scholarly journals CAPITAL, GROWTH AND INEQUALITY IN PIKETTY’S APPROACH. A CRITICAL REVIEW

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Targetti Lenti
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
National Income ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Rate Of Return ◽  
Capital Growth ◽  
Return On Capital ◽  
Output Ratio ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Over Time

The paper is a critical review of Piketty’s book “Capital in the XXI Century”. The 950 pages of the French original, and the 696 pages of the English translation, are packed with so many topics, insights, comments and observations that affect almost all spheres of economics, that no single review can summarize them. This review will focus mainly on the factors which can explain the trends regarding the concentration of wealth and of personal income distribution. It will also present some features of the theoretical framework and discuss some of the aspects which can be considered weak from an analytical and methodological point of view. Piketty uses simple economic models to investigate how the ratio between the saving rate and the growth rate of the economy determines the capital-output ratio, and consequently the share of capital in the national income. When the rate of returns on capital rises more quickly than the overall economy and taxes on capital remain low, a vicious circle of ever-growing dynastic wealth, and growing inequality takes place. “Capital is back because low growth is back”. Using the best available historical data, Piketty shows how the capital-output ratio, the capital share in national income, and the rate of return on capital, has evolved over time. Piketty discusses the changes observed, what the main social and economic forces at work are, why these forces change over time, and what we can predict about how the rate of return on capital will evolve in the twenty-first century. The last chapters discuss some policy proposals. Piketty claims that inequality is the result of policies. Only “good” policies can reverse a trend of rising inequality. It is necessary to introduce alternative policies because the composition of wealth is heterogeneous. Piketty suggests a progressive wealth tax on a global scale, based on the automatic exchange of bank information, not only as “useful utopia”, but as a proposal to think about and to discuss. In particular it would be necessary to adopt a progressive taxation on wealth on a worldwide level.

scholarly journals Why Does China Invest So Much?

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Knight ◽  
Sai Ding
Keyword(s):  
Economic Reform ◽  
Capital Market ◽  
High Growth ◽  
High Growth Rate ◽  
High Ratio ◽  
Rate Of Return ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Proximate Determinant ◽  
Return On Capital ◽  
Almost All

China has had a remarkably high ratio of investment to output ever since economic reform began in 1978, surpassing almost all other economies. This is an important proximate determinant of China's high growth rate. This paper gathers together the available evidence to explain why investment is so high: factors both on the demand and on the supply side, and in the latter case the availability of both resources and funds. It analyzes the rate of return on capital and its evolution, and the factors that have kept it up. It draws on the literature to explain the high saving rate, and considers why the imperfect capital market and institutional deficiencies have not constrained investment. The state-owned and private sectors are treated separately because of their different objectives, behavior, and funding.

Globalization and interconfessional communications

2001 ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Serhii Viktorovych Svystunov
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The World ◽  
Target Set ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Rapid Appearance

In the 21st century, the world became a sign of globalization: global conflicts, global disasters, global economy, global Internet, etc. The Polish researcher Casimir Zhigulsky defines globalization as a kind of process, that is, the target set of characteristic changes that develop over time and occur in the modern world. These changes in general are reduced to mutual rapprochement, reduction of distances, the rapid appearance of a large number of different connections, contacts, exchanges, and to increase the dependence of society in almost all spheres of his life from what is happening in other, often very remote regions of the world.

scholarly journals Pyrite (FeS2)-supported ultrafiltration system for removal of mercury (II) from water

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Suk Han ◽  
Kawsher M. D. Solayman ◽  
Ho Kyong Shon ◽  
Ahmed Abdel-Wahab
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Filter ◽  
Pyrite Surface ◽  
Ph Change ◽  
Filtration Process ◽  
Sem Images ◽  
Flux Decline ◽  
Cake Layer ◽  
Water Effects ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis study investigated the Hg(II) removal efficiencies of the reactive adsorbent membrane (RAM) hybrid filtration process, a removal process that produces stable final residuals. The reaction mechanism between Hg(II) and pyrite and the rejection of the solids over time were characterized with respect to flux decline, pH change, and Hg and Fe concentration in permeate water. Effects of the presence of anions (Cl−, SO42−, NO3−) or humic acid (HA) on the rejection of the Hg(II)-contacted pyrite were studied. The presence of both HA and Hg(II) increased the rate of flux decline due to the formation of irreversible gel-like compact cake layers as shown in the experimental data and modeling related to the flux decline and the SEM images. Stability experiments of the final residuals retained on the membrane using a thiosulfate solution (Na2S2O3) show that the Hg(II)-laden solids were very stable due to little or no detection of Hg(II) in the permeate water. Experiment on the possibility of continuously removing Hg(II) by reusing the Hg/pyrite-laden membrane shows that almost all Hg(II) was adsorbed onto the pyrite surface regardless of the presence of salts or HA, and the Hg(II)-contacted pyrite residuals were completely rejected by the DE/UF system. Therefore, a membrane filter containing pyrite-Hg(II) could provide another reactive cake layer capable of further removal of Hg(II) without post-chemical treatment for reuse.

