Imperial Ruins and Resurgence

Author(s):  
Camilla Fojas

Detroit became a symbol of the economic freefall, and its ruins, deserted factories, abandoned houses, were a harbinger of the end of capitalism and a sign of “urban death.” Organic metaphors inform and drive the story of capitalism as the natural order of things, subject to the forces of entropy but always renewable. Even without infusions of capital, Detroit’s recovery was afoot, not in actual terms, but in the phantom speculations of storyville. The city became an emblem of death and rebirth in capitalism. Stories of recurrence and return are part of the mythos of capitalism. The boom and bust cycles of capitalism are merely moments in an ongoing and endless cycle of ruin and resurgence and of death and rebirth.

1995 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 1083-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Naughton

Is macroeconomic stability the Achilles heel of the Chinese economy? Recurrent bouts of inflationary disorder lead some observers to worry that the Chinese government is unable to control the economy. Macroeconomic difficulties show up in a pattern of repeated boom and bust cycles, in which each boom is accompanied by an acute inflationary phase and significant disruption. Moreover, since the reform era began, the peak annual inflation rate of each successive cycle has been higher than that of the preceding one. The most recent attempts to cool off the economy have only led to additional questions. An austerity policy was decreed at the end of June 1993, yet inflation actually accelerated in 1994, and it was not until mid-1995 that it dropped to the levels of mid-1993. The Chinese government was engaged in a quest for an economic “soft landing” for two years without a net reduction in the inflation rate!


Author(s):  
Emily L. Hiltz

This essay examines Suzanne Collins’s monstrous “mutts” in her phenomenally popular series The Hunger Games. Hiltz is especially interested in Collins’s characterization of human-animal hybrids, investigating the relationship between the political commentary at work in the novels and these “monsters,” from the half-wolf, half-humans that nearly overtake Katniss at the Cornucopia in the first novel to the lizard-humans whispering her name throughout the viaducts beneath the city in the last. Hiltz focuses on the mutts as abject creatures, demonstrating the ways in which these uncanny monsters, quite literally making the familiar strange, are at once metaphors for the political control exerted by the Capitol, the rebels’ resistance to the Capitol’s power, and the disruption of natural order. She also concentrates on Katniss and Peeta muttations, each of them reformed by warring entities in service of “the greater good.” Most importantly, Hiltz emphasizes that Collins’s mutts are designed to demonstrate the fine and wavering line between good and evil, calling into question the nature of monstrosity, especially as it relates to human behavior. Her location of monstrosity in the protagonists themselves especially offers a new way of thinking about teen dystopic novels that engage horror as a means of conveying identities assaulted by external forces.


Author(s):  
Alan S. Weber

Due to the continued high price of oil and gas, the oil-rich State of Qatar has used its large budget surpluses in the last decade to finance human capacity development, including research, higher education, and the reshaping of its K-12 educational system. This chapter argues that the recent substantial educational reforms in the State of Qatar are closely intertwined with planned future economic transformation (diversification). Although Qatar possesses the world's third largest reserves of natural gas, this resource is ultimately finite and over-reliance on one major economic driver (hydrocarbons) for the bulk of GDP creates boom and bust cycles that have shaped Gulf politics and social development since the 1970s. This chapter examines Qatar's educational efforts to build a knowledge economy to transition away from a resource-rich export-based hydrocarbon economy towards economic activities linked to patents, research, trademarked technologies, skills, and knowledge products.


2015 ◽  
pp. 818-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan S. Weber

Due to the continued high price of oil and gas, the oil-rich State of Qatar has used its large budget surpluses in the last decade to finance human capacity development, including research, higher education, and the reshaping of its K-12 educational system. This chapter argues that the recent substantial educational reforms in the State of Qatar are closely intertwined with planned future economic transformation (diversification). Although Qatar possesses the world's third largest reserves of natural gas, this resource is ultimately finite and over-reliance on one major economic driver (hydrocarbons) for the bulk of GDP creates boom and bust cycles that have shaped Gulf politics and social development since the 1970s. This chapter examines Qatar's educational efforts to build a knowledge economy to transition away from a resource-rich export-based hydrocarbon economy towards economic activities linked to patents, research, trademarked technologies, skills, and knowledge products.


The Pilbara region in Australia’s arid northwest is rich in flora that is suited to extreme temperatures and boom and bust cycles of moisture availability. It is also a region important for its natural resources. In places where mining activities have finished and the land is under management for ecological restoration, there is increasing demand for information about native plant communities and the biology of their seeds. Pilbara Seed Atlas and Field Guide is the first book to combine plant identification with robust, scientific criteria for cost-effective seed-based rehabilitation. It describes 103 regional plant taxa and provides guidelines for effective collection, cleaning, storage and germination of their seeds. It addresses issues such as timing of collection, quality and viability of seed, and dormancy release, which are essential for successful restoration programs. With photographs to portray the subtle differences and unique features of each species’ biology, this book will be of great use to practitioners in the field, including environmental consultants, rehabilitation companies, commercial seed collectors and government authorities, as well as naturalists and people interested in growing the Pilbara’s remarkable plants.


Author(s):  
Jaboury Ghazoul

Ecology is the science of how organisms interact with each other and their environment to form communities and ecosystems. Ecology: A Very Short Introduction explains the history of ecology, the principles of ecological thinking, how ecology affects our everyday lives, and how it guides environmental decisions, especially in the light of current and future environmental challenges. What are the factors behind ‘boom and bust’ cycles in species populations? How and why do two species cooperate? Do humans need so many species? The cultural significance of ecology is also explored, with examples of different schools of thought that envisage ecology as a science and a worldview.


2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunther Schnabl

AbstractJapan went 15 years earlier than Europe through a boom-and-bust cycle in the real estate and stock markets. The country has made important experience with crisis therapies in form of monetary expansion, Keynesian fiscal stimulus and recapitalization of financial institutions. Japan has reached the zero interest bound in 1999 and has accumulated a very high public debt level. The paper compares the boom-and-bust cycles in Japan and Europe with respect to the reasons for the boom, the characteristics of the crises, and the (potential) effects of the crisis therapies. It is argued that the consequence of expansionary monetary and fiscal policies is the hysteresis of the zero-interest rate and high debt trap, the erosion of the allocation and signaling function of the interest rate, the gradual nationalization of the financial sector and aggregate demand, as well as gradual real income losses. The economic policy implication for Europe and Japan is the timely exit from crisis therapies in form of expansionary monetary and fiscal policies despite high adjustment costs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document