Defining an Economic Research Program to Describe and Evaluate Ecosystem Services


Book Description

The Forest Service has proposed the concept of ecosystem services as a framework for: (1) describing the many benefits provided by public & private forests; (2) evaluating the effects of policy & mgmt. decisions involving public & private forest lands; & (3) advocating the use of economic & market-based incentives to protect private forest lands from development. The concept extends traditional economic theory regarding multiple forest benefits & the use of economic incentives to enhance their provision, by emphasizing ecosystems as an organizing structure for benefits. Although the emphasis on ecosystems is new, challenges in evaluating ecosystem services are similar to those long faced by economists tasked with evaluating forest benefits.







Productivity of Western Forests: A Forest Products Focus


Book Description

This workshop brought together researchers & practitioners who discussed the economic & biological factors influencing wood production & value. Management activities would be practiced within a framework of sustaining or improving site productivity; thus, several papers deal with methods to protect or improve productivity or discuss new studies designed to test the effects of various practices. This pub. includes 11 papers based on oral presentations at the conf., 3 papers based on posters, & 2 papers describing the Fall River & Matlock Long-Term Site Productivity study areas visited on the field tours. The papers cover: forest harvesting activities, stand establishment, silviculture, site productivity, remote sensing, & wood product technologies. Illus.




Concurrent Weapons Development and Production


Book Description

Overlaps in the development & production of major weapons systems, called ¿concurrency,¿ have been a topic of sustained debate in the weapons acquisition community. Many ascribe the problems experienced by the B-1B bomber to concurrency in its development & production. The failure of the Army¿s Div. Air Defense gun system to perform successfully was the result of excessive concurrency. Although concurrency involves risks, it can achieve significant savings & minimize the time required for acquisition. This study analyzes the effectiveness of concurrency in selected major weapons programs during the 1970s. The study also traces the recent history of the use of concurrency & outlines relevant legislation, policies, & regulations. Charts & tables.




Comparison of Measures of Core Inflation


Book Description

The ability of central banks to differentiate between permanent & transitory price movements is critical for the conduct of monetary policy. The importance of gauging the persistence of price changes has led to the development of measures of underlying, or ¿core,¿ inflation that are designed to remove transitory price changes from aggregate inflation data. This article examines several proposed measures of core inflation -- the ex food & energy series, an ex energy series, a weighted median series, & an exponentially smoothed series -- to identify a ¿best¿ measure. Evaluates the measures¿ performance according to criteria such as ease of design, & accuracy in tracking trend inflation. Charts & tables.




SDI and the Alternatives


Book Description

The controversial nat. debate over strategic defense has been overshadowed by other nat. & global issues. Research programs for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) continue, however, & the debate is likely to resume as visible results of that research begin to compete for a share of the nation¿s budget. This study considers strategic defense in the context of 4 competing strategic theories: deterrence through mutual assured destruction; deterrence through nuclear warfighting; deterrence relying on non-nuclear defense; & disarmament. Non-nuclear, space-based defense is not only feasible, but in some ways preferable to reliance on weapons of mass destruction. To support his case, he outlines a proposed actual system. Illus.




Recent Books