Earnings growth is a primary determinant of equity value. Firms may deliver earnings growth either by improving the profitability of capital (i.e., the accounting rate of return on invested capital) or by increasing the capital base on which that profitability is earned. Economic theory suggests that earnings growth achieved through incremental capital investments is less valuable to existing shareholders than growth obtained by improving profitability. Unlike improvements in profitability, increases in capital generate an incremental cost of capital.
This Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) is designed to assist you—the substance abuse counselor—in working with clients who are experiencing depressive symptoms. These symptoms occur along a continuum of intensity from mild to severe. When they reach a certain level of intensity and frequency, they become consistent with a diagnosis of a mood disorder, such as major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, substance-induced mood disorder, or bipolar disorder. It is clear from clinical research and practice that a significant percentage of your clients have depressive symptoms. Some, but not all, will have these depressive symptoms in the context of a mood disorder diagnosis. Even if you will not be diagnosing and treating depressive illnesses—which is in the scope of practice of those mental and behavioral health professionals licensed in your State to diagnose and treat mood disorders, and capable of doing so—you will be providing substance abuse counseling to clients with these diagnoses and to clients with depressive symptoms but whose mood states do not reach a level that would warrant a mood disorder diagnosis (that is, clients whose symptoms do not meet the diagnostic criteria).
The main subject of this conference deflationary shocks and their monetary policy responses is an excellent one. There is a huge amount of recent research to build on, and the conference is taking place at a time when policymakers who have confronted the reality of deflation and zero interest rates can bring a wealth of practical experience and market information to bear on the subject. I want to thank the Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies for organizing the conference. I am looking forward to the papers and to the discussion, and to coming back to these issues at the panel session at the end of the conference.
