The Global Foreign Exchange Market: An Interpretation of the Bank for International Settlements' Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity, 2007

Markets for foreign exchange derivatives are turning over $US 5.5 trillion per day and they are having a critical economic and social impact. But they are little understood in the international relations and international political economy (IPE) literature. This paper introduces the key themes of derivative markets and reports on the results of the most recent Bank for International Settlements' triennial survey of global foreign exchange and derivative markets. As well as reporting the enormous scale of growth of these markets, the paper analyses the trends, especially regarding the declining role of the US dollar and the changing roles of different sorts of financial institutions in global financial markets. Finally, it explores what the data indicate about whether these markets can be characterised as being driven by “speculation”.     

Reactions to flag desecration in American society: Exploring the contours of formal and informal social control

Although flag burnings today rarely draw the amount of attention they received in the late 1980s, efforts to protect the flag have persisted for nearly a decade. Accordingly, the flag protection campaign has captured the interest of intellectuals from various academic backgrounds, including political scientists, egal scholars, and journalists. Conspicuously absent from the literature on flag desecration, however, are sociologists and criminologists. Combining historical evidence with recent cases, this article unveils key sociological aspects of social control, including formal and informal responses to flag desecration.     

Crossing the DNA Rubicon

正Chinese scientists make history by editing humangenes with new technologyIs it possible for humans to wall off a branch of knowledge that is deemed too dangerous,risky or formidable to pursue?That is what James Burke,the science historian,asked in his 1985 documentary series,The Day the     

DAWN OF CASHLESS SOCIETIES

China's mobile payment providers are working to kickstart cashless societies around the world. Riding on the back of the growing numbers of Chinese tourists abroad, companies such as Ant Financial Services Group's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay are developing new ways for consumers to spend their money while traveling without having to carry cash or credit.     

Attitudes toward hate crime laws

The research reported here was a survey study exploring attitudes toward hate crime laws and possible causes of such attitudes. In a path model, which was supported by the data, it was found that the major factor determining acceptance or rejection of a hate crime law was whether or not homosexuals would be included as a protected group: those wanting inclusion supporting such a law, and those not wanting inclusion opposing such a law. Consistent with identity politics theory, the data-supported model further found that both social and economic liberals, and people who thought hate crimes created fear in other members of the victim's group, wanted homosexuals included in hate crime laws. Other findings, however, were inconsistent with the identity politics theory position that this movement was a united front. Other results from the data-supported model are also discussed and explanations are provided.