Organizing solidarity initiatives : a socio-spatial conceptualization of resistance

This paper offers a spatial conceptualization of resistance by focusing on the practices through which solidarity initiatives constitute new resistance socio-spatialities. We discuss two solidarity initiatives in Greece, WCNA and Vio.Me.SI, and explore how they institute distinctive local and translocal organizational practices that make the production of new forms of resistance possible. In particular, we adopt a productive and transformative view of resistance. First, we identify three local practices of organizing solidarity initiatives, namely, the organization of general assembly meetings, the constitution of resistance laboratories and the (re)articulation of socio-spatial relations in local sites. Then, we turn to flows, movements and translocal social formations, and examine the role of solidarity mobilizations, the material and symbolic co-production of resources and members’ mobility in the production of resistance. We conclude that new resistance socio-spatialities become constitutive of a broader reconfiguration of political agencies, a creative process that challenges existing relations and invites alternative ways of working and organizing

Demographics and real interest rates: Inspecting the mechanism

The demographic transition can affect the equilibrium real interest rate through three channels. An increase in longevity—or expectations thereof—puts downward pressure on the real interest rate, as agents build up their savings in anticipation of a longer retirement period. A reduction in the population growth rate has two counteracting effects. On the one hand, capital per-worker rises, thus inducing lower real interest rates through a reduction in the marginal product of capital. On the other hand, the decline in population growth eventually leads to a higher dependency ratio (the fraction of retirees to workers). Because retirees save less than workers, this compositional effect lowers the aggregate savings rate and pushes real rates up. We calibrate a tractable life-cycle model to capture salient features of the demographic transition in developed economies, and find that its overall effect is a reduction of the equilibrium interest rate by at least one and a half percentage points between 1990 and 2014. Demographic trends have important implications for the conduct of monetary policy, especially in light of the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates. Other policies can offset the negative effects of the demographic transition on real rates with different degrees of success

Global Liquidity and Financial Stress: Evidence from Major Emerging Economies

International Conference on Neoclassical and Behavioral Finance -- JUN 26-27, 2014 -- Univ Lodz, Lodz, POLANDWe examine the relationship between financial stress and global liquidity for the so-called fragile five emerging economies (Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey). By using an extensive set of variables that take into account the structural characteristics of these economies, we construct a financial stress index. We then use a Markov regime switching model to identify the high financial stress episodes. We examine periods of heightened financial stress and its relationship to high incidence of domestic and global disturbances. Finally, we construct a global financial liquidity index and assess the relationship between financial stress and global liquidity. Using a bivariate Markov regime switching VAR model, we find a regime-dependent relation between global liquidity and financial stress. Moreover, global liquidity shocks seem to strain these emerging economies in such a way that global illiquidity heightens financial stress.Atlas, Magellan, Petcki C