Blockchain networks as constitutional and competitive polycentric orders

Institutional economists have analyzed permissionless blockchains as a novel institutional building block for voluntary economic exchange and distributed governance, with their unique protocol features such as automated contract execution, high levels of network and process transparency, and uniquely distributed governance. But such institutional analysis needs to be complemented by polycentric analysis of how blockchains change. We characterize such change as resulting from internal sources and external sources. Internal sources include constitutional (protocol) design and collective-choice processes for updating protocols, which help coordinate network participants and users. External sources include competitive pressure from other cryptocurrency networks. By studying two leading networks, Bitcoin and Ethereum, we illustrate how conceptualizing blockchains as competing and constitutional polycentric enterprises clarifies their processes of change.

Interpersonal brain synchronization during face-to-face economic exchange between acquainted dyads

Interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) has been observed during social interactions and involves various factors, such as familiarity with the partner and type of social activity. A previous study has shown that face-to-face interactions in pairs of strangers increase IBS. However, it is unclear whether this can be observed when the nature of the interacting partners is different. Herein, we aimed to extend these findings to pairs of acquaintances. Neural activity in the frontal and temporal regions was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning. Participants played an ultimatum game that required virtual economic exchange in two experimental settings: the face-to-face and face-blocked conditions. Random pair analysis confirmed whether IBS was induced by social interaction. Contrary to the aforementioned study, our results did not show any cooperative behavior or task-induced IBS increase. Conversely, the random pair analysis results revealed that the pair-specific IBS was significant only in the task condition at the left and right superior frontal, middle frontal, orbital superior frontal, right superior temporal, precentral, and postcentral gyri. Our results revealed that face-to-face interaction in acquainted pairs did not increase IBS and supported the idea that IBS is affected by "with whom we interact and how."

Nguyen Lords with Trading Activities and International Cultural Exchange in South Vietnam during the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries

The 16th 18th centuries were widely known as a fascinating period of Vietnamese history. It was characterized by the division between North (Đng Ngoi) and South of the country (Đng Trong) and the civil war accordingly between the Trinh Lords and the Nguyen Lords. It also witnessed the most vibrant cultural exchange and integration of feudal states in Vietnamese medieval times. With their well-defined vision and effective maritime trade strategies, the Nguyen Lords have actively promoted cultural and economic exchange in the region and to the world. The seaports along the coast of South Vietnam have become a central gateway for these activities. The current research is an attempt to give a vivid picture of the dynamic trading environment in Thuan Quang the biggest province in this part of the country. A critical reassessment of the Nguyen Lords integration policies will also be presented.

Banking on the Underworld. A Strictly Economic Appreciation of the Chinese Practice of Burning (Token) Money

The custom of burning mock-money as a symbolic offering of nutrients and sustenance to one's ancestors in the Afterlife is here analysed in terms of its economic meaning and significance. The theme is treated from two different angles. One is that of the political economy of the gift, which concerns itself with the final uses to which society conveys its economic surplus. The other is that of monetary institutionalism, which seeks to understand what the practice itself actually represents in light of the monetary arrangements that rule the economic exchange within the community itself. The thesis is that, at a first remove, the custom appears to fall into the category of “wasteful expenditure,” in that it is not manifestly conducive to any augmentation of the system's efficiency. But on a subtler level, it is not precisely so for two orders of reasons. First, because the custom is habitually accompanied by subsidiary donations; second, because, in this donative moment, the custom importantly reveals, through its conversion of real cash into “sacrificial” token-money, a constitutive yet hidden, property of money, namely its perishability.

Syrian - Lebanese economic relations 1958 – 2000

In the midst of dangerous circumstances and events and the thorny relations between Syria and Lebanon ,the issue of Syrian – Lebanese economic relations 1958 – 2000 came to confirm the depth of the relationship between the two counties and indicate the political tensions and the shadows it casts on economic relations. Perhaps the Syrian – Lebanese relations are among the strangest relations that exist between two countries or Even between two peoples , although it brings together a lot of special circumstances that are difficult to find in other countries , any event , even if it is fleeting , can be exploited in a way that harms the essence of the relationship in which interests may intersect between two ordinary countries that do not have any connection of historical weight or A specific geography , the Syrian – Lebanese relationship is , by virtue of history , concurrent with the emergence of the two states as political entities . This reason and others prompted me to choose this topic , which embodies the volume of trade and economic exchange between the two countries and clearly embodies the repercussions of the relationship , which passes from one period to another in a state of ebb and flow . This study sheds light on the economic relations between the two countries , although it is difficult to ignore the impact of the political conditions on them , as they are the main engine , and the decline in economic relations is only a reaction to the crisis policy in many cases . in writing this research , the researcher used the descriptive method of history , and he used an important number of sources that enriched the subject , such as the Lebanese – Syrian relations of the authors Antoine AL-Nashef and Khalil AL-Hindi , as well as the Lebanese – Syrian relations1985 -1943 issued by the Lebanese Documentation and Research Center and last but not least l hope this study will be successful in terms of providing information and facts to the lraqi offices and contributing to their enrichment and providing assistance to the lraqi researcher .

The Market in Poetry in the Persian World

'Poetic speech is a pearl, connected to the king's ear.' This statement gestures to words as objects of material value sought by those with power and resources. I provide a sense for the texture of the Persian world by discussing what made poetry precious. By focusing on reports on poets' lives, I illuminate the social scene in which poetry was produced and consumed. The discussion elicits poetry's close connections to political and religious authority, economic exchange, and the articulation of gender. At the broadest level, the study substantiates the interdependency between cultural and material reproduction of society.

Book Review: Geoffrey B. Saxe, Cultural Development of Mathematical Ideas.

A review of G Geoffrey B. Saxe, Cultural Development of Mathematical Ideas. Saxe offers a comprehensive treatment of social and linguistic change in the number systems used for economic exchange in the Oksapmin community of Papua New Guinea. By taking the cognition-is-social approach, Saxe positions himself within emerging perspectives that view cognition as enacted, situated, and extended. The approach is somewhat risky in that sociality surely does not exhaust cognition. Brains, bodies, and materiality also contribute to cognition—causally at least, and possibly constitutively as well (as argued by Clark & Chalmers; Renfrew & Malafouris). This omission necessarily excludes the material dimension of numeracy.

Shifts in Mapping

Depicting the world, territory, and geopolitical realities involves a high degree of interpretation and imagination. It is never neutral. Cartography originated in ancient times to represent the world and to enable circulation, communication, and economic exchange. Today, IT companies are a driving force in this field and change our view of the world; how we communicate, navigate, and consume globally. Questions of privacy, authorship, and economic interests are highly relevant to cartography's practices. So how to deal with such powers and what is the critical role of cartography in it? How might a bottom-up perspective (and actions) in map-making change the conception of a geopolitical space?