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Priced below KBB Fair Purchase Price! $5,126 below Invoice! $6,200 off MSRP!
This vehicle is equipped with the following..., Bluetooth, 4-Wheel Disc Brakes, 6 Speakers, ABS brakes, Air Conditioning, AM/FM radio: SiriusXM, Automatic temperature control, Compass, Driver door bin, Driver vanity mirror, Dual front impact airbags, Dual front side impact airbags, Emergency communication system: SYNC 3 911 Assist, Equipment Group 200A, FordPass Connect, Front anti-roll bar, Front Bucket Seats, Front Center Armrest, Front dual zone A/C, Front reading lights, Heated front seats, Heated Unique Cloth Front Bucket Seats, Illuminated entry, Knee airbag, Low tire pressure warning, Overhead airbag, Passenger door bin, Power driver seat, Power steering, Power windows, Radio data system, Radio: AM/FM Stereo w/MP3 Capable, Rear window defroster, Remote keyless entry, Split folding rear seat, Steering wheel mounted audio controls, SYNC 3 Communications & Entertainment System, Wheels: 17" Sparkle Silver-Painted Aluminum.
2019 Ford Escape SE EcoBoost 1.5L I4 GTDi DOHC Turbocharged VCT 4WD 22/28 City/Highway MPG
Stop into Columbine Ford, Colorado's LOW PRICE LEADER!! Exit Rifle and enter into great service and savings! We're located in Rifle CO, but also serve the greater Western Slope area, including Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Montrose, Delta, Silt and everywhere in between! For additional information, please contact the Columbine Ford Sales Department at 970-625-1680. Price excludes taxes and fees. Price includes: $1000 - Retail Bonus Customer Cash. Exp. 01/02/2020 $175 - Holiday Retail Bonus Customer Cash. Exp. 01/02/2020 $2750 - Retail Customer Cash. Exp. 01/02/2020 $500 - Select Inventory Retail Customer Cash. Exp. 01/02/2020
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We invite you to exit Rifle and enter into great savings and service at Colorado's Low Price Leader Columbine Ford WB. We are the winner of the Dealer Rater "Colorado Ford Dealer of the year for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018" Your complete satisfaction is our goal. Take a look at our rave customer reviews and you will see why Columbine Ford WB is THE place to find your next vehicle. Some of our customers even said they had FUN buying their vehicle at Columbine Ford WB, imagine that!
New vehicle pricing includes all offers and incentives. Tax, Title and Tags not included in vehicle prices shown and must be paid by the purchaser. While great effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, errors do occur so please verify information with a customer service rep. This is easily done by calling us at 970-625-1680 or by visiting us at the dealership.
**With approved credit. Terms may vary. Monthly payments are only estimates derived from the vehicle price with a 72 month term, 4.9% interest and 20% downpayment.
*Number of views in last 30 days
† Based on 2019 EPA mileage ratings. Use for comparison purposes only. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle.
What a great experience buying a truck here. Our sales person, Robi Sifers, was really great. Very knowledgeable and she worked very hard for us. Everyone here at Columbine has been really great! Thank you all. Especially, THANK YOU to Robi for taking great care of us!
Eric ar columbine ford was amazing we loved his service and how he treated us throughout the day. He also helped us online the day before we went to look at the truck that we ended up purchasing
Great people to work with this will be the first place I look the next time I buy another car I highly recommend this place
I was looking for a car for the winter but I had no credit history and Columbine Ford helped me get the car I needed!!
Erik and Jake were great to work with, extreamly kind and made getting my new truck an enjoyable experience. I will deffinately be doing more business with Columbine Ford in the future.
Erik helped us get our first family car and was so nice. He was friendly and did everything he could do to help us. Columbine is the best !!!
Erik Pena was very nice to deal with. I ended up buying a different vehicle but he was by far the best one I spoke to on my search for the right pickup
Great smaller dealership with uptown inventory. Our salesperson, Erik ask enough questions to know what I needed and John was a real character and fun to deal with. Very polite and knowledgable. No hard sell and was a pleasure to have met them. This was our second purchase at Columbine and wil l definitely use them again.
My experience with Eric at Columbine ford was exceptional. I never felt any pressure and Eric was outstanding. He found a truck that fit my needs and budget. Thanks for a wonderful car buying experience and I will be back.
Overall was a good experience. Staff was very helpful and friendly. Took a little extra negotiating on payments, however they were able to get it where everyone was happy. The whole process was relatively quick and easy, (Unlike any other dealership I've ever been to). I won't go anywhere else to buy another vehicle. Well done Columbine Ford! Oh and the confetti cannon was a first, and a plus. My girls loved it. 🎊
I was able to get my son his first car . They made it possible for us when no one else would!! If you need a new car this is the place to go !!! Super Happy ..
Erik and John were great, they did everything possible to get me in a truck. They helped me out when nobody else could, I cant thank them enough.
I have only every bought vehicles outside of dealerships. I was very sceptical at first but I am happy I went there! Thank you for your help. I have already told friends and family members about my experience and hope it is where they go next.
These guys really do care that the customer is happy. Erik proofed to be honest and informative every step of the way. Collumbine Ford rallied as a team and I was impressed with the results
I have picked this rating based on the the customer service, respect to each other, and the overall process of how things got done in there.
Everyone was so friendly from the time I entered the building until we left! Amazing Customer Service! I would recommend this place to everyone I know!
I came in to Colonbine Ford trying to buy a SUV for my growing family. Honestly did expect to leave there happy but Erik made sure I did he provided exceptional support trying to figure out what vehicle I would be buying and honestly I could not be happier
Our sales rep Erik was amazing, he was so friendly and fun. We will defiantly be doing more business there in the future for sure. Thank you so much!
Everyone was super nice and made me feel really comfortable with buying my first car. Erik was super cool and you can really tell he loves what he does.
The experience that I had with Eric was Top Notch. He actively listened to my needs, pointed me to options that fit. Handled himself very professionally. I would highly recommend my friends and family to go to him with their next car buying needs.
Erik was amazing he gave us all the information we needed, he is kind , polite and a fun person to work with, we had a wonderful evening buying our car, getting a loan to buy my car was super easy, thanks Erik fir all your help
First car purchased from this dealer and it was a great experience. Everything was done professionally and without any issues. Service was great, Erik Pena was exceptional though. I would recommend this dealer to friends and family. Thank you Columbine Ford!
Highly recommend using Erik to get you what you need in a vehicle. Dealership has come leaps and bounds in the last few years. Keep up the work.
Wasn't bad. Could of responded a little better. Had to push to get answers at times. Left without some questions answered but did not feel like dealing with it anymore to push the issue. All in all, one of the better dealerships to buy from.
This is the third car we purchased from this dealership. I was able to trade in my original car purchased from them and get a newer car very easily. They made the experience very quick and friendly.
Second purchase from Columbine Ford and had two different sales people for the two purchases. Both times were great experiences!!! We will be back someday for the third time.
This was a great experience for me, because Columbine Ford have good discounts and excellent attention,the service calificate are very important too, Thanks so much,again.
Erik was very attentive to what I was looking for and my price range. I feel very happy with the vehicle I chose. He took time and didn't rush me into buying just any car. Thank you Columbine Ford!
Very friendly and helpful people from sales to manager, I definitely will consider buying my next car here and will recommend them to my friends and family
This is our 4th car we have purchased with the help of Jose Gomez. He is awesome and very knowledgeable. He makes rhe buying process go smoothly. We also appreciate the service for any repairs. Columbine is a great place!
My sister and I were pleasantly surprised to find an honest, hard working, friendly car salesman in Erik Pena. He did not try to pressure sell us into a more expensive, "better", car nor did he add on services or options that brought the price up. I can recommend Mr. Pena without reservation and feel confident that any potential buyer would have same positive experience when working with him.
Everyone at this dealership was nothing short of amazing!! My family and I felt so welcomed by each person we spoke to. (There's also a puppy)
Thank you Erik Peña for listening to all of our needs and concerns! You went above and beyond to ensure that we got the best deal possible. The personalized attention, your genuine expertise and your friendly professionalism made our experience of buying our first new car unique! Thank you for selling us not only piece of mind but also the perfect vehicle for us! TJ & Verónica.
Working with Erik Pena was a true pleasure. He listened to my concerns and I feel he went the extra mile to help me purchase the car I wanted. He didn't use any sales pressure or try to push/interest me in a different/higher priced/ or new car like some other dealers I had spoken to earlier in the week. It was refreshing to talk with a sales person so willing to listen to what I needed and wanted. Not only that, he was willing to drive the car to Grand Junction, let me check it out and do the paperwork here. That is what I call service!!! Erik also introduced me to Tina so she could explain different warranty programs that were available. Tina was great and again no pressure and no "attitude" when I declined the programs. Both seemed to understand when I said I'm on a fixed income. Erik is a fine and honorable young man. I highly recommend anyone looking for a car should contact him!! Columbine Ford may be out of town but their service is the best!by far!
I was in an accident and needed a replacement vehicle right away. Erik in Sales and Tina in Finance made an exceptional team! The exceeded all my expectations and I am pleased with my vehicle!
The sales area was clean and well maintained. Eric and Brandon were helpful and courteous. Car was clean inside and out. Finance got us very good deal. Nice job to columbine.
