billion in 2011.

This movement, which many observers have called the “Academic Spring,” was born as a result of Elsevier’s support of the Research Work Act. This U.S. bill would ban open access to academic publications subsidized by the state. “It’s all anecdotal but at least has the benefit of reminding people about the importance of open access,” Guédon said. (more…)

How to Effectively Compare Auto Insurance Quotes

By Guest PostJune 16, 2012Economyautomobile, automobile insurance, car insurance, data, Economy, high volume traffic, home insurance, industry, insurance packages, jordan ruth, luxury, notion, plan, times of emergency, unemployment rate, website

As the economy of the world continues to fluctuate and the unemployment rates remain high even in the most stable first world economies, people everywhere are looking for ways to cut back their monthly budgets. One of the first things that is usually on the chopping block are the various insurance packages that people consider a luxury.

Although this is perhaps the least advisable way to lower monthly liabilities, many people think that it is their only option. They believe that prices on things like car insurance and home insurance are set in stone, and that they cannot be negotiated down. This notion is far from the truth. (more…)

How to Find the Right Business Credit Card

By Guest PostJune 14, 2012Economyairline industry, blogger, business, business travelers, cash flow, credit card, emergency situations, ethan grunt, financial discipline, liquidity, personal credit, reverse transactions, small businesses, volatile economy

Even in a volatile economy, business can still flourish with the right attitude and the proper financial discipline. Liquidity and cash flow is essential to the continued operations of a business in the short term and in the long-term. With many of the traditional financing options unavailable to small businesses, the only course of action for many business owners is to find the right business credit card.

The right business credit card can provide a business owner with liquidity in emergency situations. It can also be a lifesaver in that the business owner will not have to wait on any bureaucracy or paperwork in order to get the money that he or she needs to fix a short-term situation. (more…)

The Heart Rules the Head When We Make Financial Decisions

By Guest PostMay 27, 2012Culture, Economybarney dunn, decision, economic perspective, economic self interest, evidence, financial offer, financial sector, gut feelings, gut reaction, heart rate, lead researcher, pension schemes, psychological test, rational thought, ultimatum game, university of exeter

Our ‘gut feelings’ influence our decisions, overriding ‘rational’ thought, when we are faced with financial offers that we deem to be unfair, according to a new study. Even when we are set to benefit, our physical response can make us more likely to reject a financial proposition we consider to be unjust.

Conducted by a team from the University of Exeter, Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and University of Cambridge, the research is published in the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioural Neuroscience.

The research adds to growing evidence that our bodies can sometimes govern how we think and feel, rather than the other way round. It also reveals that those people who are more in tune with their bodies are more likely to be led by their ‘gut feelings’. (more…)

Criminology and the Global Financial Crisis

By Guest PostMay 24, 2012Economy, Politicscriminal behavior, criminology, financial dealings, global financial crisis, Ponzi Scheme, psychopathic tendencies

The first overt indications of the impending global financial crisis manifested themselves in August 2007, when BNP Paribas announced it was severing ties with three hedge funds specializing in mortgage debt for American real estate properties. The crisis was exacerbated by the immediate freeze on credit by banks to their customers – and to each other. The crisis came to a head in 2008 when the United States government refused to rescue investment firm Lehman Brothers from financial collapse. Subsequent actions by the American government and by foreign governments, as well as actions taken by commercial enterprises world wide, have been focused on repairing the financial damage to sovereign economies and to individuals thrown out of work – and out of their homes. (more…)

Income Inequality Leads to More U.S. Deaths, Study Finds

By Guest PostMay 13, 2012Economycensus bureau, chronic illness, cumulative odds, data structure, death rates, discrete time hazard model, gini coefficient, hui zheng, income inequality, jeff grabmeier, metric, mortality, statistical model, united states, us deaths

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study provides the best evidence to date that higher levels of income inequality in the United States actually lead to more deaths in the country over a period of years.

The findings suggest that income inequality at any one point doesn’t work instantaneously – it begins increasing mortality rates 5 years later, and its influence peaks after 7 years, before fading after 12 years.

“This finding is striking and it supports the argument that income inequality is a public health concern,” said Hui Zheng, author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University. (more…)

Many U.S. Families Are Underwater with Debts

By Guest PostMay 11, 2012Economydebt deflation theory, great recession, home mortgages, liquid assets, mortgage payments

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— As the country emerges from the Great Recession, a substantial number of U.S. families are underwater—and not just with their mortgages. (more…)

UA Studies Social Dynamics in Post-Katrina New Orleans

By Guest PostMay 9, 2012Economycultural fabric, ethnographic study, french quarter, hurricane katrina, krewes, liz warren pederson, market economy, melanie wallendorf, michelle weinberger, natural disaster, new orleans, post katrina, private party, social dynamics

Gifting during Mardi Gras in New Orleans fostered social cohesion, researchers found in a study.

In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, the focus is on physical repair and reestablishment of the market economy.

“But the moral economy – the relationships between people – also needs repair. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, residents’ sense of New Orleans as a connected community was damaged,” said Soldwedel Professor of Marketing Melanie Wallendorf of the University of Arizona Eller College of Management. (more…)

Category Archives: Economy