The Klein Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Polemics

Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine purports to be an expose of the ruthless nature of free-market capitalism and its chief recent exponent, Milton Friedman. Klein argues that capitalism goes hand in hand with dictatorship and brutality and that dictators and other unscrupulous political figures take advantage of "shocks" -- catastrophes real or manufactured -- to consolidate their power and implement unpopular market reforms. Klein cites Chile under General Augusto Pinochet, Britain under Margaret Thatcher, China during the Tiananmen Square crisis, and the ongoing war in Iraq as examples of this process. Klein's analysis is hopelessly flawed at virtually every level. Friedman's own words reveal him to be an advocate of peace, democracy, and individual rights. He argued that gradual economic reforms were often preferable to swift ones and that the public should be fully informed about them, the better to prepare themselves in advance. Further, Friedman condemned the Pinochet regime and opposed the war in Iraq. Klein's historical examples also fall apart under scrutiny. For example, Klein alleges that the Tiananmen Square crackdown was intended to crush opposition to pro-market reforms, when in fact it caused liberalization to stall for years. She also argues that Thatcher used the Falklands War as cover for her unpopular economic policies, when actually those economic policies and their results enjoyed strong public support. Klein's broader empirical claims fare no better. Surveys of political and economic freedom reveal that the less politically free regimes tend to resist market liberalization, while those states with greater political freedom tend to pursue economic freedom as well

La doctrina Klein: el auge de la polémica del desastre

El libro The Shock Doctrine, de Naomi Klein, pretende ser una denuncia de la naturaleza despiadada del capitalismo de libre mercado. Klein sostiene que el capitalismo va de la mano de la dictadura y la brutalidad, y que los dictadores y otras figuras políticas inescrupulosas se aprovechan de los shocks —catástrofes reales o fabricadas— para consolidar su poder e instaurar reformas de mercado impopulares. Klein cita como ejemplos de este proceso los casos de Chile durante el gobierno del general Augusto Pinochet, Gran Bretaña con Margaret Thatcher, China durante la crisis de la plaza de Tian’anmen y la actual guerra en Iraq. Sin embargo, los ejemplos históricos que da Klein se desmoronan si se los analiza en detalle. Sucede lo mismo con las afirmaciones empíricas de carácter más general de Klein. Las encuestas sobre libertad política y económica revelan que los regímenes políticamente menos libres tienden a resistirse a la liberalización del mercado, mientras que los Estados con mayor libertad política suelen buscar también la libertad económica

Beilagen zur Geschichte der Erfindungen, herausgegeben von J. E. Norberg wirklicher Etatsrath und Marine-Ingenieur, Mitglied der Schwedisch-Königlichen Wissenschafts, Mahler- und Bildhauer-Academien, der Russisch-Kaiserlichen und den Finländischen Oeconomischen Gesellschaften, der Patriotischen Gesellschaft zu Stockholm und der Physiographischen zu Lund. Erstes Heft. Reval, gedruckt bei J. H. Gressel

https://www.ester.ee/record=b1636095*es

4-Nitro-N-phthalyl-l-tryptophan

The crystal structure of the title compound [systematic name: (2R)-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)-2-(4-nitro-1,3-dioxoisoindolin-2-yl)propanoic acid], C19H13N3O6, an analogue of epigenetic modulator RG108, is constrained by strong hydrogen bonds between the indole N—H group and a carbonyl O atom of the phthalimide ring of a symmetry-related mol­ecule, and between the protonated O atom of the carboxyl group and a carbonyl O atom of the phthalimide ring. π–π stacking inter­actions with centroid–centroid distances of 3.638 (1) and 3.610 (1) Å are also observed between indole and phthalimide rings

How Integrated is Latvian Society? An Audit of Achievements, Failures and Challenges

The concept of emerging markets came to surface in early 1980 and constituted of only eight countries from the two continents of South America and Asia. The globalization of financial markets has since raised the importance of emerging capital markets. We take a quantitative approach to investigate the performance of emerging markets compared to developed markets. The aim of the study is to conclude if emerging markets offers investment value and if logic in portfolio theory can be used to improve the chance of creating a relatively better performing investment. Included markets in our study are Brazil, Russia, India, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. S&P 500 is our benchmark for developed market performance. Sample period is 2002-01-01 to 2011-12-31 and monthly return data, creating 120 data points on each index.   The weighting schemes used for the portfolios are min variance optimization, geographical location and high and low correlation. All investments are scored on performances in correlation to S&P 500, inflation adjusted growth, currency effect, Sharpe ratio, skewness and kurtosis. Rankings are done on the separate categories, on the individual overall ranking on only countries and one overall ranking on all investments. A brief overview of the overall ranking for all investments suggest that medium performing investments are overrepresented (12/20) and the low and high is underrepresented (3/20 and 5/20). Of note is that the min variance portfolio outperforms its components, the geographical portfolios have a wide range and the high correlated portfolio outperforms the low. The country to portfolio ratio over each grade suggests only a small skew of the results. There is no low scoring portfolio but the other two ratios are close to 50/50, suggesting that on average the portfolios create diversification benefits. Furthermore normality of returns seem to be violated and then the concept of volatility as a risk measure is significantly impaired also currency risk can be of high importance, currency effects ranged from -48% to 28.7%. Assuming non-normality seems more accurate than assuming normality; therefore we need to improve on volatility as a tool to measure risk. So one direction for further research we see a need is in the concept of volatility. The initial reason for this research came from small investors’ seemingly intuitive knowledge that emerging markets are a suitable investment option. We have concluded that they in fact are, therefore we suggest that a qualitative study is conducted to investigate this seemingly natural intuition

