Interest-Seeking as Sense-Making: Ideas and Business Interests in the New Deal

This article addresses the question of how ideas and interests can be linked in policy analysis. The juxtaposition of the two concepts is criticized from a sociological point of view. Instead, ideas are a substantial element of interest formation. Cognitive and normative worldviews shape the transformation of objective socio-economic positions into subjective, situational action orientations. Interests can be traced back to the interplay between structural positions, situational problems and their idea-based interpretation. It is then shown how these conceptual arguments can bring forward a prominent debate in welfare state analysis: the role of business in the emergence of the American welfare state in the New Deal. While struggling with the question whether the supportive role of some business leaders in the Social Security Act of 1935 reveals substantial interest changes or strategical adaption, both sides of the debate suffer from an objectivist concept of interest. This one-sided concept of interest comes at the cost of leaving open the question of why business interests changed in the direction of unemployment insurance and not in the direction of other feasible institutional options such as price regulation or public works. These options would also have provided a solution to the problem American employers were facing. Analysis of social reform discourses between 1911 and 1935 shows that the partial reorientation of business people cannot be sufficiently explained without taking into account the growing legitimacy of liberal- corporatist ideas among employers in the 1920s.Comment l’analyse d’une politique peut-elle combiner la prise en compte du volet idéologique et des intérêts en jeu ? La sociologie accepte mal la juxtaposition des deux notions. Pourtant la transformation des positions socio-économiques objectives en orientations subjectives de l’action en situation résulte bien d’une combinaison des visions cognitive et normative. On peut remonter des intérêts au croisement entre positions structurelles, enjeux situés et interprétations idéologiques. On prend ici le débat américain, exemplaire pour le rôle du monde des affaires, au sujet du welfare state à l’époque du New Deal. L’examen de l’appui apporté par certains leaders du grand patronat au Social Security Act de 1935 révèle de substantiels changements dans la vision des intérêts, ou bien une adaptation stratégique. Cependant les deux camps opposés restent attachés à une définition objectiviste de l’intérêt. Or des options autres que l’assurance chômage auraient été possibles : encadrement des prix ou programme de grands travaux. L’analyse des textes produits entre 1911 et 1935 montre que la reformulation partielle opérée par le patronat exige de prendre en compte la légitimation croissante du modèle libéral-corporatiste au cours des années 1920.Dieser Artikel kritisiert aus soziologischer Sicht die häufig beobachtbare Entgegensetzung von Ideen aus Interessen. Ideen sind vielmehr ein Bestandteil der Interessenformierung. Interessen basieren auf einem Zusammenspiel von drei Faktoren: Der strukturellen sozialen Position des Handelnden, dem situativen Handlungskontext und den verfügbaren Ideen, mit deren Hilfe der Akteur seine Ziele definiert und konkretisiert. Im zweiten Teil wird gezeigt, dass ein solches erweitertes Interessenkonzept dabei helfen kann, die viel umstrittene Rolle der Arbeitgeber in der Entstehung des amerikanischen Wohlfahrtsstaates zu verstehen. In der Diskussion, ob die Unterstützung einiger Unternehmer für die Arbeitslosenversicherung im Social Security Act von 1935 substantiell oder strategisch gewesen ist, arbeiten beide Seiten mit einem objektivistisch verkürzten Interessenbegriff. Dabei gerät aus dem Blick warum die Interessen der Unternehmer sich in Richtung der Arbeitslosenversicherung bewegten und nicht in eine der anderen Policy-Optionen. Eine Analyse der sozialreformerischen Diskurse zwischen 1911 und 1935 zeigt, dass die partielle Neuorientierung der amerikanischen Unternehmer nicht hinreichend erklärt werden kann ohne die wachsende Legitimation eines liberal-korporatistischen Weltbildes einzubeziehen

Readjusting Imagined Markets: Morality and Institutional Resilience in the German and British Bank Bailout of 2008

