Battles of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, 1848 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Battles of Mexico : survey of the line of operations of the U.S. Army, under command of Major General Winfield Scott, on the 19th & 20th August & on the 8th, 12th & 13th September, 1847, made by Maj. Turnbull, Capt. McClellan & Lieut. Hardcastle, Topl. Engs. ; drawn by Capt. McClellan. It was published by C.B. Graham in 1848. Scale [ca. 1:31,680]. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM Zone 14N, meters, WGS 1984) projected coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, built-up areas, selected buildings with names of landowners, drainage, canals, troop disposition, movements, and lines of defenses, fortifications, ground cover, and more. Relief shown by hachures and pictorially. Includes positions and numbers of troops, and casualty statistics for the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec, and inset: Part of the Valley of Mexico. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.

Battle of Corinth, Mississippi and vicinity, 1862 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map: Map of the country between Monterey, Tenn. & Corinth, Miss. : showing the lines of entrenchments made & the routes followed by the U.S. forces under the command of Maj. Genl. Halleck, U.S. Army, in their advance upon Corinth in May 1862, surveyed under the direction of Col. Geo. Thom, A.D.C. & Chief of Topl. Engrs., Dept. of the Mississippi ; by Lieuts. Fred. Schraag and C.L. Spangenberg, Asst. Topl. Engrs. ; drawn by Lieut. Otto H. Matz, Asst. Topl. Engr. It was printed by Lith. of J. Bien, 1862. Scale [1:31,680]. Covers Corinth, Mississippi region including portions of Alcorn County, Mississippi and McNairy County, Tennessee. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Universal Transverse Mercator projection (WGS 1984 UTM Zone 16N). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as houses, names of residents, fences, roads, railroads, vegetation, fields, drainage, Union and Confederate entrenchments, and more. Relief shown by hachures. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps of the Civil War from the Harvard Map Collection. Many items from this selection are from a collection of maps deposited by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Commandery of the State of Massachusetts (MOLLUS) in the Harvard Map Collection in 1938. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features, in particular showing places of military importance. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Chicago, Illinois, railroads and industry, 1886 (Image 2 of 2) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Railway terminal and industrial map of Chicago : showing the termini, connections, and general system by which interchanges and transfers of freights are effected between all railroads centering in and about Chicago, also indicating the location of freight and passenger depots, elevators, warehouses, coal, ore, and other docks, and the leading manufactories, with an alphabetical list of the principle industries located along the lines of the same, drawn & engraved by A. Zecse & Co. It was published by Industrial World. Co. in 1886. Scale [ca. 1:19,300]. This layer is image 2 of 2 total images of the two sheet source map, representing the southern portion of the map. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Illinois East State Plane Coordinate System NAD83 (in Feet) (Fipszone 1201). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, railroads, drainage, selected buildings and industry locations (e.g. mills, factories, etc.), and more. Includes index of principal industries. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Chicago, Illinois, railroads and industry, 1886 (Image 1 of 2) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Railway terminal and industrial map of Chicago : showing the termini, connections, and general system by which interchanges and transfers of freights are effected between all railroads centering in and about Chicago, also indicating the location of freight and passenger depots, elevators, warehouses, coal, ore, and other docks, and the leading manufactories, with an alphabetical list of the principle industries located along the lines of the same, drawn & engraved by A. Zecse & Co. It was published by Industrial World. Co. in 1886. Scale [ca. 1:19,300]. This layer is image 1 of 2 total images of the two sheet source map, representing the northern portion of the map. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Illinois East State Plane Coordinate System NAD83 (in Feet) (Fipszone 1201). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, railroads, drainage, selected buildings and industry locations (e.g. mills, factories, etc.), and more. Includes index of principal industries. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Siege of Prague, Czech Republic, 1742 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Plan des environs de Prague : et des camps des deux armées dedié a Mgr. Le Prince de Soubise, par son trés humble et trés obeissant serviteur le Rouge. It was published by Le Rouge in 1742. Scale [1:20,000]. Covers Prague, Czech Republic. Map in French and Czech. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the 'European Datum 1950 UTM Zone 33N' coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map.This map shows features such as roads, drainage, built-up areas and selected buildings, fortification, ground cover, and more. Shows troop disposition, lines of defense, and other features of military interest related to the Siege of Prague, 1742 during the War of the Austrian Succession. Relief shown by hachures Includes index.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Massachusetts, 1795 (Image 1 of 2) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: An accurate map of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts exclusive of the District of Maine : compiled pursuant to an act of the General Court from actual surveys of the several towns &c. taken by their order, exhibiting the boundary lines of the Commonwealth, the counties and towns, the principal roads, rivers, mountains, mines, islands, rocks, shoals, channels, lakes, ponds, falls, mills, manufactures & public buildings, with the true latitudes & longitudes, &c., by Osgood Carleton. It was published and sold by O. Carleton and I. Norman in 1795. Scale [ca. 1:281,560]. This layer is image 1 of 2 total images, representing the eastern portion of the two sheet source map. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System, Mainland Zone (in Feet) (Fipszone 2001). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, bridges, academies, meeting houses, court houses, drainage, mountains, iron ore deposits, coastal navigational hazards, state, county, and town boundaries, distances of individual towns from Boston and the shire towns, and more. Relief is shown pictorially. Includes illustrative cartouche. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps of Massachusetts from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates (1755-1922), scales, and purposes. The digitized selection includes maps of: the state, Massachusetts counties, town surveys, coastal features, real property, parks, cemeteries, railroads, roads, public works projects, etc.

Massachusetts, 1795 (Image 2 of 2) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: An accurate map of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts exclusive of the District of Maine : compiled pursuant to an act of the General Court from actual surveys of the several towns &c. taken by their order, exhibiting the boundary lines of the Commonwealth, the counties and towns, the principal roads, rivers, mountains, mines, islands, rocks, shoals, channels, lakes, ponds, falls, mills, manufactures & public buildings, with the true latitudes & longitudes, &c., by Osgood Carleton. It was published and sold by O. Carleton and I. Norman in 1795. Scale [ca. 1:281,560]. This layer is image 2 of 2 total images, representing the western portion of the two sheet source map. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System, Mainland Zone (in Feet) (Fipszone 2001). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, bridges, academies, meeting houses, court houses, drainage, mountains, iron ore deposits, coastal navigational hazards, state, county, and town boundaries, distances of individual towns from Boston and the shire towns, and more. Relief is shown pictorially. Includes illustrative cartouche. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps of Massachusetts from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates (1755-1922), scales, and purposes. The digitized selection includes maps of: the state, Massachusetts counties, town surveys, coastal features, real property, parks, cemeteries, railroads, roads, public works projects, etc.

Still the “pivot”: Russia’s self-conception and view of the euro crisis as perceived in public opinion and the Rossiiskaya Gazeta, 2011-12. EU Centre in Singapore Working Paper No. 8, August 2012

In his influential and disputed 1904 lecture, “The Geographical Pivot of History,” Halford Mackinder argued that the Russian heartland was the fulcrum of many historical and geostrategic currents across Eurasian space. While the thesis has been thought surpassed by recent technological advances in transportation, it serves as a useful heuristic device to open certain thematic lines of analysis apparent in the presentation of the ongoing “EUrocrisis” by the country’s newspaper of record, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

The Financial Crisis and the Future of the Eurozone. Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefing 21/2010

The government debt crisis, erupted in the Eurozone in 2009, nearly led to the collapse of European monetary union. Now that this has been averted, the question is what should be done to make the Eurozone sustainable in the long run. The survival of the Eurozone hinges on the capacity of its leaders to improve the eurozone's governance. With the exception of Greece, the root cause of the government debt crisis has little to do with the poor performance of the SGP, rather, with unsustainable debt accumulation by private actors. Also, the method of convergence implicit in the SGP has not worked well – macroeconomic divergences have stubbornly remained for nearly a decade and several countries experienced boom and bust dynamics. Although strong declines in real interest rates may explain part of the story (but e.g. Italy did not experience boom & bust), self-fulfilling waves of optimism and pessimism which might be called 'animal spirits' and are of mainly national origin, seem a good candidate for explanation. These national animal spirits endogenously trigger credit expansion and contraction. It follows that (national) movements of credit ought to be under much firmer control and this is up to the monetary authorities, including the ECB. Critical recommendations for better governance of the Eurozone should therefore combine credible measures to maintain fiscal discipline over the medium term with such instruments as minimum reserve requirements to control the growth of bank credit as well as minimum reserve requirements in different national banking systems. Finally, the idea of adding more sanctions to the SGP may be ill-conceived since, in future, it might pre-empt national governments to come to the rescue of banks (under credible threats of contagion) and/or prevent a downward spiral in economic activity.

Drivers of agricultural capital productivity in selected EU member states. Factor Markets Working Paper No. 30, September 2012

The aim of this Working Paper is to provide an empirical analysis of the marginal return on working capital and fixed capital in agriculture, based on data gathered by the Farm Accountancy Data Network from seven EU member states. Particular emphasis is placed on the detection of credit market imperfections. The key idea is to provide farm group-specific estimates of the shadow price of capital, and to use these to analyse the drivers of on-farm capital use in European agriculture. Based on Cobb Douglas estimates of farm-type specific production functions, we find that working capital is typically used in more than economically optimal quantities and often displays negative marginal returns across countries and farm types. This is less often the case with regard to fixed capital, but it is only in a small set of sectors where access to fixed capital appears severely constrained. These sectors include field crop and mixed farms in Denmark, dairy farms in East Germany, as well as mixed farms in Italy and the UK. The relationship between farm financial indicators and the estimated shadow prices of capital varies considerably across countries and sectors. Among the farms with a high shadow price for fixed capital in Denmark, high debt levels and little owned land tended to induce more intensive capital use, which may reflect the liberal Danish banking system. In East Germany, Italy and the UK, high debt levels made farmers more tightly capital constrained. Hence, in the latter group of countries, more traditional mechanisms of capital allocation based on debt capacity seemed to be at work. As a general conclusion, EU agriculture appears to be characterised by overcapitalisation rather than by credit constraints.

