lunedì 12 agosto 2013
"Ricordo che nel 1973, cito un anno a caso, io come tutti i romani andavo a Piazza del Popolo e parcheggiavo la macchina. Quella Piazza meravigliosa era una enorme distesa di vetture, e a nessuno sembrava strano. Oggi è zona pedonale. Come è avvenuto il passaggio, con quali disaccordi? Sono certo che c’è stata una discussione, che qualcuno ha preso la decisione di cambiare la destinazione d’uso della Piazza, che i commercianti avranno protestato. Ma se oggi io come sindaco volessi proporre il contrario, cioè di riaprire il parcheggio a piazza del Popolo, sono sicuro che sarei inseguito"
"Se siete stati irritati o compiaciuti dalla scelta di bloccare al traffico l’area intorno al Colosseo, tenetevi pronti ad altre emozioni forti. La pedonalizzazione è infatti solo l’inizio di un progetto che “nel corso di questo mandato” avvierà nuovi scavi che porteranno alla luce i Fori più antichi che giacciono coperti dal grande viale che va dal Colosseo a Piazza Venezia. Il risultato finale sarà non solo l’ampliamento dell’area archeologica, ma uno stravolgimento totale dell’attuale volto della Capitale: come conseguenza di questi scavi, infatti, via del Fori Imperiali, la strada così fortemente voluta da Mussolini, e oggi così fortemente parte della identità della città, scomparirà, verrà smantellata. “Forse ne resterà una sezione, magari per pedoni e biciclette”, dice serafico senza giri di parole il neo-sindaco di Roma"
"How to define financial stability. The hope is that the next banking crisis can be prevented. But, no one really thinks that it is possible, as financial crises seem to be endemic. It's perhaps more realistic to try to restrict the scale of the next crisis so that it doesn't drag down the whole banking system and the economy with it."
"It's the end of targeting just inflation for central banks. But, how will it work if they also target financial stability? As the Bank of England has set up a new Financial Policy Committee (FPC) to manage financial stability alongside its existing Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), it is in some ways further ahead than other central banks in adopting what is termed "macroprudential policy" alongside "inflation targeting." It's termed macroprudential policy or macroprudential regulation because the central bank is to ensure that commercial banks operate in a prudential manner and regulate systemic or macro risks."
The International Comparison Program (ICP) is a worldwide statistical partnership to collect comparative price data and compile detailed expenditure values of countries’ gross domestic products (GDP), and to estimate purchasing power parities (PPPs) of the world’s economies. Using PPPs instead of market exchange rates to convert currencies makes it possible to compare the output of economies and the welfare of their inhabitants in real terms (that is, controlling for differences in price levels).
"Data on gross domestic product (called now Gross Domestic Income) are available from three sources: the Maddison project, which is the only source for the long-run series of national GDPs, going back to 1820s; the World Bank or IMF annual data, going back to 1960; and Penn World Tables, produced periodically at the University of Pennsylvania, going back from their just-released version 8.0 to 1950 . All three sources produce GDP data in PPP (purchasing power parity) terms, which means that they adjust for differences in price levels between the countries. The easiest way to explain it is to say that PPPs try to account for each good and service using the same price for it around the world, so that a mobile phone, a kilo of rice and a haircut would each be valued the same in China as in the United States. Only thus can the real sizes of the economies, and the welfare of people, be truly comparable. These PPP data, in turn, are obtained through a massive worldwide project called the International Comparison Program, which is run every five to 10 years and collects more than 1,000 prices in all countries."
"Is China, after a hiatus of 150 years, again the largest economy in the world? Not all sources of GDP data agree, but there is little doubt that China is either already now the largest economy, or it will, within a year, become so by overtaking that of the United States. Whichever the case may be, a long era when the American economy was the largest in the world and which began around 1860, is now reaching its end."
"Film director Oliver Stone has praised US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden as a "hero". Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, the 66-year-old said: "Edward Snowden is a hero. Because he did this not for profit, not to give, exchange, give secrets away that could hurt our country supposedly...He is doing it out of conscience." Stone was in Japan to promote his new ten-part documentary, The Untold History of the United States. Edward Snowden has been granted asylum by Russia despite requests from the US that he be returned."
"If emerging economies can grow at 6% as forecast by the IMF, then the Fund estimates the world economy will resume growing again at 4% by the end of next year, while the advanced economies could reach 2%. It would be a good pace, but slower than the heady days of the 2000s. And a more sustainable pace would have a better chance of lasting."
