Translation theory and practice in the Abbasid era

textThis paper explores the theoretical approaches to translation and the dynamics of language politics during the ʻAbbāsid-era translation movement through the lens of three prominent figures of the ʿAbbāsid era, Ḥunayn ibn Isʹhāq, Mattā bin Yūnus and al-Jāḥiẓ. In conversation with Emily Apter's concept of untranslatability and current concerns about translation into and out of Arabic, this paper examines the cultural implications of claims to translatability and untranslatability. The ʿAbbāsid era presents a particularly useful comparison to the present because rather than being marginal, Arabic was the language of an expanding empire, and also because the ʿAbbāsid era was a kind of 'Golden Age' of translation. The ʿAbbāsid era was an enormously productive period, with translators rendering nearly the entirely corpus of available Greek manuscripts into Arabic. This outpouring of translation activity not only provided an influx of new ideas but provoked a wide-ranging debate among the literati of the time about the possibilities and problems of translation. Examining the figures of al-Jāḥiẓ, Mattā bin Yūnus and Ḥunayn ibn Is'hāq provides a window into this theoretical conversation. Al-Jāḥiẓ, as one of the foremost authorities on Arabic rhetoric, gave voice to more than one view of translation, in part defining Arabic writing as too unique to be translated while elsewhere claiming translations from other languages as the inheritance of the Arab culture. The Aristotelian translator Mattā bin Yūnus provides an example of backlash against translation in which foreign ideas were seen as a threat to Arab identity. Ḥunayn ibn Is'hāq, one of most highly regarded translators of his day, reveals a pragmatic approach to translation which integrated Greek works into Arab society. These three figures reorient the poles of translatability and untranslatability, revealing the potential of both to strengthen hegemony, and show the positive and negative aspects of an Arabocentric and Islamocentric universalism.Middle Eastern Studie

The Law of Reflux

The law of reflux is explained using an example of backed money. In the example, government-issued money is backed by the government’s assets (mainly taxes receivable) while bank-issued money is backed by the bank’s assets. The value of both kinds of money is determined by the amount of backing held per unit of money issued. The example shows that reflux maintains money’s value, not by assuring that excessive issues of money reflux to their issuers, but by providing people with access to the assets backing their money. Conventional metallic convertibility is only one channel of many through which money can reflux to its issuer. The suspension of metallic convertibility still leaves many other open channels of reflux, but can create the illusion that money is unbacked fiat money that was somehow forced into circulation. Backed money will hold its value as long as its issuer remains solvent. One way for an issuer to stay solvent is to issue money in exchange for short-term real bills of adequate value, but as long as the bills are of adequate value, it is largely unnecessary for the bills to be real or short-term.reflux real bills doctrine backing theory

Trade and Management: Exclusive Economic Zones and the Changing Japanese Surimi Market

The United States' increasing competitive advantage in international seafood trade in Alaska walleye pollock. Theragra chalcogramma, has contributed to higher prices for surimi-based goods and structural changes in seafood production and trade in Japan. The objectives of this analytical investigation include: 1) Evaluation of the role reversal of Japan and the United States in international seafood trade and 2) quantification of the impact of rising prices of frozen surimi on household consumption of surimi-based foods in Japan. This study documents Japan's regression from "seafood self-sufficiency" to increasing dependence on imported products and raw materials. In particular, Japan's growing dependence on American fishermen and seafood producers is described. Surimi production by the United States, and its emerging dominance over Japanese sources of supply, are especially significant. Results of the analysis suggest that Japanese consumer demand for surimi-based food stuffs correlates directly with "competitive" food prices, e.g., pork, chicken, and beef, and inversely with personal income. Also revealed is how rising household income and relative price shifts among competing animal protein sources in the Japanese diet have contributed to declining household consumption of surimi-based foods, specifically, and a shift away from seafoods in favor of beef, in general. The linkages between, for example. Japanese domestic seafood production and consumption, international trade in marine products, and resource management decisions in the U.S. EEZ present a picture of a changing global marketplace. Increasingly, actions in one arena will have perhaps profound implications in the others

Reflections of a central banker

From the early years of Sproul's presidency until the Treasury-Federal Reserve Accord of 1951, Federal Reserve policy was subordinated to the Treasury's wartime and postwar financing needs. In this 1955 speech, Sproul speaks of the resurgence of flexible monetary policy. He invites the academic economists in his audience to turn their attention to the study of central banking issues and to contribute in this way to informed monetary policy decisions. Sproul's address provides an overview of the structure, techniques, and objectives of the Federal Reserve System and gives particular attention to the policy-making role of the Federal Open Market Committee.Banks and banking, Central ; Monetary policy ; Federal Open Market Committee ; Federal Reserve System - History

The fiscal theory of the price level and the backing theory of money

A numerical example of privately issued money is used to illustrate the fiscal theory of the price level, and to show that the fiscal theory is best understood as a subset of the backing theory of money. Government issuance of money or debt is shown to be potentially inflationary only when the government’s net worth is negative, and when the government’s assets do not rise in step with its liabilities. The backing theory is used to examine whether inflation can be avoided by a sufficiently tough central bank, and to criticize the view that fiscal policies affect inflation through their wealth effects.Money, price level, fiscal, real bills, backing theory

The Economics of Nested Insurance: The Case of SURE

Traditionally, disaster assistance was available on an ad hoc basis, but the 2008 Farm Act provides a standing disaster assistance program known as Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE). This paper introduces a theory of nested insurance to evaluate the impact on of SURE on intensification, acreage and adoption. The results suggest that parameters of a government program like SURE may enhance the adoption and value of crop insurance to the farm sector. A quantitative understanding of the interdependencies between programs like SURE and crop insurance, taking into account the nature of the ad hoc alternative, is important in assessing the welfare impacts on farmers, as well as insurance companies. Both our theory and simulation exercise suggest that insurance increases the volume of production and/or leads to increased intensification (substitution into higher value crops). On the other hand, the gains from insurance and from programs like SURE may be lessened by the presence and probability of ad hoc disaster assistance.Nested insurance, SURE, crops, adoption, ad hoc, disaster assistance, Crop Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,

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Saline water intrusion from deep artesian sources in McGregor Isles area of Lee County, Florida

Upward leakage of saline water from an artesian aquifer below 1,500 feet has caused an increase in chloride concentration in the lower Hawthorn aquifer from less than 1,000 mg/1 (milligrams per liter) to values ranging from about 1,300 to 15,000 mg/1. Similarly the higher temperatures of the intruding water has caused an increase in water temperatures in the aquifer from 82"F to values ranging from 83 to 93"F. The intruding water moves upward either through the open bore hole of deep wells or test holes, or along a fault or fracture system, which has been identified in the area. From these points of entry into the lower Hawthorn aquifer, the saline water spreads laterally toward the south and southeast, but is generally confined to components of the fault system. The saline water moves upward from the lower Hawthorn aquifer into the upper Hawthorn aquifer through the open bore hole of wells, which connect the aquifers. This movement has resulted in an increase in chloride from less than 200 mg/1 in the unaffected parts of the upper Hawthorn aquifer to values commonly ranging from about 300 to more than 3,000 mg/1 in parts of the aquifer affected by upward leakage. The upper Hawthorn aquifer is the principal source of ground-water supply for public water-supply systems in western Lee County. Similar effects have been noted in the water-table aquifer, where chloride increased from less than 100 to concentrations ranging from about 500 to more than 5,000 mg/1. This was caused by the downward infiltration of water discharged at land surface from wells tapping the lower Hawthorn aquifer. The spread of saline water throughout most of the McGregor Isles area is continuing as of 1971. (40 page document