Simulation Results of AgriPoliS about Diminishing Capital Subsidies and Restrictions. Factor Markets Working Document No. 55, June 2013

This paper investigates the impacts of high interest rates for borrowed capital and credit restrictions on the structural development of four European regions. The method used is the model AgriPoliS which is a spatial-dynamic agent-based model. It is able to provide aggregated results at the regional level, but very individual results as well by considering farms as independent entities. Farms can choose between different investment options during the simulation. Several scenarios with different interest rates for borrowed capital on the one hand as well as with different levels of credit restrictions on the other hand are tested and compared. Results show that higher interest rates have less impact on declining production branches than on expanding ones. If they have the possibility farms invest in the most profitable production branch which relative profitability might have changed with high interest rates. Credit restrictions lead farms to choose smaller and cheaper investments than expensive and large ones. Results also show that income losses in both cases due to under-investment compared to the reference situation are partially compensated by lower rental prices. The impacts on structural change also differ depending on the region and the initial situation. In summary, credit subsidies or imperfections on credit markets might have indirect impacts on the type of dominant investment and therefore on the whole regional agricultural sector as well.

Determinants of Financial Development across the Mediterranean. MEDPRO Technical Report No. 29/February 2013

Casual observation shows that that the financial systems in the southern and eastern Mediterranean are unable (or unwilling) to divert the financial resources that are available to them as funding opportunities to private enterprises. Using a sample of both northern and southern Mediterranean countries for the years 1985 to 2009, this study empirically assesses the reasons underlying such conditions. The results show that strong legal institutions, good democratic governance and adequate implementation of financial reforms can have a substantial positive impact on financial development only when they are present collectively. Moreover, inflation appears to undermine banking development, but less so when the capital account is open. Government debt growth appears to weaken credit growth, which confirms that public debt ‘crowds out’ private debt. Lastly, capital inflows appear to primarily have an income effect, increasing income and thereby national savings, and thus increasing the availability of credit.

Where is the credit crunch in Greece? CEPS Commentary, 6 October 2015

Greek policy-makers like to make the point that their economy cannot recover because of a lack of credit and that this affects exports, in particular. Austerity is an easy explanation for the weakness of domestic demand, argues Daniel Gros in this CEPS Commentary, but it is more difficult to see why Greek exports have stagnated in recent years. The author considers the argument that the Greek economy could not recover via export-led growth because of a credit crunch. The overall availability of credit was higher than GDP, and interest rates remained relatively low. There is some indication of a misallocation of bank credit, but the responsibility for any mistakes in this direction must lie squarely with the government and the Troika, given that the Greek banking system has been under government control since 2012.

A Convergence Process in Household Credit in Central and Eastern Europe. ECRI Commentary No. 16, 30 October 2015

The liberalisation of Eastern Europe’s market during the 1990s and the 2004 EU enlargement have had a great impact on the economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Indeed, prior to these events, the financial system and household credit markets in CEE were underdeveloped. Nonetheless, it appeared to numerous economists that the development of the CEE financial system and credit markets was following an intensely positive trend, raising the question of sustainability. Many variables impact the level and growth rate of credit; several economists point out that a convergence process might be one of the most important. Using a descriptive statistics approach, it seems likely that a convergence process began during the 1990s, when the CEE countries opened their economies. However, it also seems that the main driver of this household credit convergence process is the GDP per capita convergence process. Indeed, credit to households and GDP per capita have followed broadly similar tendencies over the last 20 years and it has been shown in the literature that they appear to influence each other. The consistency of this potential convergence process is also confirmed by the breakdown of household credit by type and maturity. There is a tendency towards similar household credit markets in Europe. However, it seems that this potential convergence process was slowed down by the financial crisis. Fortunately, the crisis also stabilised the share of loans in foreign currency in CEE countries. This might add more stability to credit markets in Eastern Europe.

Effects of Interspecific Gene Flow on the Phenotypic Variance-Covariance Matrix in Lake Victoria Cichlids

Quantitative genetics theory predicts adaptive evolution to be constrained along evolutionary lines of least resistance. In theory, hybridization and subsequent interspecific gene flow may however rapidly change the evolutionary constraints of a population and eventually change its evolutionary potential, but empirical evidence is still scarce. Using closely related species pairs of Lake Victoria cichlids sampled from four different islands with different levels of interspecific gene flow, we tested for potential effects of introgressive hybridization on phenotypic evolution in wild populations. We found that these effects differed among our study species. Constraints measured as the eccentricity of phenotypic variance-covariance matrices declined significantly with increasing gene flow in the less abundant species for matrices that have a diverged line of least resistance. In contrast we find no such decline for the more abundant species. Overall our results suggest that hybridization can change the underlying phenotypic variance-covariance matrix, potentially increasing the adaptive potential of such populations.