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Zoot Men's Z Force 1.0 Sleeveless WetZoot Wetsuit
Product Description
The brand new Zoot Men's Z Force 1.0 Sleeveless Wetsuit is modeled after the full-sleeve version, however all the features remain the same with the exception of the sleeves. This suit features an updated Optimal Kick Design which is a leg patterning that allows the wetsuit to work with your anatomy rather than fight against it. Benefits include increased kick velocity, frequency, and efficiency. The suit also has a DORSALflex zipper which is an essential 2mm piece of neoprene around the back zipper that gives better stretch for improved lung expansion. As well as all the other great features, this wetsuit also features maximum buoyancy that raises your legs and torso out of the water for increased power and speed.
Wetsuit Specifications:
Front Body: 4mm Neoprene
Back Body: 3mm Neoprene
Front/Back Leg: 3mm Neoprene
Seat: 4mm Neoprene
- AQUALift provides maximum buoyancy, raising the legs and torso in the water for increased power and speed
- DORSALflex zipper allows the zipper to stretch with the body
- Optimal Kick Design ensures more power from the kick
- Gender-Specific ergonomic shaped panels
- Men's Sizes: XS-XXL
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January 20, 2017
Welcome to the best place to honor America's civic holidays, with engaging, educational programs and activities at the museum and in the classroom. To celebrate civic holidays with your school, tour group, or organization, contact Group Sales for information on how to participate.
Civic holidays are occasions to commemorate America's history, celebrate our rights and responsibilities as citizens, and learn about our constitutional ideals.
Civic holidays are occasions to honor America's past, engage in the present, and embrace your role in the future.
People of all ages will enjoy our fun, family-friendly festivities, which reaffirm what it means to be an active citizen.
Enrich your curriculum with our unparalleled civic holiday educational resources—such as the popular

subset: commoncrawl


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Swordfish With Citrus Pesto
- Citrus pesto:
- 1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed (about 3 cups)
- 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- Swordfish:
- 4 (6-ounce) swordfish steaks
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
DirectionsWatch how to make this recipe.
Blend the basil, pine nuts, garlic, zests, juices, salt, and pepper in a food processor until the mixture is finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add the olive oil until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan.
Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Brush both sides of the swordfish fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the swordfish about 3 to 4 minutes on each side for a 1-inch thick fillet.
Transfer the grilled swordfish to serving plates, top with the citrus pesto, and serve.
Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis
Pairs Well With
Pinot Grigio
Citrusy, light white wine
- Find easy pairings for your favorite recipes, Bobby's perfect picks and party ideas.


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"To the region's young leaders, know this: you have the power to transform the future. Set powerful goals"
"Arab and Israeli young people, Muslim, Christian and Jewish, must be empowered by peace. Ensuring that this is so is the greatest calling of today's generation of leaders and it must begin with a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict…"
"I can tell you that the young men and women of this region have incredible talent and energy and character. I can tell you, they can transform old realities – they can cross the divides, agree on justice and share in the progress of our century…"
"In the years ahead, the Middle East faces major requirements for development. Youth are more than fifty per cent of our population; they are coming of age with high expectations for opportunity, for security, for respect. The means to respond are there. We are rich in human talent and a heritage honouring education and culture…"


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Topic: Testing with cookies
I'm trying to test my "remember me" function. It sets a cookie so that we someone comes back they are automatically logged in. The problem is that it doesn't look the the cookie is saved when called from a functional test. Look at this...
cookies[:auth_token] = { :value => valid_user.remember_token , :expires => valid_user.remember_token_expires }
puts "cookie in controller: " + cookies[:auth_token]
That's in the controller, and it errors out because cookies[:auth_token] is nil on the second line.
Has anyone already solved this problem?
Last edited by thabenksta (2006-07-19 13:53:04)


text: Well….Join NextFab and the Philadelphia maker movement for an early evening happy hour. Our Sponsor Yards has stocked the fridge with some cold brews and we will have some light eats to appease your pre-dinner munchies. Come out and play cornhole, shoot some hoops, video it up, or just chill! No agenda! Just awesome like minded people getting together to have a great time. We look forward to seeing you at NextFab!


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TAG: Culinary
Posted by: Feet Banks
The gourmet meals and incredible deals offered during Dine in Whistler are the best get-out-of-jail-free card a fella could ever ask for.
TAG: Amped-Up Adventure, Family Time, Freebies & Fun
Posted by: Feet Banks
A picture is worth a thousand words and, courtesy of local photographer Mike Crane, we've got a 28-shot photo recollection of what the last six months in Whistler looked like. Twenty-eight thousand words worth of memories, no reading required.
TAG: Amped-Up Adventure, Must Dos, Whistler Sabbatical Project
Posted by: Feet Banks
The Whistler Sabbatical Project continues and the snow keeps falling as Lucky Luke and Tim ski the trees with born-and-raised Whistler girl and Olympic Skicross gold medalist Ashleigh McIvor then hop in a helicopter for some un-tracked perfection with guide John Furneaux.
TAG: Arts & Culture, Festivals & Events
Posted by: Feet Banks
As the Whistler Yoga Conference fires up for another year we examine the local yoga scene and why it makes sense to do your deep breathing in clean, fresh mountain air.
Brought to you by Tourism Whistler


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Lee Powell, senior pastor of CedarCreek Church, announced to his congregation that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
"Many of you are aware that over the past few months I have developed a tremor in my hand and I have been up-front in my sermons regarding this affliction," he said in an email. "After a few more symptoms materialized, [my wife] Joi and I took my doctor's advice to go to the Cleveland Clinic. The good news is we finally have a diagnosis for a series of symptoms, including my obvious tremor. Unfortunately the bad news is it is Parkinson's'"
The founding pastor of what has grown into the largest church in northwest Ohio, Powell said his doctors will first treat a problem he's been having with sleep deprivation, after which they will address the other aspects of Parkinson's.
According to webmd.com, "Parkinson's disease affects the nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. Parkinson's disease symptoms include muscle rigidity, tremors, and changes in speech and gait. After diagnosis, treatments can help relieve symptoms, but there is no cure."
Symptoms can often be effectively controlled for years with medication, the medical website said.
Among the high-profile people with Parkinson's are Billy Graham, Pope John Paul II, Linda Ronstadt, Janet Reno, Johnny Cash and Michael J. Fox.
Powell expressed optimism in his email. "Most people do respond well with the treatment and research is advancing with this disease," he said. "Joi and I both feel this is not a death sentence and are thoroughly educating ourselves. At this time we don't have all the answers, so please give us a week or two as we continue to learn about this new challenge."
He said he plans to continue preaching and will remain active as CedarCreek's senior pastor, using video teachings as a backup plan when his schedule makes it necessary. He plans to attend monthly support meetings in Cleveland with others who have Parkinson's.
Saying that "God knows what he is doing and God is good," Powell said a silver lining of the diagnosis is that he and his wife have an opportunity "to share the gospel with many people whom we would otherwise never cross paths with. … Joi and I appreciate all your love and support. We covet your prayers during this time and we'll keep you updated."
The nondenominational CedarCreek Church held its first service at the French Quarter hotel in Perrysburg in October, 1995 with 180 people in attendance. It now has weekly attendance of more than 10,000 at four campuses — Perrysburg, West Toledo, Whitehouse and South Toledo — and also has an "internet campus."


