Economic shifts and the changing homeownership trajectory

Abstract

From 1980 to 1988, homeownership rates declined substantially for the first time in the postwar era. They stabilized and began to creep upward during the 1988–94 period. After presenting a long‐term perspective, this article describes and examines two of the underlying forces of this upswing—demographic aging and improved levels of affordability—as well as the impact of immigration and minority lags. Fundamental economic factors are then surveyed: national and regional housing price shifts, housing production cycles, measures of housing affordability, and employment. Several key economic parameters of the post‐recession housing market are presented as a guide to the short‐term future.

Post‐1988 homeownership rates initially rose because of an aging demography. But gradually, the new affordability became part of the dynamic. The new affordability was driven by the decade‐long slowdown and weakening of housing prices, lower post‐recession interest rates, and accelerated job creation following the period of “jobless” economic growth.     

The Effects of Continuous Application of the TASER X26 Waveform on Sus scrofa,

This study investigated and evaluated the safety margins of the continuous long duration (up to 30 min) effect of the TASER X26 waveform, using a Sus scrofa model. Long duration continuous stimulus has not been evaluated on humans or human surrogates prior to this study. Swine were used as models due to similarities with humans in their skin and cardiovascular systems. Very long duration was used to determine both exposure dose and possible adverse physiological effects of dose. The trial began with an application of 10 min, and subsequent animals received increasing exposure time up to a survived maximum duration of 30 min. At the onset of this work, it was hypothesized that there would be a time limit after which most animals would not survive consistent with increased dose response. However, this hypothesis was not supported by the experimental results. All animals (10 of 10) survived up to 3 min. Seven of the 10 animals survived up to a 10‐min exposure and 3 of 5 animals with a 30‐min target exposure survived the full exposure. Surviving animals were recovered and observed for 24 h, with no postrecovery deaths. This suggests that swine (based on physiology) will not experience a fatal event when exposed to the TASER X26 for a continuous 3 min. Conclusions regarding longer duration (10–30 min) are not as certain due to the small sample sizes at these time intervals.     

Of Revelatory Histories and Hatchet Jobs: Propaganda and Method in Intelligence History

This article explores a number of issues in the contemporary study of intelligence. These issues are methodological (relating to engagement with ‘primary’ sources), epistemological (concerned with notions of ‘bias’ and objectivity), and presentational (dealing with how scholars locate their work within existing debates). The article will contend that the study of intelligence, largely because of its ambiguous positioning on the borderland between political science and history, has been somewhat isolated from the debates over theory and method that have flourished in the wider historical discipline in recent decades, and that an engagement with such literature will yield commensurate benefits. Finally, the article will explore the place of intelligence history within the wider discourse of ‘popular’ history. Given its potentially sensational content, some intelligence literature is targeted at a ‘popular’ readership, but many of the claims made in authoring, promoting and reviewing such books are highly problematic. Since this is inimical to scholarly rigour, and is unlikely to facilitate wider public understanding of major historical issues, such matters need to be addressed.     

The Cold War and Counter-Insurgency

Due to the American-led interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, theories surrounding counter-insurgency, or COIN, have aroused intense debate in political, military, and academic circles in the United States, Britain, and other Western countries. This article shows that current thinking about how to fight and defeat insurgent movements is based primarily on Cold War-era theories and conflicts. It traces the evolution in COIN thinking both before and during the Cold War—incorporating Western and Eastern bloc experiences of war against insurgents from Malaya to Afghanistan—but also illustrates the conceptual difficulties of applying doctrines based on the historical record of this era. The article concludes by arguing that theories derived from the experiences of states involved in COIN campaigns from 1945 to 1991 still retain utility, but that there are significant differences between Cold War insurgencies and current conflicts associated with the “war on terror”/“long war” which affect the applicability of doctrines based on historical analysis and the works of Thompson, Kitson, Galula, and other “classic” theorists.     

