Las independencias: [respuesta al cuestionario de Manuel Chust] (Dossier: Bicentenario, rastros y revelaciones de la Independencia)

Enrique Ayala es entrevistado por el historiador catalán Manuel Chust sobre la independencia de Hispanoamérica. Ayala plantea que la crisis de 1808 afectó la economía de la metrópoli, pero también posibilitó cambios en las relaciones de poder en las colonias: fue instalándose el control de los señores criollos sobre la tierra y de los comerciantes sobre las economías locales y regionales, la burocracia española debilitada conservó solo el manejo político, lo cual favoreció a las clases dominantes locales. Insiste en que las independencias deben ser vistas como procesos, cuyo éxito fue posible al convocarse a los actores populares e integrarse los esfuerzos de diversas colonias. Visualizar eso, afirma, fue uno de los mayores aportes de Simón Bolívar. Finalmente, no se llega a la Independencia por actos de personalidades determinantes, sino por el peso de protagonistas colectivos: notables criollos, grandes latifundistas y comerciantes de los puertos de primer orden, jefes de los ejércitos e intelectuales, la jerarquía de la Iglesia, y el apoyo británico a los insurgentes.

Accounts of the English Crown with Italian merchant societies, 1272-1345

The credit arrangements between the three Edwards and Italian merchants were crucial for financing England’s ambitious foreign policies and ensuring the smooth running of governmental administration. The functioning of this credit system can be followed in detail through the well-kept but mostly unpublished records of the English Exchequer. This volume combines a transcription of the most important surviving accounts between the merchants and the Crown, with a parallel abstract presenting the core data in a double-entry format as credits to or debits from the king's account. This dual format was chosen to facilitate the interpretation of the source while still retaining the language and, as far as possible, the structure of the original documents. The wealth of evidence presented here has much value to add to our understanding of the financing of medieval government and the early development of banking services provided by Italian merchant societies. In particular, although the relationship between king and banker was, for the most part, mutually profitable, the English kings also acquired a reputation for defaulting on their debts and thus 'breaking' a succession of merchant societies. These documents provide an essential basis for a re-examination of the 'credit rating' of the medieval English Crown.

‘Leger est aprendre mes fort est arendre’: wool, debt, and the dispersal of Pipewell Abbey (1280-1330)

It has long been known that English Cistercian monasteries often sold their wool in advance to foreign merchants in the late thirteenth century. The abbey of Pipewell in Northamptonshire features in a number of such contracts with Cahorsin merchants. This paper looks again at these contracts in the context of over 200 other such agreements found in the governmental records. Why did Pipewell descend into penury over this fifty year period? This case study demonstrates that the promise of ready cash for their most valuable commodity led such abbots to make ambitious agreements – taking on yet more debt to service existing creditors – that would lead to their eventual bankruptcy.

Biała Góra: the forgotten colony in the Medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands

Biała Góra 3 is a small settlement founded in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century AD in the disputed Christian borderlands of Northern Europe. The incorporation of Pomerania into the Polish state in the tenth century was followed by a process of colonisation across the lower Vistula valley, which then stalled before resuming in the thirteenth century under the Teutonic Order. Biała Góra 3 is unusual in falling between the two expansionist phases and provides detailed insight into the ethnicity and economy of this borderland community. Pottery and metalwork show strong links with both Pomeranian and German colonists, and caches of bricks and roof tiles indicate durable buildings of the kind associated with the monastic and military orders. Evidence for the presence of merchants suggests Biała Góra 3 was one of many outposts in the commercial network that shadowed the Crusades.

Medieval foreign exchange: a time series analysis

This chapter applies rigorous statistical analysis to existing datasets of medieval exchange rates quoted in merchants’ letters sent from Barcelona, Bruges and Venice between 1380 and 1310, which survive in the archive of Francesco di Marco Datini of Prato. First, it tests the exchange rates for stationarity. Second, it uses regression analysis to examine the seasonality of exchange rates at the three financial centres and compares them against contemporary descriptions by the merchant Giovanni di Antonio da Uzzano. Third, it tests for structural breaks in the exchange rate series.

The history of entrepreneurship: Medieval origins of a modern phenomenon

The origins of enterprise are often associated with the Industrial Revolution, but this article presents evidence of entrepreneurial activities from a much earlier date – the medieval period. Between 1250 and 1500 the church, merchants and members of the royal court all engaged in activities that demonstrated the entrepreneurial characteristics of innovation, risk-taking and judgement. The activities of the prior of Tynemouth and the career of the wool merchant William de la Pole illustrate these developments. By focusing on individuals rather than firms, it is possible to push back the study of entrepreneurship beyond the Industrial Revolution and early-modern trade to a period that witnessed the origins of the modern state.

Cambium non est mutuum: exchange and interest rates in medieval Europe

A major gap in our understanding of the medieval economy concerns interest rates, especially relating to commercial credit. Although direct evidence about interest rates is scattered and anecdotal, there is much more surviving information about exchange rates. Since both contemporaries and historians have suggested that exchange and rechange transactions could be used to disguise the charging of interest in order to circumvent the usury prohibition, it should be possible to back out the interest rates from exchange rates. The following analysis is based on a new dataset of medieval exchange rates collected from commercial correspondence in the archive of Francesco di Marco Datini of Prato, c.1383-1411. It demonstrates that the time value of money was consistently incorporated into market exchange rates. Moreover, these implicit interest rates are broadly comparable to those received from other types of commercial loan and investment. Although on average profitable, the return on any individual exchange and rechange transaction did involve a degree of uncertainty that may have justified their non-usurious nature. However, there were also practical reasons why medieval merchants may have used foreign exchange transactions as a means of extending credit.

Obfuscation and Strict Online Anonymity

I consider the case for genuinely anonymous web searching. Big data seems to have it in for privacy. The story is well known, particularly since the dawn of the web. Vastly more personal information, monumental and quotidian, is gathered than in the pre-digital days. Once gathered it can be aggregated and analyzed to produce rich portraits, which in turn permit unnerving prediction of our future behavior. The new information can then be shared widely, limiting prospects and threatening autonomy. How should we respond? Following Nissenbaum (2011) and Brunton and Nissenbaum (2011 and 2013), I will argue that the proposed solutions—consent, anonymity as conventionally practiced, corporate best practices, and law—fail to protect us against routine surveillance of our online behavior. Brunton and Nissenbaum rightly maintain that, given the power imbalance between data holders and data subjects, obfuscation of one’s online activities is justified. Obfuscation works by generating “misleading, false, or ambiguous data with the intention of confusing an adversary or simply adding to the time or cost of separating good data from bad,” thus decreasing the value of the data collected (Brunton and Nissenbaum, 2011). The phenomenon is as old as the hills. Natural selection evidently blundered upon the tactic long ago. Take a savory butterfly whose markings mimic those of a toxic cousin. From the point of view of a would-be predator the data conveyed by the pattern is ambiguous. Is the bug lunch or potential last meal? In the light of the steep costs of a mistake, the savvy predator goes hungry. Online obfuscation works similarly, attempting for instance to disguise the surfer’s identity (Tor) or the nature of her queries (Howe and Nissenbaum 2009). Yet online obfuscation comes with significant social costs. First, it implies free riding. If I’ve installed an effective obfuscating program, I’m enjoying the benefits of an apparently free internet without paying the costs of surveillance, which are shifted entirely onto non-obfuscators. Second, it permits sketchy actors, from child pornographers to fraudsters, to operate with near impunity. Third, online merchants could plausibly claim that, when we shop online, surveillance is the price we pay for convenience. If we don’t like it, we should take our business to the local brick-and-mortar and pay with cash. Brunton and Nissenbaum have not fully addressed the last two costs. Nevertheless, I think the strict defender of online anonymity can meet these objections. Regarding the third, the future doesn’t bode well for offline shopping. Consider music and books. Intrepid shoppers can still find most of what they want in a book or record store. Soon, though, this will probably not be the case. And then there are those who, for perfectly good reasons, are sensitive about doing some of their shopping in person, perhaps because of their weight or sexual tastes. I argue that consumers should not have to pay the price of surveillance every time they want to buy that catchy new hit, that New York Times bestseller, or a sex toy.