Eric was good on sales he help us a lot going in process fast and easy test drive vehicle and everybody who help us was great we have buy 2 trucks from this dealer and it is been good,
Very good prices on used vehicles, have been treated very well over the years. They care about their customers and work hard to make the purchase go smoothly and fix issues with the car. Recent purchase of a Fusion was handled by Erik and he took care of a license plate light issue and windshield crack quickly. Also called me several days later when an additional set of keys for the car arrived to them in the mail. Only negatives I see - I'm not sure their dealer handling fee is priced right for today's market, and the Allstate Paint and Fabric Defense also seems to be expensive... Though I guess if I need to use the coverage for either paint or upholstery it will likely pay for itself. It's not optional, however. On another vehicle recently discovered that the lug nuts had been damaged after just a few years of regular rotations, all of which were done at Columbine. Was told they were seeing that frequently due to soft metal in the lugs. Columbine replaced them with a better lug at no charge, even though it wasn't technically their fault. Phenomenal customer service! Thanks to Curtis for taking care of it quickly and professionally. Their Quick Lane service is great - I appreciate the videos of my vehicle that they provide going over everything they have found.
Robi was outstanding ! I'm so blessed to go through her to but my car . She went out of her way to get me this car ! The Columbine Ford dealership is the best and I will continue to do my Business with them in the future
We had been searching for just the right vehicle for quite some time and had contacted several dealerships in our area. When it came time to actually purchase a vehicle because the truck that was on its lasts legs for several months finally decided it was done, we contacted Robi Sifers and within a couple of days not only did she find us a great vehicle but we were signing papers and bringing it home. Would highly recommend Robi for her ability to find what we needed and for being a super upbeat pleasant salesperson . I am not a car buying person, I dread the experience all the way around but, I would but from Robi again. She made everything very pleasant. Thanks
Had a really great experience Robi Sifer and Tina were the one that helped my husband and I buy are new car they both were really helpful during the process and even after. I would recommend them 100%.
Robi was great! So patient and went above and beyond for us!! Thank you so much for everything! We will definitely be back for our next vehicle
My experience with Robi was a great one! She was in communication with me prior to my coming in, she reminded me about my appointment (which as a busy working mom I really appreciated), she was open and honest about all the cars I test drove and in the end she made the whole car buying experience the best and smoothest transaction ever! Tina in the finance department was also a great person to work with. I'll definitely be recommending Columbine Ford, Robi and Tina to everyone I know!
The steps that the dealership takes to make the customer feel safe and confident in buying a vehicle is hands down one of the best! Robi Sifers is very respectful, genuine and just wants to see the best thing for you. I recommend the dealership... I also very strongly recommend talking with Robi. She truly has your best interest at heart.
Robi found the perfect vehicle for me over the phone and had it detailed and waiting for a test drive after I got off work. Great pricing. Financing was approved quickly. Brandon, Robi, and Tina stayed afterhours to finish the transaction, allowing me to take the vehicle home that night. No hassle! Definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a vehicle in northwest Colorado!
What a great experience buying a truck here. Our sales person, Robi Sifers, was really great. Very knowledgeable and she worked very hard for us. Everyone here at Columbine has been really great! Thank you all. Especially, THANK YOU to Robi for taking great care of us!
Robi Sifers she is awesome and very accommodating, She made it possible for us to get the car that we wanted, She knows how to sell and and have the knowledge about the car. I am so glad that I picked the right dealership to buy my nice SUV everyone was so helpful and so friendly.
You won't find any "salesman" at Columbine Ford. Only people who truly listen and truly want to help you get what you need. No smoke and mirrors here. Everything is up front, on paper and explained to a T. This team is a great pleasure to work with and more than willing to go above and beyond for you.
Ribi Sifers and Jake the finance manager worked very hard to help us. She was very very knowledgable about the vehicles, offered alternatives and suggestions. Highly recamend her
Robi was most helpful & got me into exactly what I needed!! She goes above and beyond and really cares about her customers. Thank you so much!!
Robi and Tina went out of their way to not only make a long distance deal happen during a very difficult health situation that my family is facing, but also delivered the new vehicle to us so that we could minimize travel and other inconveniences! They were also very flexible and understanding considering a situation we had with the vehicle we were trading in! We appreciated their hard work and dedication. They truly made us feel that the ease of our purchase was their first priority! While we had been customers at Columbine Ford in the past, we promise that they will be the first place we visit when looking to make another purchase! They will also be the first place we recommend to family and friends based simply on their outstanding customer service!!
I found the van ive been looking for from a fb add and i reached out Robi made the whole experience so easy and worth the 2 hour drive to get may van she was up frount and helped all the way.
Very professional staff. Made my car shopping experience easy and got me the best deal i could find. Highly recommend the columbine crew for sales and service over any other dealer.
They were willing to work with me and give me the best deal and the best value for my trade in. Very smooth and easy to do the deal and didn't feel pressured
This dealership is wonderful. When my family was greeted I wasn't sure what to expect but was very satisfied. None of the sales people were pressuring us into looking at anything. They were very helpful in finding out what we were looking for and what we needed and what we wanted. The paperwork was very easy and the stuff that was unnecessary they told us. That went a long way with me. I drove away with my new truck and I'm very satisfied. I would definitely come back.
I had an amazing experience when I bought my new Ford F150. Robi Sifers worked hard and diligently to find a vehicle that would work with my tall growing boys. It was a perfect fit for all of us and I would recommend Robi and Columbine Ford to everyone.
I needed a car, but had trouble getting financing. Robi reached out to me and I was driving away with what I asked for in days.
Robi went totally out of her way to make sure that I received all the information needed to make a smart choice in buying an automobile. Came back on Friday and Robie let me drive the used car and then we chatted about the 2018 Ford Eco Sport. I bought it right then and there. Thank you so very much, Robi Siefers. YOU ROCK!!!!!!
Our experience with Robi was a pleasant one. She and other Columbine associates went out of their way and got the necessities done so we could leave with our new truck!
Robi and john were so awesome when we came to them bad credit and our car pouring oil. They asked us what our needs were and got us into the perfect car for our geowing family. We love the dodge journey they hooked us up with! Thank you for your kindness and willingness to work with us
We had been looking for a Ford Explorer for quite some time, the night previous to visiting Columbine Ford we reviewed available cars online. We were interested in a particular one and scheduled a test drive. The next morning Robi contacted us to confirm the test drive and had the car ready to go within 5 mins of the call, she had the AC running and had given us her full attention. We took the car for a test drive and she answered all our questions. We feel in love with the car and purchased it within the hour. Robi was a wonderful help, and took a picture of us with our new car, she was just as excited as we were! We then met up with Tina and she helped us with all the financials, she was a great help with that department! We love our new car and will recommend Ford Columbine 100%. THANK YOU COLUMBINE, ROBI AND TINA!
Buying local is the only way to go and Columbine Ford is the perfect example! They know your name not your credit score. They know your family not how much money you make. I purchased my 4th vehicle from them yesterday and I am still smiling. No buyer remorse or wondering if I could have gotten a better deal somewhere else. They survive in this relatively small town by giving you the best they have to offer first time around and are willing to work with you and your budget. I am originally from San Diego and I would rather have a root canal they even think about buying a car there ever again. Thank you guys for my new car and taking such good care of me over the years! Went in for service and drove away in my new car! You need more than 5 stars.
Extremely nice and welcoming, quick and efficient service. Definitely will come back when it is time for a trade in! Not only was Robi eager to work with me, she provided me with the best service and vehicle for my situation.
Robi kept in touch with me for a few months letting me know when they got a truck in I might like.....once I found the right truck both Robi and John were great in helping me get financed.....very happy
Robi is the MOST AMAZING saleswoman I have EVER dealt with. She worked and worked and worked AND WORKED for MONTHS to get me what I wanted. She did this as a friend, and I learned she made nothing on this car sale... Robi Siefers is your MOST VALUABLE ASSET! I am absolutely IN LOVE with my car...he has been named The General Jr.
I would definitely recommend buying a car from Columbine. They gave me what I needed on my trade and a decent deal on my new pickup.
Robi was a real pleasure to work with. She was very low-pressure yet knowledgeable about all the features of the Ford Edge that we looked at. It was a very nice, clean vehicle and we felt the deal that Columbine Ford made us for our trade-in was a fair one. I'm looking forward to doing business with them for the oil changes and tire rotations.
Contacted Columbine Ford through internet - rapid response from Robi Sifers, she and Jake Bowen worked with my schedule to get the deal done and when I arrived at dealership, everyone was friendly, professional and ready to complete the purchase of my 2018 Ford Escape. Robi went over the bells and whistles of the car on the test drive, Jake was very thorough with the paperwork - start to finish about 2 hours. Robi even took my picture with the car for her wall! Excellent experience.
My wife and I purchased a used 2012 Ford F-150 Crew cab. It was a Lariat model and a recent trade in. Sold as is because of age and mileage. The most impressive part was the good service provided by the dealership, and especially our salesperson Robi Sifers. She made it easy by showing us a video of the dealer inspection of this vehicle. We could decide what to fix and what to ignore. I have never purchased a vehicle in all of my 66 years from anyone that told me straight up what was wrong with the vehicle. Very refreshing. Robi expedited the sale and we were on our way in no time. I can't say enough good about this dealership, and especially Robi. Jake Bowen handled the financial papers and was great to work with. He had it done in no time.
Robi was kind, patient, and persistent even when I was not. She calmed my worries and helped me out! 10/5! Thanks a million hun!
This is our second vehicle purchased from here and wont be our last! Robi Sifers is great to work with and just a great lady! Give this place and Robi a chance you wont regret it!
Great service. Very friendly and knowledgable staff. Overall, our car buying experience was great and we left the lot happy customers. We would certainly recommend this dealer to anyone looking for a vehicle.
