Housing discrimination is still worth worrying about

Abstract

Several scholars claim that racial and ethnic discrimination in housing is now relatively infrequent and has little impact on the lives of black and Hispanic households. They conclude that money spent on fair housing enforcement will do little or nothing to help people in these groups. This article examines these claims.

The article concludes that these claims are not consistent with the evidence, which shows that discrimination in housing is still a common experience for blacks and Hispanics and that the cost of discrimination is still high. Moreover, discrimination constrains the opportunities of people in these groups to go to good schools, to find jobs, and to accumulate home equity. Thus, improved enforcement of fair housing legislation not only promotes principles that are at the heart of our democracy but also attacks one pillar of the system that perpetuates large intergroup disparities in earnings and wealth.     

国际规则的弱化:特朗普政府如何改变国际规则

特朗普上台执政以来,美国政府采取了不少对于国际秩序颇具冲击性的做法,美国与国际规则体系的关系发生了很大变化。对国际规则的广泛冲击是特朗普政府高度一致性的政策,其行为逻辑包括以“美国优先”为指导原则,改变原有的话语体系和“适当性逻辑”,不以盟友和对手作为政策区分的基本依据,强调获取明确可见的实际利益,在手段的使用上,通过广泛的极限施压等方式表现出与以往很大的不同。特朗普政府冲击国际规则体系的具体做法包括,对无益于美国的国际规则直接退出、对已经运行良好的协议进行再谈判、瘫痪已有国际组织的职能或降低其行动能力、在规则外自行其是等。特朗普政府的做法,造成国际体系中规则弱化的现象,对国际规则的长期有效性将产生深刻影响,并成为国际关系理论与实践中值得探讨的现象。     

美国人工智能战略新动向及其全球影响

鉴于人工智能发展所带来的一系列机遇与挑战,特朗普政府对于人工智能的重视程度不断攀升,并从战略定位、体系架构、财政投入与对外政策四个方面对美国的人工智能战略做出了新调整。实际上,美国在高新技术方面的垄断地位是其维系全球霸权的重要基础。特朗普政府在人工智能领域所实施的一系列政策调整,目的就在于确保美国在人工智能领域的绝对领先优势。总体上,特朗普政府的人工智能战略呈现以"美国优先"为由的科技民族主义趋向、基于"绝对安全观"的技术战略扩张趋向以及威慑与遏制并行的现实主义趋向。鉴于美国的科技实力和全球影响力,特朗普政府推行的人工智能战略将使人工智能领域的国际合作受到较大制约,军备竞赛和地缘政治冲突将随之加剧,"科技脱钩"与治理缺失的风险也将不断凸显。作为人工智能技术发展和应用大国,中国应在保持战略清醒和定力的前提下,处理好发展与安全、合作与竞争之间的关系,在掌握发展主动权的基础上推动人工智能技术的健康、可持续发展。     

Equality as a driver of inequality? Universalistic welfare,generalised creditworthiness and financialised housing markets

Abstract

Scandinavian countries are known for their universalistic welfare states, corporatist coordination, strong economic performances and egalitarian outcomes, an institutional combination often referred to as the ‘Nordic model’. However, these countries also possess volatile and increasingly vulnerable housing markets characterised by periods of sharp increases in prices and rents and some of the highest debt to income ratios in the world. The combination of a universalistic welfare state and housing market dynamics sets off a self-reinforcing process of increased stratification and re-familialisation. How did these orderly, egalitarian and welfare-oriented societies end up with housing markets that expose their citizens to increasing risk while driving inequality? The key lies in the effect the Nordic welfare state has on financialised housing markets. Successful decommodification of human lives leads to generalised creditworthiness which stimulates asset price inflation and new wealth and risk inequalities.     

1941年延安市第一届参议会的民主实践——基于《解放日报》相关报道的考察分析

革命圣地延安作为陕甘宁边区首府的地缘优势,以及该市参议会在边区、县、乡(市)三级参议会制中承上启下的枢纽地位,使得对其研究颇具意义。通过对《解放日报》相关报道的分析,梳理出延安市第一届参议会在基层民主选举、监督批评政府以及提案工作等方面的基本做法和历史经验。考察这一基层代议机关的日常运作机制,有助于我们更为深入地了解陕甘宁边区县域参议会制度的历史面貌,发扬"延安精神",坚持和完善人民代表大会制度,推进基层社会治理现代化。     

No Home for Housing: The Situation of the Commonwealth's Housing Policy Advisory Function

