Introduction: Reconsidering Futurism

The financial crisis hit Italy harder than many other Eurozone countries. In part this was due to the fact that the crisis came upon a system that was weakened by years of sub-par economic growth. One of the several endogenous factors that explain the stagnation of the Italian economy is the weak corporate governance in the industrial sector and parts of the financial one. A framework that was designed to maintain stability in the ownership of companies and of certain types of banking institution ultimately led to an inefficient allocation of capital and to a lack of investment, which contributed to the loss of competitiveness of Italian firms in a fast globalizing marketplace.     

The "Crisis" Geography of Contemporary Russia

Against the background of structural and geographical changes that brought about the economic crises of the 1990s in the Russian Federation and subsequent recovery in the early years of the 21st century, the authors analyze the challenges of (and responses to) the 2008 global economic and financial crisis in Russia. Quantitative data derived from official sources and the authors' own research is used to analyze developments at a variety of spatial scales, including inter- and intra-regional, urban and rural. The noted authors speculate about possible exit paths from the crisis and their impacts on spatial differentiation within the Russian Federation. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F210, G010, O150, O180. 6 figures, 1 table, 55 references.     

Of poles,pressmen, and the newspaper public: Reporting the Scottish national Antarctic expedition, 1902–1904

Between 1902 and 1904, the Scots naturalist William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition on a voyage of oceanographical discovery. Unlike other British expeditions undertaken during the ‘Heroic Age’ of polar exploration, Bruce's Expedition placed undivided attention upon scientific accumulation, and dismissed the value of territorial acquisition. As a consequence, Bruce and his Expedition were subject to a distinct interpretation by the press. With reference to contemporary newspaper reports, this paper traces the unique mediation of Bruce, and reveals how geographies of reporting served to communicate locally particular representations of him, and of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.     

国际金融危机影响及中国旅游饭店的经营策略

如何在正确认识国际金融危机对世界经济、世界旅游市场、我国经济、我国旅游市场和我国旅游饭店影响基础上,借鉴国际旅馆的经营策略,说明我国饭店的经营策略,这是当前我国旅游业发展的一个重要课题。本文据此命题,运用统计数据与典型样本分析,讨论阐明下列问题：（1）世界经济发展的主要趋势;（2）世界旅游市场发展的主要趋势;（3）国外旅馆的经营策略;（4）中国经济发展的主要趋势;（5）中国旅游市场发展的主要趋势;（6）中国旅游饭店的经营策略。     

China and India Enter Global Markets: A Review of Comparative Economic Development and Future Prospects

An American economist specializing in the economic and business development of China as well as India presents the results of a focused comparison of their emergence as global economic powers in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. More specifically, she selectively reviews the body of published research comparing China and India, with emphasis on the literature covering the two countries' economic achievements, the nature of reforms and institutions, as well as the overall social contexts within which development and growth are occurring. The author addresses such major questions as the importance of timing and location in the two countries' development trajectories as well as the implications of different modes of guidance (market versus state direction) for those trajectories. A concluding section identifies several possible directions for future research. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F010, O110, O530, P200, P520. 1 figure, 2 tables, 120 references.     

Modeling the Roles of Craft Production in Ancient Political Economies

Ongoing debates over the significance of specialized production in ancient political economies frequently hinge on questions of whether elites or commoners controlled craft manufactures and whether the material or ideological import of these production processes was more significant in deciding power contests. Though long recognized, such queries were traditionally answered in relatively straightforward economic terms. Recently, these time-honored approaches have been questioned. An ever increasing number of authors are promoting varied takes on the causal linkages between political forms and processes, on the one hand, and patterns of production, distribution, and use of craft goods, on the other. The literature generated by these discussions is extensive, vibrant, and often confusing. Rather than trying to synthesize all reports and essays dealing with specialized manufacture, this paper highlights general interpretive trends that underlie and structure current debates. The concluding section offers suggestions for how studies of relations among crafts, power, and social heterogeneity might be pursued profitably in the future.     

Financial Constraints on the Modernization of the Russian Economy

A British economist examines the main obstacles to economic modernization in the Russian economy. After arguing that increased investment is required if the Russian economy is to undergo significant modernization, he presents a framework for identifying binding constraints on such investment. A number of popular explanations of Russia's persistent underinvestment are considered, with particular emphasis on financial constraints. Recent Russian government proposals to restructure the financial system are then assessed in light of their implications for the wider economic modernization. On the basis of the growth diagnostics framework employed in the paper, the author makes the case that the binding constraint on investment in Russia is the poor quality of domestic financial intermediation.     