Jose was excellent Very helpful No pressure buying Clean business Good service center This is the second truck I've purchased here and am very pleased
Robi was wonderful and so helpful in understanding our options! Brandon addressed our concerns and put us so much more at ease with our purchase! We love our new car!
Robi Sifers help me out so much. We drove over 4 hours to come look at the car and it was totally worth the drive! She was nice and very friendly. A true honest sharp shooter, definitely one of the best. I cant thank ger enough.
It was a good Experience at Columbine Ford because it was my first time at a dealer on I would recommend anyone who wants to buy a car they can go to Columbine
These Ladies helped me with my very procrastinating self to get a very good reliable vehicle! They worked in my very tight limits and found a brand new vehicle to suite my needs. Definitely would go back to them and get another reliable vehicle when the time comes...
Robi worked for us to help us get the right truck. We had been looking for 3 months and Robi worked with us to get the right F-350 for us. We were very picky, but Robi wasn't just trying to sell us any old truck, she understood when she found the right truck she would have a sale. I admit we spent a bit more than we planned but we got the right truck for us. Thanks y'all!! Steve & Anna
Purchased a vehicle out of state, sight unseen. Robi Sifers took care of everything I needed. She was by far the best sales person I have ever worked with. She would immediately respond to any questions via text or phone. Sent me numerous videos of the truck and all the information I needed to make a sound decision. Jake in the finance office worked with me on a few extra things and took care of me very well. Would absolutely recommend anyone looking for a vehicle to visit them. I've done my fair share of vehicle transactions, and this dealership went above and beyond my expectations and they are by far the best I have ever worked with!
Robi was amazing she worked with us over the phone all day so all we had to do was show up and sign papers and done we drove away with a great 2018 car.
Robi kicks butt! She found me a vehicle the day after I my car got totaled. No run around, just straight shooting and honesty! I highly recommend giving her a call!
We never realized purchasing a car over the internet could be so easy. Robi made this the least stressful car purchase we have experienced. Robi was so helpful with every aspect of this transaction. Whatever question we had she had the answer or got back to us with the answer very quickly. Our techie kids were very impressed!
Traded in my old truck and bought a used one. Robi was super helpful and worked with me on all fronts. Great service for a great deal.
Robi was very kind, helpful and understanding in my search for a new vehicle, I already want to get another! Ten out of ten would recommend. High five.
The most helpful and knowledgeable staff I have dealt with in my adult life..I will be doing business with Columbine Ford I the future.
Robi new the vehicles in and out, able to answer questions quickly and professionally. Tina also was able to answer questions that came up and explain the complex steps in the mountains of paperwork
I came in looking at a vehicle that was truly what I thought I wanted but was not in all likelihood the right one for me. After some laughs and discussions, Robi and I hit the road in my dream truck. With extreme professionalism and transparency I now own a truck that will last me for years to come. I highly recommend this dealership and promise it's not like any other you've visited before.
Robi sifers we are glad that we meet u this is the 2nd car that we got and qe love the service that u give to our family
Purchase process was painless. Everyone works together as a team and works with you to give you a fair price and to get you in and out as quick as possible. Overall a consistently great experience and a very professional and friendly team. Very pleased with our purchase!
I purchased a vehicle that seemed to be a good fit at the time. Everyone at the dealership was very helpful. After a week of driving it I realized that it was not the right vehicle for me at this time. I contacted Robi, my salesperson and she asked me what I thought I needed and to come back in and we would fix things. Robi met me at the door with a dealer plate and a set of keys to a truck she thought I would like. She was right. The sales and financing staff put things together quickly and I drove home feeling great. I have bought five vehicles from this dealership over the years and every time it gets better and easier.
I had a great experience at Columbine Ford. Robi was great and helped with anything and everything. She helped make it all much less stressful. Great place.
As we arrived at Columbine Ford for our scheduled test drive of a new vehicle. We were greeted by Robi (Dealer) who was very helpful to us in our test drive and ultimately the purchase of our new vehicle. Everything went very smoothly throughout the process.
I had my car for 16 years and knew exactly what I wanted in a new/used car. They had the one I wanted and Robi Sifers is the sales person you want. She really help make this deal work. I heard the sale manager is keeping my trade in for his daughter. That should make us both happy.
My wife and I have never had a smooth and easy experience as we did with Columbine Ford, their sales and financing team members are great. Robi and Tina were absolutely awesome, taking phone calls and answering text messages at all times of the day, during off hours, and have been in touch a number of times checking on us to make sure we are still happy. They kept us in the loop daily about the service being done to the vehicle, and did a great job finding us the best loan option for us and the dealers best interest. They didn't hassle us or try to get us in to something we weren't looking for. The sales manager took some time to explain a couple things about the SUV and they had extensive knowledge about it because they sold it as a new car and and had a very good relationship with the previous owner and the service history on it. The next truck we purchase will most likely be from Columbine Ford. Great job everyone!
Robi was awesome to work with for my first time car buying experience! She was super knowledgeable, friendly, and extremely helpful. I was pretty stressed about the whole process going into the day, but she explained everything extremely well and made the whole process much smoother for me. Definitely recommend!
Columbine Ford is a great place to do business! I was a bit hesitant to make a deal over the phone sight unseen. Robi sent me all of the detailed information up front in the form of video where I could actually see what I was considering. It was a great experience. Will recommend and continue to do business there!
Thank you for all of your help and hard work! I love my new car and I will send my friends and family your way!
Robi was great! Everything was very easy. Would recommend to all my friends and family. Jake was grwat in finance. And the old cowboy was great and very friendly and a lot of help.
I drove three and a half hours to get my truck from Columbine Ford. Robi Sifers was in great communication with me the week leading up to my purchase. Jake the used car manager worked out the numbers with me over the phone on my trade and was fair on all ends. Tina in finance was a pleasure to work with as well. Overall I had a great experience at Columbine Ford. Even Brandun took the time to address any concerns I had. A real family type environment and would definitely buy from these guys again...
Robi was very helpful and helped me out very fast! Only took a couple hours and was very straightforward, awesome customer service also. Will definitely recommend visiting if you are looking to purchase a vehicle.
This was a fourth experience with this dealership, the first three we walked out. I was very hesitant in starting the procedure that day. However, Robi was very patient with us and knowledgeable about the vehicle we were interested. Tina made the paperwork experience a breeze. Thank you,
To be honest I was very hesitant in shopping for a new vehicle because of past high pressure sales people., Greatly to my surprise Ms. Robi at Columbine Ford was not only extremely kind,and respectable she is very knowledgeable of the vehicles that we were looking to purchase, and understanding of our situation and concerns. It is not everyday that you buy a truck that is so costly and having the perfect sales person as we did in Ms. Robi Sifers, makes all the difference in the world. She made us feel apart of the Columbine Team as she introduced us to all the departments. Ms. Robi is what Columbine Ford stands for, Her knowledge, Personality and Smile is what a customer sees first and foremost and Columbine Ford should be proud to have her apart of your team and also model all of their staff after her. I believe Ms. Robi needs to be accommodated for her noticeable efforts. We will most defiantly refer others to Columbine Ford and Ms. Robi Sifers. Thank You Ace Trucking LLC FrankieLee Forster David May
Robi helped us get a car we love. Without being pushy or demanding. She made sure I got as much as I could for my trade. It was a great experience!
This is the second used car I have bought from Columbine Ford and both times I got a great vehicle at a great price. The staff was friendly and helpful without being pushy. I have recommended them in the past and will continue to do so in the future!


text:
Stock #: JN12268
Vin: JHMES96635S012279
Year: 2005
Make: Honda
Model: Civic Hybrid
Trim: CVT
Mileage: 147,340
Fuel: Hybrid
Engine: 1.3L L4 SOHC 8V HYBRID
Transmission: Automatic
Drive Train: FWD
Body Type: Sedan
Color: Silver
Interior Color: Gray
Interior Type: Cloth
US 1 Sales and Service
2457 Conowingo Rd
Bel Air,
All prices are plus
Tax, Title Fees and Tag Work we complete on site, in Maryland. All Vehicles
sold within the state of Maryland will be Maryland State Inspected prior to
If Sold to out of State
Resident, with insurance verification we can issue a Temporary Tag.
US1 Sales and Service
2457 Conowingo Road Bel Air, MD 21015 In addition we offer a full line of
Services, Vehicle Sales, Maryland State Inspections, including Motorcycles, Full Service department, Diagnostic Services, Complete Body Shop, Towing.
Thank you for looking, please tell Joe you where you saw this ad.. Call Joe (Owner) on his cell (443)
807-8758 anytime.
Steve Elsnic, Sales Manager
(410) 838-4902
I hereby consent to receive text messages from or on behalf of dealer at the mobile phone number I provided above. I understand that I am opting in to receive text messages from dealer or their employees. I include consent to receive phone calls at the mobile phone number I provided. I understand that message and data rates may apply.
At US 1 Sales and Service we are proud of the quality used cars we sell and our dedication to serve the needs of our customers. This is reflected in the amount of repeat business we receive. Whether this is your first purchase with us or one of many that you've had, you can count on our dedicated sales staff to make it the best buying experience possible.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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'Medea Contemplating the Murder of her Children'
Executed in black chalk on six or nine sheets of paper glued together at the edges, the cartoons are a unique aspect of Romney's work. The sculptor John Flaxman described them as 'examples of the sublime and terrible, at that time perfectly new in English art'. Romney began making them in the mid-1770s, either towards the end of his stay in Rome or immediately after his return to London. In Rome, Romney had worked in the circle of the Swiss-born artist Henry Fuseli, who made highly finished, monochrome drawings on historical subjects intended to compete with paintings at public exhibitions. Although his cartoons were larger and more severe in style than Fuseli's drawings, Romney initially seems to have envisaged them as operating in the same way, as 'virtual paintings' rather than as preparatory studies - the traditional function of cartoons for earlier artists.
