The Dollar as World Money

Marx's theory of money can provide insights into the entrenchment of the U. S. dollar as a modern-day equivalent of world money. The domestic underpinnings of global monetary standards determined the inflationary bias of the Bretton Woods system and the systemic deflationary tendencies of the subsequent non-system. There is a strong connection between the tendency toward systemic illiquidity, characteristic of financialized capitalism, which has to be periodically cured by an expansion of government debt, and the institutionalization of the international dollar standard, under which the monetary liabilities of the U. S. state serve as the preeminent form of “world money.” The remarkable resilience of the international dollar standard is rooted in its ability to support the present system of globalized production, characterized by a specific division of labor between the financialized U. S.–centered core and an export-oriented periphery

Diagnosis accuracy of ALT and waist circumference as a screening test for insulin resistance

ALT and waist circumference are both correlated to insulin resistance (IR). Objective: To determine whether ALT provides information in addition to waist circumference for identifying IR. Methods: IR was defined by HOMA-IR index ≥3. In this Europid population, a waist circumference ≥80 cm in women and ≥94 cm in men was considered excessive. Elevated ALT was defined using either the usual cut-off or updated cut-offs of 19 U/l in women and 30 U/l in men. Results: 288 participants without medication affecting insulin concentration were included. 81 (28%) were insulin resistant, 30 (10%) and 98 (34%) had increased ALT using usual and updated cut-offs, respectively, and 218 (76%) had excessive waist circumference. Among subjects with normal waist circumference, IR was as frequent in participants with normal ALT as in those with increased ALT. Among subjects with excessive waist circumference, IR was less frequent in participants with normal ALT according to the usual cut-off (31% vs. 56%, p=0.01), and tended to be less frequent in participants with normal ALT according to updated cut-offs (29% vs. 41%, p=0.07) than in those with increased ALT. Conclusion: ALT is useful for identifying IR only if waist circumference is excessive. In subjects with excessive waist circumference, IR is present in more than 40% in women with ALT >19 U/l and in men with ALT >30 U/l, and in more than 50% in individuals with ALT >45 U/l.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe