Richard A. Posner's two books on the financial crisis focus on possible macroeconomic (Keynesian) causes of it, neglecting legal causes that would have had only microeconomic effects, yet could have been responsible for the crisis. Specifically, Posner accepts too readily the conventional wisdom that banks? leverage levels, hence their capital cushions, were deregulated; this ignores Basel I, Basel II, and the Recourse rule, which internationally and (in the last case) in the United States minutely regulated not only leverage levels but (...) the composition of banks? assets. These regulations penalized banks for making business loans in comparison to mortgage loans, and it further penalized them for keeping mortgage loans rather than selling them for securitization and then buying back the ?senior? tranches of the resulting mortgage-backed securities. These regulations may explain the overconcentration of mortgage risk in the banks, and thus the financial crisis. (shrink)

Richard A. Posner's two books on the financial crisis focus on possible macroeconomic (Keynesian) causes of it, neglecting legal causes that would have had only microeconomic effects, yet could have been responsible for the crisis. Specifically, Posner accepts too readily the conventional wisdom that banks’ leverage levels, hence their capital cushions, were deregulated; this ignores Basel I, Basel II, and the Recourse rule, which internationally and (in the last case) in the United States minutely regulated not only leverage levels but (...) the composition of banks’ assets. These regulations penalized banks for making business loans in comparison to mortgage loans, and it further penalized them for keeping mortgage loans rather than selling them for securitization and then buying back the “senior” tranches of the resulting mortgage-backed securities. These regulations may explain the overconcentration of mortgage risk in the banks, and thus the financial crisis. (shrink)

Die erste Bekanntschaft mit den Ideen Fichtes in der Ukraine erfolgte gleich zu Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts. Neue Impulse erhielten die Aneignung und Auseinandersetzung mit seinen Gedanken mit der Eröffnung der Universität in Charkow im Herbst 1804. Dank der Berufung des ehemaligen Jenaer Extraordinarius Johann Baptist Schad wurde die Universität Charkow im ersten Drittel des 19. Jahrhunderts zur Hauptstadt der Fichte-Forschungen und Kritik, nicht nur in der Ukraine, sondern im ganzen Russischen Reich. Schad, der als erster Philosophieprofessor Charkows dort bis (...) zum Dezember 1816 lehrte, gründete auch eine »Charkower philosophische Schule«, deren Vertreter verschiedene Lehrstücke Fichtes, aber auch der kritischen Philosophie insgesamt rezipierten und sich mit ihnen auseinander setzten und sie eifrig verbreiteten. (shrink)

Die erste Bekanntschaft mit den Ideen Fichtes in der Ukraine erfolgte gleich zu Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts. Neue Impulse erhielten die Aneignung und Auseinandersetzung mit seinen Gedanken mit der Eröffnung der Universität in Charkow im Herbst 1804. Dank der Berufung des ehemaligen Jenaer Extraordinarius Johann Baptist Schad wurde die Universität Charkow im ersten Drittel des 19. Jahrhunderts zur Hauptstadt der Fichte-Forschungen und Kritik, nicht nur in der Ukraine, sondern im ganzen Russischen Reich. Schad, der als erster Philosophieprofessor Charkows dort bis (...) zum Dezember 1816 lehrte, gründete auch eine »Charkower philosophische Schule«, deren Vertreter verschiedene Lehrstücke Fichtes, aber auch der kritischen Philosophie insgesamt rezipierten und sich mit ihnen auseinander setzten und sie eifrig verbreiteten. (shrink)

The article tries to prove the necessity and demonstrates the possibility of application of the methods of praxiology to ethical questions. The result is an ethical praxiology conceived as a theory of making best moral choices by moral agents. It is meant to be a practical science invented for the regulation of the process of decision-making and decision implementation.

Psychology ought to describe how and explain why we human beings live our lives as we do, which necessarily comes down to how and why we engage in the actions and have the subjective experiencings that we do. Our physical actions are themselves in part subjective phenomena, because actions are not simply body movements but also essentially involve intentions, beliefs about specific causation, and a sense of voluntariness. Thus, whatever else it is, psychology is inescapably the science of explaining the (...) personally subjective. It is time for psychology to openly embrace its subjective subject-matter as such, which would open up a vast domain still waiting to be systematically studied. 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)

The article deals with the main tendencies in the studies of Russian neo-Kantianism in Poland. Although the number and quality of research in the history of Russian neo-Kantianism still cannot be equated with those of the history of German neo-Kantianism, the situation of these studies is constantly changing for the better. The authors mark the undeniable progress in the studies of Russian neo-Kantianism in Poland in the recent years: there are monographs, articles, collections, research projects on particular thinkers or themes (...) related to the history of Russian neo-Kantianism. The authors consider A. Noras’s idea of the development of neo-Kantianism into post-neo-Kantianism rather heuristic. One of the main features of this development is the ontologization of the cognitive process. This “ontological turn”, typical of Russian neo-Kantianism, in particular as represented by S. Hessen, V. Sesemann, B. Jakovenko, is, on the one hand, the hallmark of the entire Russian philosophy and, on the other, it brings together the philosophical efforts of Russian neo-Kantians and the conception of the author of the “new ontology” – N. Hartmann. (shrink)

Cardinal Clemente Micara has been papal nuncio in Belgium from 1923 until 1946. The aim of this article is to show the influence of this prelate on the Belgian political life. This research is essentially based on the correspondance that nuncio Micara exchanged with the late cardinal Van Roey, primate of Belgium. The Holy See ignored the «Flemish question» and Msgr. Micara confirmed his superiors in this position.