Browsing by Subject "Economic"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The Condition of Northwest Minnesota's Economic Sectors
    (University of Minnesota, 2010-01) Nash, Art
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    Dialectic of Neoliberalism: The Shape of Debt
    (2022-05) Renwick, Derk
    Dialectic of Neoliberalism: The Shape of Debt is an academic dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment for a doctorate of philosophy degree. It applies Theodor Adorno’s negative dialectics to neoliberal theory—particularly the classical liberal concepts of liberty and property as represented primarily by John Locke and Adam Smith—and uses this theoretical framework to analyze the current American student debt crisis. In the context of its historical precursors (classical dialectic, Hegelian dialectic, dialectical materialism) negative dialectics emerges as a tool that helps the subject recognize the existing hegemonic forces that influence any dialectic prior to its performance. It reveals the arbitrary nature of power structures—how they were built and can be undone—and the constellations that veil the power at play within them. When applied to neoliberalism, property, and debt, this method provides an approach to understanding the social, cultural, and economic influences that contribute to vast inequities observable in twenty-first century American society. The American student debt crisis is an example of an object of this inequity. Using original research from the University of Minnesota’s budget history, Dialectic of Neoliberalism: The Shape of Debt confirms that certain correlations exist between state allocations, tuition, and student loans at the University of Minnesota, in particular, and surmises that this phenomenon exists between many, if not most, similarly organized academic institutions and their state sponsors. Dialectic of Neoliberalism: The Shape of Debt further demonstrates how these correlations are often motivated by core neoliberal values that have risen to prominence in the politics, culture, and economics of mid-late twentieth and early twenty-first century American society. Dialectic of Neoliberalism: The Shape of Debt includes a dramatic exposition of a theory of debt that captures its physical brutality and psychological abuse, and exposes the perverse power dynamic that underlies debt relationships. This dialectic of debt reveals a power at play that imposes the most heinous physical tortures, psychological torments, and perverse applications of power itself in order to maintain class antagonisms. Using historical theories of debt put forth by David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Gilles Delueze and Felix Guattari, this project reaches the ultimate conclusion that the shape of debt is rooted in a profound violence and desire to exert power and control over other human beings. This project further concludes that the shape of debt indicates one example of the ways in which human beings value capital and power over life and humanity itself. Last, Dialectic of Neoliberalism: The Shape of Debt introduces the concept of pathocentrism as a differentiated dialectic that illuminates hegemonic power dynamics by appealing to emotional discourses that reprioritize pathos in the context of typically logos-centered systems of power and discourse in Western society, culture, and economics. Pathos-centered discourses allow for the expressions of oppression to coexist alongside logically dominant discourses that attempt primarily to prove or disprove. The goal of pathocentrism is to eliminate anxiety on both sides of the dialectical equation by honoring the voices of the oppressed in public discourse.
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    Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Heating and Cooling Systems in Minnesota: A comprehensive analysis on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cost-costeffectiveness of ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems compared to the conventional gas furnace and air conditioner system
    (2013-01) Li, Mo
    Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) technologies for residential heating and cooling are often suggested as an effective means to curb energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lower homeowners' heating and cooling costs. As such, numerous federal, state and utility-based incentives, most often in the forms of financial incentives, installation rebates, and loan programs, have been made available for these technologies. While GSHP technology for space heating and cooling is well understood, with widespread implementation across the U.S., research specific to the environmental and economic performance of these systems in cold climates, such as Minnesota, is limited. In this study, a comparative environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted of typical residential HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems in Minnesota to investigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for delivering 20 years of residential heating and cooling - maintaining indoor temperatures of 68ºF (20ºC) and 75ºF (24ºC) in Minnesota-specific heating and cooling seasons, respectively. Eight residential GSHP design scenarios (i.e. horizontal loop field, vertical loop field, high coefficient of performance, low coefficient of performance, hybrid natural gas heat back-up) and one conventional natural gas furnace and air conditioner system are assessed for GHG and life cycle economic costs. Life cycle GHG emissions were found to range between 1.09 × 105 kg CO2 eq. and 1.86 × 105 kg CO2 eq. Six of the eight GSHP technology scenarios had fewer carbon impacts than the conventional system. Only in cases of horizontal low-efficiency GSHP and hybrid, do results suggest increased GHGs. Life cycle costs and present value analyses suggest GSHP technologies can be cost competitive over their 20-year life, but that policy incentives may be required to reduce the high up-front capital costs of GSHPs and relatively long payback periods of more than 20 years. In addition, results suggest that the regional electricity fuel mix and volatile energy prices significantly influence the benefits of employing GSHP technologies in Minnesota from both environmental and economic perspectives. It is worthy noting that with the historically low natural gas price in 2012, the conventional system's energy bill reduction would be large enough to bring its life-cycle cost below those of the GSHPs. As a result, the environmentally favorable GSHP technologies would become economically unfavorable, unless they are additionally subsidized. Improved understanding these effects, along with design and performance characteristics of GSGP technologies specific to Minnesota's cold climate, allows better decision making among homeowners considering these technologies and policy makers providing incentives for alternative energy solutions.
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    Prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening is not a useful tool in screening the general population for prostate cancer
    (2010-11-02) Piper, Kevin
    This project aims to educate the public about the lack of evidence to support screening the general population for prostate cancer by using blood tests. Simply looking at the financial cost of such screening, one can easily see the great expense in adding just one year to one person’s life. Further review would demonstrate such screening not only is very expensive, but many times causes more harm than good. In a time of great financial difficulty in the United States, it is crucial that the health care industry uses screening techniques that are proven to be cost effective (and improve health outcomes).