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Performance QA Testing
From PostgreSQL wiki
This page centralizes the efforts on performances QA testing: available hardware, available tools, continuous benchmarking effort...
The PostgreSQL Performance lab is being created to allow community members of the Open Source database PostgreSQL to have enterprise class hardware to test on.
The testing that will occur includes industry standard workloads such as OLTP, DSS and BI. Furthermore we will also use the hardware for other practical and customer oriented testing to improve scalability (processor utilization, i/o, load balancing, etc.) and managing large data sets (loading, backups, restores, replication, etc).
For donation inquiries, please contact Josh Berkus <josh @t postgresql.org> and Joshua Drake <jdrake @t postgresql.org>.
Mailing List
There is a mailing list available to discuss administrative aspects of community equipment. Please continue to use the -hackers and -performance mailing lists for performance and technical discussions.
QA platforms
- QA Platform hosted at Command Prompt - Portland, Oregon, USA
- QA Platform hosted at Open Wide (France)
- Former OSDL work: Database Test Suite and Web interface
- pgbench-tools from Greg Smith
- Bristlecone from Continuent
- Tsung load injector allows to define sessions (containing queries and thinktime, etc) and replay them with very high concurrency setup. Can use many loading nodes at a time, multi OS support (written in erlang, extensible in this language)
- Tsung Ploter plots several tsung runs onto the same graphs set, for easy comparing. Uses python and matplotlib.
- Tsung DBT2 Implementation (tsung module in erlang), WIP, to get published asap.
- look into sysbench - it has some issues with locking on postgresql but at least read-only it seems to work fine
- collecting all the various small samples and testcases posted over the last few years on -performance, -hackers & -bugs and put them into a test set
- consider doing tests using pgbench -M (simple|extended|prepared) to catch regressions in one of those modes
- resurrect Jan Wiecks tpc-w implementation available on pgfoundry
- add full text search benchmarking by using ftsbench from teodor
- XML benchmarking ?
- investigate QuickCheck and http://advogato.org/person/nconway/diary/23.html
- Implement the Star Schema Benchmark.
Some public datasets that could be used to get realistic data for various kind of benchmarks:
- Freebase - Various wiki style data on places/people/things - ~600MB compressed
- IMDB - the IMDB database - see also http://code.google.com/p/imbi/
- [1] - US federal government data collection see also sunlightlabs
- DBpedia - wikipedia data export project
- Dell DVDstore - Dells DVD Store context data
- eoddata - historic stock market data (requires reigstration - licence?)
- RITA - Airline On-Time Performance Data
- Openstreetmap - Openstreetmap source data


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(BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER) - A middle school in Michigan has banned students from wearing University of Tennessee inspired T-shirts honoring a classmate who died after a long battle with cancer.
Lakeview sixth-grader Caitlyn Jackson, 12, died late Saturday at a hospital in Ann Arbor after fighting leukemia for years. Many in the city of Lakeview had rallied around the girl over that time.
On Monday, at least a dozen students showed up in orange or blue shirts, many bearing Caitlyn's name. Blue was Caitlyn's favorite color and orange is the official color honoring leukemia victims (Caitlyn also was a University of Tennessee fan). Some students decorated shirts over the weekend, while others wore shirts they'd picked up at the many fundraisers and other benefits they'd worked in Caitlyn's honor.
But, as students arrived in the memorial shirts Monday morning, school administrators asked them to change the shirts, turn them inside out, or put duct tape over Caitlyn's name.
Melinda Jackson, Caitlyn's mother, said she heard about the t-shirt ban on her way home from Ann Arbor.
"That hurt me to the point that I didn't think I could be hurt anymore," Melinda Jackson said Monday evening.
Jackson is a Lakeview employee, working as a childcare provider.
Students and parents expressed outrage at the district's decision to block the memorial effort.
After Monday's uproar, the district decided late in the day that students would be allowed to wear the shirts Tuesday.
Lakeview administrators made the decision Sunday night that they wouldn't allow T-shirts, but did not notify parents, said Amy Jones, the Lakeview finance director acting as district chief while Superintendent Dave Peterson is out of the country exploring a possible student exchange program.
Jones said the district's decision was based on its "crisis management plan," which she said is "based on a lot of research and expert opinion." The plan specifically bars "permanent memorials" on the research-backed belief that memorials can remind students of their grief and, for some, can make it worse.
Chuck Crider, a retired school administrator helping the district out while Peterson and others are out of the country, said the T-shirts were interpreted as a more permanent memorial.
"The intent was designed to protect the interests of all children," Jones said.
She said students were allowed to make cards for the family, and students wearing blue and orange shirts without Caitlyn's name on them were not asked to change them. Jones said those actions were allowed because students could participate "in private and by choice," while students couldn't help but see the writing on other shirts in class.
Jones said the situation was handled "compassionately." She said, for example, that students who were asked to turn their shirts inside-out were told to keep Caitlyn's name "close to their heart."
"They said that they really liked the shirts, but that it just triggered too much emotion for someone who was really close to her," said 13-year-old student Alyssa Jaynes.
District officials acknowleged Monday their good intentions backfired.
"Certainly the intent of our decision was good," Jones said. "Probably the ramifications of our decision caused more disruption than if we had let kids wear the shirts in the first place."
Officials met with Caitlyn's family Monday afternoon and promised to review the policies that led to the ban. Jones said future tributes would likely still be handled on a case-by-case basis. She said research is clear, for example, that images of suicide victims in schools can do more harm to students than good, and would probably not be allowed.
Crider said one of the best pieces of advice the district received was to reach out to the family of the deceased and ask them what they wanted from the school community.
And Jones, conceding that "hindsight is 20-20," said the district should better communicate expectations with parents ahead of time.
On Facebook, some parents were calling for the ouster of those who made the decision to ban the shirts.
While some students said they were sent to the office and at least one girl said she received a lunchtime detention over the shirt, district officials said no administrative discipline was issued.
But students said the damage had already been done.
"It made feel really bad that I couldn't express myself for Caitlyn," said 11-year-old Jaidyn Bellinger, the student who said she received a lunchtime detention over her shirt. "I wanted to let people know how bad it feels to lose someone like that."

subset: commoncrawl


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Photo Courtesy of thefoundblog.com by Studio EMP
I'm in love. I'm absolutely hundred and twenty percent in love with this idea. I've already gotten approval from my man to go ahead and add it to our decorations. It wasn't very hard to get his vote as he loves dried fruit trail mix. I'll admit, I wandered onto the Found Vintage Rentals website because I love antique reclaimed furniture but I quickly tripped, stumbled and fell in love. I want to pack up my things, run to the store and start picking out trail mix items now!
Okay, anyways, here's what I'm thinking… This idea works great with the right kind of atmosphere. Outdoors, garden wedding but not too hot (M&M's melt!). Using mixed selection of jars and vases you can create your own clustered look. I am toying with the idea of using apothecary jars simply for the fact sweets can attract ants and flies. Centerpiece vases with stands attached to them work great for achieving the vintage look. Or try going with small metal silver favor buckets to make it more rustic and unique.
Complete the look with aluminum candy buffet scoops for your guests to pick out which items they like best. This trail mix buffet is very much reminiscent of a frozen yogurt bar only without the cold melting mess to clean up. But hey, you could throw in some tubs of vanilla fro-yo and you'd have a the perfect outdoor dessert bar.
All you need to complete your trail mix bags are cute sweet candy paper bags. If you're planning on offering your guests larger pieces then give them bigger cartons to put their goodies in. These novelty popcorn cartons do the trick and add to the chic-reclaimed vibe. Lastly, plop some buffet signs so your guests know which type of chocolate, nuts and fruit are which.
All of this is just absolutely amazing put together on reclaimed furniture. A few of my favorite selections are the Eastlake Blue Dressor and Justice Teal Metal Shelves. Both of these options would be awesome combined with jars and vases to create a candy, cupcake or dessert buffet of any kind. If you have any questions, I'm sure you could just ask Jeni at Found as she is a sweetheart!


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This job posting is no longer available on Indeed.
Find similar jobs:Structural Engineer jobs
- Stantec Consulting jobs
Our Buildings Engineering and Transportation groups specialize in the design and development processes unique to buildings and bridges. Working closely with our clients, our dedicated professionals help to establish and understand the specific needs of a range of structural projects. This is where great ideas and rewarding careers are built. For both public and private sector clients, we provide unique plan checking capabilities as well as energy engineering and performance engineering services, covering each of the major engineering disciplines - structural, mechanical and electrical. Focused on providing the most cost-effective solutions to engineering challenges, we are involved in a diverse range of projects from the initial planning stages to design, construction, and commissioning. Our structure cultivates career growth and provides opportunities as unique as you are.
An opportunity exists in Stantec's Red Deer office for a Practice Lead in Structural engineering. This office has over 175 people supporting our clients locally and across Canada. Imagine the possibilities... a future of opportunity, challenge, growth and exciting change, do you aspire to be your best in a fast-paced, fun and invigorating team environment. Responsibilities include:
Preparing proposals and work plans.Planning and designing concrete, steel and wood structures.Preparation of contract specifications.Contract administration.Supervision of junior engineering and technical staff.
Qualifications:Bachelor degree in Civil or Structural Engineering.P.Eng. or eligibility for registration with APEGA.Minimum of 10-12 years experience including:Structural design of steel and pre-stressed concrete structures,Design in concrete, steel, masonry and timber,Structural assessment of buildings, bridges and inventories,Loading analysis,Condition assessment,Strategic planning.Experience with AutoCAD and MicroStation would be an asset.If balancing a rewarding career with a healthy lifestyle outside of the workplace is important to you, consider Red Deer, Alberta. Red Deer offers the same fist-class amenities that you would expect from a large city in a community that maintains the spirit, values, and warmth of a small town. Whether it is our vibrant arts and entertainment scene, great shopping, abundant space, and attractions, the rewards for you and your family are here. Build your career AND enjoy your life. Red Deer.


