A REACTIONARY FASCINATION: EMIL CIORAN AND JOSEPH DE MAISTRE

O presente artigo tem por objetivo examinar a interpretação que propõe Cioran do pensamento reacionário de De Maistre. Cioran julga o trabalho filosófico de De Maistre como um instrumento útil para investigar o debate ideológico do século XX sobre a revolução, com referência específica à questão do envolvimento dos filósofos na política. Através da análise da crítica de De Maistre ao pensamento revolucionário na época do Iluminismo, Cioran faz uma desconstrução perspicaz da dicotomia ideológica entre Reação e Revolução. De facto, o artigo mostrará que a maneira como De Maistre interpreta Cioran implica tanto uma crítica radical do existencialismo de Sartre quanto uma interpretação original da Teologia Política de Schmitt.The aim of this paper is to examine Cioran’s interpretation of Maistre’s reactionary thought. Cioran judges the philosophical work of De Maistre as a useful instrument to investigate the Twentieth century ideological debate on Revolution, with specific reference to the issue of the engagement of philosophers in politics. Through the analysis of Maistre’s criticism of revolutionary thought at the time of the Enlightenment, Cioran proposes an insightful deconstruction of the ideological dichotomy between Reaction and Revolution. Indeed, the paper will show that Cioran’s understanding of De Maistre implies both a radical criticism of Sartre’s existentialism and an original interpretation of Schmitt’s Political Theology

Staying on the Dole

We develop a simple model of short- and long-term unemployment to study how labor market institutions interact with labor market conditions and personal characteristics of the unemployed. We analyze how the decision to exit unemployment and to mitigate human capital degradation by retraining depends on education, skill degradation, age, labor market tightness, taxes, unemployment insurance benefits and welfare assistance. We extend our analysis by allowing for time-inconsistent choices and demonstrate the possibility of an unemployment trap.unemployment; skill degradation; retraining; unemployment benefits; welfare assistance; present-biased preferences

The Quantification of Operational Risk

This paper develops a framework for the quantification of operational risk based on a network with functional dependencies that represent work flows for business activities. The functioning of each node depends on stochastic risk factors driven by inputs such as human resources, data and inputs from other nodes. Using analytical and numerical methods, we obtain answers concerning capital allocation, stability, risk figures, the effect of different network structures (called “topological diversification”) and dynamic diversification. Interpreting the results shows that the usual intuition gained from market and credit risk does not apply to the quantification of operational risk

A Geometric Approach to Multiperiod Mean-Variance Optimization of Assets and Liabilities

We present a geometric approach to discrete time multiperiod mean variance portfolio optimization that largely simplifies the mathematical analysis and the economic interpretation of such model settings. We show that multiperiod mean variance optimal policies can be decomposed in an orthogonal set of basis strategies, each having a clear economic interpretation. This implies that the corresponding multiperiod mean variance frontiers are spanned by an orthogonal basis of dynamic returns. Specifically, in a k-period model the optimal strategy is a linear combination of a single k-period global minimum second moment strategy and a sequence of k local excess return strategies which expose the dynamic portfolio optimally to each single-period asset excess return. This decomposition is a multi period version of Hansen and Richard (Econometrica (1987)) orthogonal representation of single-period mean variance frontiers and naturally extends the basic economic intuition of the static Markowitz model to the multiperiod context. Using the geometric approach to dynamic mean variance optimization we obtain closed form solutions in the i.i.d. setting for portfolios consisting of both assets and liabilities (AL), each modelled by a distinct state variable. As a special case, the solution of the mean variance problem for the asset only case in Li and Ng (Mathematical Finance 10 (2000)) follows directly and can be represented in terms of simple products of some single period orthogonal returns. We illustrate the usefulness of our geometric representation of multiperiods optimal policies and mean variance frontiers by discussing specific issues related to AL portfolios: The impact of taking liabilities into account on the implied mean variance frontiers, the quantification of the impact of the rebalancing frequency and the determination of the optimal initial funding ratio

Fiancial Innovation, Structuring and Risk Transfer

These lecture notes are about financial innovations. We ask why are there some innovation and how is an innovative idea realized. This forces us to consider practical and structural aspects (regulations, taxation, markets) as key drivers of innovations and also basic formal aspects in valuation. Contents: Overview: Taxes and Regulation, Technology, Who Innovates, Life Cycle, Pricing and Hedging Discount Factors and No Arbitrage Investment: Rule Bases, Alpha, Beta, View and Trade, Fund Industry, Portfolio Theory Swaps and Financial Markets: IRS, TRS, ALM, ISDA Retail Structured Products Real Estate Asset Class, Green Banking, Demographic Risk Financial Crisis: Overview Leverage, Systemic Risk, Securitization, Pricin

A REACTIONARY FASCINATION: EMIL CIORAN AND JOSEPH DE MAISTRE

The aim of this paper is to examine Cioran's interpretation of Maistre'sreactionary thought. Cioran judges the philosophical work of De Maistre as a usefulinstrument to investigate the Twentieth century ideological debate on Revolution,with specific reference to the issue of the engagement of philosophers in politics.Through the analysis of Maistre's criticism of revolutionary thought at the time ofthe Enlightenment, Cioran proposes an insightful deconstruction of the ideologicaldichotomy between Reaction and Revolution. Indeed, the paper will show thatCioran's understanding of De Maistre implies both a radical criticism of Sartre'sexistentialism and an original interpretation of Schmitt's Political Theology

Fiancial Innovation, Structuring and Risk Transfer

These lecture notes are about financial innovations. We ask why are there some innovation and how is an innovative idea realized. This forces us to consider practical and structural aspects (regulations, taxation, markets) as key drivers of innovations and also basic formal aspects in valuation. Contents: Overview: Taxes and Regulation, Technology, Who Innovates, Life Cycle, Pricing and Hedging Discount Factors and No Arbitrage Investment: Rule Bases, Alpha, Beta, View and Trade, Fund Industry, Portfolio Theory Swaps and Financial Markets: IRS, TRS, ALM, ISDA Retail Structured Products Real Estate Asset Class, Green Banking, Demographic Risk Financial Crisis: Overview Leverage, Systemic Risk, Securitization, Pricin

Property Derivatives and Index-Linked Mortgages

Economists have forcefully argued for the introduction and use of property derivatives as a hedge against house price risk (e.g. Shiller and Weiss, 1999). The rationale for these financial instruments seems clear, as many households are heavily invested in housing and standard financial instruments offer a poor hedge. In practice, however, most of the property derivatives available have been targeted to meet the needs of institutional investors, not those of owner-occupiers. Building on the recent launch of the first Swiss property derivative, we here propose index-linked mortgages tailored to retail consumers. The payments of these mortgages depend on the corresponding housing market performance. We further price the instruments, discuss the stabilization of the homeowner's net wealth, and quantify the expected decrease in the mortgage default risk achieved by this immunization effect

Precision measurements of Linear Scattering Density using Muon Tomography

We demonstrate that muon tomography can be used to precisely measure the properties of various materials. The materials which have been considered have been extracted from an experimental blast furnace, including carbon (coke) and iron oxides, for which measurements of the linear scattering density relative to the mass density have been performed with an absolute precision of 10%. We report the procedures that are used in order to obtain such precision, and a discussion is presented to address the expected performance of the technique when applied to heavier materials. The results we obtain do not depend on the specific type of material considered and therefore they can be extended to any application.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure