666 research outputs found
This, too, I blame on Hitler
No full textWhat becomes of those who survive? This collection of personal essays uses humor and reflection to explore the themes of inherited trauma and bicultural identity, finding sanctity in the unlikeliest of sources: irreverence. Whether reporting on Syrian refugees at the Hungarian-Serbian border, reflecting on his experimentations with sadomasochism, recounting a botched haircut at the hands of his six-year-old brother, or translating a musical written by his grandfather in a Soviet Gulag, the author grapples with the question: how does one discover nuance in personal heritage under the Manichean weight of a global atrocity like the Holocaust?M.F.A.by Adam Jano
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,
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
Tagging of Biomedical Articles on CiteULike: A Comparison of User, Author and Professional Indexing
No full textThis paper examines the context of online indexing from the viewpoint of three different groups: users, authors, and professional indexers. User tags, author keywords and descriptors were collected from academic journal articles, which were both indexed in Pubmed and tagged on CiteULike, and analysed. Descriptive statistics, informetric measures, and thesaural term comparison shows that there are important differences in the use of keywords between the three groups in addition to similarities which can be used to enhance support for search and browse. While tags and author keywords were found that matched descriptors exactly, other terms which did not match but provided important expansion to the indexing lexicon were found. These additional terms could be used to enhance support for searching and browsing in article databases as well as to provide invaluable data for entry vocabulary and emergent terminology for regular updates to indexing systems. Additionally, the study suggests that tags support organisation by association to task, projects and subject while making important connections to traditional systems which classify into subject categories
The euro at ten: the next global currency?
No full textOver the first ten years of its existence, the euro has proved to be more than a powerful symbol of collective identity. It has provided price stability to previously inflation-prone countries; it has offered a shelter against currency crises; and it has by and large been conducive to budgetary discipline. The eurozone has attracted five new members in addition to the initial eleven, and many countries in Europe wish to adopt it. The euro has also been successful internationally. Even though research presented in this volume confirms that it has not rivaled the dollar's world currency status, it has certainly become a strong regional currency in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Some countries in the region have de facto adopted it, several peg to it, and many have become at least partially euroized.
However, the euro's impressive first decade is likely to be followed by a much more difficult period. The present financial crisis is posing at least two important challenges: real economic adjustment within the euro area and maintenance of fiscal and financial stability without a central government authority capable of taking appropriate financial and fiscal decisions in difficult times.
This book is the product of a joint conference held in 2008 by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Bruegel. It is edited by Bruegel Director Jean Pisani-Ferry and then-PIEE Deputy Director and current Bruegel board member Adam Posen. The papers and remarks in this volume demonstrate that the euro has proved to be attractive as a fair weather currency for countries and investors well beyond its borders. But it remains to be seen whether it is equipped to also succeed as a stormy weather currency.
Contributors: JoaquÃn Almunia, Maria Celina Arraes, Leszek Balcerowicz, C. Fred Bergsten, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Kristin J. Forbes, Linda S. Goldberg, C. Randall Henning, Mohsin S. Khan, Antonio de Lecea, Erkki Liikanen, Philippe Martin, Thomas Mayer, André Sapir, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Lawrence H. Summers, and György Szapáry.
OVERCOMING POSITIVISM IN ECONOMICS: AMARTYA SEN'S PROJECT OF INFUSING ETHICS INTO ECONOMICS
No full textLogical Positivism, which arose in philosophy early in the twentieth century, proclaimed the sharp distinction between facts and values. Despite objections at the time, positivism was imported into economics in the 1930s. Over time, objections lessened; economics was transformed and ethical considerations were driven out of its core. In the 1950s, debates about positivism arose within the discipline which had exported it. According to the American philosopher Hilary Putnam, the fact/value distinction is now discredited in philosophy. If that is so, the methodological foundations of contemporary economics are also discredited. In this article I examine Amartya Sen’s moral science of economics. First, I will present his historical account of the connections between economics and ethics. Sen claims that there was a close connection between the two until positivism was imported. Second, I will sketch some of Sen’s ethical objections to modern economics, which is still suffering from positivism. Finally, I will lay out some of his ideas on how economics can be returned to an ethical path. Once the ground has been cleared of positivism, ethics can re-emerge in economics in various ways. One path has been marked out by Sen.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,
The political economy of trade and growth: an analytical interpretation of sir James Steuart's inquiry
No full textSir James Steuart (1713-80) has been unduly neglected by the majority of historians of economic thought. This study aims at casting a new light upon his original thought to provide a basis for the revaluation of his contribution to the development of economic discipline. The present interpretation of his Inquiry (1767) reveals that his political economy contains not only fresh new ideas and path-breaking thinking for his time but also most major ingredients of modem economics. Firmly based on the recognition of the interdependence of economic sectors and social classes, he clearly grasped the circular system of production, distribution and consumption in the exchange economy. He discerned between the 'profit upon alienation' and the 'real value' of commodities in their current price' determined in the markets. He emphasized the 'balance of work and demand', secured by the 'double competition' among the sellers and buyers of commodities, for the efficient allocation of economic resources. On these foundations, Steuart established his theory of output, employment and population in terms of the notion of 'effectual demand'. His economic analysis culminates in his discussions of economic growth and foreign trade. He linked the limitations of the former to the benefits of the latter. Meanwhile, refuting his predecessors' quantity theory, Steuart presented what might be called the production-consumption theory of money, according to which money is not neutral to the determination of the level of output in an exchange economy. His theory of international money also takes on modernity, as it adopts an absorption approach to the balance of payments. Steuart's monetary analysis comes complete with his argument for government's active finance. The state interventionism underlying the whole of Steuart's political economy is seen as its logical conclusion, rather than a mere assumption. Thus, it is suggested that the ultimate message of his Inquiry is neither laissez faire nor centa-al planning