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American Express Co's Buy Recommendation Supported
TheStreet) -- American Express (NYSE: AXP) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A-. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link. NEW YORK (
--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff. STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12-months. Learn more.
- EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Jim Cramer's Protégé, Dave Peltier, only buys Stocks Under $10 that he thinks could potentially double. See what he's trading today with a 14-day FREE pass.
- AXP's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 4.3%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
- Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 52.63% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. We feel that the stock's sharp appreciation over the last year has driven it to a price level which is now somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry. The other strengths this company shows, however, justify the higher price levels.
- AMERICAN EXPRESS CO has improved earnings per share by 14.7% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, AMERICAN EXPRESS CO reported lower earnings of $3.87 versus $4.08 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.93 versus $3.87).
- The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the Consumer Finance industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income increased by 9.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $1,250.00 million to $1,366.00 million.
- The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. When compared to other companies in the Consumer Finance industry and the overall market, AMERICAN EXPRESS CO's return on equity exceeds that of the industry average and significantly exceeds that of the S&P 500.
--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff. STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12-months. Learn more.
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- Product Details
- $8.95 Flat Rate Shipping
- Contents
Our Bear Claws have a shelf life of approximately 8 weeks. We do not use preservatives and find that they are best when enjoyed as fresh as possible. Please choose a shipping date that will have your candies arrive as close to the date that they will be enjoyed. We are available if you would like assistance in selecting a ship date
***Bulk Cases are already discounted so additional offers and promotions will not apply.
Flat Rate Shipping!
UPS Ground Shipping is just $8.95 per address!
Express and Ground Services
Do Not Include Weekends or Holidays.All packages are shipped from River Street Sweets in Savannah, Georgia.If you would like your order to be delivered via Express, we use UPS.The Express Delivery Charges are paid in addition to the standard charges and are PER ITEM that the upgrade is applied to.
2 Business Day Service - Add $11.95 per item
Warm Weather / Summer Shipments
Special shipping and handling will be required for all chocolate shipments May through September. Shipping is restricted to Monday - Thursday to avoid weekend transit. Please call 1-800-793-3876or view our Warm Weather Shipping Policy page for more information.
Ground Time-in-Transit Map
Ground Shipping Times are estimates, not guaranteed, All packages are shipped from River Street Sweets in Savannah, Georgia. The number of days indicated are "business days" (Monday - Friday).


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Who is Plum Warner?
Edit: Ah, Pelham Warner was also called Plum it seems - didn't know..
Who is Plum Warner?
Edit: Ah, Pelham Warner was also called Plum it seems - didn't know..
Last edited by weldone; 20-01-2013 at 11:36 PM.
"I want to raise my hand and say one thing. Those who complain about my love for the game or commitment to the game are clueless. These are the only 2 areas where I give myself 100 out of 100."
- Sachin Tendulkar, as told in an interview published in Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika after his 100th International century (translated by weldone)
And smalishah's avatar is the most classy one by far Jan certainly echoes the sentiments of CW
Yeah we don't crap in the first world; most of us would actually have no idea what that was emanating from Ajmal's backside. Why isn't it roses and rainbows like what happens here? PEWS's retort to Ganeshran on Daemon's picture depicting Ajmal's excreta
This is much tougher than the previous round.
So many crappy players on show, but I don't want to spend a relative fortune on a merely 'palatable' player just to avoid a non-entity. No offence to Aubrey. Getting the bid about right will be really tricky.
Last edited by watson; 21-01-2013 at 12:52 AM.
1. Sachin Tendulkar 2. Adam Gilchrist 3. Brian Lara 4. Viv Richards 5. AB De Villiers 6. Michael Bevan 7.Kapil Dev 8. Richard Hadlee 9. Wasim Akram 10. Muttiah Muralitharan 11. Joel Garner
For some reason I thought i had much more time. Don't know what I was thinking.
Going to be quite a challenge to make any sort of reasonable team now. My budget is shot
SENT (with trepidation)
Half of budget even for Bradman is just too much.
Aus. XI
Simpson^ | Hayden | Bradman | Chappell^ | Ponting | Border* | Gilchrist+ | Davidson3 | Warne4^ | Lillee1 | McGrath2
Greenidge | Hunte | Richards^ | Headley* | Lara^ | Sobers5^ | Walcott+ | Marshall1 | Ambrose2 | Holding3 | Garner4
Richards^ | Smith*^ | Amla | Pollock | Kallis5^ | Nourse | Cameron+ | Procter3 | Steyn1 | Tayfield4 | Donald2
Eng. XI
Hobbs | Hutton*^ | Hammond^ | Compton | Barrington | Botham5^ | Knott | Trueman1 | Laker4 | Larwood2 | Barnes3
Money saving round. Don't think anyone will end up with mostly good selections. Playing the odds.
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This is a review of the books The Sword and the Flame: The Forging and The Purging, by CP Bialois. I know I don't normally review more than one book at a time but it seemed pointless to do only one here when they are very much a set. They are set in a fantasy world of magic, elves, dwarves, halflings and gods, and follow the adventures of a group of travellers seeking their freedom.
The series starts with the halfling Janessa and her human friend Viola, who is a Mage in training. In this world, halflings are known pickpockets and are treated with mistrust, so to have a friendship like this is rare. They venture outside their city walls to visit a travelling company of merchants & entertainers, where they encounter Mern, a Mage with ulterior motives who befriends Viola; Berek, a human with unexplained super-sensory abilities; and Galin, a dwarf who has forsaken his kind who live underground to instead live the life of a travelling salesman.
Normally I don't like to comment much on editorial errors in self published books. The fact is, if you're picky enough then you will find mistakes in even traditionally published works, and usually it's not of any magnitude that matters. These books, however, could really have done with a good proof-read. Run-on sentences are commonplace, and the author seems to have trouble with homonyms – for example, a village was raised (rather than razed) to the ground, a character was moving his personal affects (rather than effects) on a cart, and there were references to a journey to another plain (rather than plane). Done occasionally, this isn't a big deal, but it happened often enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story.
Once I got past that, though, it was an entertaining, if not high quality, read. The story of Berek's escape from his slave-holder was well done, and the growing bond between Galin and Janessa was a pleasure to behold. Viola's journey from trainee to mage was also enjoyable. Parts confused me at first, like the cleric Gilliam's mistrust of magic-users when he uses spells himself, but when that was explained later it made enough sense for me to gloss over the initial confusion. I also felt that some parts of it were rushed a little: Fleir's addition to the company was one example, and the battle in Solava (especially its conclusion) was another. It was like the author had too many subplots and events that he wanted to fit into the story, and I felt that if some of these had been fleshed out a little more it would have made a better read.
Finally, I thought the title was a little misleading. I'm the first to admit that titles are really difficult to get right, and I'm not willing to offer an alternative, but I thought that they implied that there would be a special sword that was forged and used to win the war. Instead, what is forged is the strength of the unlikely company, and what is purged is selfishness and greed. It's still relevant, but a lot more obscurely so than I had expected.
Overall, if you are looking for a decent fantasy read that tells an entertaining story, The Sword and the Flame is worth picking up. If, however, you are distracted by editorial errors and flimsy segues, then perhaps it might be worth waiting until a new edition is released. An entertaining series, yes, but not without it flaws.
The Sword and the Flame: The Forging and The Sword and the Flame: The Purging, by CP Bialois
Published by Amazon Digital Services
442 and 397 pages (paperback)
Available from Amazon.com as paperback and ebooks


