The intestine as a diagnostic character in identifying certain clupeoids (Engraulididae, Clupeidae, Dussumieriidae) and as a morphometric character for comparing anchoveta (Centengraulis mysticetus) populations

ENGLISH: The several species of clupeoid fishes used as baitfish in the Eastern Pacific tuna fishery are, in some cases, sufficiently similar to make identification difficult. During a review of the anatomy of the intestine of clupeoid fishes it was observed that the morphology of the intestine is sometimes a useful character in the identification of systematic groups. The genera at least can be distinguished by means of the topographical anatomy of the intestines. This also may be a useful character because it is often found that a species occurs in the same area as another species that may be confused with it on external inspection, although it belongs to a different genus. SPANISH: La gran similitud morfológica de varias especies del órden Clupeoidea usadas como cebo en la pesquería de atún del Pacifíco Oriental, hace que su identificación sea en algunos casos difícil. Al realizar una revisión anatómica del intestino de los peces clupeoides, se observó que la morfología del mismo es a veces un carácter útil para la identificación de los diversos grupos sistemáticos. Al menos los géneros pueden ser distinguidos por medio de la anatomía topográfica de los intestinos. Esto también puede ser un carácter útil, puesto que a menudo dos especies pertenecientes a géneros diferentes y que ocupen la misma área, pueden ser confundidos si nos basamos solamente en la morfología externa. (PDF contains 24 pages.

Excusing information-provision crimes in the bureaucratic state

A way of conceiving the state in which we live is as the ‘bureaucratic–participatory’ state. The good citizen in this state is the citizen who is honest and truthful, when required to provide information needed by officials charged with furthering the public interest in regulatory contexts. Offences applicable to those who fail to provide the right information to officials form a large proportion of crimes on the statute book. The most disadvantaged members of society are the least well-equipped to meet the information demands of the bureaucratic state, and are the most vulnerable to unjust conviction under such laws. Comparing and contrasting the approach to defences of different forms or ideologies of law, I argue the case for a broad excusing provision to information-provision offences, when those offences target groups especially likely to include disadvantaged members of society. To that end, I focus on information-provision crimes relating to benefit claims

Criminal law and republican liberty: Philip Pettit's account

Philip Pettit has made central to modern republican theory a distinctive account of freedom – republican freedom. On this account, I am not free solely because I can make choices without interference. I am truly free, only if that non-interference does not itself depend on another’s forbearance (what Pettit calls ‘formal’ freedom). To be worth having, my freedoms must not be at the mercy of some other person, making me subject to their domination. Pettit believes that the principal justification for the traditional focus of the criminal law is that it constitutes a bulwark against domination. I will be considering the merits of this claim. Is the importance of the orthodox realm of the criminal law solely or mainly explained by the wish to protect people from domination? In short, the answer is that it is not, even though there are some instances in which it provides such protection. Across the board, the criminal law rightly protects us equally from threats to what Pettit calls ‘effective’, as opposed to formal, republican freedom

“I feel more connected. That’s why we work for less, we like the people and the books.” : Bookselling and Community in The Greater Seattle Area

the contradictions of inclusion/exclusion and community are visibly played out within independent bookstores, which work to foster a sense of community for customers and staff through local involvement and shared values. In this way, a sense of community is created not only in the space of bookstores but also by the space. Through the particular curation of the store, its space comes to embody individual values and political positions. Highly curated spaces which facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and information, independent bookstores are also retail spaces which are not traditionally seen as sources of community. As both retail spaces and social/community spaces, the independent bookstores in the greater Seattle area illustrate the multidimensional character of community and the inevitable exclusion which, rather than contradicting the notion of community, is inherently a part of community. Drawing boundaries creates exclusion, which are necessary in defining community. Customers and booksellers both experience variations of exclusion, and the unstable access to community it produces. This is the paradox of community. The customers and booksellers experiencing the instability that accompanies a community located within retail are also those whom the survival of independent bookstores matters to because it is within these spaces that they identify community, connect with others, and exchange ideas

Criminal law at the limit: countering false claims in elections and referendums

When should the criminal law intervene to deter and punish the promulgation of falsehoods that are intended to influence political – electoral or referendum - campaigns? I will scrutinise the protection that UK criminal law provides for the interests of candidates, referendum campaigners and voters, from the (potential) effects of damaging falsehoods. I suggest that neither the protection of candidates’ or campaigners’ reputations, nor the promotion of the public good of collective decision-making by voters based on accurate and adequate information, in themselves provide sufficient reasons for criminal law intervention. Falsehoods must normally be intended to threaten, undermine or prevent effective participation in the political process before the intervention of the criminal law is justified

Ministers’ business appointments and criminal misconduct

The offence of misconduct in office has an important role to play in the deterrence and punishment of corrupt conduct engaged in by officials. However, the offence has been underused against politicians. There should be a more politically engaged approach by the CPS and the courts to change this. There should be a greater willingness to charge Ministers whose ethical behaviour in taking up lucrative opportunities upon leaving office is a gross breach of the public’s trust, even if that involves some extension of the scope of the misconduct offence

Essays on financial institutions, inflation and inequality

The first essay takes a political economy perspective to explain differences in inflationary performance in the post communist economies. It is argued that these differences largely result from political choices rather than structural differences. Based on empirical evidence we describe some institutional mechanisms that can prevent reversal of stabilisation policies after a change of government. The second essay uses an overlapping generations model of money to analyse what the consequences are, for the distribution of real assets and inflation, of having more than one agent extracting seigniorage. As described in the first essay uncoordinated monetary policy caused continued high inflation in some transitional economies. Here it is shown how Russia's inflationary performance after liberalisation can be explained by our model. The third essay uses a moral hazard framework to derive a testable hypothesis linking the degree of inequality and the volume of financial intermediation. This link is part of the transmission mechanism running from inequality via the financial sector to real growth in some recent models of economic development. We test the hypothesis using a new World Bank data set on inequality and find only partial support for the moral hazard model in the data. The fourth essay uses a random matching framework to model a financial market without intermediation. The economic consequences of this are analysed and it is shown that in the search economy the dispersion of project returns can affect the growth rate. This is not the case in the intermediated economy where only the mean of the project return distribution matters for growth

Criminal law and republican liberty: Philip Pettit’s account

Philip Pettit has made central to modern republican theory a distinctive account of freedom—republican freedom. On this account, I am not free solely because I can make choices without interference. I am truly free, only if that non-interference does not itself depend on another’s forbearance (what Pettit calls ‘formal’ freedom). Pettit believes that the principal justification for the traditional focus of the criminal law is that it constitutes a bulwark against domination. I will, in part, be considering the merits of this claim. Is the importance of the orthodox realm of the criminal law solely or mainly explained by the wish to protect people from domination? In short, the answer is that it is not. Across the board, the criminal law rightly protects us equally from threats to what Pettit calls ‘effective,’ as opposed to formal, republican freedom. I will develop my critique of Pettit’s account of criminal law, in part to raise questions about the role of ‘domination’ in political theory, and about whether it poses a significant challenge to liberal accounts of criminal law