Romney made cartoons for about ten years, using them to explore subjects from classical and modern literature with which he closely identified. Although they appear controlled in comparison with his smaller, more spontaneous drawings, it would be a mistake to regard them as the final distillation of his ideas about the subjects concerned. Drawn at night after hours of work on portrait commissions, they acted as a release for his energies and were the expression of his most powerful creative urges.
From the first, the cartoons' fragile medium and construction placed them at risk. Some are known to have been destroyed in Romney's lifetime. The eighteen in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery are the only ones now known to survive. They were presented to the Liverpool Royal Institution in 1823 by the artist's son, who had already had to conserve them. Later restorations have altered their appearance further still.
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The first fibre for the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Goodna, Queensland, has been hauled, with residents to be switched on to the network from early next year.
Around 14,000 premises will be connected to the NBN via fibre in Goodna and surrounding areas, including Gailes, Collingwood Park, Redbank Plains, Augustine Heights and Bellbird Park.
Construction is scheduled for completion next year.
"High-definition videoconferencing means that kids [from schools in the area] may be able to take classes that their local school doesn't offer and people will be able to consult with medical specialists from around the country, without travelling long distances," Bernie Ripoll, federal member for Oxley, said in a statement.
Construction will have commenced or been completed on around 122,000 premises in Queensland by the end of the year.
The first NBN fibre cable in Coffs Harbour was also laid last week. Residents in the Coffs Harbour region will be switched on to the NBN from early next year, with Korora, Toormina and Boambee scheduled to be switched on to the network in the first half of 2014.
Construction is scheduled to have commenced or been completed on around 758,000 premises around Australia by end of this year.
Jim Hasselll, head of product development and sales at NBN Co, told a Senate Estimates committee recently that NBN Co has hooked up just shy of 6400 fibre broadband connections to the NBN so far.
Of the 25,495 NBN-connected premises, "just under 6400 are fibre, just under 600 are fixed wireless and just over 17,000 are for satellite," he said.
NBN Co has set a target of passing 54,300 premises by the end of this calendar year.
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Solo wrote:zhouston: kjklock's entry is fine.
SDIronClaw wrote:The TIE Fighter and Y Wing are superb. Great job!
Either way works. Whichever you think will look better.UOldPirate wrote:Is the contest more about making a something that looks like it would fit in the Battle of Hoth game, only more complete / detailed or to actual scale size as if you were making a minifig based set and scaling it down to be proportional to the micro fig?
dexterminator wrote:If I'm making a vehicle that usually fits multiple people, like an aat or the falcon, do I have to be able to fit all the crew or just a driver?
onions wrote:build small; you can exaggerate the cockpit. it doesn't have to be perfectly in scale to a microfig. nothing in the star wars theme is perfectly in scale to a minifig anyway besides the UCS Falcon, and even that will generate scale debates. the idea is we're going for small ship, enclosed cockpits, microfig pilots.
Legomancer wrote:My two biggest helps were Google Images for diagrams, but also the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels. It was through that nifty guide that I approximated my scale;
Solo wrote:Either way works. Whichever you think will look better.
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|@ shopkeeper
Weapon 4d4, Weapon 4d4
|Base level
|Base experience
|Base AC
|Base MR
|0 (neutral)
|Frequency (by normal means)
|0 (Not randomly generated)
|Nutritional value
|Resistances conveyed
A shopkeeper:
Shopkeepers tend shops. They are relatively tough for low level characters and therefore excel at preventing shoplifting.
Shopkeepers are generated with (1000 + 30 * 1d100) zorkmids,[1] a skeleton key, and some or all of a wand of striking, a potion of healing, a potion of extra healing, and a wand of magic missile (a d4 is rolled and that many items are generated starting from the beginning of that list).[2] Jewelers (shopkeepers of ring stores) also get a touchstone.[3]
Should a character die in the hands of a shopkeeper, or be killed while there's an angry shopkeeper around, any possible bones files will be generated with the player's grave empty - the possessions are all transported to the store and inherited by the shopkeeper, who must be pacified to safely search the loot.
For chaotic human players shopkeepers have a strategic value in that they are one of the few sources of human corpses in the early levels, which can be used by chaotic humans to automatically convert an altar.
Ways to kill shopkeepers easily
There are some ways to kill shopkeepers very easily, even when you have only a low level character. By killing shopkeepers early in the game, you're able to get a lot of money.
One possibility is that you have a cloak of magic resistance (e.g. if you start as a wizard) or an amulet of reflection and get invisible inside the shop (by putting on a ring of invisibility, drinking a potion of invisibility, wearing a cloak of invisibility, or taking off mummy wrapping if you have permanent invisibility). The shopkeeper will not leave his position in front of the door while he can't see you. Now you're able to attack the shopkeeper easily by ranged attacks (e.g. spells, wands, launchers, darts etc.). Be aware that you might run out of projectiles or charges doing this, and if you are using spells, make sure to have sufficient food, particularly if you are low-level and/or using force bolt.
If you lack invisibility, you can also dig pits all around the shopkeeper. Shopkeepers won't move into pits and you can thus freely attack them at range. Note that this requires a container to smuggle a pick-axe inside the shop, or bouncing a spell off a wall from outside the shop, since the shopkeeper will try to keep out of direct zapping range. (As an aside, shops sometimes do sell pick-axes and dwarvish mattocks. They are handled just like every other item, except that you cannot carry one into the shop outside a bag, you get a message when un-bagging it, and the shopkeeper will catch any ones you throw in.)
Also, using a scroll of stinking cloud can be very effective, if you can have the cloud cover most if not all of the store, and close the door to prevent retaliation. Note that cursed scrolls may not do enough damage to kill the shopkeeper. Again, the shopkeeper will stand still as long as he can't see you. Beware healing potions unblinding him.
An easy way to kill shopkeepers is to zap them with a wand of polymorph. Often they will polymorph into a weak creature that is unable to zap wands against you. However, they can also polymorph into something that is much, much tougher than a shopkeeper, so keep that in mind. Be aware that due to their intrinsic MR they will resist roughly 50% of the time. Also, a shopkeeper will never respect Elbereth, even while polymorphed into something that normally would. Note that should you kill a polymorphed shopkeeper, no insult to your deity will occur thus it is the preferred method for Lawful characters.
Shopkeepers are quite vulnerable to death rays, although be aware they can still occasionally miss. If you find a base-cost 500 wand in a shop, it is either a wand of death or a wand of wishing. A wand of wishing can be used to wish for a wand of death, so either provides a means to kill the shopkeeper. (Of course, you should always wish for charging first if needed, or a marker if you have identified the scroll, regardless of whether you need a wand of death.)
The shopkeeper will greet you, and has a high tendency to chat with you.
- "<Hello>, <playername>, Welcome to <shkname>'s <shoptype>."
- You are entering the shop for the first time.
- "<Hello>, <playername>, Welcome again to <shkname>'s <shoptype>."
- You came for the second time (or more) inside the shop.
- "<Hello> <playername>! I was looking for <otherplayer>."
- This is a bones level, and the shopkeeper was upset with the player who died there.
- <shkname> detects your presence. "Invisible customers are not welcome!"
- You are invisible and the shopkeeper blocks the doorway.
- "Will you please leave your pick-axe(s)/mattock(s)/digging tools outside?"
- You are carrying a pick-axe or mattock and the shopkeeper blocks the doorway. This also identifies broad picks as dwarvish mattocks.[4]
- "Will you please leave <your steed> outside?"
- You are riding and the shopkeeper blocks the doorway.
- <shkname> asks whether you've seen any untended shops recently.
- This shopkeeper does not own any shop. One way to produce this situation is to "wish for a shopkeeper statue and then animate it".[5]
<Hello> is either Hello or Greetings. Knights are greeted instead with Salutations, Samurai with Irasshaimase, Tourists with Aloha, and Valkyries with Velkommen.[6]
- "For you, <honorific> lady/sir/creature; only <price> for this <object>."
- You picked up an item, and were told its price. <honorific> is either good, honored, most gracious or esteemed; if you have killed the Wizard or performed the Invocation, the shopkeeper may also refer to you as most renowned and sacred.[7]
- "Thank you for shopping in <shkname>'s <shoptype>!"
- You just bought one or more items.
- "<objectname>, price <price>, an excellent choice/a real bargain/finest quality!"
- You #chatted above a single object.
- "Fine goods for sale: "
- You #chatted over multiple objects. The objects will be displayed in a list, with their individual price at the right.
- <shkname> complains about the problem of shoplifting.
- You chatted to the shopkeeper, and he/she had nothing else to talk about. Izchak has some unique dialogue instead.
- <shkname> complains that business is bad.
- As above, but the shopkeeper has less than 50 gold.
- <shkname> says that business is good.
- As above, but the shopkeeper has more than 4000 gold.
- "You sneaky cad/minx! Get out of here with that pick!
- You hid a pick-axe or mattock in a container and carried it into the shop, then took it out.
- <shkname> says "You be careful with my <object>"
- You wielded <object>.
Izchak's lines
- Izchak says: 'These shopping malls give me a headache.'