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The answer is more – not less – investment banking
There are very few questions to which a politically acceptable answer in the chancelleries of Europe is "more investment banks".
But as governments across Europe contemplate years of economic stagnation as public sector austerity collides with wholesale deleveraging, they may be forced – however reluctantly – to turn to the same investment banks that many of them blame for causing the crisis in the first place to help dig them out of it.
To complete the irony, investment banks are rubbing their hands in anticipation of a possible deluge in capital markets' activity that would give even the most cold-blooded investment banker a hot flush. The problem for Europe is simple: its economy has stalled and its banking system is paralysed. European companies have traditionally relied far more on direct bank lending for their financing needs than their US counterparts, and European banks have relied far more on wholesale funding than on deposits to fund themselves. When this seizes up, everything grinds to a halt.
Despite a mini-boom in debt issuance this year and record low funding costs, corporate bonds account for just 15% of all non-financial corporate debt in the UK and euro area, according to S&P, with 85% made up by bank loans. In the US, the equivalent figure is 47% bonds and 53% loans. (As a warning, bonds account for just 16% of Japanese corporate debt.)
At the same time, what little lending capacity European banks still have is being put under severe strain by the well-intended reform of capital and liquidity requirements (designed to make banks safer), which is in turn raising the cost of lending for the banks and forcing them to reduce their leverage.
Political pressure
But as banks have cut their lending to hit new capital ratios (the International Monetary Fund expects the balance sheets of the biggest banks in Europe to shrink by $2.6 trillion or 7% through 2012 and 2013) they have come under intense political pressure to lend more.
As one bank lobbyist recently said: "It's like having one government department telling you to lend more, and someone else in the same department telling you to lend less."
You don't have to be a clever bureaucrat in Brussels or a sharp investment banker to realise that if you suddenly turn off the taps, there will very soon be an acute shortage of funding. In a recent report, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe warned that this funding gap is wide and likely to get wider. It cited S&P research that over the next five years companies in the UK and the eurozone will have to refinance $9 trillion worth of debt and will need to raise an additional $2 trillion.
Even if you assume that the European capital markets can absorb the refinancing side of the equation – a big if – corporate bond markets would have to operate at twice the capacity of their best-ever year to meet this target.
Gaël de Boissard, the newly appointed co-head of the investment bank at Credit Suisse and chairman of Afme, said in the report: "We need a vision for developing deep and liquid capital markets in tandem with a restructured banking system." He reckons that achieving the shift from reliance on the balance sheets of big banks to a greater focus on capital markets "would be a change to Europe's financial system almost as profound as the arrival of the euro itself".
Other bankers see it in more material terms. Goldman Sachs has described the disintermediation of financing in Europe as one of its biggest opportunities over the medium term, and the head of fixed income at one big Europe bank described it as "the biggest strategic opportunity for investment banks since the euro".
The numbers could be eye-popping. Corporate bond markets in Europe would have to more than double to handle this capacity, with an accompanying surge in secondary and derivatives trading volumes. The high-yield market would have to triple from its already frothy levels to get to the same relative size as in the US. As the European market moved towards a US model, equity markets would have to nearly double to take them to the same size relative to the European economy as they are in the US; trading volumes would nearly triple.
If all of this sounds too good to be true, that's because it probably is. A US-style capital market is not going to spring up overnight. Corporates will take time to cut the umbilical cord with their banks and many banks will continue to lend to clients at uneconomic rates rather than lose them (plenty of banks have been doing this for years). For the market to flourish, there needs to be demand from institutional and retail clients, many of whom are understandably suspicious of investment banks and the capital markets right now.
Dose of reality
But above all, there needs to be a conducive regulatory environment. And this is where the governor of the Bank of Finland enters stage left to pour cold water on all the excitement. Erkki Liikanen, in his recent report for the European Commission on the possible future structure of the banking industry, proposed that large banks be forced to ring-fence their trading operations. The thinking here was that if the trading business went sour, it would be cordoned off from the more important retail and payments business and could be shut down without triggering a crisis.
The problem with this proposal – at least from the investment banks' perspective – is that ring-fencing the trading business would increase the costs of investment banks to such a degree that they would be unable to provide the sort of financing capacity that the above scenario suggests is needed in Europe. They argue that Liikanen's proposals would undermine the depth and liquidity of the secondary market, which is an essential prerequisite for a healthy primary market.
On this reading, Europe has a problem. Investment banks and capital markets could be its unlikely saviour. But the Liikanen proposals – and so far they are only proposals – could be precisely the opposite of what is needed.
This argument may sound self-serving for the banks. But it explains why European banks are focusing almost all of their attention on Liikanen and have effectively stopped fighting other reforms such as Basel III or Vickers. This strategy assumes that banks will lend less – hey, they might even deliberately lend less just to prove their point. It also assumes that European politicians can be persuaded by the bankers that bigger, and not smaller, capital markets are the answer to everyone's problems.


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Here's how RW members rated this race in the past (3 votes).
In short: Very well organised, flat as billiard table.In full: Very well organised. good for a pb but very exposed if its windy. Several u-turns around the cones take a little speed off but there is endless amounts of room to go wider. Decent surface to run on. Toilets enough but a bit basic. Apart from the rotting remains of a Shackleton air craft there is not much to look at but then you are here for speed not scenery.Date of review: November 18, 2012
In short: Not far from the running town of Stratford a course alive to 10k and half mara corse made for pb'sIn full: It's quiet, it's quirky, it's well organised, it's on a Saturday :-),it's well marshalled and it's fun. It's exposed, it's windy, it's repetitive. It's got a good set of tannoys and speakers, it's got good musioc, it's well water stationed, it's unusual.It's a curate's egg I'll have to try againat some stage. Well done all for an interesting day out and thanks for all the friendly support. Nice medal but distance/date specific would be more appreciatedDate of review: November 17, 2012
In short: Billiard Table FlatIn full: Many course describe themselves as Flat but there always a little undulation. Not this one, this was designed using spirit level. It is exposed being an airfield so subject to weather variations. This is a featureless course but what do you expect it is an airfield. The Dead turns break your rhythm a little but you can swing in rather than trip over a cone. Well organised, Good Marshalls, Great medal.Date of review: November 17, 2012
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Best Practices for Acquiring and Managing Agency Partners in the Digital Space
March 6, 2013
Kerry Kielb, senior consultant at The Bedford Group, Jon Cook, CEO of VML, and Rob Crigler, vice president, digital marketing at Rooms to Go, shared best practices for navigating the highly complex and fragmented digital agency industry.
Members Only Content
This content is available to ANA Members only. Please login below or create an account.
You may already be a member. Find out if your company is already an ANA member.


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Hands-on heirloom seed starting workshop
On Feb. 2, my absolute favorite meteorologist, the world-renowned weather-predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow which, as we all know, means spring will be arriving early this year.
For some North Country gardeners that means seed-starting time is here. Well, okay, it's not here quite yet. But, those who are committed to getting as early a start as possible are preparing for the growing season right now. They are among the region's most enthusiastic gardeners. And they are joyfully looking forward to once again starting their gardens – indoors.
Why start your gardens indoors from seeds? Well, devoted area gardeners do so for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the fact that starting seeds indoors is convenient, practical, and an easy way to get a jump on the growing season. But starting seeds early indoors can also be considerably less expensive than buying starter plants. In fact, one starter plant can cost just as much as, or more than, a whole packet of seeds. And starting plants from seeds allows gardeners to select the cultivars they prefer, including varieties that are never offered at big box stores and rarely sold at local garden centers or nurseries.
Starting early indoors is also a way to extend the season, allowing discriminating gardeners to choose varieties that require a longer growing season than ours would normally allow. Some may opt for strains that mature more quickly as well, because selecting cultivars that don't necessarily need to be started especially early indoors allows growers who do start them in the pre-season, indoors, to be just a few weeks away from harvest when others are setting out small, immature transplants. What's more, by starting early maturing plants at, say, 10 day intervals, not only can proficient gardeners be the first to harvest, they can continue to harvest over prolonged periods of time.
Starting vegetable and flower gardens from seeds indoors can be a very satisfying experience, not to mention a lot of fun. And you'd be hard-pressed to find a better way to overcome the boredom of winter and cabin fever.
Those with children might choose to get the kids involved in growing indoors from seeds, too. Think of it as an opportunity to share some quality time while fostering a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the entire growing cycle. Young children learn by imitating, and they'll take great pride in seeing plants develop from seeds that they've started themselves.
Unfortunately, less-experienced gardeners are sometimes intimidated by the thought of starting their gardens from seeds indoors. Over the years, I've chatted with several would-be green thumbs who became discouraged after starting their gardens early from seeds, only to see all or most of their seedlings suffer, get leggy, and eventually die. If you're one of those folks, if starting plants from seeds has been a struggle for you in the past, or if you're a beginner who'd like to get a handle on successfully starting garden plants from seeds at home, Franklin County Cornell Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Volunteers would like to invite you to attend a Seed Starting Workshop designed to help you — and your garden flowers and vegetables -?get off to a great start. The Master Gardeners will be bringing their expertise on starting seeds and nurturing seedlings for garden planting, and will have all of the necessary supplies on hand, including heirloom tomato seeds. All you have to do is get there.
Learn how, with some simple techniques and inexpensive start-up supplies, you can easily get your favorite flower and vegetable varieties started indoors, and keep them thriving with minimal effort.
This program, which is being offered in cooperation with Common Ground Garden, a project of Adirondack Sustainable Communities Inc. currently managing two community garden sites in Saranac Lake, will cover a wide variety of topics including:
-Seed selection (including how to read seed packages and which flowers and vegetables should and should not be started early indoors)
-Containers for starting seeds
-Soil medium selection
-Lighting -?including a demonstration of how to easily fabricate a grow light stand
-Keeping your flower and vegetable seedlings healthy
-Getting your plants ready to be planted outdoors
Talk about a growing opportunity! Each attendee will sow several pots with heirloom tomato seeds, which they will take home, along with several instructional handouts and a greater understanding of how to effectively start flowers and vegetables from seed and keep growing seedlings and young plants healthy, hardy and vigorous until they are planted outdoors. Gardeners of all experience levels are welcome.
Master Gardener volunteers will also be available to answer any questions participants may have about garden planning. Through this type of education and community outreach, our Master Gardeners are helping Cornell Cooperative Extension of Franklin County live up to its mission of building strong and sustainable New York communities.


