DOCSLIB.ORG

Azam Senior Thesis [The Cryptostate]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Azam Senior Thesis [The Cryptostate] Kashif Azam T HE C RYPTOSTATE A RESPONSE TO THE FAILURE OF GOVERNANCE IN OUR CONTEMPORARY ERA. _____________________________________ Thesis Advisor : Regina Gramer Second Reader : Daniel Viehoff This thesis has been submitted on the day of April 19th, 2019 in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the NYU Global Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts degree. © 2019 Kashif Azam To Quasem and Sadia, for your unconditional love, guidance, and sacrifice. Abstract __________________________ We live in turbulent times. The rapid spread of the internet has facilitated unprecedented levels of inter-connectivity between states in a global economy, while rapid advances in machine learning and robotics are on the precipice of making human labor—both physical and intellectual—obsolete. New technologies have created incredible opportunities for us to progress as a civilization, but if not managed properly, these innovations could instead cause tremendous harm. Alarmingly, the institution responsible for regulating transformations like globalization or automation has been inept. The Nation-State has either failed or been unacceptably slow to respond to the various issues of our century. In The Cryptostate we analyze the various ways that our changing world has limited the ability of the Nation-State to perform its essential duties. We see how these limitations are not merely caused by bureaucratic mediocrity, but also by structural deficiencies shared by all States. These limitations have disenfranchised large portions of the global population and invited harm and suffering—i.e., ethnocentrism, poverty, and environmental disaster—to all peoples. The Cryptostate is a governance structure that addresses said structural limitations. It is an amalgamation of primordial democratic theory and recent technological advancements. It redefines the philosophical bedrock of a State and disregards notions such as territoriality and ethnocentrism, replacing them with adherence to democratic principles such as representation and transparency. Never before in human history has it been technologically feasible to create such an entity but in this thesis, we demonstrate that not only can such a state exist, but that in the face of our ongoing technological and global revolution, it must. Contents __________________________ Abstract i Contents ii Preface v Introduction 1 Part I 5 Shortcomings Chapter I 8 Revisiting the Nation-State Jurisdiction and Responsibility 10 Constituting the Demos 12 The Economy as the State 19 The Collective Action Problem 24 Death by Natural Causes 25 The Norwegian Predicament 29 Chapter II 32 The International System Anarchy in the International System 33 The International-State 36 Liberalism Sans Liberalism 38 Unrepresentative Representatives 40 The Problem with Global Governance 42 On Libertarianism 44 The Benefactors of Globalization 49 Populism as a Response to Globalism 51 Globalism as Global Capitalism 53 Chapter III 56 The Economy and the State The Modern Economy 59 Debt and Taxes 60 The Myth of Barter 63 The Myth of Austerity 65 Complicity or Complacency 69 A Call for Democratization 73 Part II 76 Solutions Chapter IV 80 Institutions and Mechanisms in the Cryptostate A Hierarchy of Administrative Authority 81 Decision Making, Nominating, & Petitioning 84 Dynamic Geographic Governance 89 The Four Branches of Government 90 Overarching Themes 100 Chapter V 102 The Age of Blockchain Technology Fundamental Mechanics 106 The Double Spend Dilemma 108 The Blockchain Network 109 Mining Mechanisms 112 The Wallet 115 Reform Mechanism 116 Contemporary Cryptocurrencies 117 Chapter VI 123 Blockchain Technology in the Cryptostate The Currency 124 The Passport 130 "iii Money Wallets 132 Voting Wallets 135 Democratic Participation 135 Continuous Polling Schemes 136 Chapter VII 139 Creating the Cryptostate Implementing the Cryptostate 140 Policy Prescriptions 142 A Hope for our Future 143 Appendices 145 A. The Westphalian Myth 145 B. Productivity and the Person 155 Bibliography 160 "iv Preface __________________________ This project began as an attempt to answer one question: What would a Nation-State look like if it adopted a blockchain based currency? I had been an avid follower of the development of various cryptocurrency technologies and, at the behest of a friend, began to research the intricacies of cryptocurrency design. I quickly realized that the challenges facing creators of cryptocurrency were drawn from the realm of economics and political philosophy. Technical questions aside, the founder of a cryptocurrency would have to decide how wealth would be generated, what the total currency supply would be, who would have a say in making changes to the system, would people’s identities remain anonymous, etc. Questions of privacy, suffrage, punishment, and fairness, were at the heart of the cryptocurrency creation process and shared a striking similarity to the political institution creation process. This link became even more apparent when I realized that the creation of currency was integral to the characteristics of any economic system. The realization led me down a rabbit hole in search of how the nature of modern fiat currency—as well as historical manifestations of currency—shaped our economic systems. I found that modern currency has substantially shaped our present economic institutions, but that these significant changes are either downplayed or disregarded in mainstream discourse. I discovered that, in particular, modern economies, taxation does not fund government spending, and that ‘monetarily sovereign’ States can exert enormous influence on the economy to ensure the well-being of its citizenry. However, due to intimate