"Consider global economic growth in context. World gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at over 4% during the 2000s before the US and European crises. That is a percentage point higher than during the entire previous half century. Led by China and India, emerging economies grew at 7.5%, while advanced economies expanded by some 2.6%. Debt-fuelled consumption in the US and in some parts of Europe was one reason. The very strong growth of emerging economies was another. Before 2000, emerging economies grew at 3.6%, so their growth more than doubled over the next decade. These economies became more globally integrated and many ran trade surpluses selling to the US and Europe, which significantly boosted their economies."
"In any case for China to succeed, it will need to become more innovative and competitive not just on cost but quality. To do that, it needs to compete with the best in the world. Thus, America will be key. So, China needs America. And, to state the obvious, America needs China too. The 1.3 billion people in China represent an under-developed market that could benefit the U.S. as well as the rest of the world. Although still poor, cities like Beijing and Shanghai already offer middle income consumers, who are much in demand now as the U.S. and Europe slowly recover. It could help with America's re-balancing which is towards exports, so selling to overseas consumers instead of relying too much on debt-fuelled domestic consumption. The U.S. may just need to get used to not being the world's sole economic power. But, the rest of the world would benefit from having more than one engine of growth, particularly if there is more than one large market to sell to. Finally, there is one more thing to bear in mind should the world end up with two economic superpowers that look rather different. As the distinguished economist John Kenneth Galbraith observed: "Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."
"Should China succeed, it doesn't imply that America will be in actual decline. China has been growing faster than America — which is expected for a country that is still "catching up", so it feels like the US has been out-paced. Plus, the 2008 financial crisis has added hardship and unemployment that have exacerbated this feeling. Of course, there are industries where the U.S. has lost manufacturing jobs to cheaper countries like China. At the same time, it has gained in higher skilled jobs as American companies are a significant part of the foreign firms that produce more than half of China's exports."
"China has had a remarkable three decades of economic growth since it introduced market-oriented reforms in 1979. Within this past decade, average incomes have risen from less than $1,000 (the level of the poorest countries in the world) to middle income at around $6,000 or $8,000 when adjusted for purchasing power parity (or what a US dollar will buy). But because of its sheer size -- 1.3 billion people or one-fifth of the world's population -- it has become the world's second largest economy. It's also the reason why China has a long way to go before it can rival the U.S. China already has clout, but it has a tough road ahead. And China expects its growth to slow after 30-plus years of strong expansion that is already extraordinary."
"China's rise doesn't necessarily imply the United States' decline. This is because if both countries trade, then both benefit from specialisation that raises efficiency. The problem is of course some people and industries lose, while others win — so the key is the distributional effects from trade as opposed to the overall economy gaining. Of course, there will be areas where the countries are competitors and both have been known to raise barriers in their markets which are problematic."
"The most vulnerable countries are those with sizeable current account deficits, and India falls into this category as it has one of the largest for a big economy. Its current account deficit hit a record high of 6.7% of GDP last year. For the full fiscal year that ended on 31 March, the current account deficit was nearly 5% of GDP. To give a sense as to the magnitude, the IMF in its monitoring role of global macroeconomic imbalances raises alarm bells when a current account deficit reaches 6% of GDP. Making things even harder, it has a sizeable fiscal deficit, which has recently come down to 5% of GDP, as well as high rates of inflation. Both are reasons why foreign investors would want to leave. Economic growth has also dropped to 5%, the slowest pace in a decade, down from the heights of 9% reached during the mid-2000s, and back to the 4-5% rate that characterised the slow pace of growth before the 1980 reforms."
"A weak currency won't necessarily lead to a crisis. But, if it makes it harder to pay for a deficit that is owed to overseas creditors, that's when it could become a problem. That's what the newly appointed governor of the RBI, the Indian central bank, Raghuram Rajan, and I discussed last year when he was the government's senior economic adviser. We talked about the risk that India could experience a repeat of the 1991 balance of payments crisis. The country ended up being rescued by the International Monetary Fund."
"Traffic has been banned from parts of central Rome under a new plan to help protect key monuments. The city's mayor, Ignazio Marino - a cycling enthusiast - made the decision in order to protect historical monuments such as the Colosseum from the vibrations and fumes from vehicles. But not all locals are pleased with the plan"
"Le gouvernement italien a annoncé l'adoption d'un décret-loi, qui devra être validé rapidement par le parlement, pour durcir les sanctions en cas de violences contre les femmes. "Adoption ce matin en conseil des ministres du décret contenant les nouvelles normes contre le "féminicide". Nous l'avions promis, nous le faisons", a annoncé via twitter le chef du gouvernement Enrico Letta."
