The economics of early inequality.

We examine three recent frameworks that attempt to explain early inequality. One explanation involves the emergence of dense and predictable resource patches in the Holocene, together with differential asset accumulation and inheritance by individuals or households. In this view, agriculture and pastoralism led to greater inequality because farmland and animal herds were readily inherited. Another explanation involves the distinction between ideal free and ideal despotic population distributions, together with factors that could trigger a transition from the former to the latter. We offer a third framework based on economic concepts. In our view, inequality initially arose across locations (insider-outsider inequality) and reflected geographical differences in resource endowments at those locations. As population densities increased, the barriers to individual migration across locations included fewer kinship linkages and the use of force by insiders to exclude outsiders. These barriers became important with the transition from mobile to sedentary foraging and predate agriculture. Insider-outsider inequality was followed by stratification within settlements (elite-commoner inequality), which arose at still higher population densities. We see these three theoretical approaches as distinct but complementary. While they overlap, each emphasizes some phenomena and processes ignored by the other two. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary ecology of inequality'.

Clerkship Grading and the U.S. Economy: What Medical Education Can Learn From America's Economic History.

Clerkship grades (like money) are a social construct that function as the currency through which value exchanges in medical education are negotiated between the system's various stakeholders. They provide a widely recognizable and efficient medium through which learner development can be assessed, tracked, compared, and demonstrated and are commonly used to make decisions regarding progression, distinction, and selection for residency. However, substantial literature has demonstrated how grades imprecisely and unreliably reflect the value of learners. In this article, the authors suggest that challenges with clerkship grades are fundamentally tied to their role as currency in the medical education system. Associations are drawn between clerkship grades and the history of the U.S. economy; 2 major concepts are highlighted: regulation and stock prices. The authors describe the history of these economic concepts and how they relate to challenges in clerkship grading. Using lessons learned from the history of the U.S. economy, the authors then propose a 2-step solution to improve upon grading for future generations of medical students: (1) transition from grades to a federally regulated competency-based assessment model and (2) development of a departmental competency letter that incorporates competency-based assessments rather than letter grades and meets the needs of program directors.

From Malthusian Disequilibrium to the Post-Malthusian Era: The Evolution of the Preventive and Positive Checks in Germany, 1730-1870.

This study draws on a new data set of vital rates and real wages to explore short-term and long-term behavior of the preventive and positive checks in a major economy of premodern mainland Europe. Four results stand out. First, the preventive check was fairly stable throughout the period 1730-1870; its magnitude of 0.2 to 0.35 was comparable with that of England, northern and central Italy, and Sweden. Second, the eighteenth century was characterized by Malthusian disequilibrium in that there was no long-term relationship between the crude death rate and the real wage, whereas the crude death rate's instantaneous response to income changes was a substantial -0.4. Third, the short-term positive check may have weakened over the eighteenth century and largely disappeared in the 1810s. The diversification of food risk resulting from the spread of potato cultivation, market integration, and the development of the nonagricultural sectors are potential explanations of the demise and disappearance of the positive check. Fourth, between the 1810s and the 1860s, vital rates and the real wage were stationary, which is consistent with a post-Malthusian regime in which technological progress depended on population size. The 1810s marked the time when Germany transited from a Malthusian regime in disequilibrium to the post-Malthusian era.

Instruments of statecraft: Humphrey Cole, Elizabethan economic policy and the rise of practical mathematics.

This paper offers a re-interpretation of the development of practical mathematics in Elizabethan England, placing artisanal know-how and the materials of the discipline at the heart of analysis, and bringing attention to Tudor economic policy by way of historical context. A major new source for the early instrument trade is presented: a manuscript volume of Chancery Court documents c.1565-c.1603, containing details of a patent granting a monopoly on making and selling mathematical instruments, circa 1575, to an unnamed individual, identified here as the instrument maker Humphrey Cole. Drawing on economic and legal history, the paper argues that practical mathematics needs to be understood as one 'project' among many, at a time when monopoly patents were used to advance industry, lower unemployment, secure the realm and reward invention. Drawing on the history and sociology of technology, it argues that the management and control of materials - mathematical instruments themselves, and the local socio-legal context within which they could be made - needs to be understood as prior to and separate from the rhetoric of mathematical authors, which is of interest in its own right but which may not have a direct relationship to mathematical practice.

The glass walls of Samarra (Iraq): Ninth-century Abbasid glass production and imports.

Capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 836 and 892 CE, the palace-city of Samarra offers a precise window into early Islamic art and architecture. Excavations conducted more than 100 years ago are seen as the beginnings of scientific Islamic archaeology, and have yielded an exceptional array of finds including a wealth of glass artefacts. The chemical composition of glass reflects the nature of the raw materials and their geological provenance and can therefore reveal past technologies and economic and cultural interactions. Through high-resolution analysis of a comprehensive glass assemblage from Samarra we have new evidence that points to the existence of an advanced Abbasid glass industry, as well as the import of specific glass objects for the thriving new capital city. Quantitative analytical data of 58 elements by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) show a striking correlation between object types and glass compositions. The compositional profiles of two related plant ash groups of architectural glass point to a local production, destined for the decoration of the famed glass walls of Abbasid palaces. The selective use of objects, materials and colours to create reflective and luminous glass walls are indicative of the great cultural and economic value of glass during the Abbasid period. Our findings thus confirm the veracity of written sources that stipulate the production of glass in the vicinity of Samarra, as well as the import of selected artefacts such as Byzantine mosaic tesserae.

Minas contada em números - A capitania de Minas Gerais e as fontes demográficas (1776-1821) / Minas counted in number: Capitania of Minas Gerais and the Demographic sources (1776-1821) / Minas contada en números: la capitanía de Minas Gerais y las fuentes demográficas (1776-1821)

Os "mapas da população" produzidos a partir da década de 1770 contribuem para a análise de um período da história de Minas Gerais que foi particularmente importante pelas mudanças vivenciadas em âmbitos muito diversos. Tendo por base as informações destes documentos, o presente artigo analisa as transformações na economia mineira, assim como a redefinição daquela sociedade em um período no qual Minas Gerais ganha um novo perfil, mas mantém seu papel fundamental nas dinâmicas do centro-sul da América portuguesa.

The "population tables" available since the 1770's shed new light on a period in the history of Minas Gerais which was particularly important for the transformations experienced in very different fields. Based on information gathered in these documents, this paper focuses on the transformations of Minas Gerais' economy as well as the redefinition of that society in a period 548 R. bras. Est. Pop., Belo Horizonte, v.34, n.3, p.529-548, set./dez. 2017 Stumpf, R.G. Minas contada em números in which captaincy gains a new profile, yet maintaining its fundamental role in the dynamics of the center-south of Portuguese America.

Los "mapas de población" producidos a partir de la década del setenta del siglo XVIII contribuyen al análisis de un período de la historia de Minas Gerais que fue especialmente importante por todos los cambios experimentados en ámbitos muy diferentes. Con base en los datos que proporcionan estos documentos, el presente artículo analiza las transformaciones en la economía minera y la redefinición de aquella sociedad en un período en el cual Minas Gerais gana un nuevo perfil, al mismo tiempo que mantiene su papel fundamental en las dinámicas centro-sur de la América portuguesa.

As famílias de povoadores em áreas de fronteira da Capitania de São Paulo na segunda metade do século XVIII / Families settlers in border areas of the captaincy of São Paulo during the second half of the 18th century / Las familias de colonos en las zonas fronterizas de la Capitanía de São Paulo durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII

Ao tomar posse do governo da capitania de São Paulo em 1765, o Morgado de Mateus instaurou um processo de expansão do povoamento. A crise da economia colonial e os conflitos com os castelhanos exigia a intervenção da Coroa, que buscava implantar novas atividades econômicas e preparar a defesa do território. Ao criar vilas e povoados, o governador buscou reunir indivíduos que classificava como desregrados e os enviou, algumas vezes à força, para serem os pioneiros nestas áreas de fronteira. Muitos desses povoadores eram indígenas, considerados vadios, e que deviam ser submetidos ao novo modelo de organização social proposto pela Coroa. Este esforço pode ser avaliado a partir das listas nominativas de habitantes de três destas iniciativas de povoamento: São Luiz do Paraitinga, Piracicaba e o Caminho de Goiás. A análise do perfil dos indivíduos instalados nestas novas povoações permite melhor entender as estratégias de organização da população colonial desejadas pela Coroa.

After assuming the Government of the captaincy of São Paulo in 1765, Morgado de Mateus established an expansion process of the settlement. The crisis of the colonial economy and conflicts with the Castilians demanded the intervention of the Crown, seeking to deploy new economic activities and preparing the defense of the territory. When creating towns and villages, the Governor would seek bringing together individuals classified as unruly and would send them, sometimes by force, to be the pioneers in border areas. Many of these settlers were indigenous people, considered as vagabonds, who should be submitted to the new model of social organization proposed by the Crown. This effort can be accessed through inhabitants lists of three settlement initiatives: São Luiz do Paraitinga, Piracicaba and the Caminho de Goiás. The profile analysis of the individuals installed in these new villages allows for a better understanding of the organizational strategies of the colonial population desired by the Crown.

Asumiendo el gobierno de la Capitanía de São Paulo en 1765, el Morgado de Mateus establece un proceso de expansión del asentamiento. La crisis de la economía colonial y los conflictos con los castellanos exigían la intervención de la Corona, buscando implementar nuevas actividades económicas y preparando la defensa del territorio. Cuando se instalaban ciudades y pueblos, el gobernador buscaba reunir individuos clasificados como indisciplinados y los enviaba, a veces utilizando fuerza, para ser los pioneros en las zonas fronterizas. Muchos de estos pobladores eran indígenas, considerados vagabundos, que debían ser sometidos al nuevo modelo de organización social propuesto por la Corona. Este esfuerzo puede ser evaluado utilizándose las listas de los habitantes de tres de estas iniciativas: São Luiz do Paraitinga, Piracicaba y el Caminho de Goiás. El análisis del perfil de los individuos en estas nuevas villas permite comprender mejor las estrategias de organización de la población deseada por la Corona.

Breaking the taboo: a history of monetary financing in Canada, 1930-1975.

Monetary financing - the funding of state expenditure via the creation of new money rather than through taxation or borrowing - has become a taboo policy instrument in advanced economies. It is generally associated with dangerously high inflation and/or war. Relatedly, a key institutional feature of modern independent central banks is that they are not obligated to support government expenditure via money creation. Since the financial crisis of 2007-2008, however, unorthodox monetary policies, in particular quantitative easing, coupled with stagnant growth and high levels of public and private debt have led to questions over the monetary financing taboo. Debates on the topic have so far been mainly theoretical with little attention to the social and political dynamics of historical instances of monetary financing. This paper analyses one of the most significant twentieth-century cases: Canada from the period after the Great Depression up until the monetarist revolution of the 1970s. The period was a successful one for the Canadian economy, with high growth and employment and manageable inflation. It offers some interesting insights into the relationship between states and central banks and present-day discussions around the governance of money creation.

A material political economy: Automated Trading Desk and price prediction in high-frequency trading.

This article contains the first detailed historical study of one of the new high-frequency trading (HFT) firms that have transformed many of the world's financial markets. The study, of Automated Trading Desk (ATD), one of the earliest and most important such firms, focuses on how ATD's algorithms predicted share price changes. The article argues that political-economic struggles are integral to the existence of some of the 'pockets' of predictable structure in the otherwise random movements of prices, to the availability of the data that allow algorithms to identify these pockets, and to the capacity of algorithms to use these predictions to trade profitably. The article also examines the role of HFT algorithms such as ATD's in the epochal, fiercely contested shift in US share trading from 'fixed-role' markets towards 'all-to-all' markets.

A Road Not Taken: Economists, Historians of Science, and the Making of the Bowman Report.

This essay investigates a hitherto-unexamined collaboration between two of the founders of modern history of science, Henry Guerlac and I. Bernard Cohen, and two economists, Paul Samuelson and Rupert Maclaurin. The arena in which these two disciplines came together was the Bowman Committee, one of the committees that prepared material for Vannevar Bush's Science­The Endless Frontier. The essay shows how their collaboration helped to shape the committee's recommendations, in which different models of science confronted each other. It then shows how, despite this success, the basis for long-term collaboration of economists and historians of science disappeared, because the resulting linear model of science and technology separated the study of scientific and economic progress into noncommunicating boxes .

