CAPITAL INTENSIVE MODERNIZATION, INTERNAL EXPANSIONARY POLICIES, COMPETITIVE EXPORT: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF U.S. NUCLEAR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS DURING BRETTON WOODS. THE CASE OF ITALY BEFORE THE END OF FIXED EXCHANGE RATES

Through the research perspective of U.S. nuclear assistance programs to Italy under the fixed exchange rate international monetary regime of Bretton Woods, this paper investigates the meaning and importance of high technology transfer in the framework of the international economic policy of the United States government and the Bretton Woods institutions, particularly the World Bank Group. Through the case study of the country most dependent on foreign energy supply both during the Bretton Woods years and after the demise of currency convertibility, we follow the U.S. assistance programs to erect and to develop an Italian nuclear energy industry. We aim to shed light on the linkage between the development of capital intensive sectors and the American aim to make the reintegration of each advanced industrial economy in the postwar system of international economic relations revolve around the combining non-inflationary domestic economic growth and stable external equilibrium, including both foreign exchange stability and sound terms of trade. We make the argument that the U.S. pursued this combination both during and after the collapse of Bretton Woods international monetary arrangements by drawing upon a flow of high capital intensive technology transfer. Furthermore, while focusing only on the period prior to floating currencies in the 1970s, this article maintains that Washington carried out this foreign economic policy both under the Bretton Woods regime and after its demise, through foreign exchange adjustments and financial assistance programs respectively. After reviewing how the leading literature on the history of U.S. foreign economic policy has portrayed it so far, we focus attention on the Italian case to explore the hypothesis that both under Bretton Woods and after its collapse a very close interlocking was established between exchange rate regimes and the U.S. policy of technology transfer. Through the case study of Italy, we make the argument that prior to the deterioration of fixed exchange rate arrangements Washington provided Rome with technological assistance to target the twin objective of advancing expansionary internal economic policies and pushing forward an ever-rising level of international economic integration of her partner industrial economies. We frame this reconstruction on the decades prior to currency floating before a broader interpretation about the meanings of U.S. financial assistance in the field of high capital intensive manufacturing way beyond the collapse of fixed exchange rates and the end of cheap foreign energy supply

Recycling OPEC Oil Revenues and Resurrecting the Dollar, and the U.S. International Payments Position in American Foreign Policy, 1970-1975

This article first briefly outlines a deep-seated U.S. tendency, since the very beginning of the 1970s, to make the financial resources of the OPEC countries finance U.S. exports to the Middle East region through the intermediary role of American banks that at the time began branching out in the region: that approach aimed at getting the OPEC countries involved in propping up the U.S. current account position. Thereafter, it explores the intertwining between the increased financial wealth of the OPEC oil-producing countries and developments in the international capital markets from the beginning of the decade through the first oil shock in 1973. The upward-trending interest rates in Eurodollar markets prompted the oil producers to increase their financial placements with such short-term, unregulated money markets. Thereafter, this analysis focuses on the U.S. strategy to reduce the balance of payments deficit and to restore stability in international trade through the recycling of OPEC funds into international financial arrangements set up under the aegis of the International Monetary Fund, geared to favor longer-term investments. Finally, the article investigates the ways in which the OPEC countries reacted to this U.S. strategy to urge the oil producers to shift from short-term, inflation-sensitive placements in the Eurocurrency markets to long-term investments. Both historians and social scientists have so far argued that the investments of the oil producers’ oil revenues in foreign markets, the so-called petrodollars, by and large were channeled to finance either the U.S. foreign debt and stock markets, or short-term assets. Neither historians nor economists have focused specifically on the topic of petrodollars from the viewpoint of U.S. foreign economic and financial relations with the oil producers

