Initial References Research Articles

Studying the meaning of dreams: Accurate definition of the independent variable

Studying the meaning of dreams is difficult and subject to many methodological pitfalls. One of these is vagueness and inconstancy in defining dream content variables that are used as independent measures. This study evaluated the effect, upon accurate definition of the independent variable, of repeating the dream report and of using associative content as dream material. The importance of controlling these two sources of dream material was demonstrated: when the patient was allowed to repeat the dream and to report associative content, the number of initial references to death and separation variables nearly doubled in comparison to the standard single report of manifest content. Furthermore, there was minimal or no correlation of the number of these variables between manifest content and associative content, providing additional evidence for the unique contribution of associative content. This article also describes a new interview technique, the Staged Interview Technique, which provides a means to control, as well as measure, these potential distortions of the independent variable.

Inflation-Induced Distortions in Government and Private Saving Statistics

PROBABLY the single most important statistic measuring the impact of government fiscal policy on the economy is the magnitude of the government surplus or deficit. Justifiably or not, this single figure has taken on such importance that the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 established a process whereby the Congress is forced to consider overall receipts and outlays and commit itself under a binding resolution to these totals. Because of the importance of the budget figure, economists have continually sought to modify the raw data to better assess the impact of the government on aggregate demand. A major breakthrough was the concept of the FullEmployment Surplus, which was popularized by the Council of Economic Advisers in their 1962 report, although its roots go back to World War II. I This concept recognized that due to the endogeneity of expenditures and particularly tax receipts, the actual budget deficit or surplus, uncorrected for the level of output, gives a biased indication of the stance of fiscal policy. Although the concept of the full employment surplus was an improvement, dissatisfaction with the single summary statistic remained. Several economists have experimented with different weights on the components of taxes and spending, recognizing the differential spending propensities out of the different sources of income.2 This approach has not been successful due to the difficulty of reaching a consensus on a weighting scheme. Another problem with the full employment surplus was the failure to adjust for changing price levels or rates of inflation. Fixed nominal income tax brackets, specific taxes, and taxes on nominal interest and capital gains all suggest that the impact of the budget should allow for the behavior of price level variables.3 Although standardization to an exogenous level of potential output seems plausible (given growth or frictional unemployment), there is no normal price level associated with any given level of output. Furthermore, with the breakdown of the Phillip's Curve relationship in recent years, there appears to be no rate of inflation associated with a full employment level of output. This paper attempts to demonstrate that price level changes are important for measuring fiscal impact apart from any attempt to determine what price level behavior would exist at full employment. Since the deficit is equivalent to the amount of government bonds sold to the public,4 analysis of the impact of the supply of bonds is incomplete without allowing for changes in the real value of the debt caused by inflation or deflation. Real value accrual accounting, which is making considerable headway in private sector accounts, can also be employed in the public sector.5 A redefinition of the deficit along these lines can be integrated easily with the full employment surplus or any variant definition to yield a better measure of fiscal impact. Section II of this paper presents a brief theoretical discussion of real value accrual accounting. Section III Received for publication April 4, 1977. Revision accepted for publication April 28, 1978. * University of Pennsylvania. I would like to thank Milton Friedman, Ben McCallum, and the members of the University of Chicago's and University of Virginia's Money and Banking Workshops for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this work. Steve Thompson provided valuable research assistance and computer programming. 1 Initial references to the concept were Ruml and Sonne (1944), Committee for Economic Development (1947), and Friedman (1948). For an excellent discussion of the concept, see Okun and Teeters (1970). 2 In particular see Gramlich (1966), Musgrave (1964), Okun and Teeters (1970), and Hymans and Wernette (1970). Warren Smith in Okun and Teeters (1970) gives yet another impact statistic. 3 See Committee for Economic Development (1947), Gramlich (1968) and Okun and Teeters (1970) for attempts at price level standardization. 4 For simplicity it is assumed throughout this paper that the money supply is held constant. One can alternatively regard the profits (seigniorage) from steady-state monetary expansion as tax revenue, so that monetary financing is considered only as an inflationary tax on real cash balances. 5 For an excellent summary of purchasing-power accrual accounting as applied to the corporate sector, see Shoven and Bulow (1975, 1976).

John Gower's Reputation: Literary Allusions from the Early Fifteenth Century to the Time of 'Pericles'

In two centuries after Gower's death, poet's name is mentioned respectfully alongside that of Chaucer. However, had not nearly same popular appeal. There are three main reasons for this difference: wrote two extended works in French and in Latin; he concerned himself greatly with welfare of his country in his works; and he distributed copies of his works primarily to eminent men in church and state, thereby limiting their general dissemination. Initial references to are brief, and most are influenced by Chaucer’s allusion to moral Gower at end of Troilus and Criseyde. From there Gilroy-Scott traces Gower's influence through Scottish Chaucerians, Caxton, Skelton, Berthelet, Puttenham, Sir Philip Sidney, Robert Greene (at some length), and Shakespeare (in Pericles). is generally praised for his morality (although some severe voices object to lust of Venus) and commended for his compendious knowledge. Nevertheless, with passage of time his rhymes are increasingly seen as quaint and by time of Shakespeare he has become an antique figure endowed with a measure of rustic wisdom (47). Lacking popular appeal, was eventually assigned to the preserve of scholar and antiquarian (47). [CvD]