global economic ties, very few nations are monetarily sovereign. Developing countries, such as my native Bangladesh, sacrifice their monetary sovereignty by taking loans from foreign powers, and maintaining trade deficits based on importing high-value products and exporting cheap products—the most notable of which is labor. This cycle of economic co-dependence is an essential characteristic of neoliberal globalization, and the consequences of this can be seen all around us. One result in particular that I found myself drawn to was the impact of neoliberal globalization on the power of the Nation-State. In our present society, no individual State has the authority to police transnational activities, and this lack of accountability has been exploited by certain actors to circumvent the need to respect human rights or adhere to ethical production practices. It was at this point that the relationship between neoliberal globalization, currency in the economy, the Nation-State, and the international realm, came together to become Part I. After emerging from my curious stupor, I amended my original question to: how can blockchain technology help fix the structural deficiencies of our economic and political institutions? This question was the focus of Part II. The Cryptostate provides a guideline for modern governance based on high local autonomy, direct democracy, and the enfranchising all affected interests principle. Theoretically, any Nation-State today could decide to adopt the "vi structural prescriptions suggested in this text, and my inspiration for writing this thesis was to provide a feasible solution to problems such as political disenfranchisement, economic inequality, and a lack of accountability for actors in the international system. Writing this thesis would have been impossible without the continuous and diligent support of my thesis advisors, Regina Gramer, and Daniel Viehoff. There were several points in the writing process when I felt disorganized and lost, but professor Gramer pulled me out of my rut every time without fail. There were times when I struggled to incorporate all the moving parts into a coherent structure, but my advisors always managed to set me on to the right path. This thesis would not have been feasible without the help of Natalie Plotkin, and Samarth Tiwari. Natalie is one of the most talented writers I know and without her help editing my work it is doubtful whether any of it would be intelligible. Samarth was responsible for introducing me to the world of blockchain technology, for helping me parse through the technical jargon, and for helping develop my conceptualization of The Cryptostate. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Quasem Azam, and Sadia Faizunnesa. I would never have had the opportunity to complete this thesis if it weren’t for their unconditional support. "vii Introduction __________________________ We live in turbulent times. The rapid spread of the internet has facilitated unprecedented levels of inter-connectivity between states in a global economy, while rapid advances in machine learning and robotics are on the precipice of making human labor—both physical and intellectual—obsolete.1 New technologies have created incredible opportunities for us to progress as a civilization, but if not managed properly, these innovations could instead cause tremendous harm. Alarmingly, the institution responsible for regulating transformations like globalization or automation has been inept. The Nation-State has either failed or been unacceptably slow to respond to the various issues of our century.2 1 The question of automation is relevant but tangential. If interested in a detailed discussion see: Appendix B. 2 Calls to modernize the technological and socio-economic aspects of governance frameworks have plagued governments in recent times, and reactionary populism
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Weimar Republic Hyperinflation Through a Modern Monetary Theory Lens Phil Armstrong and Warren Mosler 2020 Abstract
    Weimar Republic Hyperinflation through a Modern Monetary Theory Lens Phil Armstrong and Warren Mosler 2020 Abstract The hyperinflation in Weimar Germany in 1922-23 has become the poster child of mainstream economists - and especially the monetarists- when presenting the benefits of constraining governments by the rules of ‘sound finance’. Their narrative presumes that governments are naturally inclined to spend beyond their means and that, if left to their profligate ways, inflation ‘gets out of hand’ and leads to hyperinflation in a continuous, accelerating, unstoppable catastrophic collapse of the value of the money. In contrast to this ubiquitous mainstream analysis, we recognize a fundamentally different origin of inflation, and argue that inflation requires sustained, proactive policy support. And, in the absence of such policies, inflation will rapidly subside. We replace the erroneous mainstream theory with the knowledge of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) identifying both the source of the price level and what makes it change. We are not Weimar scholars, and our aim is not to present a comprehensive historical analysis. We examine the traditionally reported causal forces behind the Weimar hyperinflation, along with the factors that contributed to the hyperinflation and to its abrupt end. The purpose of this paper is to present our view of the reported information from an MMT perspective. In that regard, we identify the cause of the inflation as the German government paying continuously higher prices for its purchases, particularly those of the foreign currencies the Allies demanded for the payment of reparations, and we identify the rise in the quantity of money and the printing of increasing quantities of banknotes as a consequence of the hyperinflation, rather than its cause.