The Commonwealth's policy capacity with regard to housing policy and provision has been erratic and patchy. Partly this is because housing was not traditionally a formal Commonwealth responsibility but something in which Commonwealth governments episodically intervened, and partly it was because Commonwealth ministers often did not exercise demand for policy advice in this area. When policy capacity was exercised it tended to define housing narrowly as a welfare initiative, thereby limiting its conception and excluding other important questions and problems involved with housing as a policy domain. This trajectory meant that the advisory deficiencies of the Commonwealth were often exposed at exactly those times when they were most needed. It also meant that the Commonwealth lacked the detailed knowledge and understanding of housing issues when it was called upon to deliver various programs. The article argues that the Commonwealth needs to adopt a more strategic housing policy that addresses longer term needs as well as the economic, social and environmental consequences of its housing policy.     

Changing the support system for asylum seekers

The issues of asylum and the treatment of asylum seekers have once again hit the headlines in the UK. The recent problems in Kosovo in the former Yugoslavian territory have made the problem of dealing with asylum claims more acute. The past arrangements for asylum seekers have been inadequate and piecemeal and have developed as a result of changes made in 1996 and the subsequent intervention by the judiciary. The cost to the British taxpayer of the pre-1999 Act asylum arrangements has been over 500 million per year, 80 per cent of which has been spent on accommodating and supporting asylum seekers. There is also a huge backlog of cases and current figures are indicative of a system that is unable to cope. It is in the light of these problems that the Government has passed the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act. This Article examines the changes that will be made to UK asylum law by the 1999 Act and assesses the problems that may be caused by those changes in the areas of housing and other forms of assistance and the effect that these may have on families and children seeking asylum in the UK.     

Changing housing policy: women escaping domestic violence

Domestic violence has risen up the political agenda, as women's action has inspired changes in police, social work and legal practice. At the same time, one of the oldest pieces of legislation that protected women from violence - the Homeless Persons Act of 1977 - has been transmuted into the Housing Act of 1996. This legislation was introduced by a Conservative government, which was anxious to reduce the rights of homeless people to secure permanent accommodation, on the grounds that these rights gave incentives to pregnancy, lone parenthood and economic migrants. New Labour have softened the Housing Act to give more scope to local authorities to respond to homelessness. This article asks: What are the implications of changing homelessness rights under this legislation and subsequent regulations for women's ability to escape violent relationships and find long term solutions to the housing needs which domestic violence creates? How new is New Labour policy as expressed in housing regulations and its policy Green Paper?     

THE ASSYRIANS IN WORLD WAR ONE AND THE 1933 MASSACRE: NEW DISCOVERIES IN THE RSAA ARCHIVES

The recent discovery of a bundle of documents in the archives of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs has shed more light on the history of the Assyrian Christians of Iraq from the time of the First World War up to the Simele massacre in 1933. The documents are accounts and correspondence written primarily by a number of leading British players including Major-General Dunsterville, Sir Henry Dobbs, Colonel J.J. McCarthy, and also the Assyrian Patriarch Mar Shimun. They also shed further light on the role played by Leo Amery, Secretary of State for the Colonies. The documents appear to have been compiled by Sir Percy Sykes, the then Secretary of the Royal Central Asian Society (as the Royal Society for Asian Affairs then was) as part of an investigation into the situation of the Assyrians. This article introduces the newly-discovered collection of documents and discusses how they advance our understanding of this period.     

地权诉求、宅基地流转与农村劳动力转移

当前城乡统筹发展实践中农民地权诉求常被忽略,而地权诉求是理解宅基地流转和劳动力转移的关键。本文基于5省11县2192份农户调查问卷数据,采用双变量Probit模型实证分析地权诉求对宅基地流转和劳动力转移的影响效应。研究发现,地权诉求对宅基地流转和农村劳动力转移具有显著影响,其中地权诉求强度具有正向激励作用,地权诉求越强的农户,其宅基地流转和劳动力转移意愿也越强。地权诉求结构作用显著,其收益性诉求起正向激励作用,而保障性诉求起负向激励(抑制)作用。宅基地流转和劳动力转移存在相互作用,而地权诉求是其共同影响因素。论文研究对未来的宅基地流转政策具有参考意义,通过充分理解和尊重地权诉求,构建与地权诉求激励相容的政策方案,共同推动农村宅基地流转和劳动力转移,可实现宅基地流转及其与劳动力转移的和谐性。