"Eleggiamo sostanzialmente un premier, e crediamo in un mandato elettorale sovrano, ma in Italia la Costituzione non prevede alcun premier, solo un presidente del Consiglio dei ministri, e il Parlamento è sulla carta eletto senza vincoli di mandato. La fisiologia del sistema è compensativa: siamo usciti dal fascismo con l’idea che l’oligarchia e la consociazione sono il solo antidoto al dispotismo di un uomo solo al comando, e anche a una stabilità politica finalizzata a progetti e grandi riforme. Alla Costituzione non piace l’uomo forte, e il risultato è un potere debole, insidiato dalle manovre di Palazzo e di procura tanto più in quanto è detenuto da un ospite inatteso, da uno statista strafottente e privatissimo, non previsto, che telefona in questura a notte alta preoccupato della sorte di Ruby. Per il sistema il suo durare è scandaloso."
"Berlusconi la spuntò alle elezioni del 2001. Era unfit to lead Italy, secondo l’Economist, e in fondo era vero: ma non perché fosse gravato dal conflitto di interessi potenziale, che non è mai scattato, piuttosto per via delle regole costituzionali che non prevedevano la stabilità politica e un governo di mandato incentrato sulla funzione demiurgica di una personalità e del suo staff, a margine della egemonia “democratica” dei partiti. Berlusconi governò per cinque anni, ma fu costretto a passare di crisi in crisi, la presa nella maggioranza di Casini e Fini, politici professionali e capipartito, e delle loro triangolazioni parlamentari con le opposizioni, fu atroce, paralizzante: la riforma costituzionale nacque fragile e, dopo la sconfitta di misura alle elezioni del 2006, fu abrogata via referendum. Due anni di Prodi, con l’Unione che fu un trionfo della logica di interdizione e di blocco dei partiti vecchio stile, e via con altri due anni di Berlusconi, ora alla prova forse finale: maggioranza persa dopo la guerra con Fini, capopartito spodestato ma non domo, giochi di instabilità pericolosi sull’orlo del voto, nuova giovinezza di trame e tramisti in mezzo al gran bordello del pubblico e del privato del premier. "
Fatta la riforma elettorale maggioritaria, in pieno golpe giudiziario, nel 1993, si ebbe la sorpresa di Berlusconi. Una leadership pop, carismatica, postpartitica, con il senso dell’individuo al posto del senso dello stato. Berlusconi vinse in condizioni folli, nel marzo del 1994, e durò meno di dieci mesi. Poi per due anni con Dini fu restaurato il governo oligarchico dei partiti e delle consorterie nello stile della Prima Repubblica, naturalmente senza più il discrimine regolativo cruciale che era stato per decenni la Guerra fredda, con la centralità democristiana, il ruolo stabilizzatore del Partito comunista sempre escluso da una alternativa impossibile, presidio contro le avventure. Dopo il governo del presidente, e la cospirazione di Scalfaro, venne l’Ulivo, con la vittoria di Prodi nel 1996, e fu la guerra perenne dei capi: tre presidenti in cinque anni, e alla fine un candidato premier diverso dai tre.
Come potrebbe essere il processo di generazione delle cose da questo qualcosa di “indeterminato”? [Si potrebbe congetturare] che l'apeiron (infinito, non delimitato, indeterminato) di Anassimandro sia simile alla massa originaria (concentrata e indistinta) di cui parla la scienza. [Quella] che poi ha subito un Big Bang tramite il quale si sono separati i vari corpi celesti. Il processo di generazione delle cose come una sorta di Big Bang; cioè un'esplosione di qualcosa che originariamente non ha nulla di definito…
Da cosa ha avuto origine l'universo?
Introduzione ai presocratici
Zanichelli
Introduzione ai presocratici
Zanichelli
"Se il principio – proprio perché è ciò da cui deriva tutto – è qualcosa che è comune a tutte le cose, allora non può essere nessuna cosa particolare: se viene scelta una, questa non potrebbe essere comune a tutto. Il principio, quindi, non può che essere qualcosa di indeterminato."
DA COSA HA AVUTO ORIGINE L’UNIVERSO?
Introduzione ai presocratici
Zanichelli
Introduzione ai presocratici
Zanichelli