Abbott’s ‘budget crisis’, CALD women’s loss? Service providers explore the impact of funding cuts

Women have been disproportionately affected by funding cuts to services following the 2008 global financial crisis. Using a feminist intersectional analysis of austerity measures applied to family violence (FV) services in Victoria, Australia, including 11 service provider interviews, we find that: the Australian government drew on global narratives of austerity in constructing a ‘budget crisis’, with subsequent cuts to funds addressing FV; budget cuts negatively impacted services’ abilities to address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women; there is a lack of qualified interpreters and multilingual services, and; there are missed opportunities to engage and support young CALD people in FV services. Policy recommendations to support FV services and their abilities to help CALD women and young people are provided.     

Connecting lectures to current affairs: the “letters to newspapers” assignment

This paper presents the experiences of teaching political geography, in a level 2 BA course, with the use of an innovative assignment – the letters to newspapers assignment. We provide here the aims, rationale and a detailed outline of the assignment. We also discuss student feedback from 67 questionnaires and 2 focus groups. Our findings suggest that the assignment was instrumental in (a) enabling the students to see concepts in action, that is to link abstract ideas with real-world issues and (b) initiating a move away from passive learning towards supporting students to actively and critically reflect upon their relationship with the world.     

‘You Kick the Bucket; We Do the Rest!’: Jokes and the Culture of Reprinting in the Transatlantic Press

In December 1893 the Conservative candidate for Flintshire addressed an audience at Mold Constitutional Club. After he had finished attacking Gladstone and the local Liberal incumbent, he ended his speech with a joke. He advised the Conservative party to adopt, with regard to the government, the sign of an American undertaker: ‘You kick the bucket; we do the rest’. How did a sign belonging to a Nevadan undertaker become the subject of a joke told at a political meeting in North Wales? This unlikely question forms the basis of this article. Using new digital archives, it tracks the journey of the gag from its origins in New York, its travels around America, its trip across the Atlantic, its circulation throughout Britain and its eventual leap into political discourse. The article uses the joke to illuminate the workings of a broader culture of transatlantic reprinting. During the final quarter of the nineteenth century miscellaneous ‘snippets’ cut from the pages of the American press became a staple feature of Britain's bestselling newspapers and magazines. This article explores how these texts were imported, circulated and continually rewritten in dynamic partnership between authors, editors and their readers.     

增强执政党应对金融危机的能力

应对金融风险是执政党必须高度注重的重大问题。在经济全球化时代金融危机频发以及金融风险增多的条件下,增强执政党应对金融危机的能力,妥善处理金融危机所带来的各种挑战,尽快化解可能引发的政治危机和社会危机,不仅关系到党执政的合法性基础,关系到党执政地位的巩固,而且关系到国家政局的稳定和人民群众的财产安全。     

Finance is History!

A new sensitivity to the significance of historical experience has developed since the 2007 financial crisis. There are three possible ways of drawing on the past: as a source of advice on policies, of patterns of past evolution, of multiple possibilities. The best way of thinking about history is as a way of testing conventional hypotheses – particularly when those hypotheses are being used to create market opportunities (by making for false confidence; but also by engendering exaggerated despair).     

China's Shoe Manufacturing and the Wenzhou Model: Perspectives on the World's Leading Producer and Exporter of Footwear

A U.S.-based geographer and specialist on China advances his research on industrial districts and regional development by presenting a 2008 study of shoe manufacturing in Wenzhou (a major center in the world's largest footwear producing and exporting country). More specifically, the author examines how the model of economic development pioneered in Wenzhou (the Wenzhou model) has been transformed in an effort to meet the challenges posed by the global economy. He argues that the scaling up of Wenzhou's footwear industry, through the expansion of sales networks and factories across China and abroad, indicates that other adaptable city regions can overcome similar obstacles. The author challenges both the New Regionalism literature focused on local institutions and assets, as well as perspectives that overemphasize the benefits of globalization and global production networks. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O100, O140, O180. 2 figures, 3 tables, 60 references.     

现代国际体系的起源——从体系与单位双重视野出发的论述

通过对中世纪欧洲国际秩序及其原则的追述,从体系和单位双重视野出发考察现代国际体系的起源,我们发现,随文艺复兴时代意大利国际体系的崩溃,西方国际构造的重心发生了从意大利和地中海西移到北大西洋东岸的转移,全球性政治经济初露端倪;而现代强国的最初浮现与形成,则明显地具有它们作为最初的领土集中的现代民族国家这一根本特征。运用体系和单位双重视野,我们还可以获得如下认识:(1)使得现代国际体系的起源具有重大复杂性甚而曲折性的主要因素,相当集中地寓于与西欧现代强国并立的哈布斯堡"传统型半旧帝国";(2)在这起源时代若干萌发中的新要素,很大程度上规定了现代国际体系未来长期演进的基本方向和主要特征。