A new value transfer system using alternative monies is emerging as a result of innovations such as prepaid cards, smart cards and the so-called electronic purse. This paper begins with a review of the changes in the value transfer system that are occurring in the economy. It then proceeds to...

This paper tests the prediction of the permanent income hypothesis (PIH) that news about future income induce a revision in consumption equal to the revision in permanent income. We use time-series data from 48 contiguous U.S. states to perform the test. The empirical results provide some...

Three data sets on world temperature are studied. Data on direct measurements of world temperature over the past century yield trend estimates of 0.45 degrees Celsius per century with rather wide confidence intervals of (0.15, 0.75). The data's behavior raises questions about whether the trend...