- Izchak says: 'Slow down. Think clearly.'
- Izchak says: 'You need to take things one at a time.'
- Izchak says: 'I don't like poofy coffee... give me Columbian Supremo.'
- Izchak says that getting the devteam's agreement on anything is difficult.
- Izchak says that he has noticed those who serve their deity will prosper.
- Izchak says: 'Don't try to steal from me - I have friends in high places!'
- Izchak says: 'You may well need something from this shop in the future.'
- Izchak comments about the Valley of the Dead as being a gateway.
When angry
- Asidonhopo gets angry!
For unprepared characters, it is often best to appease an angry shopkeeper than try to fight. The following messages can give a clue as to the problem:
- <shkname> mentions how much he/she dislikes non-paying customers.
- You left a shop without paying. You can make payment by throwing money to the shopkeeper.
- <shkname> mentions how much he/she dislikes rude customers.
- You attacked the shopkeeper or damaged the shop walls or doors. You can pay 1000 zorkmids for a 2/3 chance of pacifying the shopkeeper.
- "For you, scum ; only <price> for this <object>."
- You picked up an item for sale. The shopkeeper will charge you extra.
- <shkname> calms down.
- The shopkeeper is peaceful again.
- Satisfied, <shkname> suddenly disappears!
- The shopkeeper is peaceful again, and instantly disappears back to his or her shop, wherever it was.
- <shkname> is after blood, not money! Moreover, you seem to have no money.
- An unhappy shopkeeper seeks to be repaid by you, but you have no gold visible.
- "Thank you for your contribution to restock this recently plundered shop."
- You drop gold (&/or other items?) in a shop robbed by the previous player on a ghost level, allowing you to exit the store (if sufficient gold was dropped?).
Messages will appear if you die or #quit while you are inside a shop, or while you are on the same level as an angry shopkeeper. Substitute the name of your shopkeeper for Shkname.
- Shkname gratefully inherits all your possessions.
- This happens when (quoting a comment in the source code) "you die in the shop, the shopkeeper is peaceful, nothing stolen, nothing owed."[8]
- Shkname (wakes up and) (comes and) takes the <number> zorkmid(s) you owed him/her.
- You owed the shopkeeper money but you were outside of the shop (you robbed the shopkeeper), but your purse contained enough gold pieces to compensate the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper takes the amount of the payment, but not anything else.
- Shkname (wakes up and) (comes and) takes all your possessions."
- Either the shopkeeper was angry at you, or you owed the shopkeeper more money than you had in your purse, or you owed the shopkeeper money and ended your game inside of that shopkeeper's shop.
- Shkname (wakes up,) looks at your corpse, (shakes his/her head,) and disappears/sighs.
- You die within sight of the shopkeeper but outside their shop, but s/he either has no reason to take your possessions (none of the above cases apply) or possibly another shopkeeper got there first. There is a 50% chance that the shopkeeper shakes his or her head. A shopkeeper "disappears" back to his or her shop, or "sighs" if s/he is already inside his or her own shop.
A shopkeeper "wakes up" if s/he was paralysed or sleeping. S/he "comes" when more than two squares away from you.
Shopkeeper names
If you have telepathy, you can tell what type of items a shop sells by the name of its keeper. The names of the tools shopkeepers are anagrams of the names of the developers. Shopkeeper names derived from developers who only worked on certain platforms, only appear on those platforms. Some names available only on exotic platforms are missing from the tools shopkeeper list. The light shop in Minetown is always run by Izchak. Lucrezia and Dirk are catchall names that don't imply any specific shop type.
|Shop Type
|Possible Shopkeeper Names
|Njezjin, Tsjernigof, Ossipewsk, Gorlowka, Gomel, Konosja, Weliki Oestjoeg, Syktywkar, Sablja, Narodnaja, Kyzyl, Walbrzych, Swidnica, Klodzko, Raciborz, Gliwice, Brzeg, Krnov, Hradec Kralove, Leuk, Brig, Brienz, Thun, Sarnen, Burglen, Elm, Flims, Vals, Schuls, Zum Loch
|Skibbereen, Kanturk, Rath Luirc, Ennistymon, Lahinch, Kinnegad, Lugnaquillia, Enniscorthy, Gweebarra, Kittamagh, Nenagh, Sneem, Ballingeary, Kilgarvan, Cahersiveen,Glenbeigh, Kilmihil, Kiltamagh, Droichead Atha, Inniscrone, Clonegal, Lisnaskea, Culdaff, Dunfanaghy, Inishbofin, Kesh
|Demirci, Kalecik, Boyabai, Yildizeli, Gaziantep, Siirt, Akhalataki, Tirebolu, Aksaray, Ermenak, Iskenderun, Kadirli, Siverek, Pervari, Malasgirt, Bayburt, Ayancik, Zonguldak, Balya, Tefenni, Artvin, Kars, Makharadze, Malazgirt, Midyat, Birecik, Kirikkale, Alaca, Polatli, Nallihan
|Yr Wyddgrug, Trallwng, Mallwyd, Pontarfynach, Rhaeader, Llandrindod, Llanfair-ym-muallt, Y-Fenni, Maesteg, Rhydaman, Beddgelert, Curig, Llanrwst, Llanerchymedd, Caergybi, Nairn, Turriff, Inverurie, Braemar, Lochnagar, Kerloch, Beinn a Ghlo, Drumnadrochit, Morven, Uist, Storr, Sgurr na Ciche, Cannich, Gairloch, Kyleakin, Dunvegan
|Feyfer, Flugi, Gheel, Havic, Haynin, Hoboken, Imbyze, Juyn, Kinsky, Massis, Matray, Moy, Olycan, Sadelin, Svaving, Tapper, Terwen, Wirix, Ypey, Rastegaisa, Varjag Njarga, Kautekeino, Abisko, Enontekis, Rovaniemi, Avasaksa, Haparanda, Lulea, Gellivare, Oeloe, Kajaani, Fauske
|Djasinga, Tjibarusa, Tjiwidej, Pengalengan, Bandjar, Parbalingga, Bojolali, Sarangan, Ngebel, Djombang, Ardjawinangun, Berbek, Papar, Baliga, Tjisolok, Siboga, Banjoewangi, Trenggalek, Karangkobar, Njalindoeng, Pasawahan, Pameunpeuk, Patjitan, Kediri, Pemboeang, Tringanoe, Makin, Tipor, Semai, Berhala, Tegal, Samoe
|Voulgezac, Rouffiac, Lerignac, Touverac, Guizengeard, Melac, Neuvicq, Vanzac, Picq, Urignac, Corignac, Fleac, Lonzac, Vergt, Queyssac, Liorac, Echourgnac, Cazelon, Eypau, Carignan, Monbazillac, Jonzac, Pons, Jumilhac, Fenouilledes, Laguiolet, Saujon, Eymoutiers, Eygurande, Eauze, Labouheyre
|Ymla, Eed-morra, Cubask, Nieb, Bnowr Falr, Telloc Cyaj, Sperc, Noskcirdneh, Yawolloh, Hyeghu, Niskal, Trahnil, Htargcm, Enrobwem, Kachzi Rellim, Regien, Donmyar, Yelpur, Nosnehpets, Stewe, Renrut, Zlaw, Nosalnef, Rewuorb, Rellenk, Yad, Cire Htims, Y-crad, Nenilukah, Corsh, Aned, Lechaim, Lexa, Niod
|Light/Pet store (SLASHEM only)
|Zarnesti, Slanic, Nehoiasu, Ludus, Sighisoara, Nisipitu, Razboieni, Bicaz, Dorohoi, Vaslui, Fetesti, Tirgu Neamt, Babadag, Zimnicea, Zlatna, Jiu, Eforie, Mamaia, Silistra, Tulovo, Panagyuritshte, Smolyan, Kirklareli, Pernik, Lom, Haskovo, Dobrinishte, Varvara, Oryahovo, Troyan, Lovech, Sliven
|Hebiwerie, Possogroenoe, Asidonhopo, Manlobbi, Adjama, Pakka Pakka, Kabalebo, Wonotobo, Akalapi, Sipaliwini, Annootok, Upernavik, Angmagssalik, Aklavik, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, Chicoutimi, Ouiatchouane, Chibougamau, Matagami, Kipawa, Kinojevis, Abitibi, Maganasipi, Akureyri, Kopasker, Budereyri, Akranes, Bordeyri, Holmavik
In SLASH'EM shopkeepers also provide very useful services, although they come at a hefty cost. These are identify, uncurse, appraise, weapon-works, armor-works and charge. Additionally, they have been made far more formidable adversaries. Their base level has been raised to 24, their AC lowered to -6, and they are always generated with a shotgun, shells, a wand of teleportation, and a knife. Note that this makes it quite difficult to make pets attack them; in particular, no domestic animal can be easily raised to a high enough level.
Encyclopedia entry
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- This page is a stub. Should you wish to do so, you can contribute by expanding this page.
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"More about the ESHK extended monster structure, which demonstrates the unique behavior of shopkeepers?"
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Rattner Couldn't Save NY Times, How Will He Save Auto Industry?
Now, given his failure to save his friend Sulzberger's media company, would you entrust Rattner with the fortunes of the auto industry? The past is prolog to the future.
[Genesis Of Financial Meltdown: Auto Industry]
Steven Rattner is consigliore, or counselor, to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and is leading the task force which is supposed to advise President Obama on how to fix the car industry.
Steven Rattner is a force to be reckoned- a typhoon, or big wind. Rattner began his career as a reporter for the New York Times. Later he became a favorite of New York Times publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger.