Umowa powierzenia parafii instytutowi zakonnemu: uwagi ogólne
No full textThis article presents the general and theoretical problem concerning the agreement (conventio) entrusting a parish to a clerical religious institute or to a clerical society of apostolic life (canon 520 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law). The author distinguishes contractus from conventio in the Latin Code now in force, considering the agreement specified in canon 520 of the 1983 Code as a public law contract. He then analyzes the parties to this agreement and rejects the opinion that canon 520 of the 1983 Code could be applied directly to religious entities other than those specified in the above canon. Finally, the author analyzes the essentialia conventionis, i.e. the essential and sufficient elements of the commented agreement: quae actum ipsum essentialiter constituunt (canons 124 § 1 and 520 § 1 of the 1983 Code). According to the author three elements are necessary to reach the consensus between parties to the agreement: (1) the designation of the parties in accordance with canon 520 of the 1983 Code; (2) the essence of the agreement: the commitment of a parish, consisting in the pastoral care of the Christian faithful who form the community; (3) the specification of the entrusted parish as an object of the commitment. Lastly, the author criticizes the legal technicalities adopted in the commented canon.This article presents the general and theoretical problem concerning the agreement (conventio) entrusting a parish to a clerical religious institute or to a clerical society of apostolic life (canon 520 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law). The author distinguishes contractus from conventio in the Latin Code now in force, considering the agreement specified in canon 520 of the 1983 Code as a public law contract. He then analyzes the parties to this agreement and rejects the opinion that canon 520 of the 1983 Code could be applied directly to religious entities other than those specified in the above canon. Finally, the author analyzes the essentialia conventionis, i.e. the essential and sufficient elements of the commented agreement: quae actum ipsum essentialiter constituunt (canons 124 § 1 and 520 § 1 of the 1983 Code). According to the author three elements are necessary to reach the consensus between parties to the agreement: (1) the designation of the parties in accordance with canon 520 of the 1983 Code; (2) the essence of the agreement: the commitment of a parish, consisting in the pastoral care of the Christian faithful who form the community; (3) the specification of the entrusted parish as an object of the commitment. Lastly, the author criticizes the legal technicalities adopted in the commented canon
Hacia la construcción semiótica del mundo. Las consideraciones de Adam Smith sobre el lenguaje
No full textThis article explores the aportation of Adam Smith’s Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages to the rest of his work. It starts analyzing its internal structure in the light of its documented sources, of which it follows a linguistic model that is more constructive than referential. From the initial approach that language, first of all, communicates needs, the author connects this germ of the process of socialization with Smith’s published works, explaining them as a semiotic development of the fundamental idea that the human being has not a definite Nature, but an open history in which he must make to himself.El presente artículo explora la aportación de Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages, de Adam Smith, al resto de su obra. Comienza analizando su estructura interna a la luz de sus fuentes documentadas, de la que se sigue un modelo lingüístico más constructivo que referencial. A partir del planteamiento inicial de que el lenguaje, ante todo, comunica necesidades, el autor conecta este germen del proceso de socialización con las obras publicadas de Smith, explicándolas como un desarrollo semiótico de la idea fundamental de que el ser humano no tiene una naturaleza definida, sino una historia abierta en la que tiene que hacerse a sí mismo
Legal regulation of prices in Tanzania : an examination of the Regulation of Prices Act 1973 as a tool of social change and development
No full textDrawing mainly from the Tazanian experience this study
attempts to review the principal issues in the legal regulation of
prices, by identifying both the general and specific importance
of law in this respect. The position I shall present is that
legal control is both necessary and desirable for the welfare
and social development of the people. The key issue is whether
the market-place will perform its function satisfactory: Will
it produce socially desirable results? If it will not, why will
it not? And will legal regulation help to do the job a little
better?
In an attempt to answer some of these questions,
first of all, outline the basic issues raised by the study in
the first Chapter. Then I examine the general case for price
controls - the theory about the controls, the motives and reasons
for their imposition and the manner in which they are effected
in different economic systems. This is done in Chapter Two. Relying
most on the available literature on the regulatory process, this
Chapter also looks at the relationship between law and economic
regulation and concludes that the effectiveness of law depends
on the existence of a conducive socio-economic environment. In
Chapter Three I describe the past record of price control laws
in Tanzania. I conclude that despite the failure in the past,
the controls still constitute an important policy instrument
in the transition to socialism. In Chapters Four and Five I describe
the manner in which the current regulations are implemented and
the problems encountered. I conclude that the operational performance
of the controls is constrained by internal and external influences on the economic and political life of the country. In the concluding
Chapter I assess the impact of the controls: Do the controls
work? Do people buy goods at the controlled prices? Why today
the controls are almost popularly accepted as worthwhile? I conclude
that while there may be no measurable economic gains derived
by consumers, the controls have a stabilising effect on the social
and political front. In the final section I argue that the
future success of the legislation depends on creating a correspondence
between the economic structures and the control system. What
makes the controls ineffective is not so much defects in the
law but the contradictions between the orientation of and functioning
of the economic system and the ideological commitment
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