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Special Report #120 on Housing
October 4, 2012
October 4, 2012 | Special Report on Housing
This paper tries to capture the effects of interventions by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in the housing market by creating a hypothetical scenario in which one could see what would happen to housing starts without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Housing starts are an especially important indicator of overall strength in the housing sector and are a contributor to economic growth. This study finds that shutting down Fannie and Freddie during the test period of 1980–2010 would have slightly affected housing starts at the national and regional levels. The analysis uses time series regression models with quarterly data across a 30-year period to examine the effects of changes in conventional mortgage interest rates on housing starts both at the national and regional levels. The study controls for economic fundamentals—including real gross domestic product, price-to-rent ratio, median home price, vacancy rate, Consumer Price Index, household assets, household debt, and family income—to measure the effects of changes in mortgage interest rates on housing starts. The results indicate:
This empirical study tries to identify the main determinants of housing starts by measuring the responsiveness of housing starts to the mortgage interest rate compared with economic fundamentals at the national and regional levels. If housing starts are not responsive to changes in the mortgage interest rate, then interventions by government-sponsored enterprises in the housing market that lower mortgage interest rates would not significantly affect housing starts. Econometric analysis of the supply side of the housing market suggests that economic fundamentals, not mortgage interest rates, drive housing starts. Therefore, shutting down Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac would likely have little effect on the housing starts.
Housing starts are an important element of residential investment, an important component of total economic output. Previous Heritage Foundation studies on the housing market addressed the demand side of the housing market.[1] Of course, the supply side of the market responds to demand, so the extent to which the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac affect housing should be equally apparent on the supply side, as measured by housing starts.
Although prices would be expected to play an important role in shaping housing starts, this has frequently not been the case. For instance, as Charles G. Nathanson and Eric Zwick argue, over some periods, cities such as Las Vegas experienced enormous construction rates relative to other cities, while real home prices remained relatively constant. Then, as prices subsequently doubled between 2000 and 2006, housing starts remained high. Indeed, housing starts were high despite rising prices because prices matter during a downturn, but not during a boom.[2]
If housing starts are not responsive to price changes, then other factors may have contributed to regional differences. Indeed, many scholars assert that regulations played an important role in limiting the amount of the land available for residential housing. Edward Glaeser argues that restricting housing supply through regulations leads to greater volatility in housing prices.[3] He compared the Boston region with the Atlanta region, which issues about seven times as many permits as the Boston region, and found that housing prices in Boston were much higher and more volatile than housing prices in Atlanta. In addition, Atlanta did not share in the Boston Boom of 1980–1988 when prices doubled or suffer from Boston's housing bust of 1988–1994 when prices lost 50 percent.[4]
In assessing the causes of the housing bubbles, many scholars have focused on the demand-side factors, such as low interest rates, zero down payments, and easy lending terms. However, as Randal O'Toole argues, the demand-side factors were more or less equal across all states, but a more severe bubble was observed in a few states.[5] O'Toole argues that land-use regulation was the most important factor in the housing bubble of 2006. He supports this argument by finding a strong correlation between growth management planning and housing bubbles.[6] Although the land regulations have played an enormous role in creating the bubble and its subsequent bust in some states, one cannot rule out the importance of other economic fundamentals in creating the conditions for boom-bust behavior in the housing market.
Both demand and supply factors may contribute to the story. Indeed, with supply constraints and regulations in place, bubbles can form with a small increase in demand. With an inelastic housing supply (vertical supply curve), a small increase in demand can lead to huge a increase in housing prices. In other words, land-use regulations and geographic land constraints can have important effects on housing booms and busts, but this is not the whole story. As seen in the more detailed econometric results, many other economic fundamentals affect housing starts.
Economists have not reached a consensus on the specification of housing supply models. In earlier studies, housing starts were a function of the level of price and construction costs.[7] but more recent studies link housing starts to changes in housing prices and costs.[8]
On the demand side, the Federal Reserve's policy of maintaining extraordinarily low short-term interest rates, which contributed to lower mortgage interest rates in 2003 and thereafter, intensified the housing price boom, which occurred because of easy access to mortgage credit, among other factors. While the results reported in this paper show that high interest rates may not affect housing starts, it appears that low interest rates, in part, steered individuals to purchase new houses.
Housing starts jumped up by the end of 2003 and remained high until the bubble burst in early 2006. The rise in demand for real estate accelerated housing price inflation, which reached 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004 and remained over 10 percent for the two consecutive years.[9] With the rise in housing prices, delinquency and foreclosure rates started to fall. However, as short-term interest rates returned to their initial levels, demand fell sharply and housing prices dropped below their equilibrium levels, bringing down home equities to levels lower than their mortgages. Underpriced home values, along with hikes in delinquency and foreclosure rates, led to the bubble bursting and the meltdown in the housing market in 2007. In fact, both the demand and supply sides of the housing market contributed to the meltdown, which put millions of borrowers upside down with negative equities. The five states with highest percentages of negative equities in 2009 were Nevada (65 percent), Arizona (48 percent), Florida (45 percent), Michigan (37 percent), and California (35 percent).[10]
Currently 11 million people are underwater with an average negative equity of $70,000, which means a total loss of around $770 billion[11] Whether the boom-bust behavior is attributed to the demand side or the supply side of the market, policymakers should immediately shut down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completely and permanently.[12] Replacing the GSEs with private players would stabilize the housing market and save taxpayers billions of dollars. Replacing GSEs with private players should take place before the Administration presents another bailout plan and burdens taxpayers more.
This paper first reviews the literature on the determinants of housing starts. Next, it discusses a theoretical model based on the literature review. The data section reviews the list of variables, their summary statistics, and their resources. The stylized facts section analyzes some of the trends in housing starts at both the national and regional levels. The econometric section measures the responsiveness of housing starts at the national and regional levels to changes in mortgage interest rates, controlling for a series of economic fundamentals. Finally, the analysis ends with a conclusion and policy discussion.
Although the literature has well documented the importance of the housing market, the number of studies on housing starts is relatively limited. This section reviews the seminal studies on the main determinants of housing starts to uncover how shutting down Fannie and Freddie could affect housing starts.[13]
J. R. Kearl estimates housing starts as a function of income, price index, interest rates, and household characteristics such as family size. He finds that inflation has a negative distortive effect on housing starts and a housing supply elasticity of –0.39 to nominal interest rate.[14] In other words, a 1 percent increase in nominal interest rate is associated with a 0.39 percent decrease in housing starts.
Christopher Mayer and Tsuriel Somerville are among the few that estimate housing supply elasticities by Census Bureau region. Using data from 1975 to 1994, they model housing starts as a function of changes in housing prices, the expected real interest rate, and construction costs. They find lower elasticities in the West and South. They attribute the lower elasticity of housing starts in the West to environmental regulations and development constraints, whereas in the South they explain lower elasticity with population growth and rising employment. In sum, they conclude that land-use restrictions have important impacts on the housing starts at the regional level and find a small supply elasticity of less than 0.05 in all census regions.[15]
Bradley T. Ewing and Yongsheng Wang examine the relationship between housing supply and macroeconomic variables through a vector error correction model. They develop a generalized impulse response model and interestingly find that economic fundamentals affect housing starts more than mortgage availability or mortgage interest rates do.[16]
Edward L. Glaeser, Joseph Gyourko, and Raven Saks use data on population, wages, and housing prices from 1980 to 2000. They find that variables such as regulatory index, congestion cost, and availability of vacant land contribute to differences in housing supply elasticities. They argue that housing supply has become very inelastic in some places due to restrictive zoning and other land-use regulations. They also find that places with high population densities and more land regulations observe lower elasticities, whereas places with fewer regulations and low population density observe higher elasticities.[17]
Rangan Gupta, Marius Jurgilas, Alain Kabundi, and Stephen M. Miller estimate the effects of monetary policy on U.S. housing dynamics through a vector auto regression (VAR) model, using monthly data from the first month of 1986 through December 2003 for 21 independent variables. They find that both national and regional housing starts respond to tightening monetary policy, but the magnitude and duration of these responses vary by region. For instance, housing starts in the South follow the national pattern, implying that housing dynamics in the U.S. largely reflect the dynamics in the South. However, housing starts in the West display a delayed reaction to changes in economic variables. In sum, their results indicate that contractionary monetary policy negatively affects housing starts at the national level and that the South remains the driving force behind this dynamic.[18]
Using data from the early 1980s to 2006, John B. Taylor finds that a volatile housing market can be attributed to an irresponsible monetary policy. Indeed, a more predictable inflation rate can help to bring down inflation, thereby reducing the volatility in interest rates, which could dampen the boom-bust behavior in housing prices and housing starts.[19]
Myles Ojala investigates the determinants of new housing starts in the United States. He analyzes monthly data from 2000 to 2008 by using independent variables such as mortgage availability, conventional 30-year mortgage interest rate, 15-year mortgage interest rate, inflation rate, residential building permits, and national saving rate. Using a VAR model, he finds that an increase in the mortgage interest rate negatively affects housing starts.[20]
Rangan Gupta, Marius Jurgilas, Stephen M. Miller, and Dylan van Wyk investigate how monetary policy affects the dynamics of the U.S. housing sector. They estimate an impulse response function at the national and regional levels. They find that an increase of 100 basis points in the federal fund rate (FFR) creates larger effects on home prices and housing starts in the post-liberalization period than other periods. They conclude that monetary authorities need to pay more attention in implementing FFR adjustments due to their substantial impacts on the housing market.[21]
Allen C. Goodman and Thomas G. Thibodeau estimate housing supply elasticity for 133 U.S. metropolitan areas with data from 2000 to 2005, using independent variables such as changes in median income, user costs, owner population, minority households, household size, population density, and number of metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) per capita. They conclude that much of the home price appreciation on the West Coast, particularly in California, is attributable to an inelastic supply function.[22]
Charles Nathanson and Eric Zwick argue that high raw land prices capitalizing on optimistic beliefs about future housing demand curtailed supplies in cities with historically elastic housing supply. They assert that in cities with excess land relative to demand, land speculators are the marginal buyers of the real estate and make cities more subject to housing bubbles than fully developed cities. They conjecture that home builders, who were in the position to arbitrage high home prices by selling more houses, acted like land speculators. They also conclude that bubble size and land availability are positively correlated, particularly in cities with scarce land, and that the beliefs of home builders are critical in determining home prices and housing bubbles.[23]
In sum, the literature has paid less attention to housing start disparities at the regional levels. One of the novel features of this study is that it measures the effects of changes in conventional mortgage interest rates on housing starts not only at the national level, but also at the regional levels. The results of this study have important policy implications for returning stability to the housing market and avoiding another potential bailout plan in the future.
The housing start variable is the main component that determines the net increment to the stock of housing supply. This component, which is withdrawn from the stock of the supply, is called wastage, which refers to ruins, damages, or other outflows from the stock. Thus, housing starts (HF), which serves as a proxy for completed new housing units coming onto the market over a given period, can be defined as the change in the housing stock (HS) less the outflow from the stock or Wastage.
HF = HS – Wastage
Housing starts today reflect differences between the future expected stock supply of housing relative to the expected future stock demand (HD) for housing. Thus, in an equilibrium condition, housing stock equals expected stock demand:
Therefore, we can rewrite the first equation as follows:
HF = HD – Wastage
This paper, consistent with many other empirical studies, concentrates on the supply side of the market. Previous Heritage reports have already discussed the demand side of the housing market.[24] Indeed, the interest rate affects the demand side for the real estate, which in turn affects the housing starts. In fact, just a few empirical studies have used simultaneous equations to determine the responsiveness of supply curve to prices and changes in interest rates.[25] However, a simultaneous system of equations may lead to coefficients that are not asymptotic or that may converge in asymptotic distribution at a lower convergence rate. More importantly, the asymptotic distribution may not be normal when a simultaneous system of equations is estimated.[26] Therefore, we will use a single equation to estimate the housing starts at the national and regional levels.
Based on some empirical studies, the mortgage interest rate and housing prices are the most important channels that affect housing starts, particularly during the booms.[27] However, other economic fundamentals also affect home buyers' decisions and play an important role in shaping housing starts. Therefore, this study attempts to include these relevant economic fundamentals in the model. Indeed, we extend Myles Ojala's model[28] to estimate the elasticity of housing starts to conventional mortgage interest rates compared with economic fundamentals. Ojala uses availability of mortgages, mortgage interest rate, price inflation, and savings rate. Our model includes other fundamentals, including real GDP, price-to-rent ratio, household assets and debts, home prices, and vacancy rates.
Theoretically, the quantity of housing starts is positively correlated with mortgage availability, savings rate, real GDP, price-to-rent ratio, household assets, and median home prices and negatively correlated with mortgage interest rate, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, household debt, and vacancy rate. We include CPI because the mortgage interest rate variable is a nominal interest rate. Indeed, to measure the real expected interest rate, which is an important factor in shaping the beliefs of home builders, we have included the CPI in the model. However, to ensure that the mortgage interest rate and CPI inflation are not correlated, we conducted a colineraity test and the Granger causality test and report the results in the estimated results section.
This analysis uses quarterly data from the first quarter of 1980 through the fourth quarter of 2010 to estimate the effects of changes in mortgage interest rates on housing starts. The list of variables, their summary statistics, and their sources are presented in Table 1.[29] Data on national and regional vacancy rates, housing starts, property taxes, and ownership rates were obtained from the Census Bureau.[30] The data on down payments and mortgage loans were retrieved from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).[31] Data on family income, median home prices, and adjustable mortgage interest rates are from Realtors Research.[32] Data for the rest of the variables are from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.[33]
Stylized Facts on Housing Starts. The data indicate that housing starts at the national level have been quite volatile since 1960, increasing from 1990 to 2005, before dropping dramatically in the second quarter of 2006 when the housing bubble burst. (See Chart 1.) Housing starts in the fourth quarter of 2010 totaled 539,000 units—its lowest level, with a huge drop from 2,036,000 units in the fourth quarter of 2003. One of the main reasons for this drastic chute is a sharp drop in median home prices.
Regional Housing Starts. The data for housing starts by region, which are available from the first quarter of 1993, indicate that housing starts in the South have exceeded every other region. (See Chart 2.) Mayer and Somerville attribute this to employment and population growth in the South.[34] In decreasing order, housing starts in the Midwest, West, and Northeast closely move together. The lower levels of housing starts in the Northeast and West can be attributed to the tighter land restrictions in these regions.
Mayer and Somerville argue that environmental regulations and development constraints in the Northeast and in California, Oregon, and Washington—a large part of the West—delay home builders' response to changes in economic conditions and, as a result, to lower levels of housing starts.[35] Land regulations trigger distortions in land and housing prices, which create domino effects on the housing starts.
Randal O'Toole argues:
[A]t a state level the biggest housing bubbles, with prices rising more than 80 percent after 2000 and then dropping by 30 to 60 percent since their peak, were in California, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and Rhode Island. All these states except Nevada have growth management laws.… New York and District of Columbia had bubbles but did not have growth management. But New York City and Washington, D.C., are both hemmed in by states that used growth management. A few states, such as Minnesota, Montana, and New Mexico, came close to meeting the bubble definition but did not have housing prices rise by the full 50 percent. These states did not have mandatory statewide growth management, but some of their major cities practiced growth management.[36]
O'Toole finds a very close relationship between regions with growth management planning and regions that have observed a bubble burst. He concludes that land-use regulation was the single most important factor in the housing bubble of 2006; therefore, deregulating housing markets could prevent another bubble in the future.[37] Obviously, although land regulations played an important role in creating the bubble in some states, it may not have been the single most important factor, since both demand and supply-side factors were in tandem.
Wendell Cox and Ronald D. Utt argue that advocates of zoning and environmental regulations have been trying to reshape American communities to conform to their smart growth policies. Since the 1970s, fast-growing communities, such as those in California and Oregon imposed more land-use regulations than other states to discourage people from moving to their communities. In the late 1990s, the anti-suburban advocacy and New Urbanism movements began to implement zoning and other forms of land-use regulations to deter growth or limit access to residents and businesses with specific demographic features. To achieve these goals, many communities adopted more restrictive land-use regulations and imposed impact fees on new houses. Minimum lot sizes, growth boundaries, green belts, and other types of regulations added to the cost of a house by creating artificial land shortages, which in turn raised home prices. In fact, land-use regulations decreased housing starts, especially in communities in the West and South with more land-use regulations.[38]
Regional Vacancy Rates. The South has the highest observed vacancy rate among the four census regions. The Midwest, West, and Northeast rank in decreasing order after the South. The vacancy rate in the Northeast exceeded the West and Midwest from 1993 through 2001, but has reversed the trend since 2001. (See Chart 3.) In short, the vacancy rate in the West has moved closely with the vacancy rates in the Midwest and Northeast. The only outlier is the South, which had the highest vacancy rate. One reason besides the land-use restrictions might be the higher population density, as discussed by Haltom and Sarte.[39] Another reason is the higher rent-to-price ratio in the South compared with other regions, as discussed by Sean D. Campbell, Morris A. Davis, Joshua Gallin, and Robert F. Martin.[40] (For more detailed data on the regional disparities in rent-to-price ratios, see Appendix B.)
The South had the highest rent-to-price ratio from 1975 to 2007. This may be attributed to the growth of population and employment in the region, as a result of its growth management plan. The higher employment rate has led to higher demand for real estate, which in turn, has led to the higher rent-to-price ratio in the region.
Regional Sale to Inventory Ratios. The sale-to-inventory ratio at the regional level has been volatile since the early 1990s. (See Chart 4.) However, the sale-to-inventory ratio in the South has exceeded every other region. The Midwest, West, and Northeast rank in decreasing order. The sale-to-inventory ratio has been lower in the Northeast and West compared with the South and Midwest because the housing meltdown hit the Northeast and West more severely than other regions. Furthermore, land use is more heavily regulated in these regions, and many scholars have argued land restrictions have led to higher housing prices among these regions.
A seminal study by Theo S. Eicher uses Census data for 2,730 jurisdictions and 2006 Census public micro sample data. He uses land-use regulations as independent variables, whether imposed by governors and legislators, courts, growth management bodies, or residential buildings. He finds a statistically significant relationship between land restrictions and higher housing prices.[41]
In a similar study, Stephen Malpezzi, Gregory H. Chun, and Richard K. Green analyze the determinants of housing prices with a particular focus on the supply-side determinants such as regulatory and natural constraints. They use a set of regulatory measures including rent controls, land use, zoning regulations, infrastructure policies, and building and subdivision codes. They find that housing prices are related to physical constraint, population, income, and demographic variables and that regulations drive up rents and housing prices. They conclude that moving from less stringent to more stringent regulated areas increases rents from 13 percent to 26 percent and housing prices by 32 percent to 46 percent.[42]
Using 1990 Census population data, Richard K. Green traces the effects of land-use restrictions on housing prices. He uses six land-use restrictions—forbidding mobile homes, minimum lot width requirements, minimum frontage setbacks requirements, minimum street width requirements, sidewalk requirements, and curb and gutter requirements—and a variable indicating whether the community has a written standard for home prices. He finds that an additional 10 feet setback regulation increases housing prices between 6.1 percent and 7.8 percent. Forbidding mobile homes pushes up prices by between 7.1 percent and 8.5 percent, and subdivision requirements for curbs and gutters are associated with higher rents of 10 to 12 percent.[43]
