The financialization of mass wealth, banking crises and politics over the long run

The co-evolution of democratic politics and mass, financialized wealth has destabilized highly integrated financial systems and the socio-political underpinnings of neoliberal policy norms at domestic and global levels. Over the long run, it has increased the political pressure on governments to undertake bailouts during major banking crises and, by raising voters’ attentiveness to wealth losses and distributional inequities, has sharply raised the bar for government performance. The result has been more costly bailouts, greater political instability and the sustained politicization of wealth cleavages in crisis aftermaths. We underline the crucial importance and modernity of this phenomenon by showing how the high concentration of wealth in pre-1914 Britain and America among elites was associated with limited crisis interventions and surprisingly tranquil political aftermaths. By contrast, the 2007–2009 crises in both countries epitomise the political dilemmas facing elected governments in a new world of mass financialized wealth and the impact on political polarization and democratic politics. We show that these dilemmas were embryonic in the interwar period and highlight how the evolutionary forces shaping policy and political outcomes reveal the importance of time, context and the effects of long cycles in the world economy and global politics

European economic sentiment indicator: an empirical reappraisal

In the last five decades the European Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) has positioned itself as a high-quality leading indicator of overall economic activity. Relying on data from five distinct business and consumer survey sectors (industry, retail trade, services, construction and the consumer sector), ESI is conceptualized as a weighted average of the chosen 15 response balances. However, the official methodology of calculating ESI is quite flawed because of the arbitrarily chosen balance response weights. This paper proposes two alternative methods for obtaining novel weights aimed at enhancing ESI\u27s forecasting power. Specifically, the weights are determined by minimizing the root mean square error in simple GDP forecasting regression equations; and by maximizing the correlation coefficient between ESI and GDP growth for various lead lengths (up to 12 months). Both employed methods seem to considerably increase ESI\u27s forecasting accuracy in 26 individual European Union countries. The obtained results are quite robust across specifications

Cytoplasmic BRMS1 expression in malignant melanoma is associated with increased disease-free survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background/aims</p> <p>Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) blocks metastasis in melanoma xenografts; however, its usefulness as a biomarker in human melanomas has not been widely studied. The goal was to measure BRMS1 expression in benign nevi, primary and metastatic melanomas and evaluate its impact on disease progression and prognosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Paraffin-embedded tissue from 155 primary melanomas, 69 metastases and 15 nevi was examined for BRMS1 expression using immunohistochemistry. siRNA mediated BRMS1 down-regulation was used to study impact on invasion and migration in melanoma cell lines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significantly higher percentage of nevi (87%), compared to primary melanomas (20%) and metastases (48%), expressed BRMS1 in the nucelus (p < 0.0001). Strong nuclear staining intensity was observed in 67% of nevi, and in 9% and 24% of the primary and metastatic melanomas, respectively (p < 0.0001). Comparable cytoplasmic expression was observed (nevi; 87%, primaries; 86%, metastases; 72%). However, a decline in cytoplasmic staining intensity was observed in metastases compared to nevi and primary tumors (26%, 47%, and 58%, respectively, p < 0.0001). Score index (percentage immunopositive celles multiplied with staining intensity) revealed that high cytoplasmic score index (≥ 4) was associated with thinner tumors (p = 0.04), lack of ulceration (p = 0.02) and increased disease-free survival (p = 0.036). When intensity and percentage BRMS1 positive cells were analyzed separately, intensity remained associated with tumor thickness (p = 0.024) and ulceration (p = 0.004) but was inversely associated with expression of proliferation markers (cyclin D3 (p = 0.008), cyclin A (p = 0.007), and p21^Waf1/Cip1(p = 0.009)). Cytoplasmic score index was inversely associated with nuclear p-Akt (p = 0.013) and positively associated with cytoplasmic p-ERK1/2 expression (p = 0.033). Nuclear BRMS1 expression in ≥ 10% of primary melanoma cells was associated with thicker tumors (p = 0.016) and decreased relapse-free period (p = 0.043). Nuclear BRMS1 was associated with expression of fatty acid binding protein 7 (FABP7; p = 0.011), a marker of invasion in melanomas. In line with this, repression of BRMS1 expression reduced the ability of melanoma cells to migrate and invade <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data suggest that BRMS1 is localized in cytoplasm and nucleus of melanocytic cells and that cellular localization determines its <it>in vivo </it>effect. We hypothesize that cytoplasmic BRMS1 restricts melanoma progression while nuclear BRMS1 possibly promotes melanoma cell invasion.</p> <p>Please see related article: <url>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/19</url></p