Building on the central tenets of chartalism, the belief that legal tender was created out of a ruler’s or government’s desire to direct economic activity through currency manipulation and trade rather than as a solution to make barter and exchange more portable and imperishable, Planet Money introduces us to a school of thought styled Modern Monetary Theory, an macroeconomic idea that one’s pocket change is very different than fiat money and that a country that produces and controls its own currency can fully fund all the goods and services it wishes. Provided it is not indebted with loans in a foreign currency or is not able to create more money (like individual member states of the European Union), it cannot go bankrupt. Rather than to generate revenue for the government, taxation is an effective means to regulate inflation and unemployment. It’s a provocative argument surely and some would call it naรฏve to diminish the role of inflation but it seems that economies are doing this all the time. Do give he episode a listen and let us know what you make of the compelling question and answers.
Thursday 27 September 2018
horizontal transaction or gini coeffienct
7x7
yokohama-e: early depictions of Westerns (previously) by Japanese illustrators—via the Everlasting Blört
uncanny valley: the secret (related) and sometimes glamourous life of fashion mannequins
periodicals: the Avocado has a regular column on reading vintage and antique magazines—via Things Magazine
spriting: fun and informative pixel-art animation tutorials
millinery: curating the illustrations of Joanna Spicer to celebrate the hatmaking industry of Stockport
reading room: Massimo Listri’s amazing photography of European libraries
what-ifs: illustrator Tom Stults envisions films created in another time and place
Wednesday 26 September 2018
s. s. minnow
On this day in 1964, as our faithful chronicler Doctor Caligari informs, that among many other events the series Gilligan’s Island has its original release on CBS. Probably most memorable for its theme song, “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” written by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle, was performed to network executives as the pitch for the show, as was sort standard practise in those days as evinced by many programmes (like the Brady Bunch which also first aired on the same date five years later) with expository openings.
The version for the pilot (filmed on the same day as the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and the whole project was put on hold until the following fall, with “Marooned” unaired until 1992) had a distinctive calypso theme courtesy future film score composer John Williams who also provided other incidental music for the show. The eponymous vessel was not named for the small bait fish but rather for the Federal Communication Commission chairman Newton Norman “Newt” Minow, that producer Schwartz held in contempt and accused of ruining the US television by characterising it as a “vast wasteland.” Reforms that Minow helped engineering resulted in the creation of the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio.
city hopper
Though there’s not yet a projected date for the inaugural journey yet, plans are well underway for the first Hyperloop route (previously) in Europe, linking Amsterdam’s Schipol with Frankfurt am Main airport with commissions already being tendered for the design of hub city stations for the movement of people as well as goods.
Moving at nearly the speed of sound, the carriages will be able to cross the four hundred-fifty kilometre distance in under one hour with intervening stops in Bonn, Kรถln, Dรผsseldorf, Eindhoven, den Bosch and Utrecht not only offsetting a significant amount of pollution but also revolutionising business and leisure travel and our approach to commuting as the network expands across the continent.
city dreams
Hyperallergic introduces us to the utopian, Afrofuturist architecture of artist and political observer Bodys Isek Kingelez (*1948 - †2015) with an retrospective exhibition of his model buildings and urban miniatures, which are conversation pieces to prompt audiences to think about infrastructure, globalisation and the character of the megacity, socioeconomic realities that were maturing at pace with Kingelez himself and his native Democratic Republic of the Congo. On display at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art through the new year, one is also afforded the opportunity to explore the elaborate environments in an immersive fashion in a virtual reality helmet. Learn more and see a whole gallery of Kingelez’ visions at the link up top.
petard hoist much?
Howling for years how America had become the laughing-stock of the world, Donald Trump got his comeuppance in the first few lines of his ignorant and arrogant speech to the UN general assembly (previously) when his boasts of having accomplished more than any administration in history drew derisive laughter from the audience of heads of state and the diplomatic corps.
Though pretending to shrug off the response, it seemed to come as a shock to him—outside his usual insulated, self-affirming bubble of supporters who hang on his every lie at his campaign rallies—we suspect that Trump will remain determined to wipe the smiles from their faces and further isolate the US from the international community. “We reject the ideology of globalism,” Trump said, “and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism,” adding that the US will withhold aid from countries that challenge America’s agenda and fail to show respect—having only kind words for NATO partner Poland, who last week curried favour by suggesting that the proposed US permanent military installation in the country could be called Fort Trump.
how about a nice game of chess?
Undisclosed until well after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and at a time of severely deteriorated relations seeded with deep distrust and suspicion that a first-strike on the part of the United States was eminent, on this day in 1983 duty officer Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (*1939 - †2017) correctly assessed that reports from the early warning satellite network were a false alarm and thus averted an accidental counter-attack.
Despite heightened tensions and hair-trigger attitudes, Petrov appreciated the gravity of his decision and questioned the reliability of the new system and judged that the five missile signatures detected not to be of the calibre of an offensive, which likely would have been comprised of hundreds of warheads launched simultaneously, in accordance with the policy of mutually assured destruction. Subsequent investigations showed that the system was detecting glints of sunlight reflected on high-altitude clouds.
