War,food rationing,and socioeconomic inequality in Germany during the First World War

Germany experienced a devastating period during the First World War due to severely restricted import possibilities and a general shortage of foodstuffs. This study uses the heights of some 4,000 individuals who served during the Second World War to quantify biological living standards from the 1900s to the 1920s, and focuses primarily on socioeconomic inequality during this period. The results suggest that generally the upper social strata, measured by fathers' occupation, exhibited the tallest average height, followed by the middle and lower classes. These socioeconomic differences became more pronounced during the First World War when the rationing system provided a limited food supply. Wealthier individuals were able to purchase additional foodstuffs on black markets. Therefore, children from upper‐class families experienced only a small decline in average height compared to their counterparts from the middle and lower social strata.     

A ‘blank cheque'? Portuguese Second World War sterling balances, 1940–73

The British effort in the Second World War required massive external financing which depended on Lend‐Lease and the accumulation of sterling balances. Indebtedness in sterling balances corresponded to almost 38 per cent of this total at the end of the war. Portuguese sterling balances, although a small share of the total, were important because of pre‐emptive purchases, especially of wolfram, and because of the ‘gold clause’ which was to be applied to outstanding balances. Portugal's willingness to finance British purchases contrasts with the requirement of German payments in goods or cash for their purchases in Portugal. The settlement of Portuguese sterling balances in August 1945 was singular as it preceded the Anglo‐American settlement of December 1945 which had important consequences for sterling balance holders, as the US insisted that the US$3.75 billion loan should not be used to settle British war debts. Postwar settlement of British debt through a long‐term loan from Portugal to Britain contrasts with settlements that involved the sale of British assets. Salazar's concerns about the postwar international position of Portugal, the Portuguese Empire, and the survival of the Portuguese regime are relevant in explaining his pro‐British stance during and after the war.     

Second World War spending and local economic activity in US counties, 1939–58

Studies of the development of local economies often point to large‐scale Second World War military spending as a source of economic growth, even though spending declined sharply after demobilization. We examine the relationship between war spending per capita and the changes in economic activity in US counties between 1939 before the war and a period several years after the war. In the longer term counties receiving more war spending per capita during the war experienced greater population growth, but growth in per capita measures of economic activity showed little relationship with per capita war spending.     

Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism,Rational Choice and the Political Economy of War

Neoclassical economic theories of violent conflict have proliferated in recent years and, with their application to contemporary wars, have influenced donors and policy makers. This paper reviews the intellectual foundations and empirical substance of such theories and offers a critique drawing on a political economy perspective. There are strong grounds for arguing that orthodox economic theories of war are reductionist, speculative, and misleading. Theories that are driven by methodological individualism are compelled somehow to model “the social” as it affects contemporary war––for example, by appeal to indices of ethno-linguistic fragmentation––but do so in ways that fail to capture reality and its variations.     

Post–World War Two industry policy: opportunities and constraints

There exists an entrenched conventional wisdom that, for the first seventy years of the twentieth century, Australia was closed to the global economy in the pursuit of an inward–looking and market–defying approach to development. This interpretation is neglectful of the broad forces at work and their evolution. The economic policy process inevitably embodies compromise between conflicting views and interests, including bureaucratic rivalries. An investigation of the role and treatment of the post–War industry bureaucracy provides some insight into the character of the contemporary balance of forces. Post–War development certainly involved dysfunctionalities, but the causes were located in a complex set of determinants rooted in culture rather than just inwardness or rent seeking. Thus, the importance of the protective tariff for the manufacturing sector in the 1960s deserves to be reinterpreted as a symptom rather than the cause of any underlying problems with policy character and policy priorities.     

兼并，一场没有硝烟没有国界的战争——从永乐、大中、国美三家电器公司的兼并看即将实施的《反垄断法》

2008年8月1日，《中华人民共和国反垄断法》将开始实施。这部法律的颁布是中国社会主义市场经济发展的一个里程碑，它关系到13亿人口的切身利益，对于保护公平竞争，维护市场经济秩序、营造公平有序的市场环境、保持中国经济活力、促进社会主义市场经济健康发展，具有十分深远意义。     

史迪威:中国战区参谋长

约瑟夫·史迪威,生于1883年,1904年毕业于美国西点军校。从1935年到1939年,他作为美国大使馆武官在北京工作。在二战期间,史迪威曾担任中国战区司令蒋介石的美方最高顾问和中国战区参谋长,并且因为支持中国共产党的抗日斗争而受到蒋介石的猜忌和排挤。二战后期,史迪威主要在印缅战场指挥对日作战。1944年,史迪威晋升为四星上将,随后奉调回国,1946年,在旧金山病逝。     

抗战陪都的文化传奇

八年抗战，在重庆这个大后方，除留下无数的故事，也谱写了中国抗战文化史上最华丽的乐章。当年，从华北、东北、华东等沦陷区颠沛流离、辗转千里转移至“陪都”重庆著名文化人以及莘莘学子何止千万。在国破家亡的异乡，在两江环抱的山城，他们以各自不同的方式，书写着保卫故士与赞美和延续着中华民族生生不息的文脉，并为恢弘的抗战文化史留下了不朽的传奇。