Edward Glaeser argues that restricting housing supply leads to greater volatility in housing prices.[44] He compares the median home prices of Boston with prices in Atlanta. The Atlanta region issues about seven times as many permits as the Boston region. He finds that median housing prices in Boston are higher and more volatile than housing prices in Atlanta, which neither shared the Boston Boom when prices doubled between 1980–1988 nor suffered from Boston's housing bust when prices lost 50 percent during 1988–1994. He concludes that land-use restrictions lead to higher prices.[45]
In a more recent study, Huang and Tang use data for 300 U.S. cities and examine land-use regulations and land scarcity to see how they are related to housing price cycles between 2000 and 2009. They find that more land-regulated cities experienced greater price booms between January 2000 and June 2006 and greater price declines between June 2006 and July 2009. They argue that the land regulations amplified the boom-bust behavior of the sub-prime mortgage market.[46]
Regardless of the region under investigation and the type of restriction imposed, land-use restrictions can have major impacts on housing prices and price volatility, which in turn can tremendously affect housing starts and sale revenues. As a result, we expect lower sale-to-inventory ratios in more land-restricted areas such as the Northeast and West. (See Chart 4.)
Econometric Results at the National Level. The equation described in the theoretical section was estimated at the national and regional levels to measure the elasticity of housing starts to the conventional mortgage interest rate, controlling for economic fundamentals such as household assets, family income, personal income, real GDP, saving rate, price-to-rent ratio, and the property tax rate. This analysis used four different specifications (Models 1 to 4). The first model relates housing starts to mortgage availability, median home prices, household assets, the S&P index, family income, CPI, savings rate, mortgage interest rate, and business cycle index. The second model uses mortgage availability, price-to-rent ratio, ownership, S&P index, real GDP, CPI, household debt, vacancy rate, mortgage interest rate, and business cycle index. The third model includes mortgage availability, home prices, price-to-rent ratio, real GDP, CPI, vacancy rate, mortgage interest rate, and business cycle. Finally, the fourth model uses all the variables in the third model plus household assets. All variables are in logarithm form. Therefore, the estimated coefficients are elasticities. In addition, all models have been tested for robustness.
The estimated results, presented in Table 2, indicate that the elasticity of housing starts to mortgage interest rate is very small, particularly when compared with economic fundamentals such as real GDP, CPI, and price-to-rent ratio. The results indicate that these independent variables explain more than 88 percent of changes in housing starts.
Because it is important to distinguish between the expected interest rate and nominal interest rate, the CPI level was included in the model. Indeed, because the mortgage interest rate is a nominal interest rate, it is important to modify it for the expected inflation. Therefore, to adjust for the inflation rate, the CPI was included in the model. However, to ensure that independent variables are not correlated, particularly the mortgage interest rate and the CPI, the analysis used the variance inflation factor (VIF) to test for multicolinearity. The VIF test results suggest no colinearity between the mortgage interest rate and the CPI, because VIF > 10. (See table in Appendix B.)
Many economists argue that the presence of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the secondary mortgage market affects the primary mortgage market rate. Lawrence J. White argues the GSEs' activities cause the interest rates on the confirming mortgages to be about 20–25 basis points lower than the rates on jumbo mortgages.[47] In another paper, W. Scott Frame and Lawrence J. White conjecture that shutting down the GSEs would cause mortgage interest rates to jump 25 basis points.[48] Several econometric studies have found that the interest rates without Fannie and Freddie would be 20–35 basis points higher, but the estimates vary substantially depending on the empirical specification, sample, and time period.[49] Based on these and many other empirical studies we assume that without Fannie and Freddie the housing market for 1980–2010 would have seen mortgage interest rates average 25 basis points higher than what actually prevailed.[50] In fact, this would mean a one-time jump in the mortgage interest rate, which affects the intercept of the regression model, not its slope. Therefore, it is a transitional, short-term effect. The long-run effects on macroeconomic variables are considered in a forthcoming Heritage paper on the economic effects of eliminating the GSEs in a general equilibrium model.[51]
Based on the estimated results of this Heritage study, the average elasticity of housing starts to mortgage interest rate at the national level is 0.20. To illustrate what a 25 basis point increase in the mortgage interest rate can do to the housing starts, we use the elasticity of housing starts to mortgage interest rate, 0.20. Multiplying this elasticity by a 25-basis-point increase in the mortgage interest rate yields a 0.05 percent reduction in the housing starts (0.2 * 0.25 = 0.05). In other words when compared with changes in other fundamentals, such as real GDP, or CPI, a small upward shift in the conventional mortgage interest rate has a minor, negative, one-time effect on housing starts. As a matter of fact any small change in real GDP or consumer price index (CPI) would affect housing starts much more than any change in mortgage interest rates. For instance, a 2 percent increase in CPI reduces the housing starts by 8 to 10 percent, which is substantially larger than the effects of the changes in mortgage interest rates that would result from shutting down Fannie and Freddie.
The results of this study are in accordance with those of Christian Pierdzioch, Jan-Christoph Rulke, and Georg Stadtmann, who found that expected housing starts are mainly affected by macroeconomic fundamentals, such as real GDP, CPI, and expected inflation, not the short-term mortgage interest rate, which plays a very small role in shaping housing starts.[52]
Econometric Results at the Regional Level. It is important to examine regional results in this study because different regions have different land-use regulations, population densities, and growth management plans. Across regions, we may observe that changes in mortgage interest rates have different effects on housing starts.
Furthermore, the sum of regional elasticities does not add up to the national elasticity for many reasons. First, the independent variables in the regression models in the national and regional levels are different, so the elasticities will be different. Second, even if the independent variables were the same, elasticity is not a simple variable like population, in which the total of regional populations equals the national population. The sum of regional elasticities—the percentage change of housing starts to percentage change of mortgage interest rates—does not necessarily add up to the national level. Third, many empirical studies have found differences between regional elasticities and national elasticities.
The Census Bureau divides the U.S. into four main geographic regions: West, Midwest, South, and Northeast. This classification is based purely on geography, not demographics or economics. Because the Census Bureau has historically released regional-level data for empirical studies, they continue to release the data in the same format to avoid disrupting the time series data on housing starts.
This section measures the effects of changes in mortgage interest rates compared with other economic fundamentals on housing starts at the regional level. The estimated results indicate that housing starts in the Northeast are elastic to mortgage loan availability, rent, personal income, real GDP, and property tax rates. (See Table 3.) However, the most important factors shaping housing starts in the Northeast are property tax rate, personal income, and real GDP.
The results also indicate that the most important factors in shaping housing starts in the Midwest are family income, personal income, real GDP, and property tax rate. Interestingly, the elasticity of housing starts to conventional mortgage interest rates in both the Midwest and the Northeast is 0.02.
For the South, the most important factors driving housing starts are family income, personal income, and property tax rate. However, the elasticity of housing starts to mortgage interest rates in the South is larger than in the Northeast and Midwest. In other words, changes in conventional mortgage interest rates affect housing starts in the South more than housing starts in the Northeast and Midwest. As discussed earlier, this might be the result of higher population density and growing employment in the South.
In the West and the South, housing starts are more sensitive to family income and property tax rate. The econometric results of this study indicate that the elasticity of housing starts to conventional mortgage interest rate in the South and West equals 0.04. In other words, a 25-basis-point increase in the conventional mortgage interest rate, as a result of shutting down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, reduces housing starts by only 0.01 percent in the South and West, and by 0.005 percent in the Northeast and Midwest.[53] These results closely match those of Gupta, Jurgilas, Kabundi, and Miller who find that the response of housing starts in the West differs from the national response and other regions.
All in all, despite regional disparities in income and land-use regulations, the elasticities of housing starts to mortgage interest rates are very small for all regions, particularly when compared with economic fundamentals such as GDP, family income, and property tax rates. In other words, changes in economic fundamentals will affect housing starts much more than changes in conventional mortgage interest rates.
The results of this empirical study suggest that conventional mortgage interest rates play a minor role in shaping housing starts at both the national and regional levels. The results are in accordance with those of Ewing and Wang, who find that mortgage interest rates play a minor role in housing starts. The regional results closely match those of Gupta, Jurgilas, Kabundi, and Miller who find that housing starts respond differently in the West. The results also indicate that the South and West are more responsive to changes in mortgage interest rates than the Midwest or Northeast because the South and West have more land-use restrictions and environmental regulations, which intensify the responsiveness of house builders to changes in mortgage interest rates. The South also reacts differently than other regions to changes in mortgage interest rates because of its higher population density. Therefore, shutting down Fannie and Freddie will likely affect the South and West more significantly than the Northeast and Midwest.
One of the reasons that some studies have found higher elasticity of housing starts to mortgage interest rate is that they have controlled for only a few—or zero—economic fundamentals in their studies. The results of this paper indicate that the economic fundamentals—such as real GDP, CPI, household assets, household debts, family income, and price-to-rent ratio—primarily shape housing starts at the national level. However, in the South and West, personal income, real GDP, and property tax rates drive housing starts. The higher elasticities of housing starts to property tax rates at the regional level suggest that policymakers should exercise more caution in raising property taxes because they may drastically reduce the number of housing starts and residential investment, particularly in the Northeast.
In sum, the results of this study based on 30 years of data cast doubt on the claim that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac actually increase homeownership at the national and regional levels. Assuming the housing and finance sectors someday return to normal, and that this evidence from the past sheds light on the future, these results indicate that phasing out the GSEs would minimally affect housing starts and home ownership at the national and regional levels—at most a 0.01 percent drop in the housing starts in the South and West and 0.005 percent drop in the Northeast and Midwest.
Indeed, regardless of the level of aggregation or the region, the results of this study confirm that economic fundamentals, not conventional mortgage interest rates, primarily shape housing starts. The government and GSEs are leveraging the wrong instrument because subsidized mortgage interest rates have minimal impact on housing starts at the national and regional levels. Moreover, as discussed by many scholars, land-use regulations play an important role in home price volatility and housing starts because home builders' beliefs are shaped by the regulatory environment and their investment returns, rather than by mortgage interest rates. Continuing to subsidize the mortgage interest rates is a waste of taxpayers' money because mortgage interest rates do not significantly influence home builders' decisions.
- Nahid Kalbasi Anaraki, Ph.D. is a Visiting Fellow for Special Projects in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation.
Show references in this report
[1]Nahid Kalbasi Anaraki, "A Housing Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Effect on Homeownership," Heritage Foundation Special Report No. 190, June 11, 2012, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/06/a-housing-market-without-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-effect-on-the-homeownership-rate, and "A Housing Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Effect on Home Prices," Heritage Foundation Special Report No. 105, April 18, 2012, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/04/a-housing-market-without-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-effect-on-home-prices.
[2]Charles G. Nathanson and Eric Zwick, "Arrested Development: A Theory of Supply-Side Speculation in the Housing Market," working paper, February 2012, http://www.ericzwick.com/vegas/full_draft.pdf (accessed June 28, 2012).
[3]Edward L. Glaeser, "The Economic Impact of Restricting Housing Supply," Harvard University, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston Policy Brief No. 2006-3, May 2006, http://www.americandreamcoalition.org/housing/housing_final.pdf (accessed June 28, 2012).
[4]Ibid., p. 5.
[5]Randal O'Toole, American Nightmare: How Government Undermines the Dream of Homeownership (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2012), pp. 188–192.
[6]Ibid., pp. 193–205.
[7]Denise DiPasquale and William C. Wheaton, "Housing Market Dynamics and the Future of Housing Prices," Journal of Urban Economics,Vol. 35, No. 1 (January 1994), pp. 1–27.
[8]Christopher Mayer and Tsuriel Somerville, "Unifying Empirical and Theoretical Models of Housing Supply," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Working Paper No. 96-12, December 1996, http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/wp/wp1996/wp96_12.pdf (accessed June 28, 2012).
[9]John B. Taylor, "Housing and Monetary Policy," Stanford University and the Hoover Institution, prepared remarks for policy panel at the Symposium on Housing, Housing Finance and Monetary Policy, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, September 2007, http://www.kc.frb.org/PUBLICAT/SYMPOS/2007/PDF/2007.09.04.Taylor.pdf (accessed January 28, 2012).
[10]Dennis Norman, "Almost 11 Million Homeowners Are Under Water on Their Mortgages," November 24, 2009, http://realestateconsumernews.com/financing/almost-11-million-homeowners-are-underwater-on-their-mortgage (accessed May 28, 2012).
[12]David C. John, "Free the Housing Finance Market from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2577, July 12, 2011, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/free-the-housing-finance-market-from-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac.
[13]For a summary of the literature review, see Appendix A.
[14]J. R. Kearl, "Inflation, Mortgage, and Housing," The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 87, No. 5 (October 1979), pp. 1115–1138, http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1833085.pdf (accessed August 28, 2012).
[15]Christopher J. Mayer and C. Tsuriel Somerville, "Regional Housing Supply and Credit Constraints," New England Economic Review (November/December 1996), pp. 39–51, http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/neer/neer1996/neer696c.pdf (accessed June 8, 2012).
[16]Bradley T. Ewing and Yongsheng Wang, "Single Housing Starts and Macroeconomic Activity: An Application of Generalized Impulse Responses Analysis," Applied Economics Letter, Vol. 12, No. 3 (2005), pp. 187–190.
[17]Edward L. Glaeser, Joseph Gyourko, and Raven E. Saks, "Urban Growth and Housing Supply," National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 11097, January 2005, http://www.nber.org/papers/w11097 (accessed March 7, 2012).
[18]Rangan Gupta, Marius Jurgilas, Alain Kabundi, and Stephen M. Miller, "Monetary Policy and Housing Sector Dynamics in a Large Scale Bayesian Vector Autoregression Model," University of Pretoria, Department of Economics Working Paper No. 2009-13, June 2009, pp. 1–22, http://www.docstoc.com/docs/19587971/Monetary-Policy-and-Housing-Sector-Dynamics-in-a-Large-Scale (accessed January 22, 2012).
[19]John B. Taylor, "Housing and Monetary Policy," National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 13682, December 2007, http://www.nber.org/papers/w13682 (accessed August 28, 2012).
[20]Myles Ojala, "What Drives the United States Housing Starts," Bryant Economic Research Papers, Vol. 3, No. 12, (Spring 2010), http://www.bryant.edu/wps/wcmresources/libfiles/economics/research/Vol_3_No_12.pdf (accessed January 25, 2012).
[21]Rangan Gupta, Marius Jurgilas, Stephen M. Miller, and Dylan van Wyk, "Financial Market Liberalization, Monetary Policy, and Housing Sector Dynamics," International Business and Economics Research Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1 (January 2012), pp. 69–82, http://faculty.unlv.edu/smiller/LIBERALIZATION_PAPER.pdf (accessed January 25, 2012).
[22]Allen C. Goodman and Thomas G. Thibodeau, "Where Are the Speculative Bubbles in the U.S. Housing Market," Journal of Housing Economics, Vol. 17, No. 2 (June 2008), pp. 117–137, http://www.econ.wayne.edu/agoodman/research/pubs/gt+bubble.pdf (accessed January 26, 2012).
[23]Nathanson and Zwick, "Arrested Development."
[24]Anaraki, "A Housing Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Effect on Homeownership," and "A Housing Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Effect on Home Prices."
[25]John M. Mason, "The Supply Curve of Housing," University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School Working Paper No. 12-75, http://finance.wharton.upenn.edu/~rlwctr/papers/7512.PDF (accessed June 29, 2012).
[26]Daniel McFadden, "Simultaneous Equations," chap. 6, in Economics 240B syllabus, http://emlab.berkeley.edu/~mcfadden/e240b_f01/ch6.pdf (accessed June 29, 2012).
[27]See Haifang Huang and Yao Tang, "Residential Land Use Regulations and the US Housing Price Cycle Between 2000 and 2009," University of Alberta, Department of Economics Working Paper No. 2010-11, November 2010, http://www.economics.ualberta.ca/~/media/economics/FacultyAndStaff/WPs/WP2010-11-Huang.pdf (accessed June 29, 2012); Min Hwang and John M. Quigley, "Economic Fundamentals in Local Housing Markets: Evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Regions," Journal of Regional Science, Vol. 46, No. 3 (August 2006), pp. 425–453, http://urbanpolicy.berkeley.edu/pdf/HQ_JORS06.pdf (accessed July 2, 2012); and DiPasquale and Wheaton, "Housing Market Dynamics and the Future of Housing Prices," pp. 1–27.
[28]Ojala, "What Drives the United States Housing Starts," p. 4.
[29]The data used in this paper is available upon request to the author or The Heritage Foundation.
[30]U.S. Census Bureau, "Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (CPS/HVS)—Historical Tables," Tables 10 and 14, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/hvs/historic/index.html (accessed August 28, 2012).
[31]Federal Housing Finance Agency, "Historical Summary Tables," Table 9, http://www.fhfa.gov/Default.aspx?Page=252 (accessed November 5, 2011).
[32]National Association of Realtors, "Quarterly Data on Median Price Single-Family Home, Adjustable Mortgage Interest Rate, and Family Income," e-mail to author, November 6, 2011.
[33]Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED Economic Data, Leading Index for the United States (USSLIND), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/USSLIND/downloaddata?cid=32262 (accessed August 28, 2012); Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DJIA (accessed August 28, 2012); Real GDP per Capita in the United States (USARGDPC), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/USARGDPC (accessed August 28, 2012); Total Assets—Balance Sheet of Households and Nonprofit Organizations (TABSHNO), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/TABSHNO/downloaddata?cid=32258 (accessed August 28, 2012); 30-Year Mortgage Interest Rate (MORTG), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/MORTG (accessed August 28, 2012); Private Residential Fixed Investment (PRFI), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PRFI (accessed August 28, 2012); Personal Saving Rate (PSAVERT), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PSAVERT/downloaddata?cid=112 (accessed August 28, 2012); and S&P 500 Stock Price Index (SP500), http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/SP500/downloaddata?cid=32255/ (accessed August 28, 2012).
[34]Mayer and Somerville, "Regional Housing Supply and Credit Constraints."
[36]O'Toole, American Nightmare, pp. 193–195.
[37]Ibid., p. 205.
[38]Wendell Cox and Ronald D. Utt, "Housing Affordability: Smart Growth Abuses Are Creating a Rent Belt of High-Cost Areas," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 1999, January 2007, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/01/housing-affordability-smart-growth-abuses-are-creating-a-rent-belt-of-high-cost-areas.
[39]Renee Courtois Haltom and Pierre-Daniel G. Sarte, "What Trends Exist in Regional Housing Market Data?" Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Brief No. 10-11, November 2010, http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/economic_brief/2010/pdf/eb_10-11.pdf (accessed June 9, 2012).
[40]Sean D. Campbell, Morris A. Davis, Joshua Gallin, and Robert F. Martin, "What Moves Housing Markets: A Variance Decomposition of the Rent–Price Ratio," Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 66, No. 2 (September 2009), pp. 90–102, http://morris.marginalq.com/whatmoves_files/2009-06.whatmoveshousing.pdf (accessed August 28, 2012).
[41]Theo S. Eicher, "Housing Prices and Land Use Regulations: A Study of 250 Major US Cities," University of Washington, May 2008, http://depts.washington.edu/teclass/landuse/Housing051608.pdf (accessed May 31, 2012).
[42]Stephen Malpezzi, Gregory H. Chun, and Richard K. Green, "New Place-to-Place Housing Price Indexes for U.S. Metropolitan Areas, and Their Determinants," Journal of Real Estate Economics, Vol. 26, No. 2 (June 1998), pp. 235–274.
[43]For a discussion of the Green study, see John M. Quigley and Larry A. Rosenthal, "The Effects of Land Use Regulations on the Price of Housing: What Do We Know? What Can We Learn?" Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2005), p. 88, http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscpe/vol8num1/ch3.html (accessed August 28, 2012). See also Richard K. Green, "Land Use Regulation and the Price of Housing in a Suburban Wisconsin County," Journal of Housing Economics, Vol. 8, No. 2 (June 1999), pp. 144–159.
[44]Glaeser, "The Economic Impact of Restricting Housing Supply."
[45]Ibid., p. 5.
[46]Huang and Tang, "Residential Land Use Regulations and the US Housing Price Cycle."
[47]Lawrence J. White, "Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Housing Finance: Why True Privatization Is Good Public Policy," Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 528, October 2004, http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa528.pdf (accessed May 4, 2012).
[48]W. Scott Frame and Lawrence J. White, "Fussing and Fuming over Fannie and Freddie: How Much Smoke, How Much Fire?" Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Working Paper No. 2004-26, October 2004, pp. 7–8, http://www.frbatlanta.org/filelegacydocs/wp0426.pdf (accessed November 25, 2011).
[49]See David Torregerosa, "Interest Rate Differentials Between Jumbo and Conforming Mortgages, 1995–2000, Congressional Budget Office, May 2001, http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/28xx/doc2840/interestrate.pdf (accessed August 28, 2012), and W. Scott Frame and Larry D. Wall, "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's Voluntary Initiatives: Lessons from Banking," Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Economic Review, 1st quarter, 2002, https://www.frbatlanta.org/filelegacydocs/frame_wall2.pdf (accessed August 28, 2012).
[50]For more information on the 25-basis-point increase in mortgage interest rate due to liquidating Fannie and Freddie, see the literature review in Nahid Kalbasi Anaraki, unpublished report, The Heritage Foundation, Center for Data Analysis, May 2012.
[51]John L. Ligon and William W. Beach, "A Housing Market Free from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The Economic Effects of Eliminating the Housing Government Sponsored Enterprises in General Equilibrium," Heritage Foundation Special Report, forthcoming.
[52]Christian Pierdzioch, Jan-Christoph Rulke, and Georg Stadtmann, "Housing Starts in Canada, Japan, and United States: Do Forecasters Heard?" Campus for Finance, July 2010, p. 18, Table 2, http://campus-for-finance.com/filebrowser/files/Papers/49a40606437_name.pdf (accessed August 28, 2012).
[53]The elasticities in different regions do not necessarily add up to 1.