Why was there no fundamental change of financial regulation after the 2008 credit crunch? This article argues that the limited regulatory changes of German and British financial markets can be explained by the influence moral boundaries between legitimate and illegitimate financial practices had on policymakers’ crisis perception. In German public debate of 2008, speculation as opposed to firm investment was seen as cause of the crisis. The British crisis narrative held illegitimate profits responsible that were gained from excessive risk-taking as opposed to risk management. These distinct legitimizing patterns (a) fostered a selective perception of the crisis that downplayed domestic structural causes of the crisis, and (b) directed regulatory efforts away from fundamental reforms. In fact, both national debates saw the institutional regime of their financial markets re-affirmed by the crisis and in need of readjustment. Conceptually, the article shows the affinity between public moral boundaries of legitimate economic practices and the core institutional principles of market regimes

Performance of Particle Flow Calorimetry at CLIC

The particle flow approach to calorimetry can provide unprecedented jet energy resolution at a future high energy collider, such as the International Linear Collider (ILC). However, the use of particle flow calorimetry at the proposed multi-TeV Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) poses a number of significant new challenges. At higher jet energies, detector occupancies increase, and it becomes increasingly difficult to resolve energy deposits from individual particles. The experimental conditions at CLIC are also significantly more challenging than those at previous electron-positron colliders, with increased levels of beam-induced backgrounds combined with a bunch spacing of only 0.5 ns. This paper describes the modifications made to the PandoraPFA particle flow algorithm to improve the jet energy reconstruction for jet energies above 250 GeV. It then introduces a combination of timing and p_T cuts that can be applied to reconstructed particles in order to significantly reduce the background. A systematic study is performed to understand the dependence of the jet energy resolution on the jet energy and angle, and the physics performance is assessed via a study of the energy and mass resolution of W and Z particles in the presence of background at CLIC. Finally, the missing transverse momentum resolution is presented, and the fake missing momentum is quantified. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that high granularity particle flow calorimetry leads to a robust and high resolution reconstruction of jet energies and di-jet masses at CLIC.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Charge Transfer and Charge Broadening of GEM Structures in High Magnetic Fields

We report on measurements of charge transfer in GEM structures in high magnetic fields. These were performed in the framework of the R&D work for a Time Projection Chamber at a future Linear Collider. A small test chamber has been installed into the aperture of a superconducting magnet with the GEM structures mounted perpendicular to the B field direction. The charge transfer is derived from the electrical currents monitored during irradiation with an ${}^{55}$Fe source. No severe loss of primary ionisation charge is observed, but an improved ion feedback suppression is achieved for high magnetic fields. Additionally, the width of the charge cloud released by individual ${}^{55}$Fe photons is measured using a finely segmented strip readout after the triple GEM structure. Charge widths between 0.3 and 0.5 mm RMS are observed, which originate from the charge broadening inside the GEM readout. This charge broadening is only partly suppressed at high magnetic fields.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Integrated Detector Control and Calibration Processing at the European XFEL

The European X-ray Free Electron Laser is a high-intensity X-ray light source currently being constructed in the area of Hamburg, that will provide spatially coherent X-rays in the energy range between $0.25\,\mathrm{keV}$ and $25\,\mathrm{keV}$. The machine will deliver $10\,\mathrm{trains/s}$, consisting of up to $2700\,\mathrm{pulses}$, with a $4.5\,\mathrm{MHz}$ repetition rate. The LPD, DSSC and AGIPD detectors are being developed to provide high dynamic-range Mpixel imaging capabilities at the mentioned repetition rates. A consequence of these detector characteristics is that they generate raw data volumes of up to $15\,\mathrm{Gbyte/s}$. In addition the detector's on-sensor memory-cell and multi-/non-linear gain architectures pose unique challenges in data correction and calibration, requiring online access to operating conditions and control settings. We present how these challenges are addressed within XFEL's control and analysis framework Karabo, which integrates access to hardware conditions, acquisition settings (also using macros) and distributed computing. Implementation of control and calibration software is mainly in Python, using self-optimizing (py) CUDA code, numpy and iPython parallels to achieve near-real time performance for calibration application.Comment: Proceeding ICALEPS 201