Far Apart but Close Together: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Career Structure and Organisational Culture of the Post-War British Diplomatic Service

A good deal has been written about the organisation and structure of the British diplomatic establishment since 1945. This analysis uses detailed quantitative and qualitative data to develop an understanding of the background and career trajectories of the most senior figures in the Diplomatic Service in 1975. By tracing their careers, it is possible to identify more precisely than before the changing educational and social background of these individuals when compared with previous generations of diplomats. This analysis also examines certain core features of the culture of the diplomatic establishment during the post-war decades, analysing how it both shaped and was shaped by particular structures and practices. Despite the existence of a peripatetic career structure that dispersed members of the diplomatic establishment around the globe, there were still numerous opportunities for the kinds of personal contact necessary to maintain an integrated culture.     

Rethinking Public Service Delivery: Managing with External Providers John Alford and Janine O'Flynn

Governance by Green Taxes. By Mikael Skou Anderson. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994. £40 hb; £14.99 pb.

The German Greens, Challenging the Consensus. By Thomas Scharf. Berg, 1994. Pp.278. £34.95 hb; £14.95 pb.

Privatisation and Popular Capitalism. By Peter Saunders and Colin Harris. Open University Press, 1994. Pp.192. £37.50 hb; £12.99 pb.

Cymuned a Chenedl: Ysgrifau ar Ymreolaeth. By Ioan Bowen Rees. Gomer Press, Llandysul, Dyfed, 1993. Pp.233. £9.95.

Success and Failure in Housing Provision: European Systems Compared. By James Barlow and Simon Duncan. Pergamon, 1994. Pp. 170. £24.95 pb.

Planning and Urban Change. By Stephen V. Ward, London: Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd, 1994. Pp.320. £14.95.

Citizens and Cities: Urban Policy in the 1990s. By Dilys M. Hill. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1994. Pp.262. £10.95 pb.

Quality in Public Services: Managers’ Choice. By Lucy Gaster. Public Policy and Management Series, Open University Press, 1995. Pp.149. £37.50 hb; £13.99 pb.

Managing in Local Government. By Richard Kerley. Macmillan, 1994. Pp.256. £37.50 hb; £11.99 pb.

Divided Britain. By Ray Hudson and Allan Williams. John Wiley, 2nd edn., 1995. Pp.315. £12.95 pb.

Public Policy in Britain. Edited by Stephen Savage, Rob Atkinson and Lynton Robins. Macmillan, 1994. Pp.316. £40 hb; £12.99 pb.

The Channel Tunnel: A Geographical Perspective. Edited by Richard Gibb. Wiley, 1994. Pp.220 + bibliography. £39.95.

Education Reform: A Critical and Post‐Structural Approach. By Stephen J. Ball. Open University Press, 1994. Pp.xii + 164. £37.50.

Reinvesting a Region: Restructuring in West Yorkshire. Edited by Graham Houghton and William Whitney. Avebury, 1994. Pp.243. £27.50 hb.

Against All Odds: Local Economic Development Policies and Local Government Autonomy in Sweden and Britain. By Christine Hudson, Research Report 1993:3, Department of Political Science, University of Umeå, Sweden, 1993.

On The Third Age, Inlogov Informs, Issue 2, Volume 4, 1994/5. Edited by Lesley Grayson and Margaret Hobson. Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, 1995. Pp.155. £35 pb.     

The transnational political criminal nexus of trafficking in women from Ukraine

Throughout the 1990s, tens of thousands of Ukrainian women were trafficked into prostitution. This phenomenon was researched by collecting data through interviews and surveys in Ukraine, media reports, governmental and non-governmental (NGO) reports on trafficking, and participant observation in conferences. Trafficking occurs because of a transnational political criminal nexus, which is comprised of individual criminals, organized crime groups, corrupt police and governmental officials, foreign governments, and NGOs. Traffickers' methods of operation are flexible and adapted to ease of recruiting victims, cooperation of corrupt officials, risk of being detected, and profit. In destination countries, victims are controlled by confiscation of travel and identity documents, debt bondage, threats, and violence. Political components of the nexus include foreign governments that support NGOs that ignore the views of civil society in Ukraine, and instead, support the foreign governments' positions on trafficking and prostitution, resulting in a corruption of civil society. Some foreign governments also support changes in laws that enable a legal flow of women into their sex industries.