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More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning
of all wars — yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly
impractical method of settling the differences between governments.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt
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EPS News
Call for Papers : 17th Annual International Conference on
Economics and Security, Stockholm, June 14 & 15, 2013
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
is pleased to announce the 17th Annual International Conference on
Economics and Security. The conference is co-organized by SIPRI and
Economists for Peace and Security. The conference program will
include research papers selected based on the call for
proposals, with a mix of plenary
sessions and parallel workshop streams on particular research areas.
Some of these sessions will seek to bring together SIPRI researchers
and conference participants on issues related to SIPRI’s areas of
research.
If you would like to present a paper, please send a
title and an abstract of less than 300 words before April 1, 2013.
Further information about the
call for papers can be found here:
http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/ICES2013/call_for_papersold.
Papers should be sent to Sam
Perlo-Freeman at
perlo-freeman@sipri.org.
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Minimum Returns: The Economic Impacts of Pentagon
Spending
By William D. Hartung and Natalie Peterson for The Center for
International Policy, February 7, 2013
"Over the past two years, Pentagon contractors have
financed a series of studies that have made exaggerated claims about
the economic impacts of reductions in Pentagon spending. This
report refutes a number of the key findings of those industry-backed reports,
which have been extensively promoted in an effort to influence
politicians and the media in Washington and around the country.
Specifically, this analysis looks at the impacts of Pentagon
contracting for weapons, supplies and services."
The full report
is available in both HTML and PDF versions here:
http://www.ciponline.org/research/entry/minimum-returns-the-economic-impacts-of-
pentagon-spending.
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EPS at the ASSA/AEA Annual Meetings
San Diego, CA
Video of our Annual Dinner and
audio of our sessions is now available.
Economists for Peace and Security hosted two sessions,
and a dinner in honor of Michael Intriligator,
at the ASSA/AEA Annual meetings in San Diego.
Session I:
"Up from Here?
Challenges and Barriers to Recovery from the Crisis"
Panel Moderator: James Galbraith (University of
Texas-Austin)
Kenneth Arrow (Stanford University)
Robert Gordon (Northwestern University)
Eric Laursen (Independent Journalist)
Yanis Varoufakis
(University of Athens)
Session II:
"Is War Over? The
Economics of National Security after Iraq and Afghanistan"
Panel Moderator: Michael Lind (New America Foundation)
Linda Bilmes (Harvard University)
Richard Kaufman (Bethesda Research Institute)
J. Paul Dunne (University of Cape Town)
For more information about
EPS at The ASSA/AEA and to watch the video, see
http://www.epsusa.org/events/aea.htm.
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EPS raised $65 last year
with GoodSearch. The more you use
GoodSearch, the more money you can raise for
EPS, just by searching the internet or shopping online — at no cost to you.
Every time you search the web, EPS receives a penny; when everyone uses
it, the pennies add up.
To start using GoodSearch, go to
http://www.goodsearch.com/about.aspx.
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In Other News
The Force
How much military is enough?
By Jill Lepore,
January 28, 2013, for The New
Yorker
"Sixty-two legislators sit on the House Armed Services
Committee, the largest committee in Congress. Since January 2011, when
Republicans took control of the House, the committee has been chaired
by Howard P. McKeon, who goes by "Buck." He has never served in the military, but this
month he begins his third decade representing California’s Twenty-fifth
Congressional District, the home of a naval weapons station, an Army
fort, an Air Force base, and, for the Marines, a place to train for
mountain warfare. McKeon believes that it’s his job to protect
the Pentagon from budget cuts. On New Year’s Day, after a
thirteenth-hour deal was sealed with spit in the Senate, McKeon issued
a press statement lamenting that the compromise had failed to 'shield a
wartime military from further reductions.'
"The debate about taxes is over, which is one of
the few good things that can be said for it. The debate about spending,
which has already proved narrow and grubby, is pending."
The entire article can be
read here:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2013/01/28/130128crat_atlarge_lepore#ixzz2IkFnYD9H.
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Pentagon resists budget cuts - without even knowing how
much it spends
GOP hawks who defend the US
military's budget from Chuck Hagel's charge of "bloated" must
account for why it isn't audited
By Michael Shank for The Guardian, January 23, 2013
"No matter how much Congress softens the
sequestration's austerity footprint, everyone
in government will have to nip-and-tuck in order to balance budgets.
And that will include the Pentagon — something that Secretary of
Defense nominee Chuck Hagel and even the Bowles-Simpson commission
support.
"We cannot afford to continue a clear and present
double standard in Washington DC while also keeping the government
accountable to its taxpayers. On one side of the discretionary spending
spectrum, Republicans are absolutely religious about each government
dollar doled out, and are quite keen to see sequestration cuts —
to 'entitlement' programs. On the other side, cuts to defense spending
and oversight of the Pentagon is not up for discussion.
"In fact, Republicans, joined by some conservative
Democrats, are now going further. They will fight to ensure that no defense cuts
whatsoever be included in any deal
to forestall the automatic sequestration."
The full article is
available at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/23/pentagon-budget-cuts-chuck-hagel.
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Call for Papers: The Inclusive Growth in Africa -
Conference
UNU-WIDER invites interested participants to submit
original research related to the two conference themes below. They are
open to contributions that use rigorous research methods from
economics, and other social sciences, and welcome papers that hold important
implications for policy.
Measuring growth, poverty, and inequality
The study of well-being, in terms of concepts,
theoretical principles and measurements, has been at the core of
research in the field of development economics over the last three decades.
More recently, special attention has been paid to the dynamic and
multi-dimensional nature of poverty and inequality. This theme focuses
on innovative methods, theories and empirical approaches to measuring
poverty, inequality and social and economic mobility from national,
regional, or continent-wide perspectives. An important area is the use
of macro, sectoral, price, qualitative, and
other data as a crosscheck on traditional poverty survey data. Papers
that assess the reliability of basic growth, poverty or inequality data
are also welcome, as are papers on other developing regions that offer
lessons and insights relevant to the African context.
Causes and consequences of inclusive growth
Inclusive growth requires broad participation in the
development process. While Africa recently has enjoyed fairly rapid
economic growth, it is debatable whether this has led to the kind of
transformation needed to create decent jobs and improve well-being over
the long term. This theme focuses on the underlying drivers of growth
in Africa and their implications for social and economic inclusion. At
the same time, the theme addresses whether and how inclusive growth can
contribute to broader economic, social, and political transformation.
Important issues include, for example, gender, youth, the middle class,
and the private sector in Africa’s development process over the last
decade. Papers that consider the (in)effectiveness
of specific policies in promoting social inclusion are especially
welcome.
For more information about
this call for papers, see
http://www1.wider.unu.edu/inclusivegrowth/article/about-inclusive-growth-africa-conference.
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Call for papers: Conflict
Research Society 1963-2013 Anniversary Conference
The CRS is an interdisciplinary forum linking
professionals and academics concerned with co-operation and conflict and
provides a meeting point for sharing their
work. The conference embraces theory, evidence and practice,inviting presentation and discussion. It
seeks to bring together developments in the "real" world and
developments in academic understanding — topical issues and enduring
issues. Moreover, it recognizes the existence of disagreement:
concepts, theories and approaches can be contested.
The 2013 conference carries forward the work of the
annual conferences running since 2003. Tuesday and Wednesday constitute
the "core" of the conference and follow the pattern of
previous years (Streams A to D). Thursday, repeating last year’s
innovation, is for those who have a special interest in the scientific
study of peace and conflict.
Details on this call
for papers are at
www.crs2012.net/register.php.
To learn more about the CRS,
go to
http://www.conflictresearchsociety.org.uk/.
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Links
Off the balance sheet: the impact of the economic crisis
on girls and young women
A new report by Plan and ODI, January 2013,
Authors: Maria Stavropoulou and Nicola
Jones
This report by Plan and The Overseas Development
Institute (ODI) examines the continuing and deepening impact of the
economic crisis on girls and young women worldwide. Founded 75 years
ago, Plan is one of the oldest and largest children's development organisations in the world. ODI is the UK's leading
independent think tank on international development and humanitarian
issues.
Long-standing economic trends, entrenched gender
inequality, and austerity budgets have all left girls and their
families bearing the brunt of fewer resources and reduced access to
services.
Key findings from this joint report include:
- Girls
drop out of school more, with a 29% decrease in primary school
completion for girls versus 22% for boys.
- Family
poverty hits girls hardest: a 1% fall in GDP increases infant
mortality by 7.4 deaths per 1,000 births for girls versus 1.5 for
boys.
- Health
cuts leave adolescent girls at greater risk during pregnancy, with
14—19 year olds most at risk of death in pregnancy in many
countries.
Read the
full report here:
http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/publications/economic-security/off-the-balance-sheet-the-impact-of-the-economic-crisis-on-girls-and-young-women/.
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Transfers of small arms and light weapons to fragile states:
strengthening oversight and control
Mark Bromley, Lawrence Dermody,
Hugh Griffiths, Paul Holtom and Michael
Jenks
SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security
"The need for security forces in a fragile state to
be adequately trained and equipped is recognized as a precondition for
stability and development. However, supplying arms to security forces
in fragile states can contribute to armed conflict and instability.
"The risks associated with supplying arms and
ammunition to fragile states include the risk that the arms will be
diverted to actors seeking to undermine stabilization efforts; the risk
that the arms will contribute to the renewal or intensification of
armed conflict; and the risk of corruption in the transaction.
"A number of European Union, NATO and OECD states
have undertaken risk mitigation measures, sometimes in cooperation with
recipients as part of security sector reform (SSR) programs. These
measures include supporting multilateral notification systems for arms
transfers; increasing control and oversight of the delivery of arms and
ammunition; ensuring good standards for stockpile management, marking
on import and surplus destruction; and improving the recipient states’
standards in arms procurement.
"The challenge for the international community is
to ensure that fragile states receive the arms that they require, while
limiting the negative impacts on conflict dynamics, stabilization
efforts and governance."
To read the paper, go to
http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=453.
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Funding &
Employment Opportunities
Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Reconciliation
Sarajevo School of Science and Technology
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Political Science and International Relations
Department of SSST University has launched a new Master’s Program in
Conflict Analysis and Reconciliation (CAR). The program will offer
students a unique and highly interdisciplinary approach to
understanding and analyzing intergroup conflicts.
Students will be taught by highly respected Bosnian and
international scholars who will provide them with a comprehensive and
experiential understanding of the processes and conditions leading to
various types of intergroup conflicts (ethnic, religious, communal,
political etc.) and of conflict resolution techniques, as well as
post-conflict related processes such as power sharing, justice and
reconciliation. The issues will be analyzed and discussed from a
multi-disciplinary perspective ranging from political philosophy,
political science and international law to social psychology. Studying
conflict in a post-conflict setting such as Sarajevo will provide
students with a first-hand perspective and direct understanding of
challenges and issues, while discussing and integrating theory,
research and practical approaches.
More information about the
master's program is available here:
http://www.ssst.edu.ba/news-and-events/news/a-new-master-s-programme-at-ssst/251.
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Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies,
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
The Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program provides
support to young researchers working in academic and research institutions
from eligible countries preparing a doctoral thesis. Research grants
cover residence costs for a 5 to 10 month period in a renowned
university or research center. Fellows are expected to advance their
research work mainly by using the facilities and resources provided by
the host institution and by interacting with peers.
Candidate's field of research should be related to
development at the master's level, in fields such as economics, health,
education, agriculture, environment, natural resource management, or
other development‑related subject
Additional information
about this program is available at
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/WBI/EXTWBISFP/EXTRSMFP
/0,,contentMDK:21588578~menuPK:552352~pagePK:64168445~piPK:
64168309~theSitePK:551843,00.html.
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EPS Publications
EPS Quarterly, December 2012
— The Fiscal Cliff Issue
This issue contains summaries of the proceedings from
The EPS/Bernard Schwartz Symposium Who's
Afraid of the Fiscal Cliff? held
at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Washington DC on November 13, 2012.
The Symposium was organized by Economists for Peace and Security and
co-sponsored by The New America Foundation.
Table of contents
- Session
One: On the Cliff
- Session
Two: On the Military Sequester
- Session
Three: Essential Priorities –
Social
Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Infrastructure
Read this issue of EPS
Quarterly at
http://www.epsusa.org/publications/newsletter/2012/dec2012/dec2012.pdf.
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EPS Quarterly, September
2012 — The Inequality Issue
The issue of inequality was key
in the 2012 US presidential race. Should we be taxing the very rich
more, or giving them tax breaks? Whom should we tax and how much, in
order to create jobs — the point of job creation being (presumably) to
lower inequality?
Table of contents
- America's
prosperity requires a level playing field
Joseph Stiglitz
- The
Complex Ties among Poverty, Development, and Security
Terra
Lawson-Remer
- Group
Inequality and Conflict: Some Insights for Peacebuilding
Michelle
Swearingen
- Inequality:
A few comments from the front lines
James K.
Galbraith
- With
Income Inequality Comes Violence
US News
Staff
Read this issue of EPS
Quarterly at
http://epsusa.org/publications/newsletter/2012/sept2012/sept2012.pdf.
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The Economics of Peace and
Security Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 — On Afghanistan, Rwanda, Punjab - July,
2012
Contents:
Does development assistance reduce violence? Evidence
from Afghanistan
CHOU, Tiffany
Intimate partner violence, female employment, and
male backlash in Rwanda
FINNOFF, Kade
Designing institutions for global security
GUPTA, Rupayan
Insurgency, crime, and agricultural labor
expenditure: Evidence from Punjab, 1978-1990
SINGH, Prakarsh
Analyzing the costs of military engagement
DE GROOT, Olaf J.
The Journal
is a peer-reviewed online publication hosted by EPS-UK. Published twice
yearly, it raises and debates all issues related to the political
economy of personal, communal, national, international, and global
peace and security. Previous contributors include Joseph Stiglitz, James Galbraith, and Lawrence Klein. The Journal’s
website also features book reviews submitted by members and
subscribers.
EPS members receive a 25% discount on the annual subscription to the Economics of Peace and
Security Journal. A regular one-year subscription is $32;
for EPS members, it's only $24! Non-subscribers can access the
abstracts and contents pages.
The issues for Vol. 8 (2013) will be for April and
October.
For more
information about the Journal or to subscribe:
http://www.epsjournal.org.uk/.
To become
a member of EPS (and qualify for the subscription
discount):
http://epsusa.org/membership/membership.htm.
Learn more about this issue
of the Journal by visiting
http://www.epsjournal.org.uk/Vol7/No2/issue.php.
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Action Corner
Catastrophic Pentagon Cuts?
Not Really
The Friends Committee on National Legistaion
(FCNL) has a convenient page to help you send emails or letters to your
reps in Congress. There's a link to a video you can view for more
information.
"Members of Congress, both Democrats and
Republicans, are backing away from making significant cuts to the
Pentagon budget. Senate Democrats are now saying they want to see cuts
of only $27 billion, and House Republicans are pursuing a plan to
restore all planned Pentagon budget cuts.
"The Pentagon and some members of Congress claim
that cutting $1 trillion over 10 years is too drastic.
"Even after these cuts, the conclusion of two wars,
and accounting for inflation, we'd still be spending more on the
Pentagon than we did during most of Vietnam and the Cold War. And we'd
still be spending many, many times as much on the Pentagon as we spend
on other critical priorities like education, stopping climate change,
and engaging diplomatically with the rest of the world.
"Yet Congress can't even agree to let these cuts
happen."
To write your members of
Congress, go to
http://www.capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=62412456&type=CO.
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Get the word out on the topics
that matter most to you!
When freedom is under attack in Congress and state
legislatures, an engaged populace is its first line of defense. Take
action on current issues and let lawmakers know that you want
them to protect your civil liberties. The ACLU website offers a
list of key issues and actions you can take to make your voice
heard. It also offers a tool with which to check your elected
officials' voting record, and the ACLU Congressional
Scorecard.
Check out the ACLU list
of topics, your representatives' votes, and the Congressional Scorecard
here:
http://www.aclu.org/action-center.
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Do you have a foreign policy
alternative that should be heard in the halls of government?
Citizens for Global Solutions Political Action Committee
(Global Solutions PAC) works to elect federal candidates who support
building effective democratic global institutions that will apply the
rule of law while respecting the diversity and autonomy of national and
local communities.
To learn more about Global
Solutions PAC, visit
http://globalsolutions.org/.
To access the email or ground
mail addresses of your representatives in Congress or the Senate, enter
your zip code at
http://congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt.
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If you would like to post an EPS flyer on a
departmental bulletin board or similar venue, please contact Thea Harvey at theaharvey@epsusa.org.
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Upcoming Events
- March 20 — 22, 2013 The 1st West Africa
Microfinance Conference — Accra, Ghana.
The African Center for Peace Building (ACFOPB) will host the first
WAM Conference under the theme "empowering Africa for
economic peace: the role of the microfinance sector."
The WAM Conference seeks to address the challenges confronting the
microfinance sector in the sub-region. The Conference aims to
equip the participants from the West Africa sub-region with the
skills needed in managing microfinance business, and to
provide a common platform for sharing ideas, resources and
network.
Find
out more about the conference at
http://wamic.afcopb.org/invitation/?goback=.gde_2009987_member_193108690.
- March
21 — March 23 The International
Conference on Global Diaspora will be held at Trivandrum, Kerala,
India.
For
more information contact Manas Chatterji
mchatter@binghamton.edu.
- April
17 — 19, 2013 22nd Annual Hyman
P. Minsky Conference: Building a
Financial Structure for a More Stable and Equitable Economy
will be held at the Ford Foundation, New York, New York.