From medical gaze to statistical person: Historical reflections on evidence-based and personalised medicine.

BACKGROUND: The nineteenth century saw the rise of what historians of medicine have termed the 'medical gaze'. Physicians used instrumentation and trained senses to locate the site of disease within the patient's body. This change in practice went alongside changes in the physician's power and how diseases were understood. In the twenty-first century, the rise of high-throughput biomedical experiments, especially in genomics, is leading to equally dramatic shifts in medicine. Increasingly, clinical decisions may be made on the basis of data and statistical associations rather than the particularities of the case at hand. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this commentary iso re-evaluate the status of precision and evidence-based medicine in light of the social, political and economic shifts they entail. DISCUSSION: Increasingly, the statistical view of diseases and people threatens to take judgment and expertise out of medical decision making. It threatens the centrality of the physician in the relationship between patient and disease.

El estudio de los procesos de medicalización en América Latina / The study of processes of medicalization in Latin America

Resumen En las últimas décadas se ha intensificado la ocurrencia de un conjunto de fenómenos que llaman la atención de científicos sociales e historiadores enfocados en la medicina: los procesos de medicalización. Latinoamérica no ha sido ajena a estos fenómenos. Este artículo presenta una revisión de literatura reciente relacionada con los estudios sociológicos de dichos procesos en esta región con el objetivo de establecer un balance de la cuestión. Se exploran los cambios teóricos ligados al concepto de medicalización registrados en los contextos en los que tuvo su origen. Posteriormente se analizan las formas en que el concepto ha sido apropiado por las ciencias sociales latinoamericanas para dar cuenta de los diversos fenómenos asociados a la medicalización en el subcontinente.

Abstract In recent decades, an ever-increasing cluster of phenomena has attracted the attention of social scientists and historians of medicine: processes of medicalization. As in other regions, Latin America has been affected by these phenomena. This article surveys recent literature involving sociological studies of these processes in the region, in order to provide an overview of the issue. It explores the theoretical transformations linked to the concept of medicalization in the contexts where they originated. It then analyzes the ways in which the concept has been appropriated by the social sciences in Latin America in order to describe the various phenomena associated with medicalization in the subcontinent.

Addressing the impact of economic sanctions on Iranian drug shortages in the joint comprehensive plan of action: promoting access to medicines and health diplomacy.

BACKGROUND: The U.S Congress initiated sanctions against Iran after the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran, and since then the scope of multilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations Security Council have progressively expanded throughout the intervening years. Though primarily targeted at Iran's nuclear proliferation activities, sanctions have nevertheless resulted in negative public health outcomes for ordinary Iranian citizens. This includes creating vital domestic shortages to life-saving medicines, leaving an estimated 6 million Iranian patients with limited treatment access for a host of diseases. Sanctions have also crippled Iran's domestic pharmaceutical industry, leading to the disruption of generic medicines production and forcing the country to import medicines and raw materials that are of lower or questionable quality. DISCUSSION: Countries such as the United States have responded to this medical crisis by implementing export control exemptions with the aim of easing the trade of humanitarian goods (including certain pharmaceuticals and medical devices). However, despite these efforts, pharmaceutical firms and international banking institutions remain cautious about doing business with Iran, leaving the country faced with continuing shortages. We conducted a review of key characteristics of the Iranian drug shortage that identified 73 shortage drugs that closely tracked with the disease burden in the country. Additionally, 44 % of these drugs were also classified as essential medicines by the World Health Organization. A vast majority of these drugs were also covered under export control exemptions that theoretically should make them easier to procure, but nevertheless will still in shortage. Based on our review of the sanctions regulatory framework and key characteristics of the Iranian drug shortage, we propose policy intervention leveraging the recently negotiated P5 + 1 agreement that begins the process of providing Iran relief from the international economic sanctions regime. This specifically includes advocating for the application of "health diplomacy" in ongoing multilateral negotiations following commencement of "implementation day," by advocating for an additional set of reform measures incorporated into this historic negotiation that will finally address the humanitarian and medical crisis of drug shortages in Iran.