18,608 research outputs found
Boulton and Fothergill silver.
No full textPhDThis thesis is about the silver business of Matthew Boulton and John
Fothergill at their Soho Manufactory near Birmingham. Their
partnership lasted from 1762 until 1782.
A rounded discussion of the topic is attempted. Within the contexts
of industry elsewhere and Soho's other activities, successive chapters
cover the early development, marketing, production, design, and later
decline of the partners' silver.
Silver plate was prestigious and, untypically for Boulton, he
concentrated on sales to the public rather than trade customers. To
attract orders he made modest charges. This was viable where mainly
machinery was used to make plate, even though sales were not high,
since the expense of machinery was substantially covered by the larger
sales of non-silver items. However, where Boulton relied to a
greater degree upon hand methods, he lacked technical means to
compensate for low profit-margins. Moreover, inefficiency and the
firm's lack of capital which led to substantial bankers' interest
charges on payment for bullion, particularly when customers paid late,
caused losses. These problems applied particularly to silver plate
and were mainly responsible for the decision to reduce production
drastically; however, the manufacture of a large range of small items
remained relatively consistent.
The thesis includes appendices. Some contain new information about
annual totals for the following aspects of the business: the volume of
assay silver; each type of article; pieces sold on commission; and
sterling silver supplies. Other appendices provide details about the
partners' silversmiths and extracts from a Soho inventory.
This thesis involves a more detailed use of sources than previous
studies of the topic. Apart from the silver itself (which is
selectively illustrated), the Matthew Boulton Papers and statistics
derived from The Birmingham Assay office provide the main sources.
Manuscripts covering silver production elsewhere provide contextual
material for understanding the partners' silver business
Adam Boulton: here comes the election storm
No full textSky News’ Politics Editor Adam Boulton is one of the most highly-respected political journalists in the land: unflappable, trustworthy, insightful and clear. So it’s great to get a chance to hear off-screen what he thinks about this election. Despite the calm demeanour, he’s excited
ADAM SMITH'S OPTIMISTIC TELEOLOGICAL VIEW OF HISTORY
No full textAdam Smith's four-stage theory provides the framework for his writings on history. The fourth stage is the commercial epoch; the culmination of history in this stage is a key component in the conventional interpretation of Adam Smith as a prophet of commercialism. In two historical case studies Smith shows the capacity of commercial society to regenerate itself. This potent capacity suggests that commercial society is inevitable. At a certain point in time it also overcomes the major obstacles to its permanence. Smith's philosophy of history anticipates the end of history views of Kant and Hegel.Political Economy,
How Might Adam Smith Pay Professors Today?
No full textAdam Smith’s proposal for paying professors was intended to induce increased faculty knowledge. If students have imperfect information about what they learn, and universities can only imperfectly measure the input of faculty time in student learning, publications may be used to measure faculty knowledge. If professors’ ability to publish is positively related to their ability to produce student learning, which universities can imperfectly measure, publications may be necessary to attract more able professors. Since research signals faculty knowledge, schools that do not value publications per se could require higher publication standards and pay higher wages than schools that value only publications.
ADAM SMITH'S VIEW OF HISTORY: CONSISTENT OR PARADOXICAL?
No full textThe conventional interpretation of Adam Smith is that he is a prophet of commercialism. The liberal capitalist reading of Smith is consistent with the view that history culminates in commercial society. The first part of the article develops this optimistic interpretation of Smith's view of history. Smith implies that commercial society is the end of history because 1) it supplies the ends of nature that he identifies; 2) it is inevitable; and 3) it is permanent. The second part of the article shows that Smith has some dark moments in his writings where he seems to reject completely such teleological notions. In this more civic humanist mood he confesses that commercial society does not supply the ends of nature, nor is it inevitable, nor is it permanent. Both views exist in Smith and the commentator is forced to choose between passages in Smith's work in order to support a particular interpretation of the former's view of history.Political Economy,
Supplemental Material - Investigating the impact of brief training in decision-making on treatment escalation to intensive care using objective structured clinical examination-style scenarios
No full textSupplemental Material for Investigating the impact of brief training in decision-making on treatment escalation to intensive care using objective structured clinical examination-style scenarios by Hisham M Riad, Adam J Boulton, Anne-Marie Slowther and Christopher Bassford in Journal of the Intensive Care Society</p
Adam Smith and Roman Servitudes
No full textThis essay is a preprint of an article that appeared at: Tijdschrift voor Rechstsgeschiedenis, 72 (2004), 327–57.This essay discusses Adam Smith historical jurisprudence and his use of Roman law materials in his Lectures on Jurisprudence. It argues that Smith found it difficult to maintain his theory of legal development in the face of a highly developed body of Roman law literature
Adam Boulton – “2015: a post-TV election?”
No full textLSE MSc student John Ray on Adam Boulton’s keynote speech at the Polis 2015 Conference, 27 March 2015 chaired by Charlie Beckett. The Polis 2015 journalism conference kicked off with Adam Boulton’s keynote speech ‘2015: A Post-TV election?’, in which he presented a montage of media nostalgia; television clips to illustrate the change in television from an era of ‘histograms’ to all-encompassing entertainment where the profile of the presenter often matches the individual that they’re covering
THE THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF ADAM SMITH'S WORK
No full textThe paper will discuss the theological foundation to Smith's writings. Teleology, final causes and divine design were initially seen as central to understanding Smith's writings. Over time, this view fell out of fashion. In the period after World War II, with the rise of positivism, commentators tended to overlook or downplay this interpretation. In the last decade, or so, teleology has started to be restored to its former position as an essential element in understanding Smith. After spelling out Smith's teleology and his view of final causes, divine design and the ends of nature, we try to explain the Panglossian nature of the 'new theistic view' of Smith. While our view differs somewhat, we agree with the essence of the 'new view' claim: a theological view exists in Smith which underpins his moral and economic theories.Political Economy,
- …