scholarly journals How ethical challenges of covert observations can be met in practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 174701612110082
Author(s):  
Nicole Podschuweit
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Great Distance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Written Information ◽  
Ethical Debate ◽  
The People ◽  
Almost All

This paper aims to bring into the ethical debate on covert research two aspects that are neglected to date: the perspective of the research subjects and the special responsibility of investigators towards their observers. Both aspects are falling behind, especially in quantitative social research. From a methodological point of view, quantitative forms of covert observation involve a great distance between the researcher and the research subjects. When human observers are involved, the focus is usually on the reliable application of the measuring instrument. Therefore, herein, a quantitative study is used as an example to show how the protection needs of both the observed persons and the observers can be met in practice. The study involved 40 student observers who covertly captured everyday conversations in real-world settings (e.g. in cafés or trains) by a highly standardised observation scheme. The study suggests that the anonymity of the research subjects and their trust in the observers are crucial for their subsequent consent. However, many participants showed only little or even no interest in the written information they were provided. Further, this study strongly emphasises how mentally stressful covert observations are to the observers. Almost all observers were worried in advance that the people they were observing would prematurely blow their cover and confront them. Role-playing and in-depth discussions in teams are good strategies to alleviate such and other fears and to prepare student assistants well for their demanding work in the field.

scholarly journals From Substitutive to Supplementary: Institutional Interplay between Public and Occupational Sickness Benefits in Finland, 1947-2016

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-80
Author(s):  
Laura Järvi
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Sickness Benefit ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Blue Collar Workers ◽  
Sickness Benefits ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Benefit System

In the context of the Finnish welfare state, this article examines the role of occupational welfare in the interplay between public and occupational sickness benefits from 1947 to 2016, to analyse how the two sickness benefits have interacted over time and the role occupational welfare has played in sickness provision. Previous research has noted that occupational benefits may support or compensate for the much-debated declining welfare state. Hence, it is important to acquire greater knowledge about the public-occupational interplay. The study uses in-depth individual-level analysis from a retrospective point of view, which has been rare in previous research, and examines the public-occupational interplay in the Finnish sickness benefit system from the first national collective agreements to 2016. Based on the reforms made to the public system, the article identifies and utilises six different phases of the Finnish sickness allowance system in the main analysis. The institutional development of sickness provision is investigated by analysing the compensation rate and benefit period, using metalworkers as a representative example of blue-collar workers. The results indicate that occupational benefits are strongly institutionalised in the Finnish sickness benefit system. The interplay between statutory and occupational sickness benefits has taken different forms over time, and occupational benefits have been re-negotiated as the statutory system has been reformed. The article provides valuable information on the historical development and relevance of occupational welfare, in terms of not only understanding its significance for individuals but also comprehending the logic of the interplay in the public-private mix of welfare provision.

scholarly journals Psychology in an Indeterminate World

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162095800
Author(s):  
Ludger van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Ecological Perspective ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Material World ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
The World ◽  
Indeterminate World ◽  
Over Time

By sharing their world, humans and other animals sustain each other. Their world gets determined over time as generations of animals act in it. Current approaches to psychological science, by contrast, start from the assumption that the world is already determined before an animal’s activity. These approaches seem more concerned with uncertainty about the world than with the practical indeterminacies of the world humans and nonhuman animals experience. As human activity is making life increasingly hard for other animals, this preoccupation becomes difficult to accept. This article introduces an ecological approach to psychology to develop a view that centralizes the indeterminacies of a shared world. Specifically, it develops an open-ended notion of “affordances,” the possibilities for action offered by the environment. Affordances are processes in which (a) the material world invites individual animals to participate, while (b) participation concurrently continues the material world in a particular way. From this point of view, species codetermine the world together. Several empirical and methodological implications of this view on affordances are explored. The article ends with an explanation of how an ecological perspective brings responsibility for the shared world to the heart of psychological science.

