The Chicago Plan Revisited: An Austrian critique

Within the context of the economic crisis since 2007 a space for fundamental reflection on the institutional structure of the finan-cial system has been opened, allowing for the introduction of sig-nificant reform proposals in the economic discourse. The IMF economists Jaromir Benes and Michael Kumhof published a work-ing paper in August 2012, reintroducing the Chicago Plan as such a proposal.2 Following up the work of Irving Fisher (1935)3 the au-thors propose the separation of the monetary and the credit func-tions of the banking system, by requiring 100% reserve backing for deposits. This plan is designed to eliminate the possibilities for private banks to create money through fractional reserve banking and is supposed to give governments the complete control over money issuance. The central bank, upgraded as a powerful mone-tary commission, is seen as the best candidate to serve as a state’s monetary authority in the exercise of its monetary prerogative (monopoly of currency, money issuance, and seigniorage). The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the ele-ments of this reform proposal, contrast it with a recapitulatory display of the Austrian analysis and evaluate the plan based on its political desirability. In the first step, the original plan from 1935 by Irving Fisher is presented. Second, the newest version and the key findings of Ben-es and Kumhof are summarized. Third the Austrian critique of fractional reserve banking and central banking is laid out. In the fourth step, a response to a peculiarity of the working paper about the origin of money is offered. In conclusion a brief discussion on the likelihood of political implementation and the evaluation from the Austrian perspective close the argumentation.

Assessment Process-Reflection on Pedagogical Practices and Integration of Technologies in Education

Although research shows that the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into education (ICTE) can help to renew teachers' teaching practices, they do not necessarily do so automatically and spontaneously. The process of development and implementation of ICT in education should include a fundamental reflection on pedagogical approaches in order to understand their place in teaching and learning practice. The ICT should be used for the service of the pedagogy. In this optic, the idea developed in this chapter is to present the micro-macro assessment (MMA) approach based on a reflection on the main pedagogical approaches which influenced pedagogical practices at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century objectives-based approach and competencies-based approach. The MMA approach for assessment is adopted in a diagnosis e-learning system and experimented with learners of middle school education. The experience has given positive and promising results in the improvement of teaching and learning practices.

"Usandheden må leves" - Genoptagelsen af Kierkegaard i eksistentialismen

Kierkegaard is the ‘father’ of existentialism. This claim, however, seems to be a contradiction in terms. The first part of the paper offers a fundamental reflection on the question of whether a subjective thinking like Kierkegaard’s can survive his death and in what form. In its second part, the paper inquires into the concrete reception of Kierkegaard’s thinking in the atheistic branch of existentialism (Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus). The paper will examine how Kierkegaard’s fundamental themes and concepts such as understanding, freedom/choice, des-pair, and anxiety are appropriated and transformed on the basis of a changed historical and philosophical situation. It will be argued that it is only in this way that the reception of Kierkegaard will avoid being a hollow repetition and be a lively conversation.

By the Numbers: Economic Data Revisions: What They Are and Where to Find Them

Economic data is being revised often. On the first Friday of every month,the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes its Employment Situation Summary. This report describes the state of employment in the United States and two highly anticipated (and media-watched) employment numbers: The Unemployment Rate and Total Nonfarm Payroll Employment. The Unemployment Rate is based on a survey of persons who report they are seeking work but are not employed. The Payroll Employment Data are based on firms’ reports of the number of people employed. Economists and others carefully watch the rise (or fall) of the total nonfarm payroll employment data. These data are a fundamental reflection of current economic conditions and a significant rise or fall will, in turn, influences economic decision-making by businesses and government.

‘Science of the City’: Towards a Higher Quality of Urban Life

<p>Cities have in the course of history become the dominant geographic settlement pattern all over the world; we live in the ‘urban century’. Cities integrate all dimensions of modern life, ranging from socio-economic to technological aspects. The organisation of such complex entities calls for a more integrative an inclusive scientific analysis and understanding of urban systems. The aim of the Special Issue Science of the City: Towards a Higher Quality of Urban Life, is to offer a synthesis of the contributions from the Advanced Brainstorm Carrefour (ABC) meeting, held on March 22-23, 2016 in Naples, bringing together experts who have provided a significant contribution to a fundamental reflection on the roots and effects of the modern city.</p>

Martin Luther and Lutheran Orthodoxy

The theology of early modern Lutheranism was based on Martin Luther. From the mid-16th century to the start of the 18th, the theology developed and taught at Lutheran universities in Germany (in modern research called “Lutheran Orthodoxy”) centered on the Lutheran confession and took place within the institutional setting of church and university created by the Wittenberg Reformation. Luther’s theology was pervasive throughout early modern Lutheranism owing to basic confessional material such as the Luther Bible, Luther’s hymns, Luther’s Catechisms, Luther’s book of prayers, Luther’s liturgies, Luther’s homilies, Lutheran confessions, individual and complete editions of Luther’s works, Luther anthologies, and Luther memoria. This orientation reflects not so much an intensive preoccupation with his person and work and fundamental reflection on his authority, but rather stems from the natural presence of Luther in the Lutheran church and its theology. This reception is tangible not only in intertextual references, such as when his work is mentioned, quoted, or paraphrased, but also in the approach, completion, and content of theological thinking. Lutheran Orthodoxy continued contributing to the theological work of the Lutheran Reformation, especially in biblical exegesis, soteriology, and Christology, but also in anthropology, ecclesiology, and ethics. Although Lutheran Orthodoxy at times abbreviated or went beyond some points of Luther’s thought, resulting in a broad spectrum of diverging theological positions, it largely remained within the framework created by the Wittenberg Reformation in the 16th century. In fact, many theological initiatives of the Reformation did not come to fruition until the post-Reformation period, and many theological problems that had remained unresolved were then clarified. Hence, Lutheran Orthodoxy must be regarded as the legitimate heir and authentic interpreter of the theological legacy of the Lutheran Reformation. Because the potential of the Lutheran Reformation can be seen in Lutheran Orthodoxy, examining it can bring a fresh perspective on the history of the Reformation.

LA THÉOLOGIE EUROPÉENNE À L’HEURE DE LA PENSÉE DÉCOLONIALE

RÉSUMÉ: La théologie européenne est aujourd’hui interpellée par la pensée décoloniale; elle est notamment soupçonnée d’avoir souvent voulu (consciemment ou non) exercer une certaine hégémonie sur la théologie des autres continents. Dans cette situation même, elle est invitée à une lecture renouvelée de sa propre histoire. L’interpellation de la pensée décoloniale doit aussi conduire à une réflexion de fond sur les relations entre la théologie européenne et les théologies élaborées dans d’autres continents. Elle devrait en outre encourager la théologie européenne à opérer à son tour une tâche d’inculturation sur le sol même de son propre continent. L’article montre enfin que cette théologie européenne doit également reconnaître les ressources dont elle dispose elle-même, et qu’elle a la responsabilité de les faire valoir dans le monde d’aujourd’hui, sans prétention hégémonique, mais en vue de contribuer ainsi aux tâches théologiques de notre temps.ABSTRACT: European theology is today challenged by decolonial thinking; it is particularly suspected for having often wanted (consciously or not) to maintain some hegemony upon the theology of the other continents. It this very situation it is invited to read in a new way its own history. The challenge of decolonial thinking must also lead to a fundamental reflection about the relations between the european theology and the theologies which have been elaborated in other continents. Moreover, it should encourage the european theology to undertake itself a task of inculturation on the soil of its own continent. Finally the article shows that this european theology has also to recognize the resources which it has inherited itself, and is responsible for developing them in today’s world, without any hegemonic pretension, but in order to contribute in this way to the theological tasks of our time.

ESTHÉTIQUE DU ≪SIGNE PUR≫. ADORNO, MERLEAU-PONTY ET L’ART COMME RÉINVENTION INFINIE DU RÉEL

AESTHETICS OF “PURE SIGN” ADORNO, MERLEAU-PONTY AND ART AS AN ENDLESS REINVENTION OF REALITY Contemporary painting has often dealt with signs, graffiti, calligraphy, and more precisely with aesthetic objects that take the form and appearance of signs, but which do not belong to any existing alphabet. These are forms that imitate signs but are what we might call “pure signs”, i.e. signifiers without a signified. This form of artistic experimentation (of which Paul Klee is the precursor) has elicited parallel and convergent analyses by Merleau-Ponty and Adorno. These authors show the ways in which this kind of artistic experimentation at once renews reflection on language and reflection on art, through a more fundamental reflection on the cognitive actions that they necessarily share, namely deciphering and interpretation. By asking how signs that have no conventional meaning can still be identified as signs–the “decryption” of which is therefore impossible–we re-actualize a question that goes back to Plato and Augustine. How can we begin to investigate and understand what we do not know yet? How does the decryption and interpretation process arise for one who does not yet know if there is something to understand? This type of artwork actually has a meaning, but not in the traditional sense. Although they are unreadable and untranslatable, such works clarifying the meaning of interpretation for us, they free us from a naive and simplistic conception of the process of understanding. They show us that interpretation is always a process of inventing and producing a new meaning, but never of actually finding a pre-existing meaning. In doing so, these kinds of artwork are inseparable from ontological and political issues. Against a conservative view of our relationship to reality, they make us aware that the sense of reality is never simply given nor definitive, and that our relationship to reality contains much more potential than we commonly believe.