An unusual case of a double casualty during sexual intercourse

Sudden death during sexual activity is generally caused by natural diseases, like coronary sclerosis and myocardial infarction. Only a few case reports describe outer circumstances as responsible for the fatal outcome. This is a case report of a couple that drowned within a car sinking into a river. The extraordinary scenery led to the supposition that sexual intercourse was involved with these fatalities. The victims--a young woman and a young man, both had children, the man was married--kept up an extramarital liaison. Both were reported missing by their relatives days before the corpses could be recovered.     

Money Makes the World Go Round. Über die Dynamik des Geldes und die Grenzen der Systemtheorie

Der Aufsatz untersucht die Stärken und Schwächen einer systemtheoretischen Konzeption der Wirtschaft. Im Unterschied zu einer allein mit dem Datenkranz oder der sozialen Einbettung ökonomischer Prozesse befassten Wirtschaftssoziologie erhebt die Systemtheorie den Anspruch, auch Theorie der Wirtschaft zu sein. Es wird argumentiert, dass sie diesen Anspruch im Wesentlichen einlöst und die moderne Ökonomie im Unterschied zu herkömmlichen Modellen der Neoklassik als Geldwirtschaft zu verstehen erlaubt. Während die Systemtheorie auf der einen Seite die dem Kommunikationsmedium Geld selbst inhärente Dynamik erhellt, welche (zumindest) das Wirtschaftssystem zur permanenten Selbstüberwindung treibt, muss auf der anderen Seite der von Luhmann behauptete Systemrelativismus, demzufolge die moderne Gesellschaft kein Zentrum mehr kenne, in Frage gestellt werden.     

A Public Choice Perspective of IMF and World Bank Lending and Conditionality

The paper explains IMF and World Banklending and conditionality stressingchanges in relative bargaining power ofdifferent stakeholders over time. Itapplies public choice theory to explain theinterests of the institutions' memberstates, its borrowers and staffs as well asprivate actors attaching their money to theIFIs' programs. Using panel data for 43countries between 1987–99 it is shown thatthe number of Fund conditions seems to beinfluenced by contemporaneous World Bankactivity and ``bad'' policies.     

Democracy and Capitalism: Collective Action Theory and Structural Analysis

The problem which I address in this paper consists in the connection between democracy and capitalism. I begin by specifying a model of actor theory which indicates a number of methods of achieving co-operation between actors I then review different structural theories of democracy which link up with these methods. Against this background I then seek to clarify—and to some extent evaluate—the arguments which different researchers have adduced in support of the thesis that capitalism is a prerequisite for democracy.     

Vital animal predation of the genital region caused by a mongrel dog

A 79-year-old man, who was in a helpless situation due to cardiac decompensation, suffered dog bite injuries on the left thigh and in the genital region while still alive. Two extensive soft-tissue defects with contused and bruised wound edges were surrounded by multiple slit-like skin lesions. The outer genitals were almost completely missing. Because of surgical emergency treatment, molecular biological investigations were no longer possible. Therefore, the cause of the bite injuries had to be determined solely on the basis of the documented morphology of the wounds.     

Are inequalities between us and the dead intergenerationally unjust?

Abstract

This paper looks at whether inequalities between us and the past can be unjust. We show why they can be pro tanto unjust, both when the now dead generation transferred more than it had inherited to its descendants (savings) and when it transferred less (dis-savings). However, we also argue that characterising an intergenerational inequality as unjust neither commits us to the claim that it merely involves bad luck, nor implies that it is the current generation that acted unjustly towards the previous one, nor entails that (members of) the dead generation acted unjustly towards us. The paper ends with a discussion on whether we should do something about such unjust inequalities with the past.     

Amerikanische Außenpolitik im Zeichen des „Krieges gegen den Terror“

The review article systematizes the current academic debate on U. S. foreign policy after 9/11. The main focus lies on different explanations of the causes and consequences of the “war on terror”. Such a problem-oriented approach mirrors the heterogeneity of the debate which cannot adequately be captured by the conventional categories of IR research and foreign policy analysis. It is fair to say that the analysis of U. S. foreign policy as a case of empirical investigation profits from this disciplinary emancipation.     

The impact of globalization on the composition of government expenditures: Evidence from panel data

According to the disciplining hypothesis, globalization restrains governments by inducing increased budgetary pressure. As a consequence, governments may attempt to curtail the welfare state, which is often seen as a drag on international competitiveness, by reducing especially their expenditures on transfers and subsidies. This globalization-induced welfare state retrenchment is potentially mitigated by citizens’ preferences to be compensated for the risks of globalization (“compensation hypothesis”). Employing two different datasets and various measures of globalization, we analyze whether globalization has indeed influenced the composition of government expenditures. For a sample of 60 countries, we examine the development of four broad expenditure categories for the period 1971–2001: capital expenditures, expenditures for goods and services, interest payments, and subsidies and other current transfers. A second dataset provides a much more detailed classification: public expenditures, expenditures for defence, order, economic affairs, environment, housing, health, recreation, education, and social expenditures. However, this second data set is only available since 1990—and only for OECD countries. Our results show that globalization did not influence the composition of government expenditures in a notable way.