3,406 research outputs found

    Episode 35: Alexis Castellanos, Author of “Isla to Island”, and Her Panel Presentation during the Operación Pedro Pan Two-Day Event

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    In Part 1 of “Operación Pedro Pan: The Voices and Stories of Cuba’s Child Exodus—A Knights HistoryCast Mini-Series,” the Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Alexis Castellanos, an author, illustrator, graphic novelist, and a panelist at the esteemed, conspicuous, and powerful “Operación Pedro Pan: Honoring the Cultural, Historical Legacy of Cuba’s Child Exodus” Two-Day Program that Florida Humanities, UCF’s Department of English and Department of Modern Languages and Literatures sponsored (see https://cah.ucf.edu/pedro-pan/ for more details on sponsors and the program in general). Sebastian structured this specific episode on Alexis Castellanos’ Isla to Island, a wordless graphic novel grounded by her personal family history and the history of Operación Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan). By analyzing such a historic event through the medium of fiction, Sebastian argued that this is one of the most unique Knights HistoryCast episodes of all time. Naturally, their conversation expanded to what she talked about during her panel presentation in Panel One, Day 1 of the event that featured “internationally renowned scholars that discussed the political, historical, and cultural legacy of Operación Pedro Pan (1960-1962).” (https://cah.ucf.edu/pedro-pan/) To purchase Isla to Island (strongly recommend), check out: https://islatoisland.com/. To find out more about Alexis and her professional work, check out her website at https://alexiscastellanos.com/https://stars.library.ucf.edu/knightshistorycast/1034/thumbnail.jp

    Reforming the international monetary system: a stock-flow-consistent approach

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    The emergence and persistence of large trade imbalances as well as the volatility of financial flows among countries have been attributed, at least in part, to the inadequacy of the current international monetary system after the breakdown of Bretton Woods. From a different perspective, the current eurozone crisis is also the result, in our view, of a flawed institutional setting. These problems call for reforms to mitigate or avoid the recessionary bias that is the outcome of current systems, as Keynes predicted in the discussion preceding the Bretton Woods agreements. In this paper we briefly review the evidence on international imbalances, and survey the rapidly growing literature on the subject. We introduce a set of models based on the stock-flow-consistent approach pioneered by Godley (1999) and Lavoie and Godley (2003). We discuss how to use these models to explore potential reform of the international monetary system.Fil: Valdecantos, Sebastián. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Zezza, Gennaro. Università degli studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale; Italy

    The Long Decay of Argentina: could the 2010s have been different?

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    A notorious thinker of the 19th century once said that "history repeats it- self, first as tragedy, second as farce". The 2010s were, for the Argentinean economy, a new lost decade. But unlike the 1980s, where the country had to go through a debt crisis, a ridiculous war and two stabilization plans (one of them including a substitution of the national currency, which only lasted six years) that ended in hyperinflation and massive social unrest, the high macroeconomic instability of the 2010s did not end in a major social crisis. After the peak registered in 2011, the per capita GDP has oscillated with a decreasing trend, being 10% lower in 2019 than it was ten years before. In line with the literature describing the contractionary effect of devaluations (Díaz-Alejandro 1963; Krugman and Taylor 1978), this downward trend of income seems to have been driven by the exchange rate devaluations that took place in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In parallel, the rate of inflation ex- hibited an accelerating trend that could only be contained when the nominal exchange rate was kept under control. This weak macroeconomic perfor- mance coincided with two antagonistic political regimes: while the second presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2012–2015) attempted to establish a "social Keynesian" wage-led regime of accumulation, the admin- istration of Mauricio Macri (2016-2019) intended to lay the foundations of a finance-dominated accumulation regime similar to the ones observed in the Pacific countries of the region, with Chile as the role model.Fil: Valdecantos, Sebastián. Aalborg University Business School; Denmark

    "Cronica der Turckey" Sebastian Franck's Translation of the "Tractatus de Moribus, Condicionibus et Nequitia Turcorum" by Georgius de Hungaria