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The Power of Independent Thinking
Developing the Developed World
Entrepreneurship, Liberty, and the Future
Recorded: Tuesday, January 27, 2015
In his #1 New York Times bestselling book, Zero to One, Peter Thiel presents his often contrarian ideas about competition, progress, technology, and finding value in unexpected placesto build a future that we have yet to dream, but that may someday become reality. In Developing the Developed World he brings these ideas to life, including his insights on how to create true innovations in the world of atomsnot just digits and bitsand how to foster a peaceful, prosperous and freer future marked by globalization in a world of limited resources.
Peter Thiel is Founder and Managing Member of Clarium Capital Management, LLC; Co-Founder of Paypal, Palantir Technologies, Mithril Capital Management, and Valar Ventures; Managing Partner of Founders Fund; and past President of Thiel Capital International and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Confinity, Inc. He has been a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, and he is the author of the books:
The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and Political Intolerance on Campus (with David O. Sacks)
He co-founded PayPal in 1998, led it as CEO, and in 2002 sold it to eBay and founded Clarium Capital Management, a global macro fund. In 2004 he made the first outside investment in Facebook, where he serves as a director. The same year he co-founded Palantir Technologies, a software company that harnesses computers to empower human analysts in fields like security and global finance. He has provided early funding for LinkedIn, Yelp, RoboteX, Spotify, and dozens of successful technology startups. He is a co-founder and partner at Founders Fund, a venture capital firm that has funded companies like SpaceX and Airbnb. And in 2012 he co-founded Mithril Capital Management, an international technology investment fund.
Mr. Thiel started the Thiel Fellowship, which ignited a national debate by encouraging young people to put learning before schooling, and he leads the Thiel Foundation, which works to advance technological progress and long-term thinking about the future. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, where he received an A.B. in philosophy and a J.D. from the Stanford University School of Law. He further co-produced the film, "Thank You for Smoking," he was rated a master by the United States Chess Federation, and he received the Innovation Award from "The Economist" in 2010.
Experts: Peter A. ThielType: Independent Institute EventIssues: Antitrust, Competition, and Monopoly, Bureaucracy and Government, Business, Civil Liberties/ Human Rights, Corporate Welfare, Culture/ Society, Economic History and Development (U.S.), Energy, Free Market Economics, Freedom, Government Power, Health Care, History (U.S), Labor and Employment, Law Enforcement, Political Ideology and Philosophy, Politics, Privatization, Public Health/ Consumer Protection, Regulation and Deregulation, Science, Technology, Trade
Peter A. Thiel | Courage Is In Far Shorter Supply Than Genius
Recorded: Tuesday, January 27, 2015
In this clip from "Peter Thiel | Developing the Developed World: Entrepreneurship, Liberty, and the Future," Peter Thiel describes how courage to stand out from the crowd is in far shorter supply than great minds.
Experts: Peter A. ThielType: Independent Institute EventIssues: Bureaucracy and Government, Business, Culture/ Society, Free Market Economics, Freedom, Government Power, Government Waste/Pork, Political Ideology and Philosophy, Politics, Privacy, Privatization, Regulation and Deregulation
Ron Paul: All You Have To Do Is Scare Them
Recorded: Wednesday, April 9, 2014
April 9, 2014
In this clip from "Ron Paul: Liberty Defined," Dr. Paul talks about how governments instill fear in populations through propaganda.
Experts: Ron PaulType: Independent Institute EventIssues: Bureaucracy and Government, Civil Liberties/ Human Rights, Constitutional Law, Democracy, Freedom, Government Power, Government Secrecy, Politics, Terrorism and National Crises
Full Video of The Independent Institutes 25th Anniversary Gala for Liberty
Recorded: Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Part 1 |
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Full Video of The Independent Institutes 2011 25th Anniversary Gala for Liberty held November 15, 2011.
Part 1: Introductory Remarks and Tribute to Robert Higgs
Part 2: Tribute to Mario Vargas Llosa
Part 3: History of The Independent Institute and Fund for the Future
Part 4: Tribute to Lech Walesa
Part 5: Special Tributes, Sponsors, and Credits
Experts: Leszek Balcerowicz, Price V. Fishback, Robert Higgs, Ron Paul, Jorge Quiroga, David J. Theroux, Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu, Mario Vargas Llosa, Lech Wałęsa, Yuri Yarim-AgaevType: Independent Institute EventIssues: Bureaucracy and Government, Business, Civil Liberties/ Human Rights, Constitutional Law, Defense and Foreign Policy, Democracy, Economic History and Development (U.S.), Economic Policy, Government Power, History (International), History (U.S), Latin America, Nationalism, Political Ideology and Philosophy, Politics, Privatization, Property Rights, Terrorism and National Crises
What President Obama Should Learn from His Predecessors
Recorded: Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Part 1 |
Part 2
Part 3
Experts: Ivan Eland, Andrew R. RuttenType: Independent Institute EventIssues: History (U.S), Politics
Why Are Politicians Always Trying to Scare Us?
Recorded: Thursday, December 6, 2007
Part 1 |
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Experts: Robert Higgs, David J. TherouxType: Independent Institute EventIssues: Civil Liberties/ Human Rights, Government Power, Politics, Terrorism and National Crises
Is Walmart Good or Bad for America? A Debate
Recorded: Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Richard K. Vedder and Ken Jacobs debate whether the rise of Walmart and similar big box retailers have been beneficial or harmful to the US economy.
Richard K. Vedder is Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics and Faculty Associate, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University. Professor Vedder is co-author (with Lowell Gallaway) of The Independent Institute book, "Out of Work," the recipient of both the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award and Mencken Award Finalist for Best Book, and the Institute monograph, Can Teachers Own Their Own Schools?
Ken Jacobs is Chair of the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center, and a former member of the Mayors Universal Health Care Council in San Francisco. He is the Co-author od Declining Job-Based Health Coverage for Working Families in California and the United States, and Hidden Costs of Wal-Mart Jobs.
David J. Theroux is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Independent Institute and Publisher of The Independent Review.
Type: Independent Institute EventIssues: Antitrust, Competition, and Monopoly, Business, Culture/ Society, Economic History and Development (U.S.), Economists, Free Market Economics, History (U.S), Labor and Employment, Politics, Public Health/ Consumer Protection
Against Leviathan: Government Power and a Free Society
Recorded: Wednesday, September 29, 2004
September 29, 2004
Oakland, CA
What is fundamentally wrong with government today? Since 2001, despite low inflation, federal spending has increased by a massive 28.8%, creating the largest deficits in U.S. history and the highest rate of government growth since the "guns-and-butter" presidencies of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson. At the same time, federal agencies have been given new powers to secretly search anyone's property and intercept phone, Internet, and other communications, as well as inspect health and financial records. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, economist and historian Robert Higgs alone predicted this explosion of government power, as politicians have again taken full advantage of a frightened American public.
At this special Independent Policy Forum based on his new book, Against Leviathan, Dr. Higgs will present an unflinchingly critical analysis of the abuse of government power, including pork, the welfare state, protectionism, trampling on the Bill of Rights, and governmental responses to a continuing stream of "crises," including foreign wars, both hot and cold. Dr. Higgs combines an economist's analytical scrutiny, an historian's respect for the facts, and a refusal to accept the standard excuses and cruelties of government officialdom.
Robert Higgs
Senior Fellow in Political Economy for The Independent Institute and Editor of the Institute's quarterly journal, The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy
Author, Against Leviathan: Government Power and a Free Society
David J. Theroux
Founder and President, The Independent Institute
Experts: Robert HiggsType: Independent Institute EventIssues: Bureaucracy and Government, Civil Liberties/ Human Rights, Democracy, History (U.S), Political Ideology and Philosophy, Politics


