What can we Learn from the First Major Statement of Labour’s Economic Policy under Keir Starmer?

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, recently set out the first major exposition of economic policy under leader Keir Starmer. Covering a lot of ground, she gave insights into current Labour thinking on macro and micro policy. Much of the speech was aimed at emphasising the fact that Labour would be ‘responsible’, an attempt to reassure voters as well as markets. But there is plenty of room for radical approaches within this framework, so exactly what this all means for practical policy is still to be determined.     

Chemical Contamination of Soft Drinks in Sealed Plastic Bottles by Environmental Stress Cracking

Abstract:  A contamination of soft drinks in sealed bottles by organic solvents is reported: closed bottles full of soft drinks were accidentally placed on a cardboard soaked with thinner and the organic fluid subsequently fissured the bottom of the bottles and penetrated into the soft drinks without any apparent leakage of the soft drinks. Experiments were carried out to simulate the process: the penetration of different organic solvents into soft drinks through the bottom of closed bottles was tested. The penetration occurred only when the closed bottles contained carbonated soft drinks (CSD), indicating that inner pressure is a necessary condition for the fissuring of the bottles. This paper discusses environmental stress cracking of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles by organic solvents and migration of chemicals to CSD. Experiments were conducted to determine the conditions in which PET can be permeable to poisoning organic products.     

Crime trends and the effect of mandated drug treatment: Evidence from California's Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act

The Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA), implemented statewide in California in July 2001, mandates drug treatment rather than incarceration for certain nonviolent drug offenders. Critics of the legislation suggest that crime increased as a result of the legislation, but researchers have largely ignored this issue. Utilizing time series methodology applied across several independent data sets from Orange County, California, the effects of SACPA on crime were assessed. Results indicate that significant increases in commercial burglaries and paraphernalia arrests may have been attributed to SACPA, but the overall pattern does not support a conclusion that crime increased markedly.     

Natural Resource Damages for Climate Change—An Idea Whose Time Is Not Yet Come,Part II: Climate Change NRD Claims—Get Coverage

Climate change litigation is in its infancy. As it matures, one type of suit that may emerge is a climate change-based natural resource damages (NRD) claim under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). While it is unlikely that climate change-based NRD claims could succeed under current law, a policyholder sued for such claims should be entitled to a defense under its liability insurance policies. Against the backdrop of some recent climate change lawsuits, this article anticipates insurance industry arguments against coverage for climate change NRD claims, and examines counter arguments in favor of coverage for such claims.     

侵犯网络虚拟财产行为之刑事规制

虚拟财产是存在于特殊网络环境中的财产,具备法律意义上财产的一切属性。侵犯网络虚拟财产的行为有发生在虚拟世界的和发生在现实世界的两类,我国现行刑法未对这种侵犯行为作专门规定,只能通过现有刑法的扩张解释来弥补。我国可以通过罪名修改、增订的途径,将虚拟财产纳入传统刑法的保护体系。但未来走向是用专门刑法规制侵犯行为,需建立独立的虚拟财产刑法保护体系。     

人文荟萃能筑巢引凤吗？ ——基于人文适宜性的中国人才区域集聚研究

经济地理学的适宜性理论认为，经济适宜性和自然适宜性对人才分布具有决定性作用，但是伴 随着人均收入水平的提高，人文适宜性对人才的吸引力有逐步增强的趋势。研究利用全国层面的城市—人才数 据对人文适宜性的人才集聚效应进行了验证。研究发现：经济和自然适宜性依然对人才分布具有决定性作用， 但人文适宜性也已成为中国城市吸纳人才的一个有利因素；电影院、文化馆等具有国情特色的人文适宜性设施 对人才的区域分布具有显著而稳健的影响；人文适宜性是人才集聚的原因而非结果；随着人文适宜性相关设施 的存量不断积累，其吸纳人才的能力和规模不会边际递减，反而有累积递增的倾向。研究建议，在人文适宜性 塑造时应突出“中国特色”，打造“经济—自然—人文”三位一体的品质城市，以吸引人才集聚。     

从《大同书》看文化冲突与“士”的幽灵

近代以来 ,东西文化冲突带来中国历史上“千古未有之变局”,中国知识分子也经历了由士而知识分子的社会角色转换。但由于主客观条件的局限 ,却未能相应地进行和完成传统世界观的转变 ,其灵魂深处依然蛰居着传统士人的“幽灵”。面对空前激烈的文化冲突 ,知识分子的历史使命应是文化的更新 ,而士的幽灵却坚持文化的保守 ,这便构成了中国近代知识分子思想与灵魂脱节的二元特性。康有为的《大同书》便是这二元特性的产物 ,且在不同程度上成为近代知识分子灵魂的“圣经”。通过对《大同书》的解剖 ,便不难窥见近代知识分子灵魂深处的那个士的幽灵     

The Bystander in Relation to the Victim and the Perpetrator: Today and During the Holocaust

Most of the social-psychological literature assumes that prosocial behavior is part of the basic human repertoire and only when certain conditions become unfavorable, will the natural prosocial tendency fail (Latane & Darley, 1970). Only few researchers have addressed the general tendency toward bystanding behavior,² its relation to perpetrating behavior, trying to overcome it in victimizing scenes by activating the bystander and thereby reducing the potential for victimization (Staub, 1996). The present analysis suggests several psychosocial constructs that can account for bystanding behavior. Several factors (such as length of exposure, fragmentation of the planning and execution of the crime) are highlighted—in order to differentiate between low, middle range and high-level bystanding behavior. Finally, ten examples of bystanding behavior during the Holocaust are presented, suggesting that only a careful analysis of the context and its interaction with the persons involved may help us work through and perhaps prevent the potential negative aspects of bystanding behavior in future criminal acts.