It’s time to put global finance back in its proper place as a tool
to achieving sustainable development. This means substantial
downsizing, careful reregulation, universal social protections,
and an active, permanent employment-creation program. Therefore,
the 2013 Minsky Conference will address
both financial reform and poverty in the context of Minsky’s work on financial instability and his
proposal for a public job guarantee.
Find
out more by visiting
http://www.levyinstitute.org/news/?event=45.
- May 24 — 25, 2013
The Eurasian Peace Science Conference
will be held at Koc University,
Istanbul, Turkey, hosted by the Center for Conflict Studies.
For
more information about the conference, see
http://conflictstudiescenter.ku.edu.tr/upcoming_conference.html.
- June 13 — 15, 2013 The 17th Annual International Conference on
Economics and Security will be
held at SIPRI, Stockholm, Sweden.
The conference program will include research papers selected based
on the call for proposals, with a mix of plenary sessions and
parallel workshop streams on particular research areas. Some of
these sessions will seek to bring together SIPRI researchers and
conference participants on issues related to SIPRI’s areas of
research.
Further details about
the conference call for papers can be found at
http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/ICES2013/call_for_papers.
- June 15 — July 13, 2013 The 2013 Bologna
Symposium on Conflict Prevention, Resolution, and Reconciliation
will be hosted by the International Peace & Security Institute
in Bologna Italy.
In cooperation with The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS), the 2013 Bologna Symposium will bring together the
globe’s brightest minds from top graduate institutions, NGOs,
international organizations, grassroots peace movements, and the
armed services. Participants undergo intensive training by the
field’s premier political leaders, academic experts,
practitioners, and advocates in the practical skills necessary to
foster peace and security in their communities and the world.
To
learn more about the symposium, go to
http://ipsinstitute.org/bologna-2013/?PHPSESSID=c49b22cc9dfd21f61d40e9c8090ff67c.
- June
19 — 21, 2013 The Fifth
International Conference on Conflict Management, Peace Economics
and Peace Science will be held at
Bloemfontein, South Africa.
For
more information, contact Manas Chatterji at
mchatter@binghamton.edu.
- June 24 — 26, 2013
The 13th Jan Tinbergen European Peace Science Conference will be
held in Milan, Italy.
The Jan Tinbergen Conference is interdisciplinary. Presentations
that address any issue relating to peace and security broadly
defined are welcome. As in the past, the conference strives for a
multi-disciplinary program comprising contributions with a wide
range of theoretical and methodological approaches, including
strictly theoretical work, game theory and formal modeling,
statistical and econometric analysis, qualitative studies, and
experiments.
Find
out more about the conference when you visit
http://www.europeanpeacescientists.org/jan.html.
- July 20 — August 17, 2013 The 2013 Hague
Symposium on Post-Conflict Transitions & International Justice
will be hosted by the International Peace & Security Institute
in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Participants will undergo intensive training from 25 of the
field’s premier political leaders, academic experts,
practitioners, and advocates in the skills necessary to
holistically restructure a post-conflict society, as well as serve
justice to those responsible for human rights violations.
Participants will gain a broad understanding of concepts,
controversies, and institutions in this emerging field, as
well as critically examine historical and contemporary justice
interventions through direct interactions with the actual decision
makers.
For
more information, see
http://ipsinstitute.org/the-hague-2013/.
- September
17 — 18, 2013 The Peace and
Conflict: an international interdisciplinary conference hosted
by The Conflict Research Society at the University of Essex, UK.
The CRS is an interdisciplinary forum linking
professionals and academics concerned with co-operation and conflict
and provides a meeting point for sharing their
work. The conference embraces theory, evidence and practice,inviting presentation and discussion. It
seeks to bring together developments in the "real" world and
developments in academic understanding — topical issues and enduring
issues. Moreover, it recognizes the existence of disagreement:
concepts, theories and approaches can be contested.
The 2013 conference carries forward the work of the annual conferences
running since 2003. Tuesday and Wednesday constitute the
"core" of the conference and follow the pattern of previous
years (Streams A to D). Thursday, repeating last year’s innovation, is
for those who have a special interest in the scientific study of peace
and conflict.
For details
about the conference, email
crs2013essex@gmail.com.
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How Can I Help?
Become a member of EPS. Your annual membership entitles you to discounts on publications,
invitations to events, our informative newsletters, and more. Most
importantly, by joining us you help to ensure that reasoned
perspectives on essential economic issues continue to be heard.
Membership dues and other donations are fully tax-deductible.
To become a member, go to
http://www.epsusa.org/membership/membership.htm.
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