Creating dynamic groups using context-awareness

This article presents the conceptual communication model of dynamic groups, that dynamically utilizes three traditional communication metaphors through the use of context-based information. Dynamic groups makes creation, management and usage of groups easy. It enables social network structures to be maintained in both virtual and face-to-face settings as well as in the combination thereof. This article defines the dynamic management of advanced contact lists which can include presence and status information, a/synchronous multimedia communication tools, and methods for structuring social networks. It also contains an initial evaluation and a proposed architecture for technical realisation.Godkänd; 2007; 20071130 (miabac

endo-3,3-Dimethyl-4-oxobicyclo­[3.1.0]hexan-2-yl methane­sulfonate

The relative configuration of the endo isomer of the title compound, C9H14O4S, has been established and the conformation of the diastereoisomer is discussed. The five-membered ring adopts an envelope conformation. The conformation of the methane­sulfonate substituent is stabilized by inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The crystal packing results in alternating layers of polar methane­sulfonates and stacked bicyclo­hexa­nyl rings parallel to ab

Revision av subjektiva och komplexa värderingar - En fallstudie av försäkringsbranschen

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka revisorns möjlighet att genomföra en kompetent och oberoende revision av komplexa och subjektiva värderingar, samt hur revisionen påverkas av företagens incitament och möjligheter till att påverka resultatet, och vilka effekter detta har på intressentrelationerna inom en bransch? Metod: En kvalitativ fallstudie av försäkringsbranschen med ansats utifrån litteraturgenomgång kompletterad av semi-strukturerade intervjuer med viktiga och erfarna aktörer inom vald bransch. Teoretiska perspektiv: För att kunna förklara revisorns granskningsmöjligheter samt företags incitament och möjligheter till att påverka intressenter tillämpas intressent-, legitimitets-, institutionell teori, agentteori samt impression management och earnings management. Empiri: Behandlar väsentliga lagrum för försäkringsbolag samt förklaring av de försäkringstekniska avsättningarna. Kompletteras med en redogörelse av revisionsprocessen och delar av det intervjumaterial som samlats in vilket sedan analyserats. Resultat/Slutsatser: Ur studien framkom att försäkringsbolag har stora möjligheter till earnings management vid beräkning av de försäkringstekniska avsättningarna. Vidare framkom det att ställs det högre krav på revisorns kompetens samt att denne måste sätta större tilltro till specialister. Studien påvisade även att incitamenten hos bolag skiljer sig beroende på storlek och ägarstruktur, vilket i sin tur även påverkar revisionsprocessen.Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to examine the auditors abilities to successfully execute an independent and competent auditing of highly complex and subjective assessments, as well as examine how the auditing process is affected by the companies incitements and possibilities to adjust the earnings and how this affects the relationships between the stakeholders within a market. Methodology: A qualitative case study of the insurance industry on the basis of a literature review as well as semi-structures interviews with key stakeholders within the chosen industry. Theoretical perspectives: In order to explain the auditing abilities of the auditor as well as the companies incitements and possibilities to affect the stakeholders the legitimacy theory, the institutional theory, the principal agent theory and theories about impression management and earnings management are applied. Empirical foundation: Processes applicable law for insurance companies and explains the technical reserves. The empirical foundation also contains a description of the auditing process and parts of the data that was collected during the interviews. Conclusions: The empirical evidence showed that insurance companies have great possibilities to use technical reserves in order to adjust, either to increase or decrease, the earnings. The empirical evidence also showed that auditors who has insurance companies or other financial companies have greater requirements regarding their competence and their ability to use expert competence. The study also showed that the incitements motivating usage of earnings management varieties depending on corporate governance and the size of the company. These factors also influence the auditing process

Determination of the Absolute Configuration of Aegelinol by Crystallization of Its Inclusion Complex with β-Cyclodextrin

The absolute configuration and structure of aegelinol, a pyranocoumarin isolated from Ferulago asparagifolia Boiss (Apiaceae), has been determined by crystallography. Crystal structure of the inclusion complex of aegelinol in β-cyclodextrin was determined (a = 15.404(1) Å, b = 15.281(1) Å, c = 17.890(1) Å, α = 99.662(1), β = 113.4230(1), γ = 102.481(1)°, P1; R1 = 6.71%) and allowed unambiguous determination of the absolute configuration of the stereogenic center of aegelinol. The pyranocoumarin guest is included within the cylindrical cavity formed by dimeric β-cyclodextrin molecules with a head-to-head arrangement. Crystal structure of aegelinol alone was also determined (a = 6.8921(3) Å, b = 11.4302(9) Å, c = 44.964(3) Å, P212121; R1 = 4.44%) and allowed precise determination of its geometry. Aegelinol crystallizes with three molecules in the asymmetric unit held together by H-bonds and π-stacking interactions