I. Introduction, 371. — II. The simple model, 372. — III. Market equilibrium in the simple model, 375. — IV. The extended model — optimal and equilibrium allocation with nonzero extraction costs, 377. — V. Equilibrium with uncertain future demand, 381. — VI. Monopoly behavior, 387. — VII. Summary and conclusion, 389. — Appendix: proof of the optimality of the N-period market equilibrium under uncertainty if suppliers are risk-neutral, 390.

Linear decision rules for controlling complex systems are often obtained by matrix inversion, but transform methods offer an alternative approach that yields insights into the structure of the decision problem of maximizing expected payoffs under constraints.

Monetary economics conveys the impression of great disagreement within the economics profession, and indeed the professional debates have often been heated. But behind the debates over policy there is a great deal of consensus on the importance of monetary variables for the working of national economies and on the mechanisms through which they exert their influence. title of this session reminds us that twenty-five years ago this was not so. When Howard Ellis wrote The Rediscovery of Money, the postwar revival had just begun. There was general skepticism about the ability of monetary policy to influence the economy, and the Oxford surveys were widely cited as the empirical basis for disbelief in the effect of monetary policy on investment. Despite the emergence in the intervening years of wide agreement about the importance of monetary policy, the empirical basis for many of our beliefs, and a fortiori for distinguishing among our differences, has remained weak. In casually accepting our present assignment, failed to appreciate just how complex the question posed in the title is. This is true even when the subject is confined, as here, to the monetary economics of the business cycle, leaving aside both microeconomic and steady-state growth considerations. What does it mean to say have learned something? And to whom does the we refer?

Abstract The article examines the use of an accounting information system for evaluating the success of an organization. A descriptive model of the relationship among classes of variables affecting performance, the use of information, and action is described by the author. Performance is expected to be influenced by a number of variables which are likely to have a low correlation with performance. Performance is expected to be influenced by a number of situational and personal factors based on the results of several past studies of sales force performance. The organization involved in this article is a major California bank with more than 200 branches in the state. Branch banking in California is unique; there is fierce competition even for retail business which is usually ignored by commercial banks in other states. The bank is a major user of computers and has a number of information systems producing reports for distribution to branch management. Interviews were held with members of the information systems department staff to select reports which have managerial significance, that is, which provide information beyond routine operational data.