Taper

And in proportion, what would the size of the sphere and the length, and what would the taper be to the Earth?

(a) Each plug or valve shall have a taper threaded connection directly to the pressure receptacle and be capable of withstanding the test pressure of the pressure receptacle without damage or leakage

Similarly, work involving standard setting would logically be labour intensive in the beginning and could taper off once standards were developed, supplemented or properly explained to staff and ethics training programmes had been put in place.

ITHACA In recent months, emerging economies have experienced capital flow whiplash. Indications that the US Federal Reserve might taper its quantitative easing (QE) drove investors to reduce their exposure to emerging markets, sharply weakening their currencies and causing their equity prices to tumble.

When the Fed initially hinted at its intention to taper QE, policymakers in some emerging economies cried foul, but were dismissed by advanced economy officials as chronic complainers. After all, they initially rejected the very policies that they are now fighting to preserve.

Soon, it will begin to taper off, and industrial output will approach full capacity. When demand begins to exceed supply, demand side stimulus policies will become increasingly ineffective, and it will be time to launch the third arrow of Abenomics growth enhancing structural reforms.

Unlike the taper tantrum and the devaluation of the renminbi, the Fed s rate hike announcement on December 16 certainly was no surprise. So one might argue that if the Fed s move does lead to volatility in international capital flows, the process must have already started.

Expectations of a rate hike have restricted flows to emerging markets ever since 2013, when the Fed triggered what came to be called the taper tantrum by announcing that it was likely to reduce its bond buying program. The resulting alarm roiled US financial markets and spilled over internationally.

One doesn t need a long memory to understand how even relatively modest policy shifts can trigger outsize market reactions. Consider, for example, the taper tantrum that roiled financial markets in the spring of 2013, after then Fed Chair Ben Bernanke said only that policymakers were thinking of gradually ending quantitative easing.

For example, the mere announcement in May that the Federal Reserve would taper its purchases of long term assets drove down the value of emerging market currencies. With the Fed considering exiting its quantitative easing policy altogether and raising interest rates over the next year, global markets are set to experience significant turbulence.

But, in order to stave off the threat of deflation and depression, it is targeting a lower unemployment rate, below 6.5 . As progress toward that target is made, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced in late May, the Fed will begin to taper its program of long term asset purchases known as quantitative easing (QE).

The first two sources of uncertainty have already affected markets. The rise in US long term interest rates from a low of 1.6 in May to recent peaks above 2.9 has been driven by market fears that the Fed will taper QE too soon and too fast, and by the uncertainty surrounding Bernanke s successor.

After two decades of telling the public that 2 inflation is Nirvana, central bankers would baffle people were they to announce that they had changed their minds and not in some minor way, but completely. Just recall the market s taper tantrums in May 2013, when then Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested a far more modest turn in monetary policy.

Last year, the Fed s mere announcement that it would gradually wind down its monthly purchases of long term financial assets triggered a taper tantrum in global financial markets and emerging markets. This year, tapering is priced in, but uncertainty about the timing and speed of the Fed s efforts to normalize policy interest rates is creating volatility.

NEW YORK The prospect that the US Federal Reserve will start exiting zero policy rates later this year has fueled growing fear of renewed volatility in emerging economies currency, bond, and stock markets. The concern is understandable When the Fed signaled in 2013 that the end of its quantitative easing (QE) policy was forthcoming, the resulting taper tantrum sent shock waves through many emerging countries financial markets and economies.

In that sense, it is not the end of the party for emerging markets, as some claimed early last summer, when US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke s suggestion of a possible taper of the Fed s policy of quantitative easing triggered a mini crisis in several of the more vulnerable emerging markets. These economies have since recovered a significant part of the lost ground in terms of exchange rates and asset prices.

Their fears started with the flash crash of May 2010, when, in a matter of 30 minutes, major US stock indices fell by almost 10 , before recovering rapidly. Then came the taper tantrum in the spring of 2013, when US long term interest rates shot up by 100 basis points after then Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at an end to the Fed s monthly purchases of long term securities.

Moreover, borrowing in US dollars to finance current investment spending as many emerging economies have done in recent years, as the US Federal Reserve s policy of quantitative easing flooded emerging markets with cheap funds is no substitute. Indonesia, Thailand, and others are now finding it difficult to service these loans as their exchange rates fall against the dollar in the wake of the Fed s plans to taper its policy.

People could work an average of 1,800 2,000 hours per year until they reach their 50 s, taper off to 1,300 1,500 hours in their early 60 s, and move toward the 500 1,000 range as they approach 70. A hospital nurse, an airplane crew member, or a secondary school teacher, for example, could work five days a week until her late fifties, four days a week until age 62, three days until age 65, and perhaps two days until age 70.