    [Show full text]
  • Reviewing the Deficit Myth
    Reviewing The Deficit Myth Stephanie Kelton’s The Deficit Myth opens with the startling assertion that the only reason today’s fiat currencies have any value is because citizens need to acquire them to pay taxes. Without that requirement, there would be no need to hold dollars, euros or yen. I first heard this argument from Warren Mosler twenty five years ago when he was a partner in hedge fund Illinois Income Investors in West Palm Beach. I found this view quixotic at the time, although our meeting was too brief to fully refute it. Today Mosler is regarded as the father of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), seized by progressive Democrats as evidence that the Federal government can pay for everything. To prove that tax liabilities are necessary to give money value, Kelton recounts a story I heard personally from Mosler in the 1990s. Suppose he assigned household chores to his children with payment promised in business cards. With little of value being offered in exchange for the work, the lawn would remain uncut and the car unwashed. But if Mosler the Dad then imposes a monthly tax of 30 business cards from each offspring, on pain of being grounded, they suddenly have value. The work gets done. From this follows the logic that the government needs to spend money in order to provide the means with which to pay taxes. The government, as the sole issuer of currency, can pay in regular green dollars, or in yellow interest-bearing dollars (i.e. they can borrow to pay their bills).
    [Show full text]
  • Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy, Part Ii Hearing
    MONETARY POLICY AND THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY, PART II HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 26, 2009 Printed for the use of the Committee on Financial Services Serial No. 111-8 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 48-679 PDF WASHINGTON : 2009 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts, Chairman PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama MAXINE WATERS, California MICHAEL N. CASTLE, Delaware CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York PETER T. KING, New York LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois EDWARD R. ROYCE, California NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ, New York FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina RON PAUL, Texas GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois BRAD SHERMAN, California WALTER B. JONES, JR., North Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois DENNIS MOORE, Kansas GARY G. MILLER, California MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia RUBEN HINOJOSA, Texas JEB HENSARLING, Texas WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri SCOTT GARRETT, New Jersey CAROLYN MCCARTHY, New York J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina JOE BACA, California JIM GERLACH, Pennsylvania STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas BRAD MILLER, North Carolina TOM PRICE, Georgia DAVID SCOTT, Georgia PATRICK T. McHENRY, North Carolina AL GREEN, Texas JOHN CAMPBELL, California EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri ADAM PUTNAM, Florida MELISSA L. BEAN, Illinois MICHELE BACHMANN, Minnesota GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin KENNY MARCHANT, Texas PAUL W.
    [Show full text]
  • The “Kansas City” Approach to Modern Money Theory
    Working Paper No. 961 The “Kansas City” Approach to Modern Money Theory by L. Randall Wray Levy Economics Institute of Bard College July 2020 The Levy Economics Institute Working Paper Collection presents research in progress by Levy Institute scholars and conference participants. The purpose of the series is to disseminate ideas to and elicit comments from academics and professionals. Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independently funded research organization devoted to public service. Through scholarship and economic research it generates viable, effective public policy responses to important economic problems that profoundly affect the quality of life in the United States and abroad. Levy Economics Institute P.O. Box 5000 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 http://www.levyinstitute.org Copyright © Levy Economics Institute 2020 All rights reserved ISSN 1547-366X ABSTRACT Modern money theory (MMT) synthesizes several traditions from heterodox economics. Its focus is on describing monetary and fiscal operations in nations that issue a sovereign currency. As such, it applies Georg Friedrich Knapp’s state money approach (chartalism), also adopted by John Maynard Keynes in his Treatise on Money. MMT emphasizes the difference between a sovereign currency issuer and a sovereign currency user with respect to issues such as fiscal and monetary policy space, ability to make all payments as they come due, credit worthiness, and insolvency. Following A. Mitchell Innes, however, MMT acknowledges some similarities between sovereign and nonsovereign issues of liabilities, and hence integrates a credit theory of money (or, “endogenous money theory,” as it is usually termed by post-Keynesians) with state money theory.
