When the American Economic Association kicks off its annual meeting tomorrow in Denver, the normally staid convention will be tinged with controversy: On the agenda is whether economists should adopt a code of ethical standards. The proposal comes after the housing crisis, the credit crunch, the financial crisis, the recession, the collapse of several European economies, and the overhaul of U.S. banking regulation dealt their respective blows to the prestige of the profession. More to the point, it comes after a long series of notable economists offered opinions or wrote papers pertaining to those events without disclosing major conflicts of interest.
相對於Toowoomba及鄰近地區的滔滔洪水,上星期Brisbane的水淹來得非常平靜。可以說,一些住在較高地勢遠離河道的居民,當眼睛移離不斷報導災情的電視直播,望出窗外時,可能忍不住說一聲:What a lovely day!可不是?那是本市近期少見的藍天白雲日,微微的風,暖暖的太陽,正是往沙灘暢泳日曬的好日子。