After leaving The Times, Rattner went into private finance and eventually was one of the founding partners of the Quadrangle Group, a private equity firm that specialized in media properties. As such, Rattner is advising New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Bloomberg's holdings.
Last week, Rick Wagoner, Chief Executive of General Motors Corp., was forced to resign. Wagoner believed in big cars and this has been alleged to have been the downfall of General Motors. Even more astounding GM, that bastion of American efficiency and power, has reported losses totaling $82 billion since 2004.
GM accomplished this feat by producing huge gasoline-guzzling SUVs and trucks, which no one purchased when gasoline prices were $4 per gallon. Small energy saving cars have been lauded as the future- even though small energy efficient cars are not selling in the era of $2 per gallon gasoline.
Wagoner obviously was not the man to lead GM into the future. In an industry that needs vision and financial competence, Wagoner woefully lacked both. It appears that President Obama believes that Rattner is some sort of Magi, an individual who can portend important events.
But that is not the correct perception of Rattner.
There is an interesting side to Rattner, which has not been discussed. Rattner was a big supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. Rattner was so self-consumed that he believed that he would be Treasury Secretary in a Clinton Administration-although, I do not know what qualifications Rattner possesses that would make him a suitable Treasury Secretary, other than an oversized ego, big contributions to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, and a fast friendship with the Sulzbergers; his advice has led to disaster for the shareholders of The New York Times.
Let me elaborate on The Times situation. Hassan Elmasry was a fund manager at Morgan Stanley. His fund had purchased shares of The New York Times. In 2006 and 2007, Elmasry was not happy with the stock price of The New York Times schussing downward like the great Jean Claude Killy, the Frenchman who shocked the world at the 1968 Winter Olympics, by winning three gold medals in skiing competition. So, Elmasry made several recommendations to help prop up the price of the stock; he asked to meet with Sulzberger and was promptly rejected. He offloaded the stocks; he smartly cut his losses.
Pinch Sulzberger looked in the mirror and saw what he liked most; himself. He has had his defining business moments, such as his disinclination to invest in Google; or his refusal to make a deal with Amazon; or his refusal in 2003 to sell The Boston Globe for $500 million to an investor group that was headed by Jack Welch—now he is actually considering shutting the Globe down. The paper is on course to lose $85 million.
Who has been Sulzberger's consigliore all this time? Yes, the one and only, Steve Rattner. The Magi with deep insight into the movement of the stars who provided Sulzberger with sagacious advice.
Here's the advice that I actually gave Sulzberger in two letters in 2006 and 2007. On November 30, 2006 I wrote to Deloitte & Touche, the public auditors of The New York Times, and to Sulzberger, stating: "The New York Times must take a write off of $600 million of the purchase price of The Boston Globe. This is mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles." Guess what? Two months later The Times announced an even larger write-off of its newspaper assets, including The Boston Globe; the Times had finally realized that the newspaper business was in rapid decline.
On December 16, 2007 I wrote to Kenneth Richieri, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of The New York Times, stating: "In early August 2007 I received an anonymous missive. In this missive I was informed that Arthur Sulzberger Jr. had engaged in talks with his friend, Steven Rattner, to take The New York Times private." I continued: "But most notably according to this informant these conversations mentioned that Sulzberger Jr. and Rattner had stated that this private equity deal should take place when the price of the stock of The New York Times was at $15 ..... Now that the stock price of The New York Times is hovering in the $16 range, I feel that I must notify you of this letter."
The Times knew of the imminent stock slide and didn't warn investors; the Times knew its business model was outdated; and, Sulzberger wanted to take the company private once the stock reached $15, which would be much cheaper than at $20. Several months later the Times announced that it had sought an investment from Bloomberg Corp. Rattner is advisor to Bloomberg. Ironically, now that the share is just over $4, no one is interested and Sulzberger can't take the company private.
Later, I read in The Wall Street Journal that Harbert Management Corp. was purchasing an interest in The New York Times; the firm was seeking success where Elmasry had met failure. I decided to notify these new investors of the duplicity of The New York Times management, in a letter to Raymond T. Harbert, Chairman. Harbert Management was given two seats on the Board of The New York Times.
All this has not improved the Times' fortunes. Now, given his failure to save his friend Sulzberger's media company, would you entrust Rattner with the fortunes of the auto industry?
The past is prolog to the future.
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Economía: teoría y práctica
versión On-line ISSN 2448-7481versión impresa ISSN 0188-3380
Econ: teor. práct no.35 México jul./dic. 2011
Inflation Volatility and Growth in a Stochastic Small Open Economy: A Mixed JumpDiffusion Approach*
Isela Elizabeth TéllezLeón**, Francisco VenegasMartínez*** y Abigail RodríguezNava****
** Escuela Superior de Economía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Correo electrónico: email@example.com.
*** Escuela Superior de Economía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Correo electrónico: firstname.lastname@example.com.
**** Departamento de Producción Económica, Universidad Autónoma MetropolitanaXochimilco. Correo elecrónico: firstname.lastname@example.com.
*Fecha de recepción: 20/03/2011
Fecha de aceptación: 18/09/2011
The aim of this paper is to examine how inflation volatility affects economic growth in a small open economy. To reach this goal, a stochastic macroeconomic model with a financial sector and incomplete financial markets (due to the inclusion of jumps) is developed. It is assumed that the general price level is driven by mixed diffusionjump process, that is, a Brownian motion governs inflation and a Poisson process guides unexpected and sudden jumps in the price index. The economic growth rate is endogenously determined, in the equilibrium, as a function of parameters of the inflation process.
Keywords: inflation, growth, stochastic models.
Classification JEL: E3, 04, C6.
El objetivo de esta investigación es examinar cómo la volatilidad en la inflación afecta el crecimiento económico en una economía pequeña y abierta. Para alcanzar este objetivo, se desarrolla un modelo macroeconómico estocástico con un sector financiero y con mercados financieros incompletos (debido a la inclusión de saltos). Se supone que el nivel general de precios es conducido por un proceso estocástico que combina difusiones con saltos, es decir, la inflación es gobernada por un movimiento browniano y los saltos bruscos e inesperados en el índice de precios se rigen por un proceso de Poisson. La tasa de crecimiento económico se determina endógenamente, en el equilibrio, en función de los parámetros del proceso que conduce a la inflación.
Palabras clave: inflación, crecimiento, modelos estocásticos.
Clasificación JEL: E3, 04, C6.
Volatility in the rate of inflation has been one of the distinguishing macroeconomic characteristics, for decades, of many Middle East, Asian, and Latin American economies. While economic literature has provided considerable theoretical advancement in the understanding of the relationship between inflation and growth in the deterministic framework; see, for instance: Hill (2001), Houthakker (1979), Sidrauski (1976), Dornbusch and Frenkel (1973), Phillips (1962), Black (1959), Kaldor (1959), and more recently Loayza y Hnatkovska (2004) y Gonçalves y Salles (2008), it is still missing a stochastic setting that allows modeling properly inflation volatility in order to provide a coherent explanation of the relationship between inflation and growth. We develop a stochastic small open economy model with a financial sector under the assumption of incomplete financial markets. The general price level, which will be endogenously determined, evolves according to a geometric Brownian motion combined with a Poisson process.1 In this case, the Brownian motion models small diffusion movements of the inflation rate and the Poisson process models jumps in the price level. The proposed model considers explicitly the exposure to distinct risks of all the agents. The setting provides tractable closedforms solutions that make much easier the understanding of the key issues in to explain growth.
In financial and economic literature, the assumption that data follows a lognormal distribution is very common. In particular, it is customary to assume that data follows a geometric Brownian motion. However, there exists strong empirical evidence that most of financial and economic variables of high frequency badly fit a lognormal distribution. One of the main characteristics of these variables is that from time to time they present unexpected jumps, which occur more frequently than it would be expected in a lognormal distribution, even if it a moderate volatility rate is assumed. In macroeconomic data analysis, when a standardized empirical distribution of a variable is compared with a standard normal distribution, it is common to observe that the peak of the empirical distribution is higher than that of the normal case. Since both distributions have the same standard deviation, and hence the same inflection points, the tails of the empirical distribution have to be necessarily fatter in order to compensate its area that must be equal to unity. Thus, a higher peak leads to larger probabilities of small movements and the fatter tails to larger probabilities of extreme values. This distinguishing characteristic is observed in many financial variables, including inflation rates. Mixed diffusionjump processes provide an alternative to model heavy tails in a richer environment to rationalize price dynamics that cannot be generated by using only the Brownian motion. This fact is not just a sophistication to be included in a macroeconomic equilibrium framework but an important issue to be considered in explaining the relationship between inflation volatility and growth.
This research will develop a general equilibrium stochastic macroeconomic model useful to explain how inflation volatility affects economic growth in a small open economy with a financial sector. Under the assumption of incomplete financial markets, the prices of all available assets (real monetary balance, real bonds and real equity) in the economy will be driven by mixed diffusionjump processes. Moreover, mixed diffusionjump stochastic processes will also guide taxes. Finally, we suppose that a Brownian motion governs inflation and a Poisson process guides unexpected and sudden jumps in the price index. The economic growth rate will be endogenously determined in the equilibrium.