    [Show full text]
  • A Beginner's Guide To
    A Beginner’s Guide to MMT Peter Coy, Katia Dmitrieva, and Matthew Boesler Bloomberg Businessweek, March 21, 2019 There’s a lot of debate swirling around Modern Monetary Theory—some strident. Its critics call it a hot mess. “MMT has constructed such a bizarre, illogical, convoluted way of thinking about macro that it’s almost impervious to attack,” Bentley University economist Scott Sumner claimed recently on his blog. MMT’s proponents say it’s the critics who are impervious to reason—“part of a degenerative paradigm that has lost credibility,” says Australian MMTer William Mitchell. Stephanie Kelton is an MMT proponent who was an economic adviser on Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign. This state of confusion isn’t good because Modern Monetary Theory, once confined to blogs and a handful of colleges including the University of Missouri at Kansas City, suddenly matters. In the U.S., the left wing of the Democratic Party is citing MMT to make the case for massive federal government spending on a Green New Deal to wean the U.S. off fossil fuels and fund Medicare for All. It’s virtually certain that MMT will be dragged into the debates of the 2020 presidential race. So the time is right for a semi-deep dive into Modern Monetary Theory—what it is, where it comes from, its pros and its cons. 1 Fortunately, the first academic textbook based on the theory was published in February. The 573-page tome, titled simply Macroeconomics, is by Mitchell, an economist at the University of Newcastle in Australia; Randall Wray of Bard College in Annandale-on- Hudson, N.Y.; and Martin Watts, an emeritus professor at Newcastle.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Money Theory in the Tropics. Version Sent to JE
    POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE Modern Money Theory (MMT) in the Tropics: Functional Finance in Developing Countries Matías Vernengo and Esteban Pérez Caldentey September 2019 WORKINGPAPER SERIES Number 495 Modern Money Theory (MMT) in the Tropics: Functional Finance in Developing Countries Matías Vernengo and Esteban Pérez Caldentey 1 Abstract: Functional finance is only one of the elements of Modern Money Theory (MMT). Chartal money, endogenous money and an Employer of Last Resort Program (ELR) or Job Guarantee (JG) are often the other elements. We are here interested fundamentally with the functional finance aspects which are central for any discussion of fiscal policy and have received more attention recently. We discuss both the limitations of functional finance for developing countries that have a sovereign currency, but are forced to borrow in foreign currency and that might face a balance of payments (BOP) constraint. We also analyze the limits to borrowing in its own currency, and does not formally face the possibility of default, since it can always print money or issue debt. We note that the balance of payments constraint might still be relevant and limit fiscal expansion. We note that flexible rates do not necessarily create more space for fiscal policy, and that should not be in general preferred to managed exchange rate regimes with capital controls. We suggest that MMT needs to be complemented with Structuralist ideas to provide a more coherent understanding of fiscal policy in developing countries. Key Words: Modern Money Theory, Developing Countries, Balance of Payments Constraint JEL Codes: 1 The authors are Full Professor, Bucknell University, USA and Chief, Financing for Development Unit, Economic Development Division, ECLAC, Santiago, Chile, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Polarization
    The Great Debasement Also by Craig R. Smith Rediscovering Gold in the 21st Century: The Complete Guide to the Next Gold Rush Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil (co-authored with Jerome R. Corsi) The Uses of Inflation: Monetary Policy and Governance in the 21st Century Crashing the Dollar: How to Survive a Global Currency Collapse (co-authored with Lowell Ponte) Re-Making Money: Ways to Restore America’s Optimistic Golden Age (co-authored with Lowell Ponte) The Inflation Deception: Six Ways Government Tricks Us...And Seven Ways to Stop It! (co-authored with Lowell Ponte) Also by Lowell Ponte The Cooling Crashing the Dollar: How to Survive a Global Currency Collapse (co-authored with Craig R. Smith) Re-Making Money: Ways to Restore America’s Optimistic Golden Age (co-authored with Craig R. Smith) The Inflation Deception: Six Ways Government Tricks Us...And Seven Ways to Stop It! (co-authored with Craig R. Smith) The Great Debasement The 100-Year Dying of the Dollar and How to Get America’s Money Back by Craig R. Smith and Lowell Ponte Foreword by Pat Boone Idea Factory Press Phoenix, Arizona The Great Debasement The 100-Year Dying of the Dollar and How to Get America’s Money Back Copyright © 2012 by Idea Factory Press All Rights Reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or parts thereof, in any form except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Printed in the United States of America. For more information contact publisher. Cover art by Dustin D.
