Selling civilization: toward a cultural analysis of America's economic empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

This essay builds on work that is exploring the convergence of economic and cultural approaches to understanding imperialism through an examination of the particular case of American commercial expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Based on my archival research into the promotional and practical strategies of five of the largest American companies that were international in sales, I suggest some of the ways that an analysis of commercial imperial representations of, and knowledges about, race, gender and civilization adds to our understanding of the multiplicity of imperialisms. I argue that examining these multiplicities can help contribute to a critical postcolonial perspective.     

Public debt and financial crises in the twentieth century

The costs of wars have been the main driver of public debt in the Western World during the modern era. The late twentieth century stands out as a period that saw a pronounced increase of government debt to GDP ratios in peacetime. This paper assesses the role that financial crises have played in shaping the public debt trajectory in the twentieth century. Focusing on the experiences of 14 industrial economies, I show that financial crises have long and lasting effects on public finances. I provide evidence that the costs of financial crises have increased strongly in the second half of the twentieth century and that the costs of financial crises grow with the size of the financial sector. In many countries, the rising costs incurred from stabilizing the economy after financial crises were an important cause of the peacetime surge of public debt ratios in the late twentieth century. In today's highly financialized economies, financial crises have become a key risk for public finances.     

Diet and the diseases of the twentieth century

Trowell, Hugh, Denis Burkitt and Kenneth Heaton, eds. Dietary Fibre, Fibre‐Depleted Foods and Disease, London: Academic Press, 1985. xiv + 433 pp. including index. $64.50 cloth.

Bjoerntorp, Per, George V. Vahouny and David Kritchevsky, eds. Dietary Fiber and Obesity. New York: Alan R. Liss, 1985. ix + 115 pp. including chapter references and index. $22.00 cloth.     

Uncertain dimensions. Western overseas empires in the twentieth century

I consider the extent to which Fichte might be classed as a German Jacobin. I argue that if we think of the history of Jacobinism as being driven by two main forces, a concern for private rights and a concern for the public good, then Fichte might be classed as a Jacobin because his ethical and political thought combines these two concerns. I also suggest that his argument for the right of existence in the Foundations of Natural Right and his idea of ‘public’ virtue, which can be found in his main work on ethics, The System of Ethics, provide a link between his philosophy and the radical phase of the French Revolution.     

20世纪国内老子研究述评

由于同一定时代背景相联系,20世纪的国内老子研究呈现出明显的阶段性:前期研究有两大特点,一是以西学解老,二是注重校诂与考证;中期研究的突出特点是大陆学者自觉地以马列主义为指导,注重分析老学的阶级属性及哲学性质,1973年马王堆帛书<老子>的出土为这一时期的老子研究提供了新的课题;后期的老子研究是在大陆与港澳台四地研究趋于一体化、国内外老学界交流合作频繁的背景下进行的,80年代初注重反思,80年代中期以后的研究在视域上不断拓展,在层次上不断深入,1993年郭店楚简<老子>的出土使得学术界在诸如<老子>版本及作者、老子的道德价值取向以及先秦儒道关系等问题上的研究取得了一批新成果,并基本达成共识.