A Potential Case of Social Bankruptcy: States' AFDC Payments and Their Teen Birth Rates

Based on a pooled time series analysis that covers a 30-year period at five different time points—1960, 1970, 1980, 1985, and 1990—this research examines the relationship between states' Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) payments and teen birth rates. Drawing on rational choice theories, we expected the effects of states' AFDC payments on their teen birth rates to be positive, taking into account states' divorce rates, population change rates, unemployment rates, racial composition, and poverty rates. The effects of states'AFDC payments were significant in a negative direction in Model 1, a random effects model; they also were significant in a negative direction in Model 2 when we controlled for the effects of year; however, when we controlled for the effects of year and state in Model 3, they were not significant. The findings do not support assumptions regarding the incentive effects of welfare that underlie rational choice theories in states where teen birth rates are higher. If anything, teen birth rates are higher in states where AFDC payments are lower. Implications for policy and further research are discussed in relation to the positive effects of states' poverty and population change rates on the state teen birth rate problem.     

The power of hope: the mobilisation of small and mid-tier companies in the mining industry's campaign against the Resources Super Profits Tax

This article examines the mobilisation of small and mid-tier companies in the mining industry's campaign against the Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT), drawing on interviews with 18 industry players. The government anticipated that small exploration and development companies would support the RSPT, on account of its promise to contribute towards the costs of exploration and development. In doing so, it was guided by Treasury advice and the assumption of calculative rationality on the part of small companies. Instead, industry leaders forged a common front against the tax within days of its announcement. In doing so, they appealed to the hope of extraordinary returns – or what is sometimes described as ‘sentiment’, ‘animal spirits’ and ‘irrational exuberance’ – among mining entrepreneurs and investors, against the odds. Other researchers have argued that the debate around the RSPT highlights the ‘power of ideas’, but we argue that it highlights the ‘power of hope’.     

Credit unions and money clubs (ROSCAs) (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

This article responds to the Archbishop of Canterbury's high profile endorsements of credit unions and his strong stance against so‐called payday loan companies charging high rates of interest. His views have received wide press coverage along with responses by payday loan companies. This article looks at research on Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCA) which flourish in communities frequented by anthropologists worldwide to meet the financial needs of participants. Unlike credit unions, most ROSCAs do not charge interest.     

Creating Space for the Successor: The Discourse Strategies of Pro- and Anti-GM Factions Regarding the Future of Agriculture in New Zealand

A struggle between different forms of food production for the future of agriculture space has been occurring in many regions of the world. Drawing on the literature of the geography of food and the theory of productive worlds, we propose that the discourse strategies deployed by competing actors should be considered part of the set of conventions that guide productive activities. Two examples of discourse strategies are outlined: the use of articulation to position a desired outcome within a historically resonant discourse in order to gain legitimacy; and the maintenance of a strategic tension between isomorphism and differentiation such that a stance is perceived as a credible choice. We describe and map the impacts of these discourse strategies as they were deployed by anti- and pro-genetic modification groups in the struggle to become the “natural” successor to New Zealand's conventional agricultural heritage. The shifts in discourse positions of the two protagonists highlight the increased hybridity and regional complexity of the worlds of food and the battle for agricultural space.