    [Show full text]
  • Rather Than Increasing Public Support for Labor Immigration, Even If There
    IMMIGRATION, EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS, AND THE STATE 157 Positive messages from [government] ministers on the economic benefits of labor migration were drowned by the negative messages on asylum. … The public did not, as the government had anticipat- ed, readily tell the difference between an asylum-seeker, a migrant worker or an international student in their neighborhood. (2007: 348, 359) Rather than increasing public support for labor immigration, even if there is a sound labor market policy case, the use of control signals can compound the political sensitivities of labor immigration policy (Anderson 2013). This indicates that employment relations scholarship needs to account for the external gover- nance dimensions of labor immigration policy relating to immigration control as well as the intrinsic connections with internal governance dimensions relating to migrant worker–employer relations. CONCLUSION In this chapter, we have examined the connection between employment relations and labor immigration, particularly in relation to the state, whose role in that area has been relatively underexamined within employment relations scholarship. States have many different functions in labor immigration policy. We have dis- tinguished between functions relating to internal governance, which includes regulatory activities that determine where migrants work, their conditions at work, and the terms of their engagement with employers, and those relating to external governance, which includes the many different factors determining states’ immigration selection and control activity. We noted two trends relating to these distinct dimensions of state activity. First, internal governance has increasingly been influenced by unitarist or neo- liberal ideas. This influence is reflected in labor immigration schemes allowing employers significant control over migrant workers without an equivalent level of countervailing power in the form of increased enforcement capacity by the state and/or worker organizations.
    [Show full text]
  • 4 Getting Our Priorities Right: What Does Justice Require That We Do? Part 2 1
    Notes 4 Getting Our Priorities Right: What Does Justice Require That We Do? Part 2 1 . See generally Adam Smith, “Public Debt,” in The Wealth of Nations (New York: Modern Library, 2000 [1776]), Bk. 5, Ch. 3, pp. 981–1028; David Hume, “Of Public Credit,” in Hume: Political Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994[1752]), pp. 166–178; J. S. Mill, “Of a National Debt,” in Principles of Political Economy (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004[1848]), Bk. 5, Ch. 7; Jean-Baptiste Say, “Of National Debt,” in A Treatise on Political Economy , trans. from the 4th edn. by C. R. Prinsep (Philadelphia, PA: Grigg & Elliot, 5th edn. 1832[1803]), Bk. 3, Ch. 9. 2 . See Walter F. Stettner, “Carl Dietzel, Public Expenditures and the Public Debt,” in Income, Employment and Public Policy: Essays in Honor of Alvin H. Hansen (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1948), pp. 276–299. 3 . See Stettner, “Carl Dietzel, Public Expenditures and the Public Debt”; Jesse Burkhead, “The Balanced Budget,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 68 (1954): 191–216. 4 . See, e.g., Burkhead, “The Balanced Budget,” esp. 193–94; John Christian Laursen and Greg Coolidge, “David Hume and Public Debt: Crying Wolf?” Hume Studies 20 (1994): 143–150. 5 . See Alvin H. Hansen, Economic Policy and Full Employment (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1947), pp. 4–5. 6 . See David Ricardo, The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1911), pp. 244–249 and “The Funding System” [1820] in The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. 1V Pamphlets and Papers 1815– 1823 (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund); Robert J.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lender of Last Resort: a Critical Analysis of the Federal Reserve’S Unprecedented Intervention After 2007
