Foreign banks are branching out: changing geographies of Hungarian banking, 1987-1999

Walking through the streets of Budapest in spring 1999 could have given you the following impression: the supermarkets (Spar), the milk products sold there (Danone, Müller), and the property markets (OBI) come from different Western European countries such as the Netherlands, France and Germany. Almost all fast food restaurants (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC) and many hotels (Hilton, Mariott) have their origins in the US; shoes and clothes offered in downtown are designed in Italy or France (Benetton, Marco Polo); medicine is predominantly produced in Switzerland (Novartis, Roche) and the banks as well as the car dealerships have their roots everywhere in the so-called Western world - usually including Japan and other Asian countries with major (car) companies - but not in Hungary itself...

The European AI Liability Directives -- Critique of a Half-Hearted Approach and Lessons for the Future

As ChatGPT et al. conquer the world, the optimal liability framework for AI systems remains an unsolved problem across the globe. In a much-anticipated move, the European Commission advanced two proposals outlining the European approach to AI liability in September 2022: a novel AI Liability Directive and a revision of the Product Liability Directive. They constitute the final cornerstone of EU AI regulation. Crucially, the liability proposals and the EU AI Act are inherently intertwined: the latter does not contain any individual rights of affected persons, and the former lack specific, substantive rules on AI development and deployment. Taken together, these acts may well trigger a Brussels Effect in AI regulation, with significant consequences for the US and beyond. This paper makes three novel contributions. First, it examines in detail the Commission proposals and shows that, while making steps in the right direction, they ultimately represent a half-hearted approach: if enacted as foreseen, AI liability in the EU will primarily rest on disclosure of evidence mechanisms and a set of narrowly defined presumptions concerning fault, defectiveness and causality. Hence, second, the article suggests amendments, which are collected in an Annex at the end of the paper. Third, based on an analysis of the key risks AI poses, the final part of the paper maps out a road for the future of AI liability and regulation, in the EU and beyond. This includes: a comprehensive framework for AI liability; provisions to support innovation; an extension to non-discrimination/algorithmic fairness, as well as explainable AI; and sustainability. I propose to jump-start sustainable AI regulation via sustainability impact assessments in the AI Act and sustainable design defects in the liability regime. In this way, the law may help spur not only fair AI and XAI, but potentially also sustainable AI (SAI).Comment: under peer-review; contains 3 Table

Student accommodation, environmental behaviour and lessons for Property Managers

Purpose Humans have been aware of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions for over three decades however, per capita GHG and water consumption increase, and environmental impacts, grow. The built environment overall contributes around 40% of total global GHG emissions and action is vital. Whilst the built environment industry, professions, regulators and stakeholders have acted; increasing building code standards and developing building rating tools and technology to reduce energy and water consumption exists, our environmental impact grows because of human behaviour. In the tertiary education sector. student accommodation constitutes a large part of the real estate of the university; and contributes large amounts of their GHG emissions and environmental impact. Property Managers have the ability to educate and install systems and technologies to improve behaviour if they understand it. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory pilot study used a questionnaire survey to explore how student’s worldviews differ to one another and the possible subsequent limitations to behaviour in the context of climate change. Analysis is conducted based on 71 responses from international university students living in residential accommodation on campuses in Stockholm. Findings The results suggest that there are different perceptions about the environment and the actions that are needed, and; that this leads to different behaviours amongst students. The findings suggest that the limited knowledge and ability to relate environmental consequences to one’s own actions, as well as effective communication and risk averse behaviour, is one of the critical factors in mitigating climate change. A deeper understanding of participants worldviews and the different resulting behaviours was achieved through the survey. Research limitation This pilot study was conducted with the participation of a relatively small number of university students. It is recommended that future studies expand the number of participants, including representatives with more varied backgrounds, education levels and different age groups. Originality The knowledge gained about environmental attitudes and human behaviour can help policy makers, regulators and particularly property managers to develop more effective strategies to deliver better sustainability outcomes

The Art of Regulating ART

This article examines the technologies of pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) and germline gene editing (GGE) and the different potential approaches to their regulation. The regulatory issues sweep quite broadly. They involve not just the medical risks, which are relatively straightforward, but also broader social concerns about access to the technologies, equality and discrimination, implications for the disability community, eugenics, and exceptionalizing assisted reproductive technologies (ART) as compared with non-ART reproduction.We explore the potential regulatory approaches that might be used for the two technologies, noting the benefits and limits of each approach. While conceding some differences between the two technologies, we argue that PGT and GGE as well as other forms of ART should be regulated together. We therefore suggest two possible models for such comprehensive regulation, including a revamping of the FDA or the creation of a new regulatory entity altogether. Finally, we conclude by recognizing the particularly challenging aspects of such regulation, which raise constitutional and normative issues, including the relationship between such regulation and contested political issues relating to equality, disability rights, distinctions between reproduction in and outside the bedroom, and the imposition of majoritarian values on deeply personal decisions

Written with the Finger of God: Divine and Human Writing in Exodus

The presence of writing in the book of Exodus must be considered not only for its contribution to the narrative as story, but also as a witness to several key socio-political issues (such as the interplay of textuality and orality in ancient Israel), for the role of writing in the history of Israel\u27s religion, and for the struggle to define, through several centuries and editorial layers, the nature of YHWH\u27s true image\u27\u27 in the world

Foreign Banks are Branching out: Changing Geographies of Hungarian Banking, 1987–1999

Walking through the streets of Budapest in spring 1999 could have given you the following impression: the supermarkets (Spar), the milk products sold there (Danone, Müller), and the property markets (OBI) come from different Western European countries such as the Netherlands, France and Germany. Almost all fast food restaurants (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC) and many hotels (Hilton, Mariott) have their origins in the US; shoes and clothes offered in downtown are designed in Italy or France (Benetton, Marco Polo); medicine is predominantly produced in Switzerland (Novartis, Roche) and the banks as well as the car dealerships have their roots everywhere in the so-called Western world - usually including Japan and other Asian countries with major (car) companies - but not in Hungary itself...

The pragmatization of love : a study of the concepts of hierarchy, encounter, and epoche

This study is presented in narrative form and develops perspectives upon the topic of love. The foundational implication of this research is that in acknowledging our common ground we experience the mutuality from which we may prosper human well-being. Experiences of mutuality and reciprocity will be regarded as unfolding the realms of love. I intend to describe, contrast, and integrate concepts of hierarchy, and dialogical encounter to pose the situation of love. Hierarchy denotes stratification with an uneven distribution of control. The impulse to control can be witnessed in technology; thus our culture, in its utilitarianism, supports an environment which is looked upon as increasingly technological in its concerns and hierarchical in its composition. Division, alienation, and dehumanization are pervasive descriptors and indicative of destructiveness. Analysis of the concepts of hierarchy and encounter allows for the discussion of factors dehumanizing and humanizing the world and are bound within the theme of the pragmatization of love. This theme contains a two-fold meaning. One is articulated in objectification which lessens human being; and the other, the Utopian generative meaning, aspires toward bettering the world of shared living