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|hope college > academic departments > physics
With over $1 million in recent grants for renovation and research, the Department of Physics at Hope College is one of the leading undergraduate
physics departments in the country. Student-faculty collaborative
research has been funded by
This department is often cited as a model in the preparation of scientists for graduate study. Introductory courses are taught in the General Physics Lab. Advanced students cut their teeth in the advanced lab.
Upon joining the department, physics majors are invited to join a group. The groups in the Hope Physics Department are
Physics is an investigative science testing theory against experimental measurements. It is the student-faculty research programs that set Hope Physics apart from that at most schools. All of the research grants and all of the equipment grants support the education of undergraduates exclusively. You need to be neither a graduate student nor a senior to get your hands dirty being a physicist in this department. Whether running experiments on campus, at national laboratories or at international laboratories, Hope's physics majors are given the responsibilities and privileges of graduate researchers.
Read about the Astrophysics Group and their work with space telescope data in the Grand Rapids Press.
Peter Gonthier spent Spring Break '13 in Honduras. Here he is teaching a dynamic group of elementary school students about astronomy.
In recognition of his leadership in undergraduate research, Professor Paul DeYoung has been elevated to Fellow of the American Physical Society.
A total of five students who participated in research at Hope College during the summer of 2012 had their work selected to present at the recent American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting. - See more...