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    The Tractatus de moribus, condicionibus et nequitia Turcorum is one of the most important first-hand accounts of life in fifteenth-century Turkey known to modern scholarship. It is the work of a Christian former slave of the Turks, writing after his return to the West. Although the author does not name himself, he can be identified as a Dominican priest, Georgius de Hungaria, who died in Rome in 1502. His Tractatus is conceived as a work of anti-Islamic polemic, yet it contains a surprisingly unbiased appraisal of Turkish customs. First printed c.1480 when European apprehension in the face of Ottoman expansion was at its height, the Tractatus was reprinted in numerous editions, and was widely used as a source by other authors. Luther edited the text in 1530, using the positive account of Turkish customs and religious observance as a weapon in his polemic against the Roman Catholic Church: if heathens could perform such exemplary works, who could fail to doubt the efficacy of works as a means of salvation? Sebastian Franck in his German translation of the Tractatus went further: replacing Georgius' commentary with his own, he used the text to attack institutional religion as a whole and to promote his concept of a non-dogmatic, spiritual Church of individuals united with each other only through their union with God -a Church which was not closed to Moslems or members of any other creed. This translation or adaptation, the Cronica der Türckey, marks Franck's decisive break with the Lutheran cause and the beginning of his lonely path as a 'spiritual individualist'. Franck reworked his translation of the Tractatus for his major geographical work, the Weltbuch of 1534. This thesis concerns itself primarily with Franck's Cronica, providing the first modern critical edition of this text, in a near-diplomatic transcription with an extensive glossary. The thesis also includes transcriptions of the Tractatus; of Türckei, an anonymous translation of the Tractatus, and of relevant additional material from Franck's Weltbuch. None of these texts has been published in full in a modern edition. In the Introduction Franck's Cronica is compared in detail with the Tractatus, highlighting the changes that occur in translation; the character and the significance of these changes are then discussed. It is established that Franck, whilst being unwilling to reverse any of Georgius' value judgements on Islam and Turkish culture, is highly selective in his choice of material for translation, and frequently gives the text new nuances and adds his own comment. The question of the Tractatus' influence on Franck's further development as a writer and thinker is also raised. The investigation then turns to Franck's use of the Tractatus material in his Weltbuch. His eclecticism becomes apparent in this text, in which Georgius' account is juxtaposed - but not synthesised - with material from other sources, often of lesser veracity and greater anti-Islamic bias. Franck's distortion of the Tractatus material to suit his own line of argument is clearly discernible: from the unique phenomenon presented in the Tractatus the Turks become one more example of the general human tendency to externalise and dogmatise faith. In addition, the transmission of Cronica and Türckei is examined, and the relationship between these two translations is clarified: Franck certainly used Türckei in writing his Cronica, but is unlikely to be the author of the anonymous work

    From the European Monetary Union to a euro-bancor: a stock-flow consistent assessment

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    The crisis of the euro area has questioned the fairness, sustainability and viability of the current setting of the European Monetary Union (EMU). In this article we use a four-country stock-flow consistent (SFC) model in the tradition of Godley/Lavoie (2007a) to examine to what extent an adaptation to Europe of Keynes's plan of a clearing union with bancor balances could help reduce the imbalances that, at least in part, drove the eurozone into crisis. Our simulation experiments suggest that the implementation of Keynes's ideas may conduct European countries to a stronger and more sustainable growth cycle.Fil: Mazier, Jacques. Université Paris-Nord; France.Fil: Valdecantos, Sebastián. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina

    2. A Human Being to Be Remembered | The 2024 UCF VLP Podcast Series

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    In Episode Two, Andrew Carroll’s herculean efforts to seek and collect over 210,000 war letters—that span since the American Revolution—demonstrate how others are as seriously committed to preserving the legacies of the men and women who served and fought for their country. Andrew shares several letters from his impressive collection, allowing us to be as close as possible to the Veterans—engaging with their own words, thoughts, and emotions. Indeed, themes central to UCF VLP are often exemplified in the 210,000 war letters Andrew has preserved for over twenty-five years. Andrew Carroll is an award-winning historian and author and is the founder and director of the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University. Andrew was the second keynote speaker invited to share his extraordinary work during the 2024 UCF VLP Institute. This episode was directed, produced, written, edited, and hosted by Sebastian Garcia and featured Andrew Carroll. Executive Producers: Sebastian Garcia and Dr. Amelia Lyons. Music: “Honor and Glory” and “Real Heroes” by SergePavkinMusic (Pixabay) Podcast Cover Artwork: Sebastian Garcia The 2024 UCF VLP Podcast Series is brought to you by the UCF History Department Podcast Network and UCF’s Veterans Legacy Program—a partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/knightshistorycast/1051/thumbnail.jp