This paper extends the basic framework stated in VenegasMartínez (2009) to assess the impact of the inflationrate volatility on economic growth. The distinguished characteristics of the current proposal are: 1) the economy is now open; 2) perfect capital mobility; 3) there is a foreign (nominal) bond available in the economy; 4) the representative consumer considers a basket of heterogeneous goods; 5) the probability that the consumes remains alive at time t is driven by the exponential distribution; 6) the mean expected growth is explained in terms of the inflationrate volatility; 7) and, finally, the mean expected sizes of possible jumps and the intensity parameters of relevant economic variables appear in the mean expected growth rate.
This paper is organized as follows. In the next section, we define the stochastic dynamic of prices and assets. Throughout section III, we state and solve the consumer's decision problem. In section IV, we deal with the firm's decision problem. In section V, we close the model by introducing the government behavior. Through section VI, we determine the stochastic macroeconomic equilibrium. In section VII, we determined, endogenously, the expected growth rate of output. Finally, we present conclusions, acknowledge limitations, and make suggestions for further research. One appendix contains a useful theoretical result for the development of the proposed model.
In this section, we revise some stylized facts. The major episodes of inflation volatility observed in Mexico are: mid1995, 1999, 2001 and 2009, which lead to a reduction in the growth rate of GDP. It is important to point out that in some periods there was even a decrease of output, as seen during some years between 1980 and 1994; see Figures 1 and 2.
The volatility of inflation may be due to the existence of sharp fluctuations in supply and demand in raw materials and agricultural products or fuels, which are fundamental to many aspects of daily economic activities. Moreover, the unstable behavior of prices could have negative effects in saving and investment, creating inefficiencies in the market. Notice the volatile behavior of the National Index of Consumer Prices in Mexico during some periods in 19702011, as shown in Figure 3.
The stylized fact sated above, namely that high volatility of inflation leading to lower growth is not only observed in Mexico, but also in other small open economies in Latin American (for instance, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina). The higher fluctuations in inflation have negative effects forbusinesses and consumers, which could result in reducing growth rates, as it can be see in Figure 4.
When the inflation rate is volatile, prices are unpredictable for consumer and businesses to plan consumption and production, respectively, in the long term. Finally, in Figures 5 and 6 it is shown the dynamics of National Index of Consumer Prices for some small open economies during different periods of time.
Let us consider a small open economy with a single (representative) infinitely lived consumer in a world with a single perishable consumption good. We also contemplate in this economy a single (representative) firm that uses available capital to produce domestic output. And in this section, we establish the dynamics of asset prices to treat the consumer's problem.
We assume that the good is freely traded, and its domestic price level, Pt, is determined by the purchasing power parity condition, namely Pt =Pt*Et where Pt* is the foreigncurrency price of the good in the rest of world, and Et is the nominal exchange rate. Since the consumer is price taker in all of his trading activities with the rest of the world, we may suppose, for the sake of simplicity that Pt* remains constant over time. We also assume that the price level, Pt, and consequently the exchange rate, Et, is driven by a mixed diffusionjump process according to:
Where the drift (or physical trend) π is the mean expected rate of inflation (or mean expected rate of depreciation) conditional on no jumps, σP is the instantaneous standard deviation or volatility of expected inflation, and 1 + vP is the mean expected size of possible jumps in the general price level. Here, WP,t stands for a standardized Wiener process, that is, WP,t is a temporally independent normally distributed random variable with E [dWP,t] = 0 y Var[dWP,tJ = dt. The initial price level P0= E0 is supposed to be known, positive, and deterministic. We also assume that jumps in the price level follows a Poisson process, QP,t , with intensity parameter λP , in such way that:
Henee, E [dQp,t]=Var[d Qp, t] = λp dt. The initial number of jumps is supposed to be zero, that is, QP,0= 0. Throughout the paper, we will assume that Wp,t and QP,t are uneorrelated processes. The trend π, the volatility σP, the mean jump amplitude vp, and the probability of a jump in the price level Pr{dQP,t=1} are to be all endogenously determined.
The representative consumer possesses four different assets: domestie (nominal) money, Mt; domestic (nominal) government bonds, Bt; equity claims, kt; and foreign (nominal) bonds, Bt*. Therefore, the individual's real wealth, at, in terms of the consumption good as numeraire is given by:
where mt= MtlPt stands for real monetary balances, bt= Bt Pt represents the holding of domestic bond in real terms, and:
defines the holding of foreign bonds in real terms. In order to keep as simple as possible the structure of the economy, we suppose that domestic bonds are not traded internationally, otherwise transitional dynamic paths and analytical solutions become extremely complicated. The accumulation of real wealth evolves according to the stochastic differential equation:
We next determine the asset returns. We suppose that the nominal rate of return on money and bonds are zero and i, respectively. The stochastic rate of return of holding real monetary balances at time t, dRm,t, is simply the percentage change of the price of money in terms of goods. A straightforward application of Itó's lemma to the percentage change of real balances, taking (1) as the underlying process, leads to (see Appendix):
where rm = π + σ2P. The stochastic return of holding bonds is similarly obtained
where rb = i(l τy) π + σ2P, and τy is the tax rate on interest income. It is worthwhile to observe that both the stochastic rate of return on domestic money and bonds are affected by the volatility and jumps in the general price level. The stochastic rate of return on equities after taxes will be denoted, for the time being, as:
where Wk,t is a Wiener process and Qk,t is a Poisson process with intensity parameter λk. The process dRk,t will be endogenously determined in the macroeconomic equilibrium. Finally, the stochastic rate of return on foreign bonds is deterministic and given by:
db*t = b*tdRb*, t = bt*rb, dt.
The only remaining issue is how taxes are paid, we suppose that the consumer pays a tax on wealth as follows:
where is the mean expected tax rate on real wealth. As before, Wtand Qτ, t are a Wiener and a Poisson processes, respectively. The trend , as well as the diffusion and jump components στdWτ,t y vτ, t dQτ, t are to be endogenously determined. All of the processes Qp,t, Qk,t and Qτ, t are supposed to be mutually uncorrelated.
Consider a small open economy populated by agents with identical preferences Suppose that the representative consumer derives utility from a generic consumption good and from the liquidity services of real balances. It is also assumed the the consumption of heterogeneous goods, ct (Φ), indexed by Φ [0,1], have a uniform density in [0,1], that is:
in such way the consumption of the aggregate basket is given by:
It is also assumed that the density function that consumes remains alive at time t is exponential with parameter ξ that is:
We assume that the expected utility is of the Von NeumannMorgenstern type. Specifically, the total discounted expected utility at time t = 0, V0, of the competitive consumer has the following separable form:
where E0 is the conditional expectation upon all available information at time t = 0, and δ is the agent's subjective discount rate. In particular, we choose u(ct) = θlog(ct), and v(mt) = (1 θ) log(mt), 0 < θ < 1, in order to generate closedform solutions that makes the analysis tractable. Under this utility index the consumer becomes a riskaverse agent. Thus, the objective of the consumer is to choose, at each instant, the portfolio shares and the consumption amount that maximize his utility index. Moreover, it is important to point out that the main results or conclusions may not be valid under other specifications of the utility fimction. If more general functional forms are considered, it is possible than closeform solutions are not obtained, and in some cases even only numerical approximate solutions can be found. However, we may anticipate that results do vary when using other utility functions; for instance, when using the negative exponential utility function or the hyperbolic utility index, which is out of the reach of objectives' paper.
After substituting expressions (7) (10) in the stochastic equation of wealth accumulation (6), we get:
where the diffusion component satisfies:
The necessary conditions for an interior solution of maximizing V0 subject to (11) and to the normalizing constraint:
where φ is the Lagrange multiplier associated with the constraint (12), Cov (dW,σP WP,t) = σWPdt, and Cov (dW, σk Wk,t) = σWkdt. Equation (13) simply expresses that consumption is proportional to real wealth. After subtracting (14) from (15), we readily find that the optimal portfolio share on real monetary balances is given by:
Hence, the portfolio share of real money balances varies inversely with the aftertax nominal interest rate. Moreover, after subtracting (15) from (16), we get:
Clearly, equation (18) is cubic with real coefficients, and hence it has at least one real solution,3 which will be denoted by Ñk,t. Observe that we have not imposed constraints on the portfolio shares to be strictly positive and less than unity, and hence short sales are permitted at any time. In particular, if we assume that λP and λk are zero, then C = D = 0, and there is a unique solution (cf. Turnovsky, 1993):
Observe now that from (16), we can obtain the value of the Lagrange multiplier:
Finally, the optimal portfolio is completely determined with b,t, which is residually obtained from (l2) as:
Since optimal portfolio shares remain constant over time, in what follows we will leave out the time sub index, and we will simply write: m, b, and k. Finally, notice that the firstorder conditions can be rewritten in terms of marginal utility as:
Moreover, in virtue of (14), (23) and (18), we may re write (25) as follows:
The above equation equals the marginal utility of holding real balances, standardized by the marginal utility marginal of consumption, with the marginal cost of holding real balances. This condition shows explicitly how the opportunity cost of money is affected by uncertainty, i.e., by small diffusive changes in inflation and by chronic extreme movements in the price level. Finally, observe that logarithmic utility implies that the optimal values of j , j = m, b, k, depend only on in the parameters that determine preferences and stochastic characteristics of the economy. In other words, the consumer's attitude to risk is independent of the real wealth level, i.e., the resultant real wealth level at any instant has no effects on the portfolio decisions.
In microeconomic theory is common to assume that firms conduct research and development in search of technological change. Due to the constant search for greater profits, companies try to get maximum benefit in the technologies adopted. One such advantage is access to more efficient production conditions and distribution, via the technological change. It is here the main motivation for a firm to invest resources in research and technological development. In this context, consider a firm whose production, y, depends on a capital asset, kt. It is assumed that small changes in technology that are seen every day are driven by a diffusion process (Brownian motion or Wiener process), and technological innovations (technological leaps) that occasionally occur are modeled with a Poisson process. The technology used by the firm can be owned or acquired from other companies, private or public.