PETROLIO E RISORSE ENERGETICHE NELL'ETA' CONTEMPORANEA

Siamo agli sgoccioli, letteralmente: per il petrolio si avvicina ormai la fine, e forse troppo tardi si cercano energie alternative. Eppure il petrolio ha una sua storia: celebrato nella prima metà del Novecento come la più importante risorsa energetica a basso costo – in grado di alimentare la diffusione su scala mondiale di un modello di consumi di massa – è stato messo all’indice negli anni Settanta in quanto causa principale della crisi economica internazionale, per poi tornare, negli ultimi trent’anni, al centro di un confronto pubblico e scientifico legato alla sua insostenibilità ambientale. Alla luce dell’attuale crisi energetica e del dibattito sulla “fine del petrolio”, ecco una riflessione di lungo periodo sulla rilevanza del petrolio nella storia del Novecento, nella quale si evidenziano i molteplici modi in cui l’oro nero ha segnato i rapporti tra i paesi produttori e quelli consumatori. Dal Medio Oriente all’Africa occidentale, dalla periferia del continente americano all’Unione Sovietica, viene qui analizzata l’importanza che l’economia petrolifera ha avuto nel definire le relazioni internazionali, nel consolidare i regimi politici e lavorativi dei paesi produttori, e nel rendere possibile la costruzione di economie e società tutte incentrate sul modello unico del consumo di prodotti petroliferi

In inflammatory myopathies, dropped head/bent spine syndrome is associated with scleromyositis: an international case–control study

Dermatomyositis; Polymyositis; Systemic sclerosisDermatomiositis; Polimiositis; Esclerosis sistémicaDermatomiositis; Polimiositis; Esclerosi sistèmicaBackground Some myopathies can lead to dropped head or bent spine syndrome (DH/BS). The significance of this symptom has not been studied in inflammatory myopathies (IM). Objectives To assess the significance of DH/BS in patients with IM. Methods Practitioners from five IM networks were invited to report patients with IM suffering from DH/BS (without other known cause than IM). IM patients without DH/BS, randomly selected in each participating centre, were included as controls at a ratio of 2 to 1. Results 49 DH/BS-IM patients (DH: 57.1%, BS: 42.9%) were compared with 98 control-IM patients. DH/BS-IM patients were older (65 years vs 53 years, p<0.0001) and the diagnosis of IM was delayed (6 months vs 3 months, p=0.009). Weakness prevailing in the upper limbs (42.9% vs 15.3%), dysphagia (57.1% vs 25.5%), muscle atrophy (65.3% vs 34.7%), weight loss (61.2% vs 23.5%) and loss of the ability to walk (24.5% vs 5.1%) were hallmarks of DH/BS-IM (p≤0.0005), for which the patients more frequently received intravenous immunoglobulins (65.3% vs 34.7%, p=0.0004). Moreover, DH/BS-IM patients frequently featured signs and/or complications of systemic sclerosis (SSc), fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology criteria for this disease in 40.8% of the cases (vs 5.1%, p<0.0001). Distribution of the myopathy, its severity and its association with SSc were independently associated with DH/BS (p<0.05). Mortality was higher in the DH/BS-IM patients and loss of walking ability was independently associated with survival (p<0.05). Conclusion In IM patients, DH/BS is a marker of severity and is associated with SSc (scleromyositis)

Proposta metodológica interdisciplinar como ferramenta para o potencial de conservação de nascentes

Em decorrência dos problemas vivenciados pelos usos e apropriações inadequadas de áreas de nascentes, impactos negativos são visíveis e dificultam a conservação destas fontes que são importantes formas de acesso à água no meio rural. A realidade aponta alguns conflitos para a conservação de nascentes, que vai desde a forma de uso e ocupação do território até as práticas realizadas pela comunidade. Neste sentido, tornam-se relevantes estudos que tem por finalidade suprir lacunas metodológicas no campo de pesquisa, voltadas para as ações de conservação e recuperação de nascentes como ferramenta prática que permita a participação e apoio da comunidade para o uso adequado das nascentes. O estudo propõe adequações metodológicas com a inserção de uma abordagem política para a avaliação do potencial de conservação de nascentes utilizadas para o abastecimento humano. A adequação metodológica foi elaborada a partir de pesquisas bibliográficas e consultas nas bases de dados na área de ciências ambientais, buscando o aporte científico através de estudos direcionados nas metodologias e pesquisas existentes e relacionados ao tema. A proposta potencializa as próprias ações de conservação e recuperação, subsidiando futuras ações e projetos de recuperação, respeitando o contexto local e o uso da água por parte dos usuários. Destarte, espera-se contribuir para a superação dos conflitos existentes entre conservação e utilização dos recursos naturais, em específico, dos usos e práticas realizadas nas nascentes nos espaços rurais