Suchergebnisse

The dollar should be improved, but the creation of a CBDC would not be an improvement for American citizens.

Through this set of materials students listen to an engaging interview about detailed reporting on local subsidies and explore an interactive map revealing local subsidy policies. The materials include a lecture outline for teaching these concepts with reference to works of relevant urban sociologists. Uneven development is often a critical concept in urban sociology courses, and is used to discuss how spatial inequality emerges from the unequal distribution of capital across space. Subsidies are policies which create incentives for local investment and can contribute to these inequalities. This set of materials explores how policy, especially subsidies, can exacerbate uneven development by creating a "race to the bottom" in which the incentives provided may reduce the overall benefit of increased investment for localities offering subsidies. These materials illustrate the writings of Engels, Lefebvre, and Harvey on uneven patterns of capital investment, and Logan and Molotch on growth coalition activities. Because the interactive materials guide students to engage with information about the subsidy policies of their local governments, many students become very engaged with the material and more interested in spatial inequality and the policy decisions of their representatives. The steps of this material are: Students read assigned urban sociological readings on uneven development and capital accumulation. Instructor delivers in-class lecture and discussion on uneven development, related readings, and preview of subsidies assignment. Students listen to interview with Louise Story about her reporting on subsidies on Fresh Air, explore interactive map from New York Times and listen to Planet Money podcast episode "Why Did the Job Cross the Road?" Students complete subsidies assignment. In-class discussion of findings.

"Über die letzten Jahrzehnte hinweg wurde der Wettbewerb zur Hauptantriebsfeder der europäischen Integration. Die EU-Politik erlangte einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Umgestaltung nationaler Politiken und Institutionen im Zeichen einer stärkeren Marktorientierung. Der supranationale Einfluss auf die Nationalstaaten wurde durch den wachsenden Standortwettbewerb verstärkt. Der EU-Osterweiterung wird oftmals nachgesagt, den Standortwettbewerb zu forcieren und somit die EU in eine Abwärtsspirale sozialer und ökonomischer Standards zu führen. Dieser Beitrag unternimmt eine differenzierte Betrachtung. Er zeigt in Kontrast zum "race to the bottom"-Argument, dass es nicht die baltischen Staaten sind, die den stärksten Wettbewerbsdruck innerhalb der EU ausüben, sondern es vielmehr die Länder des Visegrad sind, die mit ihrem interventionistischen Staatsverständnis und ihren vergleichsweise großzügigen Wohlfahrtssystemen der gegenwärtigen Form des europäischen Kapitalismus entgegenkommen." (Autorenreferat) (ÜbersJA)

Over the last decades, competitiveness has become the major driving force of European integration. The EU polity has gained significant influence in reshaping domestic policies and institutions towards a more market oriented path. The supranational constraints on nation states are reinforced by an increasing locational competition. Eastern enlargement of the EU is often said to reinforce the locational competition, and to ultimately lead the EU into a downward spiral of social and economic standards. This article proposes a more nuanced view. It shows that in contrast to the race to the bottom argument, it is not the neoliberal Baltic States that exert the strongest competitive pressure within the EU, but rather the Visegrad countries, who, with their interventionistic states and their comparatively generous welfare states, are closer to the current form of European capitalism.

Over the last decades, competitiveness has become the major driving force of European integration. The EU polity has gained significant influence in reshaping domestic policies and institutions towards a more market oriented path. The supranational constraints on nation states are reinforced by an increasing locational competition. Eastern enlargement of the EU is often said to reinforce the locational competition, and to ultimately lead the EU into a downward spiral of social and economic standards. This article proposes a more nuanced view. It shows that in contrast to the race to the bottom argument, it is not the neoliberal Baltic States that exert the strongest competitive pressure within the EU, but rather the Visegrad countries, who, with their interventionistic states and their comparatively generous welfare states, are closer to the current form of European capitalism. (Prokla / FUB)

"Over the last decades, competitiveness has become the major driving force of European integration. The EU polity has gained significant influence in reshaping domestic policies and institutions towards a more market oriented path. The supranational constraints on nation states are reinforced by an increasing locational competition. Eastern enlargement of the EU is often Said to reinforce the locational competition, and to ultimately lead the EU into a downward spiral of social and economic standards. This article proposes a more nuanced view. It shows that in contrast to the race to the bottom argument, it is not the neoliberal Baltic States that exert the strongest competitive pressure within the EU, but rather the Visegrad countries, who, with their interventionistic states and their comparatively generous welfare states, are closer to the current form of European capitalism." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

China's system of Internet censorship and surveillance, popularly known as the "Great Firewall," is the most advanced in the world. In this 149-page report, Human Rights Watch documents how extensive corporate and private sector cooperation -- including by some of the world's major Internet companies -- enables this system of censorship. Research was performed through interviews and extensive testing of search engines in China, and includes 18 screen shots to illustrate examples of censorship. The report vividly illustrates how various companies, including Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google, and Skype block terms they believe the Chinese government will want them to censor.