A network case of knowledge brokering

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joelle Rodway ◽  
Stephen MacGregor ◽  
Alan Daly ◽  
Yi-Hwa Liou ◽  
Susan Yonezawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Network Activity ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
Knowledge Brokering ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Brokers ◽  
Over Time

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is two-fold: (1) to offer a conceptual understanding of knowledge brokering from a sociometric point-of-view; and (2) to provide an empirical example of this conceptualization in an education context.Design/methodology/approachWe use social network theory and analysis tools to explore knowledge exchange patterns among a group of teachers, instructional coaches and administrators who are collectively seeking to build increased capacity for effective mathematics instruction. We propose the concept of network activity to measure direct and indirect knowledge brokerage through the use of degree and betweenness centrality measures. Further, we propose network utility—measured by tie multiplexity—as a second key component of effective knowledge brokering.FindingsOur findings suggest significant increases in both direct and indirect knowledge brokering activity across the network over time. Teachers, in particular, emerge as key knowledge brokers within this networked learning community. Importantly, there is also an increase in the number of resources exchanged through network relationships over time; the most active knowledge brokers in this social ecosystem are those individuals who are exchanging multiple forms of knowledge.Originality/valueThis study focuses on knowledge brokering as it presents itself in the relational patterns among educators within a social ecosystem. While it could be that formal organizational roles may encapsulate knowledge brokering across physical structures with an education system (e.g. between schools and central offices), these individuals are not necessarily the people who are most effectively brokering knowledge across actors within the broader social network.

Translation and interpretation in Abhidharmakośa

Diogenes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitko Momov
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Young Scholar ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

Rosemberg (1991) has made a critical review of a long-standing discussion between Eastern philologists and Buddhist philosophers. The discussion is centered around the translation of the doctrine on the one hand, and its philosophical systematization on the other hand. When scientific-philological translation prevails, the literal meaning of Buddhist terminology is declared to be its basis. The young scholar, who had specialized in Japan, studied Buddhism from Japanese and Chinese sources and collected lexicographic material from non-Hindu sources. After comparing them, he encountered inaccuracies in the translation. In an attempt to overcome them, he preferred the point of view of the philosophy of Buddhism. The conclusion that he has drawn in the preface of this edition is that the study should begin with a systematization of antiquity.

Bernhard Riemann’s legacy of 1859

2009 ◽  
Vol 93 (528) ◽  
pp. 468-475
Author(s):  
Graham Hoare
Keyword(s):  
Number Theory ◽  
Mathematical Physics ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
German Version ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
Almost All ◽  
University Of Göttingen ◽  
The University ◽  
Modern Mathematics ◽  
Mathematics And Physics

The German version of Riemann’s Collected Works is confined to a single volume of 690 pages. Even so, this volume has had an abiding and profound impact on modern mathematics and physics, as we shall see. In fifteen years of activity, from 1851, when he gained his doctorate at the University of Göttingen, to his death in 1866, two months short of his fortieth birthday, Riemann contributed to almost all areas of mathematics. He perceived mathematics from the analytic point of view and used analysis to illuminate subjects as diverse as number theory and geometry. Although regarded principally as a mathematician Riemann had an abiding interest in physics and researched significantly in the methods of mathematical physics, particularly in the area of partial differential equations.

scholarly journals Social Order and Practical Wisdom of Walking in a Crowd

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-29
Author(s):  
Andrei M. Korbut
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Joint Production ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Phenomenal Field ◽  
Almost All

The article suggests returning to the “crowd” as an object of sociological analysis. Crowds have attracted early sociologists because crowds were visual embodiments of social forces that surpass individuals and also served as a symbol of the profound social transformations which were taking place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Analyzing crowds allowed for the first sociologists (G. Simmel, R. Park, M. Weber, E. Durkheim) to oppose the psychological interpretation of mass social phenomena with a purely sociological approach. However, in the second half of the 20th century sociologists had lost almost all interest in the crowd, as it did not meet the interests of researchers of “large” social structures, nor the interests of the proponents of interactionist approaches. This article shows that the crowd can again be made interesting for sociology if we were to consider it from the point of view of the everyday practices of the participants. In these everyday practices a specific form of phronesis, i.e. practical wisdom, technical skill coupled with moral judgment about which action is good and which is not, is implemented. It is shown here that the study of the practical wisdom of walking in a crowd requires special concepts and methods that can be found in phenomenology and ethnomethodology. The article suggests using three such concepts for the analysis of crowds: phenomenal field, oriented object, and figuration of details. With the help of these concepts, the methods of the crowd’s situated social order production are analyzed in relation to the management of speed and trajectories of movement, following one another, walkers’ stopping and slowing down, and joining the crowd. This analysis shows that the joint production of the crowd’s social order by its participants is a situated practice, i.e. it consists of making the local scenes of everyday life familiar and accountable, and of assessing the local adequacy of the actions performed.

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