The place of The General Theory in the economics canon

This paper presents in non-technical language an interpretation of the argument of The General Theory, which is the importance of effective demand and its relation to human agency. It argues that The General Theory is not only a treatise on economic theory, but also, and more importantly, a treatise on methodology, i.e. how economists should reason when dealing with the complexity of the real world. Implicit in this analysis is a distinct position on the remit of the economist and the nature of economic advice and policy. This interpretation suggests that this understanding forms a new paradigm of thinking about the economy at large, centred around the concept of uncertainty. This insight developed into a new analytical tradition in economics, the Post Keynesian School of economic thought that sees uncertainty and effective demand as the key analytical long term concepts for understanding how the economy evolves through time.

Download Full-text

Lisa Sowle Cahill and the Search for a “Functionalist” Paradigm of Feminist Global Ethics

10.1093/oso/9780190851408.003.0008 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Mark S. Massa

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Natural Law ◽

Social Ethics ◽

Moral Theology ◽

Global Ethics ◽

New Paradigm ◽

The Real ◽

Boston College ◽

Moral Duties

This chapter presents an examination of the thoughts and writings of Lisa Sowle Cahill, a moral theologian at Boston College. Taking issue with both Germain Grisez and Jean Porter, Cahill seeks to construct a new paradigm of natural law that addresses feminist and poststructural scholars. Cahill believed that any paradigm of intercultural or interreligious ethics that purported to be describing moral duties in the real world must begin by exploring how ethical questions are intimately tied to the concrete experiences in specific (often religiously diverse) communities. Her paradigm addressed the concerns of feminist and postimperialist scholars in moving beyond the “false universalism” offered by paradigms like that of neo-scholasticism, while offering a “realist” understanding of social ethics that remained true to the realist impulses in Catholic moral theology.

Download Full-text

Einsatz von Secukinumab bei Patienten mit Psoriasis und Psoriasis-Arthritis – Ergebnisse einer nichtinterventionellen Studie unter Praxisbedingungen (SERENA-Studie)

Karger Kompass Autoimmun ◽

10.1159/000518345 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Michael Sticherling

Keyword(s):

Observational Study ◽

Real World ◽

Human Monoclonal Antibody ◽

Rapid Onset ◽

Onset Of Action ◽

The Real ◽

Interleukin 17A ◽

Favourable Safety ◽

Favourable Safety Profile

Introduction: Secukinumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody that directly inhibits interleukin-17A, has demonstrated robust efficacy in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis (PsO), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), with a rapid onset of action, sustained long-term clinical responses and a consistently favourable safety profile across phase 3 trials. Here, we report the clinical data at enrolment from SERENA, designed to investigate the real-world use of secukinumab across all three indications. Methods: SERENA is an ongoing, longitudinal, observational study conducted at 438 sites across Europe in patients with moderate to severe plaque PsO, active PsA or active AS. Patients should have received at least 16 weeks of secukinumab treatment before enrolment in the study. Results: Overall 2800 patients were included in the safety set; patients with PsA (N = 541) were older than patients with PsO (N = 1799) and patients with AS (N = 460); patients with PsO had a higher mean body weight than patients with PsA and patients with AS; and patients with PsO and patients with AS were predominantly male. Time since diagnosis was longer in patients with PsO compared with patients with PsA and patients with AS, and about 40% of patients were either current or former smokers. The proportion of obese patients (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2) was similar across indications. Patients were treated with secukinumab for a mean duration of 1 year prior to enrolment (range 0.89–1.04). The percentages of patients with prior biologics exposure were 31.5% PsO, 59.7% PsA and 55% AS. The percentages of patients prescribed secukinumab monotherapy were 75% (n = 1349) in PsO, 48.2% (n = 261) in PsA and 48.9% (n = 225) in AS groups. Conclusion: Baseline demographics of the study population are consistent with existing literature. This large observational study across all secukinumab indications will provide valuable information on the long-term effectiveness and safety of secukinumab in the real-world setting.

Download Full-text

Mercantilism Revisited

The Historical Journal ◽

10.1017/s0018246x80000016 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 773-791 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

D. C. Coleman

Keyword(s):

Economic Theory ◽

Economic Policy ◽

Seventeenth Century ◽

Economic History ◽

Extreme Case ◽

Economic Thought ◽

The State ◽

Economic Situation ◽

The Status

The intention of this paper is to look at some of the problems which arise in attempts to provide ‘explanations’ of mercantilism and especially its English manifestations. By ‘explanations’ I mean the efforts which some writers have made causally to relate the historical appearance of sets of economic notions or general recommendations on economic policy or even acts of economic policy by the state to particular long-term phenomena of, or trends in, economic history. Historians of economic thought have not generally made such attempts. With a few exceptions they have normally concerned themselves with tracing and analysing the contributions to economic theory made by those labelled as mercantilists. The most extreme case of non-explanation is provided by Eli Heckscher's reiterated contention in his two massive volumes that mercantilism was not to be explained by reference to the economic circumstances of the time; mercantilist policy was not to be seen as ‘the outcome of the economic situation’; mercantilist writers did not construct their system ‘out of any knowledge of reality however derived’. So strongly held an antideterminist fortress, however congenial a haven for some historians of ideas, has given no comfort to other historians – economic or political, Marxist or non-Marxist – who obstinately exhibit empiricist tendencies. Some forays against the fortress have been made. Barry Supple's analysis of English commerce in the early seventeenth century and the resulting presentation of mercantilist thought and policy as ‘the economics of depression’ has passed into the textbooks and achieved the status of an orthodoxy.

Download Full-text

Alemtuzumab in the long-term treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: an update on the clinical trial evidence and data from the real world

Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders ◽

10.1177/1756285617722706 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 343-359 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

Tjalf Ziemssen ◽

Katja Thomas

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Adverse Events ◽

Mechanism Of Action ◽

Real World ◽

Continuous Treatment ◽

The Real ◽

Relapsing Remitting ◽

Remitting Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Alemtuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), given as two annual courses on five consecutive days at baseline and on three consecutive days 12 months later. Here we provide an update on the long-term efficacy and safety of alemtuzumab in RRMS, including real-world experience, and advances in our understanding of its mechanism of action. Recent data from the phase II/III extension study have demonstrated that alemtuzumab reduces relapse rates, disability worsening, and the rate of brain volume loss over the long term, with many patients achieving no evidence of disease activity. In high proportions of patients, preexisting disability remained stable or improved. Alemtuzumab is associated with a consistent safety profile over the long term, with no new safety signals emerging and the overall annual incidence of reported adverse events decreasing after the first year on treatment. Acyclovir prophylaxis reduces herpetic infections, and monitoring has been shown to mitigate the risk of autoimmune adverse events, allowing early detection and overall effective management. Data from clinical practice and ongoing observational studies are providing additional information on the real-world use of alemtuzumab. Recent evidence on the mechanism of action of alemtuzumab indicates that in addition to its previously known effects of inducing depletion and repopulation of T and B lymphocytes, it also results in a relative increase of cells with memory and regulatory phenotypes and a decrease in cells with a proinflammatory signature, and may further promote an immunoregulatory environment through an impact on other innate immune cells (e.g. dendritic cells) that play a role in MS. These effects may allow preservation of innate immunity and immunosurveillance. Together, these lines of evidence help explain the durable clinical efficacy of alemtuzumab, in the absence of continuous treatment, in patients with RRMS.

Download Full-text

Does Baseline On-treatment Platelet Reactivity Impact Long-term Prognosis in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome and Thrombocytopenia Who Underwent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?

10.21203/rs.3.rs-236763/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ru Liu ◽

Tianyu Li ◽

Deshan Yuan ◽

Yan Chen ◽

Xiaofang Tang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ◽

Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽

Real World ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Platelet Reactivity ◽

Coronary Intervention ◽

The Real ◽

Coronary Syndrome ◽

Percutaneous Coronary

Abstract Objectives: This study analyzed the association between on-treatment platelet reactivity and long-term outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and thrombocytopenia (TP) in the real world. Methods: A total of 10724 consecutive cases with coronary artery disease who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were collected from January to December 2013. Cases with ACS and TP under dual anti-platelet therapy were enrolled from the total cohort. 5-year clinical outcomes were evaluated among cases with high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HTPR), low on-treatment platelet reactivity (LTPR) and normal on-treatment platelet reactivity (NTPR), tested by thromboelastogram (TEG) at baseline. Results: Cases with HTPR, LTPR and NTPR accounted for 26.2%, 34.4% and 39.5%, respectively. Cases with HTPR were presented with the most male sex, lowest hemoglobin level, highest erythrocyte sedimentation rate and most LM or three-vessel disease, compared with the other two groups. The rates of 5-year all-cause death, major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI), revascularization, stroke and bleeding were all not significantly different among three groups. Multivariable Cox regression indicated that, compared with cases with NTPR, cases with HTPR were not independently associated with all endpoints, as well as cases with LTPR (all P>0.05). Conclusions: In patients with ACS and TP undergoing PCI, 5-year all-cause death, MACCE, MI, revascularization, stroke and bleeding risk were all similar between cases with HTPR and cases with NTPR, tested by TEG at baseline, in the real world. The comparison result was the same between cases with LTPR and NTPR.

Download Full-text