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Energy quality
Energy quality refers to differences in the ability of a unit of energy to produce goods and services for people. The usefulness of an energy system is determined by a complex combination of physical, technical, economic, and social attributes. These include gravimetric and volumetric energy density, power density, emissions, cost and efficiency of conversion, financial risk, amenability to storage, risk to human health, and ease of transport. No single metric of an energy system captures all such attributes. It stands to reason, therefore, that a comprehensive and balanced comparison of energy technologies should employ a range of metrics, with their strengths and weaknesses duly noted.
Aggregation by Heat Content
The most common way to measure energy is by heat content because all forms of energy can be completely converted to heat (Btus, joules, calories, kilowatt-hours). The aggregation of different energy types is accomplished by multiplying their mass or volume used times their heat content per unit mass or volume (see Table 1), and then summing them. Equation (2) illustrates this approach:
- <math>E_t = sum_{i=1}^N E_{it}</math> -- (2) </dd>
where E represents the enthalpy or thermal equivalent of fuel i (N types) at time t. For example, one gallon of motor gasoline contains 130.8 million joules and one cubic feet of natural gas contains 1.1 million joules. Thus one could add add the two types and quantities together and represent them as 131.9 joules. The world uses about 475x1018 joules energy each year. That quantity is the aggregation of dozens of different energy types added together by the "themal equivalent approach."
The advantage of the thermal equivalent approach is that it uses a simple and well-defined accounting system based on the conservation of energy, and the fact that thermal equivalents are easily and uncontroversially measured. This approach underlies most methods of energy aggregation in economics and ecology, such as trophic dynamics, national energy accounting, energy input-output modeling in economies and ecosystems, most analyses of the energy/GDP relationship, and energy efficiency, and most net energy analyses.
Despite its widespread use, aggregating different energy types by their heat units embodies a serious flaw: it implicitly assumes that "all joules are equal," i.e., that people value a heat unit of electricity the same as a heat unit of coal. Of course, this is not the case. Electricity performs important tasks that coal cannot, or it performs them more effectively. People are willing to pay 15 times more for a heat unit of electricity (in the U.S.) because of these differences. If all joules were equal, we wouldn't generate electricity from gas or coal in the first place given that two-thirds of the joules in the fuel input are lost as waste heat.
Taking energy quality into account in energy aggregation requires more advanced forms of aggregation. Some of these forms are based on concepts developed in the energy analysis literature such as exergy or emergy analysis. These methods take the following form:
- <math>E_t^* = sum_{i=1}^N lambda_{it} E_{it}</math> -- (3) </dd>
where the ?'s are quality factors that may vary among fuels and over time for individual fuels.
Economic Approaches to Energy Quality
From an economic perspective, the value of a heat equivalent of fuel is determined by its price. Price-taking consumers and producers set marginal utilities and products of the different forms of energy equal to their market prices. These prices and their marginal productivities and utilities are set simultaneously in general equilibrium. The value marginal product of a fuel in production is the marginal increase in the quantity of a good or service produced by the use of one additional heat unit of fuel multiplied by the price of that good or service. We can also think of the value of the marginal product of a fuel in household production.
The marginal product of a fuel is determined in part by a complex set of attributes unique to each fuel such as physical scarcity, capacity to do useful work, energy density, cleanliness, amenability to storage, safety, flexibility of use, cost of conversion, and so on. But the marginal product is not uniquely fixed by these attributes. Rather, the energy vector's marginal product varies according to the activities in which it is used, how much and what form of capital, labor, and materials it is used in conjunction with, and how much energy is used in each application. As the price rises due to changes on the supply-side, users can reduce their use of that form of energy in each activity, increase the amount and sophistication of capital or labor used in conjunction with the fuel, or stop using that form of energy for lower value activities. All these actions raise the marginal productivity of the fuel. When capital stocks have to be adjusted, this response may be somewhat sluggish and lead to lags between price changes and changes in the value marginal product.
The heat equivalent of a fuel is just one of the attributes of the fuel and ignores the context in which the fuel is used, and thus cannot explain, for example, why a thermal equivalent of oil is more useful in many tasks than is a heat equivalent of coal. In addition to attributes of the fuel, marginal product also depends on the state of technology, the level of other inputs, and other factors. According to neoclassical theory, the price per heat equivalent of fuel should equal its value marginal product, and, therefore, represent its economic usefulness. In theory, the market price of a fuel reflects the myriad factors that determine the economic usefulness of a fuel from the perspective of the end-user.
Consistent with this perspective, the price per heat equivalent of fuel varies substantially among fuel types (see Table 1). The different prices demonstrate that end-users are concerned with attributes other than heat content. As Ernst Berndt observed, because of the variation in attributes among energy types, the various fuels and electricity are less than perfectly substitutable - either in production or consumption. For example, from the point of view of the end-user, a Btu of coal is not perfectly substitutable with a Btu of electricity; since the electricity is cleaner, lighter, and of higher quality, most end-users are willing to pay a premium price per Btu of electricity. However, coal and electricity are substitutable to a limited extent, since if the premium price for electricity were too high, a substantial number of industrial users might switch to coal. Alternatively, if only heat content mattered and if all energy types were then perfectly substitutable, the market would tend to price all energy types at the same price per Btu.
Do market signals (i.e. prices) accurately reflect the marginal product of inputs? Robert Kaufmann (1994) investigates this question in an empirical analysis of the relation between relative marginal product and price in US energy markets. To do so, he estimates a reduced form of a production function that represents how the fraction of total energy use from coal, oil, natural gas, and primary electricity (electricity from hydro and nuclear sources) affects the quantity of energy required to produce a given level of output (see Case Study 3, below). The partial derivatives of the production function with respect to each of the fuels gives the marginal product of individual fuels, in which marginal product is defined as the change in economic output given a change in the use of a heat unit of an individual fuel. The equations are used to calculate the marginal product for each fuel type for each year between 1955 and 1992. The time series for marginal products are compared among fuels, and these ratios are related to relative prices using a partial adjustment model. The results indicate that there is a long run relation between relative marginal product and relative price, and that several years of adjustment are needed to bring this relation into equilibrium. The results are summarized in Table 2, and suggest that over time, prices do reflect the marginal product - and hence the economic usefulness - of fuels.
Other analysts calculate the average product of fuels, which is a close proxy for marginal products. Adams and Miovic (1968) estimate a pooled annual cross-sectional regression model of industrial output as a function of fuel use in seven European economies from 1950 to 1962. Their results indicate that petroleum is 1.6 to 2.7 times more productive than coal in producing industrial output. Electricity is 2.7 to 14.3 times more productive than coal. Using a regression model of the energy/GDP ratio in the U.S., Cutler J. Cleveland et al. (1984) find that the quality factors of petroleum and electricity relative to coal were 1.9 and 18.3, respectively.
Price-Based Aggregation
If marginal product is related to its price, energy quality can be measured by using the price of fuels to weight their heat equivalents. The simplest approach defines the weighting factor (?'s) in Equation (3) as:
where Pit is the price per Btu of fuel. In this case, the price of each fuel is measured relative to the price of fuel type 1. Turvey and Nobay (1965) use Equation (4) to aggregate fuel use in the UK.
The quality index in Equation (5) embodies a restrictive assumption – that fuels are perfect substitutes – and the index is sensitive to the choice of numeraire. Because fuels are not perfect substitutes, a rise in the price of one fuel relative to the price of output will not be matched by equal changes in the prices of the other fuels relative to the price of output. For example, the rise in oil prices in 1979-80 would cause an aggregate energy index which uses oil as the numeraire to fall dramatically. An index that uses coal as the numeraire would show a large fall in 1968-74, one not indicated by the oil-based index.
To avoid dependence on a numeraire, Berndt (1978, 1990) proposed a discrete approximation to the Divisia index to aggregate energy. The formula for constructing the discrete Divisia index E* is:
where P are the prices of the n fuels, and E are the quantities of BTU for each fuel in final energy use. Note that prices enter the Divisia index via cost or expenditure shares. The Divisia index permits variable substitution among material types without imposing a priori restrictions on the degree of substitution. Diewert (1976) shows that this index is an exact index number representation of the linear homogeneous translog production function where fuels are homothetically weakly separable as a group from the other factors of production. With reference to Equation (4), f() = g() = ?ln(), while ?it is given by the average cost share over the two periods of the differencing operation.
Aggregation using price has its shortcomings. Lau (1982) suggests that prices provide a reasonable method of aggregation if the aggregate cost function is homothetically separable in the raw material input prices. This means that the elasticity of substitution between different fuels is not a function of the quantities of non-fuel inputs used. This may be an unrealistic assumption in some cases. Also, the Divisia index assumes that the substitution possibilities among all fuel types and output are equal.
Another limit on the use of prices is that they generally do not exist for wastes. Thus, an economic index of waste flows is impossible to construct.
It is well-known that energy prices do not reflect their full social cost due to a number of market imperfections. This is particularly true for the environmental impact caused by their extraction and use. These problems lead some to doubt the usefulness of price as the basis for any indicator of sustainability. But with or without externalities, prices should reflect productivities. Internalizing externalities will shift energy use, which, in turn, will then change marginal products.
Moreover, prices produce a ranking of fuels (see Table 1) that is consistent with our intuition and with previous empirical research. One can conclude that government policy, regulations, cartels and externalities explain some of the price differentials among fuels, but certainly not the substantial ranges that exist. More fundamentally, price differentials are explained by differences in attributes such as physical scarcity, capacity to do useful work, energy density, cleanliness, amenability to storage, safety, flexibility of use, cost of conversion, and so on. Wipe away the market imperfections and the price per BTU of different energies would vary due to the different combinations of attributes that determine their economic usefulness. The different prices per BTU indicate that users are interested in attributes other than heat content.
Alternative Approaches to Energy Aggregation
While we argue that the more advanced economic indexing methods, such as Divisia aggregation, are the most appropriate way to aggregate energy use for investigating its role in the economy, the ecological economics literature proposes other methods of aggregation. We briefly review two of these methods in this section and assess limits on their ability to aggregate energy use.
Ayres et al. (1996) and Ayres and Martiñas (1995) propose a system of aggregating energy and materials based on exergy. Exergy measures the useful work obtainable from an energy source or material, and is based on the chemical energy embodied in the material or energy based on its physical organization relative to a reference state. Thus, exergy measures the degree to which a material is organized relative a random assemblage of material found at an average concentration in the crust, ocean or atmosphere. The higher the degree of concentration, the higher the exergy content. The physical units for exergy are the same as for energy or heat, namely kilocalories, joules, BTUs, etc. For fossil fuels, exergy is nearly equivalent to the standard heat of combustion; for other materials specific calculations are needed that depend on the details of the assumed conversion process.
Ayres argues that exergy has a number of useful attributes for aggregating heterogeneous energy and materials. Exergy is a property of all energy and materials and in principle can be calculated from information in handbooks of chemistry and physics (e.g., Linde 1991-1992) and secondary studies (e.g., Szargut et al. 1988). Thus, exergy can be used to measure and aggregate natural resource inputs as well as wastes. For these reasons, Ayres argues that exergy forms the basis for a comprehensive resource accounting framework that could "provide policy-makers with a valuable set of indicators." One such indicator is a general measure of "technical efficiency," the efficiency with which "raw" exergy from animals or inanimate source is converted into final services. A low exergy efficiency implies potential for efficiency gains for converting energy and materials into goods and services. Similarly, the ratio of exergy embodied in material wastes to exergy embodied in resource inputs is the "most general measure of pollution". Ayres and Martiñas (1995) also argue that the exergy of waste streams is a proxy for their potential ecotoxicity or harm to the environment, at least in general terms.
From an accounting perspective, exergy is appealing because it is based on the science and laws of thermodynamics and thus has a well-established system of concepts, rules, and information that are available widely. But like enthalpy, exergy should not be used to aggregate energy and material inputs aggregation because it is one-dimensional. Like enthalpy, exergy does not vary with, and hence does not necessarily reflect attributes of fuels that determine their economic usefulness, such as energy density, cleanliness, cost of conversion, and so on. The same is true for materials. Exergy cannot explain, for example, impact resistance, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, stiffness, space maintenance, conductivity, strength, ductility, or other properties of metals that determine their usefulness. Like prices, exergy does not reflect all the environmental costs of fuel use. The exergy of coal, for example, does not reflect coal's contribution to global warming or its impact on human health relative to say natural gas. As Ayres (1997) himself notes, the exergy of wastes is at best a rough first-order approximation of environmental impact because it does not vary with the specific attributes of a waste material and its receiving environment that cause harm to organisms or that disrupt biogeochemical cycles. In theory exergy can be calculated for any energy or material, but in practice, the task of assessing the hundreds (thousands?) of primary and intermediate energy and material flows in an economy is daunting.
Odum (1996) analyzes energy and materials with a system that traces their flows within and between society and the environment. It is important to differentiate between two aspects of Odum's contribution. The first is his development of a biophysically-based, systems-oriented model of the relationship between society and the environment. Here Odum's early contributions helped lay the foundation for the biophysical analysis of energy and material flows, an area of research that forms part of the intellectual backbone of ecological economics. The insight from this part of Odum's work is illustrated by the fact that ideas he emphasized—energy and material flows, feedbacks, hierarchies, thresholds, time lags—are key concepts of the analysis of sustainability in a variety of disciplines.
The second aspect of Odum's work, which we are concerned with here, is a specific empirical issue: the identification, measurement, and aggregation of energy and material inputs to the economy, and their use in the construction of indicators of sustainability. Odum measures, values, and aggregates energy of different types by their transformities. Transformities are calculated as the amount of one type of energy required to produce a heat equivalent of another type of energy. To account for the difference in quality of thermal equivalents among different energies, all energy costs are measured in solar emjoules (sej), the quantity of solar energy used to produce another type of energy. Fuels and materials with higher transformities require larger amounts of sunlight to produce and therefore are considered more economically useful.
Several aspects of the emergy methodology reduce its usefulness as a method for aggregating energy and/or material flows. First, like enthalpy and exergy, emergy is one-dimensional because energy sources are evaluated based on the quantity of embodied solar energy and crustal heat. But is the usefulness of a fuel as an input to production related to its transformity? Probably not. Users value coal based on it heat content, sulfur content, cost of transportation and other factors that form the complex set of attributes that determine its usefulness relative to other fuels. It is hard to imagine how this set of attributes is in general related to—much less determined by—the amount of solar energy required to produce coal. Second, the emergy methodology is inconsistent with its own basic tenant, namely that quality varies with embodied energy or emergy. Coal deposits that we currently extract were laid down over many geological periods that span half a billion years. Coals thus have vastly different embodied emergy, but only a single transformity for coal is normally used. Third, the emergy methodology depends on plausible but arbitrary choice of conversion technologies (e.g., boiler efficiencies) that assume users choose one fuel relative to another and other fuels based principally on their relative conversion efficiencies in a particular application. Finally, the emergy methodology relies on long series of calculations with data that vary in quality. Yet little attention is paid to the sensitivity of the results to data quality and uncertainty, leaving the reader with little no sense of how precise or reliable the emergy calculations are.
It is instructive to compare emergy analysis with other popular methods of energy and material flow accounting, such as input-output analysis. In emergy analysis, unlike input-output analysis, each process in the system is assigned the total value of the total emergy input to the Earth because according to Odum, "each process is considered to be a co-product of the global geological cycle and cannot be produced independently with less than the total emergy." This creates an accounting system that does not conform to the principle that the total value of all inputs to each process equal the total value of all outputs from that process. Input-output methods do conform to this principle. Because of this, emergy techniques have been characterized as simplistic, contradictory, misleading and inaccurate. Rebuttals to these critiques have also been published, but the persistent skepticism seems to stem from the difficulty in obtaining detail about the underlying computations, and a lack of formal links with related concepts in other disciplines, like the input-output method.