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>Runner's World - My Event Ratings>
In short: Loved it!In full: Great course - friendly from the start (even before the start) Stunning views, challenging hills, Very regular checkpoints which were well stocked and manned by friendly marshals - the cider at mile 20 is always a bonus but on this occasion there was also pink champagne and strawberries as well... Well you don't often get to see a marriage proposal at the start of a race, do you?Lots of variety of food at checkpoints ranging from sausages and scotch eggs, tomatoes, watermelon, oranges, crisps, pretzels, sweets... And those amazing home made cakesGreat bling! Top medal, t-shirt and buff / muffAll in all a top day! Well done White Star Running!Date of review: June 29, 2015
In short: Stunning courseIn full: Great organisation at the start, with the use of the school all day.The route was well marked with plenty of checkpoints providing tea, coffee, cola, soup and sweet and savoury snacks. Marshals were very friendly and helpful, providing a smile and a chat even to those of us bringing up the rear of the 40 mile event.Great t-shirt at the end, with hot food and a showerStunning scenery, mixed terrain with some gorgeous views. This was my first time at this event and this year the course was altered slightly due to flooding, so that it was 2 laps of the 20 mile course. This meant that those of us running the 40 were treated to "that" hill twice! A bonus... Excellent course, brilliant organisation and all for the bargain price of £15. Would definitely do again.Date of review: April 7, 2013
In short: Well organised 20 mile road raceIn full: Really enjoyed this one - 2 laps of country roads, well marshalled at every point - with lots of drink stations, some with energy drinks.Friendly atmosphere, first lap included the runners doing the ten mile race as well.Decent goodlie bag, loved the Roadrunner medal (although a separate medal for 20 mile runners would have been nice)Use of the school with tea and coffee on sale was great, the weather was great but the school would have been especially useful on a cold, wet daySomehow managed to squeeze a pb, my friend also pb'd so all in all a good day!Thank you to the Reading Roadrunners! :)Date of review: February 21, 2013
In short: Mixed terrain, coastal path routeIn full: Nice course - mixed terrain along the coastal path. Like many other runners was unsure whether to wear trail shoes after the recent deluges but given that a large amount of the course is on hard surfaces, opted for road shoes.Well organised race, lots of water stations which were well stocked with water, squash, bananas, sweets and biscuits as well as brandy and mulled wine.Friendly atmosphere - spent most of the event beaming.Great goodie bag and medal, and the use of the pyramids before and after the event was hugely appreciated - as was the free soup or tea and mince pies. A wonderful last marathon for 2012... thank you!Date of review: December 29, 2012
In short: Stunning viewsIn full: Great scenery, great pitstops with jaffa cakes, flat coke (very welcome in the 2nd half), sweets, friendly marshals and a grub van at the end.Hilly course on tarmac - some great downhill running! Decent medal at the end and the use of the hotel was a bonusNot too keen on runing along the A20 path but the rest of the roads are quiet and very scenic. And hey! You can always plug into your ipod along the A20 path... All in all a well-organised, well-marshalled event with a small, friendly field of like minded runners.Date of review: November 21, 2012
In short: Hills, rooty forest trails and great runningIn full: Great fun! Really enjoyed this race. Transport to the start and back to ark and ride worked beautifully. Stunning course, well marshalled with regular water stations serving bananas as well.A great day!Date of review: October 9, 2012
In short: Self-styled "UK's most iconic ultra"? Big claim, didn't deliverIn full: Very pretty scenery. After the first 20 miles on dull roads, that is. We were finally treated to a patch of Hadrian's Wall that was off-road. Vindolanda was memorable and The Hill directly afterwards great fun. Running alongside the river, approaching the bridges, was certainly iconic.Sadly the rest of the run didn't really deliver on the promise given in the blurb. Having been emailed advice that both trail and road shoes were equally appropriate, my friend opted for trail shoes. After 20 miles of road, her shins were not in a good way. We all understand that there had to be some last minute changes to the course because of weather conditions, but it would have helped if we had been told that the course would be about 85-90% hard surfaces.The soup at Vindolanda was ok but it would have been helpful if some complex carbs had been on offer, especially for people who were refuelling for the next day. Even the catering vans only sold burgers, hog roast etc. The no of wise at the end was just that - no pasta, only a roll to go with it.The first part of the course was well marked out but it became confusing towards the end, could really have been better marshalled towards the end stagesPit stops were really good - sandwiches, cakes, hot drinks, fruit, chocolate.It seems a shame that the medals were so nondescript, and the same for everyone, whether they were running expert, challenger or relay. The ribbon on mine unravelled, the same thing happened to one of my team mates. When the race had finished there were no ladies medium t'shirts left - only small mens, which didn't fit.All in all I don't see how Rat Race can justify charging such extortionate prices. £200 for a 2-day event seems really overpriced.Date of review: June 27, 2012
In short: Easy first half... and then the "sting" in the tailDate of review: February 23, 2010
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text:
Wineke: Non-violence is a non-starter for Rush Limbaugh
C3K columnist questions some of Limbaugh's recent comments
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s might have been a lot more effective if African-Americans had only had the good sense to abandon non-violence, radio personality Rush Limbaugh suggests.
"If a lot of African-Americans back in the 60s had guns and the legal right to use them for self-defense, you think they would have needed Selma?" Limbaugh asked.
"I don't know. I'm just asking. If John Lewis, who says he was beat upside the head, if John Lewis had had a gun, would he have been beat upside the head on that bridge?"
Limbaugh, of course, is opposed to gun control measures. John Lewis, a civil rights icon who is now a Congressman from Georgia, was beaten during the legendary march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery for voting rights legislation in 1965. He didn't say he was beaten, he suffered a concussion.
But that's neither here nor there. Limbaugh is raising a question that has been recurring with disturbing frequency on the part of right wing agitators during the past few weeks: Would America's race problem have been resolved more easily if African-Americans had had weapons?
It is a particularly stupid question, but it is a question worth considering.
Would John Lewis have been beaten if he had been carrying a gun on that march?
No, he would not have been beaten. He would have been killed.
These marchers were up against the police establishment of the State of Alabama. They were attacked by police dogs. They were beaten savagely. Does Limbaugh honestly think that Gov. George Wallace would have hesitated to order his troops to open fire if the marchers started brandishing weapons?
Not only would Lewis have been killed, but the segregationists would have used the conflict to deny credibility to the entire movement. There would have been no Civil Rights Movement.
The genius of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his colleagues was to build the moral credibility of their cause through the use of non-violence. They followed the teachings of Ghandi – and the teachings of Jesus – to suffer violence but not respond in kind.
There were certainly people who thought that was a weak position. People like Limbaugh who worship power and call it principle would never understand.
But, in the end, it was Martin Luther King and John Lewis who prevailed. King was assassinated, but the Voting Rights Act became the law of the land – though it is once more under attack. The Rush Limbaughs of the 1960s crawled back under their rocks.
I expect the current Limbaugh is losing his audience, too. It's about time. He's not only wrong, he is stupid.
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Surrounded by the highlands and valleys of the Berkshires as well as the art and culture thriving amidst the historic and elegant cities of Massachusetts, there isn't a more romantic and charming... more
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text:
Kenneth Shampo
NIAGARA, Wis. – Kenneth "Clicky" Shampo, 81, of Niagara, passed away Saturday, Jan 12, 2013, at Dickinson County Healthcare System in Iron Mountain.
He was born Dec. 3, 1931, in Niagara, son of the late William and Elizabeth (Jardeen) Shampo. Clicky was a lifelong resident of Niagara, graduating from Niagara High School. After graduation, Clicky worked at Kimberly Clark Paper Mill until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.
Clicky served as a cook from January 1954 to February 1956. While in the service, he received the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with two Engagement Stars, United Nations Service Medal, and the Navy Occupation Service Medal with a European Clasp. After being discharged from the Navy, he returned to Kimberly Clark Paper Mill working in the woodyard until retiring April 4, 1994.
He married the love of his life, Geraldine Ann Carl, on Aug. 27, 1959.
As well as working at the mill, he owned and operated the Square Deal Chain Saw Shop for several years. Clicky enjoyed working on his Hobby Farm and loved all his animals, especially "Mike" the horse, but his greatest joy was his grandkids.
He is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Gerry; two sons, David Shampo and Donald (Tracy) Shampo, both of Niagara; two daughters, Linda (Dale) Blagec and Lisa (Robert) Wells, both of Niagara; nine grandchildren, Ian and Corrina Shampo, Evan and Ethan Blagec, Brittany Dertz and Ross Shampo, and Allison, Isabel and Abigail Wells; one brother, Dr. Dale (Lucy) Shampo of Iron Mountain; two sisters, Lorraine (Bill) Marsh of West Bend, Wis., and Donna Shampo of Niagara.
Along with his parents, Clicky was preceded in death by his oldest brother, Gerald; and infant brother, Curtis.
Visitation will be Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Jacobs Funeral Home Niagara Chapel.
The memorial service will be celebrated Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at the funeral home. Rev. Matt Settle will officiate.
Burial will be in Niagara Cemetery. The American Legion Cretton-Tutas Post 136 will accord full military honors at graveside.
You may light a candle in remembrance of Clicky or leave a condolence for his family by visiting the Jacobs Funeral Homes website.
The family has chosen the Jacobs Funeral Home Niagara Chapel to honor Clicky's legacy of life.