Suppose that in the domestic economy there is only one firm that uses all available capital to produce domestic output. Available capital is the domestically produced output that is not consumed, purchased by the government, or exported. The rate of return on equity will be determined in terms of the production level and the dividends policy. We assume that production is driven by the following stochastic technology:
where γ represents the mean expected marginal product of capital. Here, as in the consumer case, Wy,t is a Wiener process and Qy,t is a Poisson process with the standard characteristics. Processes σy,tdWy,t and vydQy,t are supposed to be exogenous. In general terms, the return on equity can be defined as:
where vt is flow of dividend payments and ut is the equity price on real terms. We suppose that capital gains are no taxed.4 Notice that the return on capital has two components: the dividends paid by each share and the gains or losses of capital as a result of the difference in prices. Let us examine each component separately. In order to determine the percentage change of ut, dut / ut, it is necessary to analyze all the variables determining possible capital gains: number of shares, production and investment. For the sake of simplicity, we will assume that number of shares, at any time, t, remains constant, say equals to N, then it follows that Nut=kt. Therefore:
On the other hand, production after corporate income tax can be used either to pay out dividends, dvt, or to finance investment, dkt, i.e., acquisition of new capital. Hence, the change in output after taxes is given by:
where τP is the tax on corporative income. By combining equations (29) and (30), we get:
Substituting the above expression in (28), we get:
On the other hand, the dividend policy of a firm is a plan for the distribution of payments of dividends to shareholders. The dividend policy should take into account two basic aspects: maximize the benefit of the owners of the company and provide sufficient funding for the company, including research and development. A cash dividend per share of the company indicates the percentage per dollar distributed to shareholders. One of the drawbacks of this policy is that if company profits decline, or if a loss occurs in a given period, dividends may be low or even zero, pushing the plan previously established. A regular dividend policy is based on paying a fixed dividend in each period. This policy gives shareholders confidence, indicating that the company performs well, thus reducing uncertainty. There is also the possibility of payment of stock dividends, a stock dividend is the payment of dividends in shares to existing owners and the companies often resort to such dividend as a form of replacement or addition of dividends. The proposed modeling assumes that the firm pays dividends at a constant fraction aof the aftertax corporate income. That is, dividends have the following form:
After substituting this expression in (32), we obtain the stochastic process governing the return on capital in terms of the technology process as:
It is important to point out that in the above equation its stochastic behavior is due to dyt /kt, since the rest of the variables in (34) are deterministic. Finally, equation (9) is fully determined by:
Thus, the rate of return on equity depends upon the marginal product of capital. Similarly, the stochastic components dRk,t depends on the productivity shocks from changes in y an from the exogenous behavior of dWy,t and dQy,t.
In order to close the model, we describe the government actions as well as the public policy. The public sector generates no utility for the consumer, has the monopoly of printing money, and issues debt to finance public expenditures. The government budget constraint in real terms has the form:
where dgt is the change of public expenditures; dτ1, t is the change in taxes paid by the consumer; dτ2, t is the change of taxes paid by the firm. We next summarize the government policy variables, namely: public expenditures, money supply, and public debt.
In our proposed framework, government expenditure is driven by the following stochastic process:
where is the mean expected rate of fiscal expenditure. As before, Wg,t is a Wiener process and Qg,t is a Poisson process. Notice that government expenditures are defined as a fraction of production. Money supply is a driven by a mixed diffusionjump process as follows:
where µ is mean expected rate of monetary expansion, dWM,t is the diffusion component, and dQM,t is the jump component. Public debt is issued in such a way that the bondmoney ratio remains constant over time, that is:
where κ is a known constant. Hence, it follows, immediately, that:
Therefore, in open market operations, the percentage change of issued debt is equal to the percentage change of shorts in money supply, or equivalently, the percentage change in money supply is equal to the percentage change of the debt liquidation.
The changes of total taxes in real terms, dτ1,t and dτ2,t, paid by the consumers and firms, respectively, are now described. Recall that the remaining taxes τy, τP and τc, are exogenous in our model. Hence, the total tax collected by the government from consumers is given by:
In the firm's case, there is only a tax on corporate income, that is:
In this section, we find the macroeconomic equilibrium and the stochastic rate of capital accumulation in the economy, dkt/kt, we use the national income identity:
After substituting in (45), equations (13) (27) and (39), corresponding to the optimal consumption path, the production dynamics, and the public expenditure policy, we get:
In other words, the variance of capital accumulations depends upon the variances of both the diffusion and jump components. This result will be used to determine the overall macroeconomic equilibrium. Once we have determined the agent's optimal decisions, the firm behavior, the government actions, and the policy variables, it remains to obtain the macroeconomic equilibrium. By using the fact that real balances and government bonds in real terms are linked with movements in the price level, we may determine endogenously the inflation rate. Notice now that we can rewrite the price level as:
Equations (53)(55) determine endogenously the rate of inflation consistent with constant optimal portfolio shares. We observe in (53) that the equilibrium inflation is positively affected by the rate of monetary expansion, negatively affected by the mean expected growth rate of capital, and positively affected by the variances of fiscal and production diffusion and jumps shocks. On the other hand, equations (54) and (55) determining endogenously the diffusion and jump stochastic components of the equilibrium inflation rate. It is important to point out that these components are functions that depends upon the exogenous stochastic behavior of the rate of money supply, production technology and government expenditures.
In order to determine the endogenous adjustment in fiscal policy, we use the fact that the government budget constraint must be satisfied. First, by substituting the equations of government expenditures (39), money supply (40), and debt policy (41), in (38) we find:
On the other hand, by applying Itó's lemma to obtain the stochastic differential d (Mt / Pt) with (1) and (40) as the underlying stochastic processes, we get:
After substituting the above expression along with those for the taxes dτ1,t and dτ2,t in (57), we have that the deterministic and stochastic components of the equilibrium tax adjustment are given by:
Equation (58) describes the endogenous adjustment in the deterministic component, while equation (59) summarizes the diffusion part as a functions of random fluctuations in the rate of monetary expansion, σM dWM,t , government expenditures, σgdWg,t, and the real sector, σydWy,t. The jump component given by (60) is a function of the stochastic jump components of the rate of monetary expansion, the production technology and the public expenditures.
Finally, to determine the equilibrium rates of return of the real balances and bonds in real terms, we substitute the above expressions in (7) y (8), respectively, so the rate of return of holding money is given by:
Notice that economic growth is primarily driven by improvements in the growth rate of capital, which involves producing more goods maintaining without change the other inputs. Observe now that in virtue of rb* = i* (1 τy) π* + σ2P, we get:
Equations (66) and (67) offer an explicit relationship between inflation volatility and output growth. In such a relationship, clearly, an increase in inflation volatility, σP, in (67), leads to a reduction in the economic growth rate Ψ, in (66). Indeed, an increase in σP decreases i*, which in turn reduces Ω, which appears in the denominator of first term of (66). Hence, the total effect of the whole first term is negative. Thus, the proposed model provides a negative correlation between volatility in the general price level and the growth rate of output in a small open economy with a financial sector. In this way, our approach has acquainted with an endogenous growth model consistent with stylized facts that highlight the relationship between nominal volatility and growth.
Monetary authorities often motivate their concerns about inflation by claiming that price level stability contributes to economic growth. Consistently, our theoretical approach has shown that in the long run countries having experienced high inflation volatility also tend to feature dismal growth performances. We have developed a macroeconomic equilibrium model in a richer stochastic environment is useful to examine how inflation volatility affects economic growth. The exogenous variables include the economic policy parameters: rate of monetary expansion, µ; public expenditures, ; debt policy, k; and the tax rates τy, τc and τP. Similarly, the exogenous stochastic processes are: money growth rate, dWM,t, public expenditures, dWg,t, and production, dWy,t. The rest of the stochastic processes are endogenous and can be expressed as functions of exogenous shocks. The economic growth rate was endogenously determined in the equilibrium, as a function of parameters of the process driving inflation, which have an important role in the design of economic policy.
It is also important to point out that in the proposed theoretical framework, as in the second term in equation (66), the mean expected marginal product of capital, γ the expected size of a technological jump affect, vy, and the probability that such a jumps occurs, λy, all of them impact positively the growth rate Ψ, since economic growth is primarily driven by improvements in capital productivity, which leads to producing more goods and services with the same inputs of labor, energy and materials.
Needless to say, more research is required to assess the effects on economic welfare and indirect utility. An important question is if countries featuring high inflation volatility tend to have underdeveloped financial markets and dismal growth performances, of course this issue will be treated in future investigations. It is also important to point out that the main results may not be valid under other specifications of the utility function, and future research will be devoted to more general functional forms of the satisfaction index.
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* The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable and helpful comments and suggestions from anonymous referees, which had greater repercussions in improving this research.
1 There are many works in the economic literature that use diffusion or mixed jumpdiffusion proces, we mention, for instance: Grinols and Turnovsky (1993), Turnovsky (1993), and Giuliano and Turnovsky (2003).
2 As customary, o(h) means that o(h)/ h0 as h0.
3 Indeed, non real roots occur in conjugate pairs.
4 We assume, as in the Mexican case, that there is not a tax on capital gains.
5 For the proofs, we refer the reader to Gihman and Skorohod (1972).