Case Study 1: Net Energy from Fossil Fuel Extraction in the US
One technique for evaluating the productivity of energy systems is net energy analysis, which compares the quantity of energy delivered to society by an energy system to the energy used directly and indirectly in the delivery process. Cottrell (1955) and Odum were the first to identify the economic importance of net energy. Energy return on investment (EROI) is the ratio of energy delivered to energy costs. There is a long debate about the relative strengths and weaknesses of net energy analysis. One restriction on net energy analysis' ability to deliver the insights it promises is its treatment of energy quality. In most net energy analyses, inputs and outputs of different types of energy are aggregated by their thermal equivalents. Following, this case study illustrates how accounting for energy quality affects calculations for the EROI of the US petroleum sector from 1954-1992 from 1954-1992.
Methods and Data
Following the definitions in Equation (3), a quality-corrected EROI* is defined by:
where ?i, t is the quality factor for fuel type i at time t and Eo and Ec are the thermal equivalents of energy outputs and energy inputs, respectively. We construct divisia indices for energy inputs and outputs to account for energy quality in the numerator and denominator. The prices for energy outputs (oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids) and energy inputs (natural gas, gasoline, distillate fuels, coal, electricity) are the prices paid by industrial end-users for each energy type.
Cutler J. Cleveland (1992) provides full details on the data and methods presented here. Energy inputs include only industrial energies: the fossil fuel and electricity used directly and indirectly to extract petroleum. The costs include only those energies used to locate and extract oil and natural gas and prepare them for shipment from the wellhead. Transportation and refining costs are excluded from this analysis. Output in the petroleum industry is the sum of the marketed production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.
The direct energy cost of petroleum is the fuel and electricity used in oil and gas fields (Bureau of Census, various years). Indirect energy costs include the energy used to produce material inputs and to produce and maintain the capital used to extract petroleum. The indirect energy cost of materials and capital is calculated from data for the dollar cost of those inputs to petroleum extraction processes. Energy cost of capital and materials is defined as the dollar cost of capital depreciation and materials times the energy intensity of capital and materials (BTU/$). The energy intensity of capital and materials is measured by the quantity of energy used to produce a dollar's worth of output in the industrial sector of the U.S. economy. That quantity is the ratio of fossil fuel and electricity use to real GDP produced by industry.
Results and Conclusions
The thermal equivalent and Divisia EROI for petroleum extraction show significant differences (see Figure 2). The quality-corrected EROI declines faster than the thermal-equivalent EROI. The thermal-equivalent EROI increases by 60 percent relative to the Divisia EROI between 1954 and 1992. This difference is driven largely by changes in the mix of fuel qualities in energy inputs. Electricity, the highest quality fuel, is an energy input but not an energy output. Its share of total energy use rises from 2 to 12 percent over the period; its cost share increases from 20 to 30 percent. Thus, in absolute terms, the denominator in the Divisia EROI is weighted more heavily than in the thermal equivalent EROI. The Divisia-weighted quantity of refined oil products is larger than that for gas and coal. Thus, the two highest quality fuels, electricity and refined oil products, comprise a large and growing fraction of the denominator in the Divisia EROI compared to the thermal equivalent EROI. Thus the Divisia denominator increases faster than the heat-equivalent denominator causing EROI to decline faster in the former case.
Case Study 2: Causality in the Energy/GDP Relationship
One of the most important questions about the environment-economy relationship is the strength of the linkage between economic growth and energy use. With a few exceptions, most analyses ignore the effect of energy quality in the assessment of this relationship. One statistical approach to address this question is Granger causality and/or cointegration analysis. Granger causality tests whether (1) one variable in a relation can be meaningfully described as a dependent variable and the other variable an independent variable, (2) the relation is bi-directional, or (3) no meaningful relation exists at all. This is usually done by testing whether lagged values of one of the variables adds significant explanatory power to a model which already includes lagged values of the dependent variable and perhaps also lagged values of other variables.
While Granger causality can be applied to both stationary and integrated time series (time series which follow a random walk), cointegration applies only to linear models of integrated time series. The irregular trend in integrated series is known as a stochastic trend as opposed to a simple linear deterministic time trend. Time series of GDP and energy use usually are found to be integrated. Cointegration analysis aims to uncover causal relations among variables by determining if the stochastic trends in a group of variables are shared by the series so that the total number of unique trends is less than the number of variables. It can also be used to test if there are residual stochastic trends which are not shared by any other variables. This may be an indication that important variables have been omitted from the regression model or that the variable with the residual trend does not have long-run interactions with the other variables.
Either of these conclusions could be true should there be no cointegration. The presence of cointegration can also be interpreted as the presence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables in question. The parameters of an estimated cointegrating relation are called the cointegrating vector. In multivariate models there may be more than one such cointegrating vector.
Granger Causality and the Energy GDP Relation
A series of analysts use statistical tests developed by Granger (1969) or Sims (1972) to evaluate whether energy use or energy prices determine economic growth, or whether the level of output in the US and other economics determine energy use or energy prices. Generally, the results are inconclusive. Where significant results are obtained, they indicate causality running from output to energy use.
Stern (1993) tests US data (1947-1990) for Granger causality in a multivariate setting using a vector autoregression (VAR) model of GDP, energy use, capital, and labor inputs. He measures energy use by its as thermal equivalents and the Divisia aggregation method discussed above. The relation among GDP, the thermal equivalent of energy use, and the Divisia energy use indicates that there is less 'decoupling' between GDP and energy use when the aggregate measure for energy use accounts for qualitative differences (see Figure 3). The multivariate methodology is important because changes in energy use frequently are countered by substitution with labor and/or capital and thereby mitigate the effect of changes in energy use on output. Weighting energy use for changes in the composition of the energy input is important because a large part of the growth effects of energy are due to substitution of higher quality energy sources such as electricity for lower quality energy sources such as coal (see Figure 1).
Bivariate tests of Granger causality show no causal order in the relation between energy and GDP in either direction regardless of the measure used to qualify energy use (see Table 3). In the multivariate model with energy measured in primary BTUs, GDP was found to 'Granger cause' energy use. However, when both innovations - a multivariate model and energy use is adjusted for quality - are employed, energy 'Granger causes' GDP. These results show that adjusting energy for quality is important as is considering the context within which energy use is occurring. The result that energy use plays an important role in determining the level of economic activity is consistent with the price-based studies of Hamilton (1983) and Burbridge and Harrison (1984).
Cointegration and the Energy GDP Relation
Stern (1998) tests for cointegration between energy use and economic activity in the same multivariate model used in Stern (1993) with US data from 1948 to 1994. If a multivariate approach helps uncover the direction of Granger causality between energy and GDP, then a multivariate approach should clarify the cointegrating relations among variables. The Johansen methodology is used to test for the number of cointegrating vectors in the multivariate Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) estimate their parameters, and the rate at which energy use and economic activity adjusts to disequilibrium in the long-run relations. The VECM is given by:
in which y is a vector of variables (in logarithms), ? t is a vector of random disturbances, ? is the first difference operator, t is a deterministic time trend, y is a vector of coefficients to be estimated, ? is a matrix of adjustment coefficients (to be estimated), ? is the matrix of cointegrating vectors (to be estimated), and the ?i are matrices of short-run dynamics coefficients (to be estimated). The test for the number of cointegrating vectors determines the dimensions of ? and ?.
The cointegrating vectors indicate that energy use and GDP are present in both cointegrating relations but the elements of ? indicate that these cointegrating relations affect the equation for energy use only. This result indicates that there is a statistically significant relation between energy use and GDP, but the direction of causality run from economic activity to energy use. This result is consistent with Stern (1993).
Table 4 presents the results for the model using the quality-adjusted energy index. The third row in Table 4 presents tests for excluding each of the variables from the long run relation. Restrictions that eliminate energy from the long-run relationships are rejected while the same restrictions for capital cannot be rejected. However, the statistics in the fourth row show that none of the variables can be treated as exogenous variables. The causal pattern is in general mutual. The fifth and sixth rows show the signs and significance of the adjustment coefficients. The first cointegrating relation has no significant effect on the capital equation. However, all the other coefficients are significant. This again confirms the mutual causality pattern.
Use of quality-adjusted energy indices clearly has an important effect on analyses of Granger causality and cointegration. When energy is measured in thermal equivalents, research predominantly finds that either there is no relation between energy and GDP or that the relation runs from GDP to energy in both bivariate and multivariate models. The implications for the importance of energy in the economy are quite different in the two cases.
Case Study 3: The Determinants of the Energy/GDP Relationship
One of the most widely cited macroeconomic indicators of sustainability is the ratio of total energy use to total economic activity, or the energy/real GDP ratio (E/GDP ratio). This ratio has declined since 1950 in many industrial nations. Controversy arises regarding the interpretation of this decline. Many economists and energy analysts argue that the declines indicate that the relation between energy use and economic activity is relatively weak. This interpretation is disputed by many biophysical economists. They argue that the decline in the E/GDP ratio overstate the ability to decouple energy use and economic activity because many analyses of the E/GDP ratio ignore the effect of changes in energy quality (see Figure 1).
The effect of changes in energy quality (and changes in energy prices, and types of goods and services produced and consumed) on the E/GDP ratio can be estimated using Equation (9), which was developed by Gever et al., (1986) and Cleveland et al., (1984):
in which E is the total primary energy consumption (measured in heat units), GDP is real GDP, primary electricity is electricity generated from hydro, nuclear, solar, or geothermal sources, PCE is real personal consumption expenditures spent directly on energy by households, Product Mix measures the fraction of GDP that originates in energy intensive sectors (e.g., chemicals) or non-energy intensive sectors (e.g., services), and Price is a measure of real energy prices.
The effect of energy quality on the E/GDP ratio is measured by the fraction of total energy consumption from individual fuels. The sign on the regression coefficients ?1, ?2, and ?3 is expected to be negative because natural gas, oil, and primary electricity can do more useful work (and therefore generate more economic output) per heat unit than coal. The rate at which an increase in the use of natural gas, oil, or primary electricity reduces the E/GDP ratio is not constant. Engineering studies indicate that the efficiency with which energies of different types are converted to useful work depends on their use. Petroleum can provide more motive power per heat unit of coal, but this advantage nearly disappears if petroleum is used as a source of heat (Adams and Miovic, 1968). From an economic perspective, the law of diminishing returns implies that the first uses of high quality energies are directed at tasks that are best able to make use of the physical, technical, and economic aspects of an energy type that combine to determine its high quality status. As the use of a high quality energy source expands, it is used for tasks that are less able to make use of the attributes that confer high quality. The combination of physical differences in the use of energy and the economic ordering in which they are applied to these tasks implies that the amount of economic activity generated per heat unit diminishes as the use of a high quality energy expands. Diminishing returns on energy quality is imposed on the model by specifying the fraction of the energy budget from petroleum, primary electricity, natural gas, or oil in natural logarithms. This specification ensures that the first uses of high quality energies decreases the energy/GDP ratio faster than the last uses.
The regression results indicate that Equation (9) can be used to account for most of the variation in the energy/GDP ratio for France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom during the post-war period and in the US since 1929. All of the variables have the sign as expected by economic theory, are statistically significant, and the error terms have the properties assumed by the estimation technique.
Analysis of regression results indicate that changes in energy mix can account for a significant portion of the downward trend in E/GDP ratios. The change from coal to petroleum and petroleum to primary electricity is associated with a general decline in the E/GDP ratio in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the US during the post-war period (Figure 4a-d). The fraction of total energy consumption that is supplied by petroleum increases steadily in each nation through the early 1970s. After the first oil shock, the fraction of total energy use from petroleum is steady or declines slightly in these four nations. However, energy mix continues to reduce the energy/real GDP ratio after the first oil shock because the fraction of total energy use from primary electricity rises steadily. The effect of changes in energy mix on the E/GDP ratio shows no trend over time in Japan, where the fraction of total energy consumption that is supplied by primary electricity falls through the early 1970s and increases steadily thereafter. This U shape offsets the steady increase in the fraction of total energy use from petroleum that occurs prior to 1973.
These regression results indicate that the historical reduction in the E/GDP ratio is associated with shifts in the types of energies used and the types of goods and services consumed and produced. Diminishing returns to high quality energies and the continued consumption of good from energy-intensive sectors such as manufacturing imply that the ability for changes in the composition of inputs and outputs to reduce the energy/real GDP ratio further are limited.
Conclusions and Implications
Application of the Divisia Index to energy use in the U.S. economy illustrates the importance of energy quality in aggregate analysis. The quality-corrected index for EROI indicates that the energy surplus delivered by petroleum extraction in the US is smaller than indicated by unadjusted EROI. The trend over time in a quality-adjusted index of total primary energy use in the US economy is significantly different than and drops faster than the standard heat-equivalent index. Analysis of Granger causality and cointegration indicate a causal relationship running from quality-adjusted energy to GDP, but not from the unadjusted energy index. The econometric analysis of the energy/real GDP ratio indicates that the decline in industrial economies has been driven in part by the shift from coal to oil, gas, and primary electricity. Together these results suggest that accounting for energy quality reveals a relatively strong relationship between energy use and economic output. This runs counter to much of the conventional wisdom that technical improvements and structural change have decoupled energy use from economic performance. To a large degree, technical change and substitution has increased the use of higher quality energy and reduced use of lower quality energy. In economic terms this means that technical change has been "embodied" in the fuels and their associated energy converters. These changes have increased energy efficiency in energy extraction processes, allowed an apparent "decoupling" between energy use and economic output, and increased energy efficiency in the production of output.
The manner in which these improvements have been largely achieved should give pause for thought. If decoupling is largely illusory, any rise in the cost of producing high quality energy vectors could have important economic impacts. Such an increase might occur if use of low cost coal to generate electricity is restricted on environmental, in particular climate change, grounds. If the substitution process cannot continue, further reductions in the E/GDP ratio would slow. Three factors might limit future substitution to higher quality energy. First, there are limits to the substitution process. Eventually all energy used would be of the highest quality variety - electricity - and no further substitution could occur. Future discovery of a yet higher quality energy source might mitigate this but it would be unwise to rely on the discovery of new physical principles. Second, as different energy sources are not perfect substitutes, the substitution process could have economic limits that will prevent full substitution. For example, it is difficult to imagine an airliner running on electricity. Third, it is likely that supplies of petroleum - which is of higher quality than coal - will begin to decline fairly early in the next century.
Finally, our conclusions do not imply that one-dimensional and/or physical indicators are universally inferior to the economic indexing approach we endorse. As one reviewer noted, ecologists might raise the problem of Leibig's law of the minimum in which the growth or sustainability of a system is constrained by that single critical element in least supply. Exergy or mass are appropriate if the object of analysis is a single energy or material flux. Physical units are also necessary to valuate those flows. Integrated assessment of a material cycle within and between the environment and the economy is logical based on physical stocks and flows. However, when the question being asked requires the aggregation of energy flows in economic system, an economic approach such as Divisa aggregation or a direct measure of marginal product embody a more tenable set of assumptions than does aggregation by one dimensional approaches.


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- Appearance
- Giant salvinias are a group of free floating ferns native to South America. Species include Salvinia molesta, S. auriculata, S. biloba and S. herzogii. They have been spread to the tropics and subtropics, moved in part by the trade in ornamental plants for fish tanks and ponds. Each plant has an internode, a node, a pair of floating leaves, the submerged or root, and associated buds. The root is actually a modified leaf that looks and functions like a root.
- Foliage
- Giant salvinias have a horizontal rhizome just beneath the water surface. On the abaxial leaf surface are hairs that are divided but joined at the tips of the hairs. These hairs have an egg-beater-like appearance.
- Reproduction
- Giants salvinias reproduce by buds, both apical and axillary.
- Ecological Threat
- Giant salvinia forms dense mats over lakes and slow moving rivers and causes large economic losses and a wide range of ecological problems to native species and communities. It can impede access to and use of waterways for commercial and recreational purposes. Mats of giant salvinia can reduce habitats for game birds and limit access to fishing areas. Salvinia can clog water intake pipes and interfere with agricultural irrigation and water supply.
- Federal Noxious Weed Disseminules of the U.S. - USDA-APHIS
- Nonindigenous Aquatic Ferns in the United States - U.S. Geological Survey
Image Sets View other image sets:
State Invasive List - This map identifies those states that list this species on their invasive species list. For more information, visit Invasive.org
Invasive Listing Sources
Taxonomic Rank
|Kingdom: Plantae
|Phylum: Pteridophyta
|Class: Filicopsida
|Order: Hydropteridales
|Family: Salviniaceae
|Genus: Salvinia
Synonyms and Other Names
Other Common Names:
eared watermoss
Related Scientific Names:
|Salvinia rotundifolia Aublet
CategoriesCategory: Aquatic
Category: Forbs/Herbs
|Common Name Reference:
| USDA, NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
|Scientific Name Reference:
|USDA, NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.