text:
April Retail Sales Surprise to the Upside
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. food and retail sales rose 0.1% in April compared to March, to $419 billion, according to the latest Commerce Department figures released on Monday.
Economists were expecting sales for the retail sector to fall 0.3% for the month of March, according to Thomson Reuters.
Retail sales were 3.7% above April 2012 figures, the data said.
Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.1% from the month before, in line with analysts' expectations.
Total sales for the period of February through April 2013 were up 3.7% from the same period a year ago. The Commerce Department revised March 2013 retail sales slightly lower to -0.5% from -0.4%.
Retail trade sales were virtually unchanged from March, yet 3.6% above last year. Sales at non-store retailers rose 15.4% from April 2012, while auto and other motor vehicle dealers rose 8.8% from the year-earlier period.
First-quarter retail earnings get started in earnest this week with Macys
-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.
To contact Laurie Kulikowski, send an email to: email@example.com.
>To submit a news tip, email: email@example.com.


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You limited your search to:
Partner: UNT Libraries
Country: Costa Rica
Collection: Environmental Policy Collection
The Cost of Avoiding Deforestation: Update of the Report prepared for the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change
Date: May 2008
Creator: Grieg-Gran, Maryanne
Description: According to the introduction, this report provides a global estimate of the cost of reducing the rate of deforestation.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Capability and cost assessment of the major forest nations to measure and monitor their forest carbon
Date: April 7, 2008
Creator: Harcastle, P. D.; Baird, David & Harden, Virginia
Description: According to the Executive Summary, the aims and objective of this report are to provide an assessment of national capacity and capability in 25 tropical countries for measuring and monitoring forest as a requirement for reporting on REDD under IPCC guidelines. This paper was commissioned by the United Kingdom Office of Climate Change as background work to its report 'Climate Change: Financing Global Forests' (the Eliasch Review).
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Our Planet : Connected Dreams - Globalization and the Environment
Date: February 2007
Creator: Lean, Geoffrey
Description: Our Planet is a periodical magazine published by the United Nations Environment Programme. This issue presents both positive and negative views of globalization, and explores a new model of sustainable globalization.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Our Planet : Living Legacy - The future of forests
Date: September 2008
Creator: Lean, Geoffrey
Description: Our Planet is a periodical magazine published by the United Nations Environment Programme. This issue is devoted to forestry, deforestation, and the sustainable use of forest products.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Our Planet : Maintaining Momentum - Financing Action on Climate
Date: February 2008
Creator: Lean, Geoffrey
Description: Our Planet is a periodical magazine published by the United Nations Environment Programme. This issue is devoted to solutions to financing sustainable development and climate change adaptation.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Dead Planet, Living Planet: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development
Date: 2010
Creator: Nelleman, Christian & Corcoran, Emily
Description: This report discusses some vital services that natural ecosystems contribute to human health and development.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Renewables 2010: Global Status Report
Date: 2010
Creator: Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century
Description: This report describes economic trends in building the capacity of renewable energy in several countries.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Labour and the Environment: A Natural Synergy
Date: 2007
Creator: Smith, John; Albracht, Gerd; Alves Da Silva, Nilvo Luis; Coninck, Sophie de; Fedetow, Igor; French, Hilary et al.
Description: This report presents examples of tools and practices that promote workers' health and safety as well as environmental protection, public health, and corporate responsibility. Issues include climate change, hazardous materials,
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
GEO Year Book 2006: An Overview of Our Changing Environment
Date: 2006
Creator: United Nations Environment Programme
Description: This publication describes major global environmental issues and policy decisions during 2006.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2010: Analysis of Trends and Issues in the Finacning
Date: 2010
Creator: United Nations Environment Programme
Description: This report shows that in spite of the global economic downturn, investment in sustainable energy is still strong.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Women and the Environment
Date: 2004
Creator: United Nations Environment Programme
Description: This publication focuses on the gender-related aspects of land, water, and biodiversity conservation and management.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Inter-American Convention on Sea Turtles : message from the President of the United States transmitting Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, with annexes, done at Caracas December 1, 1996, (The "Convention"), which was signed by the United States, subject to ratification on December 13, 1996
Date: 1998
Creator: United States. President (1993-2001 : Clinton) & Albright, Madeleine Korbel
Description: This treaty provides the legal framework for member countries in the Americas and the Caribbean to take actions for the benefit of sea turtles
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries
Land-based sources protocol to Cartagena Convention : message from the President of the United States transmitting protocol concerning pollution from land-based sources and activities ("the Protocol") to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region, with annexes, done at Oranjestad, Aruba, on October 6, 1999, and signed by the United States on that same date
Date: 2007
Creator: United States. President (2001-2009 : Bush) & Rice, Condoleezza, 1954-
Description: This treaty sets out general legal obligations to protect the marine environment of the Gulf of Mexico, Straits of Florida, Caribbean Sea, and immediately adjacent areas of the Atlantic Ocean-collectively known as the Wider Caribbean Region.
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries


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|Current Labs & Groups
|Component Analysis
The Component Analysis Lab is devoted to research new learning techniques to encode and decompose a given signal into relevant components for classification, clustering, modeling and visualization.
|The Robotics Institute is part of the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
Contact Us | Update Instructions


text:
Georgia Northwestern Technical College offers a variety of programs of study that can lead to an Associate of Applied Science Degree, an Associate of Science in Nursing Degree, a Diploma, or a Technical Certificate of Credit. The purpose of these programs is to provide educational opportunities that will enable students to obtain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to succeed in the respective fields. The various programs of study offered by GNTC are divided into the following occupational categories:
Program Listings by Campus


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The MobileRated game loader is your ticket to free games. It lets you quickly jump to the MobileRated.com mobile website to find and download games by date, rating, popularity, category, etc. All content is absolutely free, while some games may contain ads, and others may be limited trials. Like ...
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Application LoveMatch serves for calculating whether you and your partner are a good match. The calculation is based on your birthdates. The user has to enter birthdates and names of the two persons he would like to know whether they are matching.
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April Fools day has gone but you can still FOOL your friends with our FAKE creation, LIE DETECTOR. Prove that you are always right and others are wrong, our application makes you brilliant who knows everything, because this app gives you to control the ANSWER. You can ask your friends either t ...
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