childcare system in France: a glance at the 2003 reform.

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5. The Democracies Between the Wars (1919-1939)

At first glance, the events of World War I seemed to be a triumphant vindication of the spirit of 1848. It was the leading democratic great powers - Britain, France, and the United States - who had emerged the victors. In the political reconstruction of Europe, republics had replaces many monarchies. West of Russia, new and apparently democratic constitutions were established in Germany, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. Yet the sad truth was that by the outbreak of World War II in 1939 the majority of the once democratic states of central and eastern Europe had been forcibly annexed by stronger neighbors, or had severely curtailed their democracy, or had lost it outright. [excerpt

Das "Modèle rhénan" aus französischer Sicht

The relationship between France and Germany is still a complex one, and the French perception of the social market economy is a perfect example of the ambivalence that both nations feel towards each other. Already a short glance at the history of economics - from the physiocrates to Keynes and then to Walter Eucken - shows that a profound philosophical and political rift divides France and Germany. In more recent times, this division has been perfectly illustrated by the totally different approach adopted in the post war area by the two countries: De Gaulle's planned economy on the one hand and Adenauer's liberalism on the other. Nowadays, as liberalism seems to unquestionably dominate the political and economic landscape, the antagonism between France and Germany still manifests itself with regard to monetary policies. Whereas Germany still adheres to the concept of an absolutely independent central bank (the ECB) as an intangible asset, France always seems to impose a more voluntary approach. It's precisely in this aspect that France and Germany differ the most. This divergence is now being intensified by the strong emergence of financial capitalism in Europe. --Social Market Economy,Ordo-Liberalism,Monetary Policy

Results of the radio-detection experiment CODALEMA

International audienceMeasurements of the radio transients associated to Extensive Air Showers could provide a timely new effective method of detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays with interesting performances in term of techniques and of accessible observables. The CODALEMA experiment at the Radio Observatory of Nançay, France, explores this possibility using an array of broadband active dipole antennas triggered by an array of ground particle detectors. The implemented detection techniques, the methods of analysis developed and the principal results achieved during the 5 years of upgrading will be recalled. This cursory glance will provide an opportunity to point out some new issues and to suggest some future challenges in this domain

SportsAnno: what do you think?

The automatic summarisation of sports video is of growing importance with the increased availability of on-demand content. Consumers who are unable to view events live often have a desire to watch a summary which allows then to quickly come to terms with all that has happened during a sporting event. Sports forums show that it is not only summaries that are desirable but also the opportunity to share one’s own point of view and discuss the opinions with a community of similar users. In this paper we give an overview of the ways in which annotations have been used to augment existing visual media. We present SportsAnno, a system developed to summarise World Cup 2006 matches and provide a means for open discussion of events within these matches

Protecting employment in the time of coronavirus: What is the EU’s €100 billion going to buy? CEPS Policy Insights No 2020-08 / April 2020

This paper briefly analyses the proposal by the European Commission to establish SURE, the ‘European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency’. The SURE facility would borrow up to €100 billion on the financial markets, lend it to member states to finance short-time work schemes and similar measures, using guarantees from the member states themselves. The analysis makes the point that the scheme should be seen, first and foremost, as a proof of European solidarity to counter hostile propaganda from Russia and China about the EU’s ineffectiveness. It can also have an impact on national policies to deal with the coronavirus and to assist the most damaged and/or fiscally weak member states, but this effect is likely to be limited. Potentially, the most important feature of SURE is that it explicitly refers to itself as the forerunner of a future European Unemployment insurance scheme

Reform of Governance in Higher Education Sector as a factor enhancing international mobility of students - the case of Poland

The aim of the paper is the presentation of main directions and programmes enhancing international mobility of students in Europe and outside Europe and some results of this programmes in the case of Poland. The paper examines also the main decisions of the European Commission related to the reform of the Higher Education Sector in the EU as one of the most important factors stimulating mobility in the tertiary education schools

Visualising variation in mortality rates across the life course and by sex, USA and comparator states, 1933–2010

Background Previous research showed that younger adult males in the USA have, since the 1950s, died at a faster rate than females of the same age. In this paper, we quantify this difference, and explore possible explanations for the differences at different ages and in different years. Methods Using data from the Human Mortality Database (HMD), the number of additional male deaths per 10 000 female deaths was calculated for each year from 1933 to 2010, and for each year of age from 0 to 60 years, for the USA, and a number of other countries for comparison. The data were explored visually using shaded contour plots. Results Gender differences in excess mortality have increased. Coming of age (between the ages of 15 and 25 years of age) is especially perilous for men relative to women now compared with the past in the USA; the visualisations highlight this change as important. Conclusions Sex differences in mortality risks at various ages are not static. While women may today have an advantage when it comes to life expectancy, in the USA, this has greatly increased since the 1930s. Just as young adulthood for women has been made safer through safer antenatal and childbirth practices, changes in public policy can make the social environment safer for men

Signaling, Incentives and School Organization in France, The Netherlands, Britain and the United States: Lessons for Education Economics

[Excerpt] What causes differences in secondary school achievement across these four nations? The first two sections of the paper describe the achievement differences among the four countries and examine the proximate causes of the differentials. I conclude that these achievement differentials are caused by differences in the quality of teachers and of student time and effort inputs devoted to academic achievement