Emissions from mechanically-biologically treated waste landfills at field scale

Modern waste management tends towards greater sustainability in landfilling, with the implementation of strategies such as the pretreatment of solid waste. This work assesses the behaviour of rejects from a refining stage of mechanically-biologically treated municipal solid waste at the landfill. The main results of 18 months' monitoring of an experimental pilot cell with waste from a full-scale plant are presented. This first stages are expected to be the most problematic period for this type of waste. The evolution of the temperature and the composition of leachate and gas at various points within the cell are included. During the first weeks, pollutant concentrations in the leachate exceeded the reference ranges in the literature, coinciding with a rapid onset of methanogenic conditions. However, there was a quick wash, reducing concentrations to below one third of the initial values before the first year. pH values influenced concentrations of some pollutants such as copper. These results indicate that, right from the beginning of disposal, such facilities should be prepared to treat a high pollution load in the leachate and install the gas emissions control elements due to the rapid onset of methanogenesis.This work is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness through the CTM2012-35055 project. The project is financed jointly by the European Regional Development Fund, FEDER (operational period 2007-2013). The authors wish to thank the Government of Cantabria, through the public company MARE, and TirCantabria, the landfill operator company, for their collaboration

Loci Memoriae Hungaricae

Pál S. Varga: Introduction - 7 ; 1. Theoretical Approaches - 21 ; Aleida Assmann: The Transformative Power of Memory - 22 ; Jan Assmann: Communicative and Cultural - 36 ; Pim den Boer: Lieux de Mémoire in Comparative Perspective - 44 ; 2.Discussion/Diskussion - 51 ; Pál S. Varga: Kollektives Gedächtnis und Geschichtswissenschaften (Diskussionseröffnung) - 52 ; Harald D. Gröller: Diskussionsbeitrag bez. des Eröffnungsreferats von Pál S. Varga - 59 ; Csaba Gy. Kiss: Diskussionsbeitrag zum Eröffnungsreferat von Pál S. Varga - 64 ; Ferenc Velkey: Gedächtnis und Geschichte. Kommentare zur Diskussionseröffnung von Pál S. Varga - 67 ; Péter György: Memory Fallen Apart: the Case of Two Cemeteries - 72 ; Aleida Assmann: Response to Péter György, “Memory Fallen Apart: the Case of Two Cemeteries” - 78 ; Tamás Bényei: Remembering from Outside: A Response to Péter György’s Essay - 81 ; 3. Ungarische Erinnerungsorte im zentraleuropäischen Kontext - 89 ; István Bitskey: Ein religiöser Erinnerungsort in Mitteleuropa: Tyrnau (Nagyszombat, Trnava), das „Klein-Rom“ (Eine Fallstudie) - 90 ; Márta Fata: Erinnerungsort Bauernkrieg? Müntzer und Dózsa in der Geschichtspolitik der DDR und der Volksrepublik Ungarn im Vergleich - 101 ; 4. The Socio-Psychological Approach - 115 ; Ákos Münnich, István Hidegkuti: Structural Characteristics of Sites of National Memory - 11

Energy input and dissipation in a temperate lake during the spring transition

ADCP and temperature chain measurements have been used to estimate the rate of energy input by wind stress to the water surface in the south basin of Windermere. The energy input from the atmosphere was found to increase markedly as the lake stratified in spring. The efficiency of energy transfer (Eff), defined as the ratio of the rate of working in near-surface waters (RW) to that above the lake surface (P10), increased from ∼0.0013 in vertically homogenous conditions to ∼0.0064 in the first 40 days of the stratified regime. A maximum value of Eff∼0.01 was observed when, with increasing stratification, the first mode internal seiche period decreased to match the diurnal wind period of 24 h. The increase in energy input, following the onset of stratification was reflected in enhancement of the mean depth-varying kinetic energy without a corresponding increase in wind forcing. Parallel estimates of energy dissipation in the bottom boundary layer, based on determination of the structure function show that it accounts for ∼15% of RW in stratified conditions. The evolution of stratification in the lake conforms to a heating stirring model which indicates that mixing accounts for ∼21% of RW. Taken together, these estimates of key energetic parameters point the way to the development of full energy budgets for lakes and shallow seas