    Wang Tao’s Diary: excerpts Translated by Sebastian Eicher

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    In a little regarded episode from Wang Tao’s diaries, the author tells us about a two-week long journey from Shanghai to Hangzhou and to the West Lake. Wang Tao undertook this journey together with the missionary Griffith John, who at that time was trying to find ways to preach the gospel outside the treaty port of Shanghai. We know the rough outline of this journey from Griffith John’s writings, as it was the second half of a longer journey along the Grand Canal. But Wang Tao’s presence and his notes on it have so far been neglected. This is a loss, as the diary Wang Tao kept offers not only a personal and lively account of the journey, it also gives us some insight in the Chinese perception of the missionaries’ activities and a description of the Hangzhou era before the Taiping would ravage it only a bit more than a year later

    Episode 31: Professor Paul W. Wehr Day at the Pioneer Days Pine Castle Historical Society History Tent Event

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    The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Mr. Richard Lee Cronin, author, historian, and event coordinator of the Pine Castle Historical Society HISTORY TENT, at the Annual Pine Castle Pioneer Days Event. This episode is dedicated to and is in honor of Professor Paul W. Wehr. A Professor of History at UCF since the Department’s inception in 1969, Professor Wehr retired in 1995 after 25 years of teaching his passion for history—inspiring countless students and faculty. Professor Wehr devoted much of his time to documenting the history of Orange County, specifically Pine Castle. This naturally led to a close relationship with the Pine Castle Historical Society, which dedicated Day 1 of the 2-day event at Pioneer Days to Professor Wehr for the first time this year. Sebastian decided to pay tribute to one of UCF’s original history professors by going to the Pine Castle Pioneer Days HISTORY TENT event dedicated to him and produced a podcast on location with Mr. Richard Lee Cronin, who knew Professor Wehr personally. Below are links to an Orlando Memory interview featuring Professor Wehr himself that Sebastian mentioned in the introduction of this podcast, the page to know more about his books and association with Pine Castle, and a UCF CAH article written about Professor Wehr shortly after his passing in 2021. https://orlandomemory.info/topics/oral-history-interview-with-dr-paul-w-wehr/ https://www.pinecastlehistory.org/publications-books-pamphlets/ https://news.cah.ucf.edu/news/remembering-paul-w-wehr/https://stars.library.ucf.edu/knightshistorycast/1030/thumbnail.jp

    Alternative exchange rate regimes for the euro zone

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    The analysis of the euro zone crisis in the two previous chapters has shown how the reforms often adopted in emergency have brought partial solutions to avoid a break-up. But a deeper transformation of the institutional framework remains necessary. The way of adjusting internal imbalances is still asymmet- rical. Deficit countries alone are obliged to adjust. Wage deflation and restrictive policies have replaced exchange rate adjustments and competitive devaluations. The alternative policies have been presented and evaluated. They appeared rather unlikely in the political context or with a limited impact or difficult to implement. Furthermore, these proposals would not solve the real problem, that is, the structural differences that make it impossible for southern countries to compete against the German block at the same nominal exchange rate parity. Adjusting the real exchange rate through the so-called internal devaluations may imply an unacceptable social cost. However, the status quo could prevail with only marginal inflexions and would remain fragile. A last alternative can be explored, a calling into question of the single currency itself, to regain rooms of manoeuvre. The re-introduction of an adjustment of nominal exchange rates within the euro zone may imply a positive competitiveness shock that may help some of the troubled countries. This is the idea of what may be called a multi- speed euro zone which could take two forms.Fil: Mazier, Jacques. University Sorbonne Paris Nord, CEPN-CNRS; France.Fil: Valdecantos, Sebastián. National University of General San Martín; Argentina
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