    THE LENDER OF LAST RESORT: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE’S UNPRECEDENTED INTERVENTION AFTER 2007 April 2013 ® Preface and Acknowledgements “Never waste a crisis.” Those words were often invoked by reformers who wanted to tighten regulations and financial supervision in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) that began in late 2007.2 Many of them have been disappointed because the relatively weak reforms adopted (for example in Dodd-Frank) appear to have fallen far short of what is needed. But the same words can be and should have been invoked in reference to the policy response to the crisis—that is, to the rescue of the financial system. To date, the crisis was also wasted in that area, too. If anything, the crisis response largely restored the financial system that existed in 2007 on the eve of the crisis. But it may not be too late to use the crisis and the response itself to formulate a different approach to dealing with the next financial crisis. If we are correct in our analysis, because the response last time simply propped up a deeply flawed financial structure and because financial system reform will do little to prevent financial institutions from continuing risky practices, another crisis is inevitable—and indeed will likely occur far sooner than most analysts expect. In any event, we recall Hyman Minsky’s belief that “stability is destabilizing”—implying that even if we had successfully stabilized the financial system, that would change behavior in a manner to make another crisis more likely. So no matter what one believes about the previous response and the reforms now in place, policymakers of the future will have to deal with another financial crisis.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Program
    Allied Social Science Associations Program Denver, CO January 7–9, 2011 Contract negotiations, management and meeting arrangements for ASSA meetings are conducted by the American Economic Association. i ASSA_Program2011.indb i 11/11/10 11:30 AM Thanks to the 2011 American Economic Association Program Committee Members Joseph Altonji Joshua Angrist William Collins Janet Currie Gene Grossman Kathryn Graddy Jonathan Gruber John List Ted Miguel Valerie Ramey Helene Rey Gerard Roland Nancy Rose Steve Shavell Robert Stavins Richard Thaler Cover Art—“Lonely Trail,” copyright 2008, Anthony J. Morreale, Jr. (Oil on Canvas, 22″ x 30″ ). Tony painted this scene after a ski trip to Colorado. He is a retired executive and now a career/life planning and outplacement counselor for OMNI TEAM in Nashville, TN. He has been painting for about eight years and invites you to visit his website at www.amorreale. com. AEA staff member, Susan Houston, calls him “Dad.” ii ASSA_Program2011.indb ii 11/11/10 11:30 AM Contents General Information. .iv Hotels and Meeting Rooms . ix Listing of Advertisers and Exhibitors . xxi Allied Social Science Associations Executive Offi cers . xxiii Summary of Sessions by Organization . xxvi Daily Program of Events . 1 Program of Sessions Thursday, January 6 . 25 Friday, January 7 . 26 Saturday, January 8 . 132 Sunday, January 9 . 249 Subject Area Index. 327 Index of Participants . 330 iii ASSA_Program2011.indb iii 11/11/10 11:30 AM General Information PROGRAM SCHEDULES A listing of sessions where papers will be presented and another covering activities such as business meetings and receptions are provided in this program.
    [Show full text]
  • Cesifo Forum 2/2013 (Summer)
    A joint initiative of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and the Ifo Institute SUMMER Forum 2013 VOLUME 14, NO. 2 Focus Laurence Kotlikoff HE ISCAL LIff T US F C David J. Stockton Stormy-Annika Mildner and Julia Howald Enrique G. Mendoza Mathew Forstater Specials ON EUROPEAN AUstERITY Stefan Homburg SAVING THE EUROPEAN UNION: George Soros and Hans-Werner Sinn ARE EUROBONDS THE AnsWER? TRAnsATLAntIC TRADE AND Gabriel J. Felbermayr and Mario Larch InvEstMEnt PARtnERSHIP THE SLOW AND HIDDEN ROAD Peter Bernholz TO SERFDOM Spotlight HIstORICAL CO EMIssIOns AND Anna Ciesielski, 2 Stephan Beitz and THEIR WORLDWIDE ALLOCATION Jana Lippelt Trends STATIstICS UPDATE CESifo Forum ISSN 1615-245X (print version) ISSN 2190-717X (electronic version) A quarterly journal on European economic issues Publisher and distributor: Ifo Institute, Poschingerstr. 5, D-81679 Munich, Germany Telephone ++49 89 9224-0, Telefax ++49 89 9224-98 53 69, e-mail [email protected] Annual subscription rate: €50.00 Single subscription rate: €15.00 Shipping not included Editors: John Whalley ([email protected]) and Chang Woon Nam ([email protected]) Indexed in EconLit Reproduction permitted only if source is stated and copy is sent to the Ifo Institute. www.cesifo-group.de Forum Volume 14, Number 2 Summer 2013 Focus THE US FISCAL CLIFF The US Fiscal Cliff – When Economists Recklessly Endanger the Economy Laurence Kotlikoff 3 Fiscal Policy in the United States: Still in Need of a Strategy David J. Stockton 9 Jumping the Fiscal Cliff: The Political Economy of Fiscal Policy-Making under President Obama Stormy-Annika Mildner and Julia Howald 17 The US Fiscal Crisis: The Debt Sustainability Delusion and the True Costs of Fiscal Austerity Enrique G.
    [Show full text]