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Ringtone Maker
Music & Audio
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Developer Notes
Ringtone Maker
Ringtone Maker is one of the best ringtone app in play store.It helps you make ringtones from your songs on your phone.
What makes our ringtone app different from from other ringtone maker apps in play store is our extremely easy to use user interface.In a matter of seconds you...
Love it! — Very user friendly and easy to use


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Did you know many store websites have a spot where you can claim free samples? Walmart and Target are two of the large retail stores that do this. The samples often go quick, but we have a strategy to help you get your share. Just search for free samples on the websites, then save the web page addresses in your "favorites." You can then conveniently check for new offers when you're online.
We mentioned that the city of Colorado Springs was offering free street trees for your home. We're now told that the city has suspended the program because of overwhelming response.
There are many free things to do this coming weekend. The Money Museum in Colorado Springs is offering free admission on Saturday, February 18, from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Chick-fil-A has a free breakfast entree for you on Friday morning, February 17. The final weekend of the Fifth Annual Cripple Creek Ice Festival is happening Saturday, February 18 and Sunday, February 19.
You're can also receive free admission to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center on Tuesday, February 21. There are even extended hours so you and yours can make the most of it.
Please remember, all offers are subject to availability and product providers may end these offers at any time.
Sign up for our free, weekly E-Newsletter Click Here To Sign Up For The Here's The Deal E-News Letter
KKTV firmly believes in freedom of speech for all and we are happy to provide this forum for the community to share opinions and facts. We ask that commenters keep it clean, keep it truthful, stay on topic and be responsible. Comments left here do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of KKTV 11 News.
If you believe that any of the comments on our site are inappropriate or offensive, please tell us by clicking "Report Abuse" and answering the questions that follow. We will review any reported comments promptly.powered by Disqus


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and did you sign up on or before August 1, 2014? If yes, then your credits are redeemable until October 31, 2014 on your mobile device from wap.jamster.ca. For customer support please call (866) 856-5267.
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Double Row Pique Toddler Bedding
No longer available
Soft cotton piqué gives our bedding its crisp, tailored style.
Pure cotton piqué.
Classically styled coverlet with an embroidered frame of vibrant color; pure cotton fill.
Sham features an envelope closure.
Insert sold separately.
Toddler coverlet is sized for our crib mattresses to ease the transition when you convert your crib to a toddler bed.
Machine wash.


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|April 14, 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM - Add to Calendar
|Visual Arts Gallery
|Visual Art Gallery , VPA Visual arts Gallery , BFA , Senior Exhibition , Fine Arts
Senior Fine Arts B.F.A. graduates will present an exhibition of their senior projects. Graduating seniors are Katy Strass, printmaking; Zac Hannan, ceramics; Angela Ellsworth, printmaking; Eric Howard, painting; Jessica Butler, ceramics and Daniel Mickley, printmaking. The metal works of Louise Haynes will also be shown. Haynes is completing her Masters of Liberal Studies degree at IPFW.
March 25 - April 14
Artists' Reception – Thursday, April 4 6 – 8 p.m.
Visual Arts Gallery
Admission is free
The exhibition can be viewed daily in the Visual Arts Gallery from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.


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Log in
The animated film Waltz With Bashir is a magnificent film that reminded me of the recently adapted graphic novel Persepolis, especially the way in which memoir, history and social turmoil are woven together not only as a compelling narrative form but also because in both works, the primary characters struggle for certainty, meaning and peace in a world of war, conflict and confusion.
The main plot takes place in contemporary Israel, where a man who was an Israeli soldier during the Lebanon/Israel War of the early 1980's sets out on a journey to rediscover his lost memories of the war and to determine what role, if any, he played in the Sabra and Shatila massacres. The film's director and protagonist Ari Folman depicts the war as a horrorific act against humanity, where neither side was innocent of committing atrocities. Winner of many awards in 2008 and nominated for a Best Foreign Film Academy Award, Waltz With Bashir is a haunting and visually rich meditation on memory, war and healing.
Learn more about this piece of history by accessing the library's information databases. They can put you in touch with the information you need to understand today's vital issues.
Posted by Ryan Gage at 09/27/2009 03:36:02 PM


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Has any information on the Horizons Core Set been released since Worthing's post on the Kickstarter updates?
From that post, the meta sounded something like:
Refess—Solar Kingdom, Eternal Morning, Guardian, Starmander
Lawtia—Magic Dolls, Command Models, Lycanthropes, Assassins
Gowen—Mercenary Nation, Orks, Mid/Big Beltorat
Falkow—Wizard Kingdom, Mermaids, Big Blue
Plus "most multisphere cards," whatever that means.
So we can see the following meta lines being drawn (again, a rough estimate):
Aggro: SK, EM, MD, CM, EN, little MN, Orks, WK, Merms—9
Midrange: Guardian, Assassins, mid MN, Mid Beltorat—4
Control: Starmander, Big Beltorat, Big Blue—3
Plus whatever multisphere options we have. I assume multisphering will mostly result in midrange decks, with about 2 in particular probably making a good showing. (I could be totally wrong though.)
So, my assumptions holding and all decks being played equally, the meta will consist of about 17-19 decks. Not bad. Let's say 18 for analysis because it's an even number. In that case:
—About 50% of decks will be composed of units levels 1-3. This is your aggro section.
—About 33% of decks will use units levels 3-5 with smaller "support" units. This is your midrange section.
—The remaining 17% of decks will use the "big units" from 5-9.
From this data, we can infer the following about the early Horizons meta:
—Return will be great in about 50% of matches, and dead in about 17% of matches. In other words, still a great card. (Return has been confirmed for the Core Set, sorry haters.)
—Assassin-style soul skills will, when perfectly executed, gain 2SP 50% of the time; 3-4SP 33% of the time; and 4-8SP 17% of the time. In other words, Assassin will be needed sometimes but a risky play in many matches.
Anyone who has more information on the core set or thoughts about the meta, let's hear it here! Information is power!
EDIT: So far, 18 cards confirmed for Refess, 20 for Lawtia, 23 for Gowen, and 30 for Falkow. I believe it's been said every sphere gets 80, and then some number of multisphere cards will fill out the core set.


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Registration FAQ's
- What if I've taken a semester off?
- If you have taken either the fall or spring semester off (didn't enroll in classes), you will need to readmit to the college. If you took classes in the spring semester and have only taken off the following summer semester, you do not need to fill out a readmit. You can request a readmit application to be sent to you in the mail, or come by the Admissions Office and fill one out in person. The readmit application is free and allows us to update your records.
- What's PRIDE Online my PIN?
- Your PIN is your birth date in 6-digit format (Example: If your birth date is May 10, 1967, your PIN is 051067) unless you have changed it. You can only enter your PIN incorrectly three times. After that, you will get locked out of the system until the next business day.
You can change your PIN using PRIDE Online to any combination of 6 digits.
- What's my PRIDE Online Student ID?
- Your Student ID is your Social Security Number.
- Why am I having difficulty registering?
- There are three main reasons why students can't register:
- You have a registration hold.
- You have not applied to the college, need to readmit, or your application for admission or readmit hasn't been processed.
- It is prior to your early registration appointment time.
- What's a Registration Hold, and how do I get it fixed?
- Students get registration holds for many different reasons. You might have a hold for not paying any fee or other charge you have been assessed or having an overdue book at the Library. Many students also have holds placed on their record for not submitting all of the required information for admission to the college or required Financial Aid paperwork. Students who have been academically suspended also may have a hold. You can find out basic information about your hold by selecting the Holds option in PRIDE Online.
If you need additional information or clarification about your hold, contact the office listed or the Office of Records & Registration by calling (615) 230 - 3466 (toll-free: 1-888-335-8722, extension 3466). If Admissions cannot assist you, we will refer you to the appropriate office.
- Do I have to contact my advisor before registering?
- You are strongly encouraged to contact your advisor prior to completing your registration for classes
- What is the course call number, and where can I find it?
- The call number is the 5-digit number you will use when you register for your classes using PRIDE Online or on PRIDE. It appears first in the Class Schedule on the row where information about a course is listed.
10618 ENGL 1010 501 English Comp I
- What does the section number mean?
- The section number of the course appears right before the course title in the Class Schedule on the row where information about a course is listed.
10618 ENGL 1010 501 English Comp I
The section number of a course also helps to separate it from all other courses with the same name. No two English Comp I courses will have the same section number. The section number also can give you some hints about the course.
- If the section starts with "R", the course is a Regents Online) class.
- If the section starts with "5", the course is an evening class and may meet at an off-campus site.
- If the section starts with "W", the course is a weekend class.
- If the section starts with "V", the course is a video, VSCC Internet, or CD-ROM based class.
- What information do I need to know if I call the college for information or help about a specific course.
- When you call the college, you will need to know the course rubric, number, & section. The course call number is only for use with the online or phone registration systems.


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Waterstone 3400
Hunley Pot Filler Faucet Single Handle
Item # BCI1556518 | Model # 3400 | Hunley Collection
Questions about Waterstone 3400?
Contact us for advice or more details. Our product specialists are here to help.
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Waterstone 3400 Specifications:
- Overall Height: 20.375"
- Spout Height: 15"
- Spout Reach: 22.375"
- Width: 2.875"
- Flow Rate: 2.2 GPM
- Max Deck Thickness: 2.375"
Antique Bronze, Black Oil Rubbed Bronze, Caribbean Bronze, Tuscan Brass, Weathered Brass, and Weathered Copper are LIVING FINISHES. Generally, finishes darken slightly where they are not being touched and highlight where the high use points are. Living finishes have no protective coatings and are more easily scratched or scuffed.
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Distressed Antique Copper
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Distressed Antique Pewter
- Waterstone 3400-EW
- Waterstone 3400-06
Gloss Black
- Waterstone 3400-MB
Matte Black
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He came walking as if he was about to propose for a hand in marriage, as he moved so close to a lady ahead of him. The lady, majestically swayed as she attempted to negotiate through a crowd of people around one of the most popular streets in Dar es Salaam.
Unaware of someone trailing behind her, she stood at a nearby shop and within a blink of an eye, a man who had been behind her snatched her bag as fast as he could and sped past people.
"Thief," she called, all of the sudden an angry mob came from all the near-by streets and pounced on him. A few minutes later, the man was down on the ground covered with stones and sticks and his eyes signaled the end of his life.
The lady picked her handbag and left while feeling guilty especially when she recalled that the most valuable items that her handbag had only 2,000/- and nothing more.
Sadly, somewhere else in this country of ours, some one was losing her life simply because she had red eyes. A neighbor had passed away and that is when rumors went around that an old lady in Bariadi was behind her death. Reasons given were that her eyes were red, suggesting that she spent her nights away bewitching others. They came at night and burnt her house reducing not only her life to ashes but all her belongings.
The two incidents above are a few of the examples depicting mob violence, any arbitrary action by a group of people against those suspected to offend the community in any way.
International human rights standards and domestic laws may prohibit the destructive practice of mob violence, yet the trend takes pace as days go by.
The 2010 Tanzania Human Rights Report by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) indicates that mob violence is still very rampant in the country, especially in major cities, Lake Zones and Southern regions. For instance statistics from the report indicate that at least 139 people died after they were killed by an angry mob in 2009 while as 64 people died in year 2010 respectively.
The number might seem to have gone down but it is still very high taking into consideration that it is human lives that we are talking about.
Worse still at least 50 people were killed due to witchcraft beliefs for the year 2010 alone, a number depicting the little regard that Tanzanians have for the right to life.
In actual fact, there is little regard for this important right so little that it has led to increased incidents of unlawful fights between the police and civilians, something which was in the old days impossible.
Critics attribute the art of taking law in own hands to loss of faith for the law enforcers and little awareness on legal issues. While others on the other hand, accuse the judiciary and the police for being too corrupt to exercise impartiality.
Perhaps we ought to analyze a few things among which is the harsh working environment for our police officers before we point fingers at anyone.
This reporter has managed to talk to several police officers at lower and higher level most of whom admit that the working conditions are so unfriendly that it has made our brothers and sisters termed as 'civilians in uniforms' by DCI Manumba, survive by the grace of God.
For instance, most of the police stations still operate under the handwriting modality, where a police officer is forced to write from early morning all the way to the evening.
Worse still, most of the police officers are forced to rent far away from the working places making it harder for them to ply to and from especially taking into consideration that they at times come late with no transport. Mind you, those lucky enough may be given an honor to sleep in full suits houses covered with corrugated iron sheets, and imagine what happens with the heat in Dar es Salaam.
How about the privacy? Any chance of dad and mom exercising their conjugal rights? That is also questionable. The few luck areas also like the famous Oyster bay Police Station, has small quarters, so small that they could only accommodate bachelors and spinster despite their being as old as one can imagine.
Patience Mlowe a researcher with the LHRC's Human Rights Monitoring Unit and one of the writers of the Tanzania Human Rights Report admits that he has been around places where police officers are forced to share a pair of boots as there are none and not to mention of failing to have fuel for the police van.
So many noises have and are being made in regard to police brutality and the way they solicit a little something from people.
What we all forget however is a hungry man is an angry one. Psychologists suggest that there is a very great correlation between one's home environment and his performance, and a man whose family is in hardships will be known from the way he behaves at work.
To cut a long story short, the government ought to improve the working conditions of police officers and the judiciary if we are to improve the dispensations of justice and regain the lost faith that people had with these two pillars of the state.
A good package, good housing, insurance coverage for its officers and good working tools are the only way towards better performance by our police officers. This will not only enhance performance by the police but also enable them to shun away from the corrupt practicea.
No one knows what would happen if they had an ailing child whose failure to get medications meant dying and if it so happened that someone attempted to give them something that could save their kid. Yap, I bet you would say it is no excuse to solicit bribe. I don't condone it but I am simply leaving you with food for thought.