Falsidade ideológica em compras com cartão não presente e comparação entre modelos de prevenção

Em compras realizadas pela internet ou televendas com cartões de crédito, em muitos países como Brasil e EUA, não há apresentação física do cartão em nenhum momento da compra ou entrega da mercadoria ou serviço, tampouco são populares mecanismos como senhas que assegurem a autenticidade do cartão e seu portador. Ao mesmo tempo, a responsabilidade por assumir os custos nessas transações é dos lojistas. Em todos os estudos anteriores presentes na literatura, a detecção de fraudes com cartões de crédito não abrangia somente esses canais nem focava a detecção nos principais interessados nela, os lojistas. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados da utilização de cinco das técnicas de modelagem mais citadas na literatura e analisa o poder do compartilhamento de dados ao comparar os resultados dos modelos quando processados apenas sobre a base da loja ou com ela compartilhando dados com outros lojistas.

An entry strategy with innovation and differentiation in Brazil and the United States

With the global rise of credit and debit card usage, acquirers play an increasingly important role within the payments industry by processing these types of payment transactions on behalf of merchants. This study focuses on examining two markets – Brazil and the United States – by providing an overview of the market dynamics, the state of the competitive landscape, and the role and impact of regulations and new technologies. In considering these factors, strategic recommendations are provided for new players interested in enter either market. Further, factors such as existing and future opportunities as well as risks are considered.

Os farofeiros em excursão nas lagoas de Arituba, Boágua e Carcará (Nísia Floresta/RN): análise de uma outra face do turismo potiguar

This thesis analyzes another side of Potiguar tourism , the unplanned side, neglected and kept out of touristic activities: excursionism, a leisure practice enjoyed by tourists with low consumer power, and who are commonly referred by the pejorative term farofeiros (picnic lovers). The geographic research sites considered for this study include Arituba, Boágua and Carcará lakes in Nísia Florest, Rio Grande do Norte, where on Sundays and holidays the arrival of hundreds of excursionists, from around the metropolitan region of Natal, from surrounding municipalities, and neighboring States, such as Paraíba and Pernambuco, can be observed. The objective of this study is to analyze the appropriation of the physical site by the practice of excursionism, focusing on its relation to other social agents that also appropriate a designated touristic area. The theoretical discussion considers the use of the space by the touristic leisure practice and the appropriation by distinct social agents, using categories of analysis, such as, production of the space, territory and leisure. The field work was completed with interviews and questionnaires administered to excursionists, excursion organizers, local merchants, representatives of the public setor from the municipalities, and professional dune buggy drivers; besides this, photos, informal dialogue and field observations were important methodological instruments used. From the data, statistical analysis and the development of thematic maps demonstrating the established flux between excursionists and the segregated activity were done. With this research, one can affirm that the practice of excursionism is neglected by the public sector, contrary to the intention of the hegemonic agent‟s intentionality present in this touristic territory which aim at the development of a lucrative activity, geared toward tourists with greater spending power. This ignored and neglected faction of Potiguar tourism is considered poor or dirty , and generate conflicts among the distinct social agents: tourists, the market and the public sector, simultaneously peaking interest, which is then appropriated by the informal sector and formal economy. Excursionism is an expressive phenomenon, a socially relevant practice, enjoyed by citizens of the working class who, in order to have a day of leisure, use alternative consumer practices and subvert various strategies of segregation that are imposed within these tourist areas, behavior that, in part, justifies the nickname, picnic lovers , given to these tourists

Poder local e o funcionamento do comércio vicinal na cidade de São Paulo (1765-1822)

Este texto apresenta algumas hipóteses e idéias sobre o comércio de abastecimento da cidade de São Paulo, entre os anos 1765-1822, através de dados quantitativos e qualitativos levantados em dois conjuntos documentais produzidos pelo Senado da Câmara: Atas e Papéis Avulsos. Este comércio é entendido como um dos circuitos do organismo colonial, conforme proposto por José Roberto do Amaral Lapa. Neste sentido, vem sendo constatado seu funcionamento autônomo, de acordo com os fluxos do mercado interno, as ações dos negociantes-arrematadores de contratos e as reações do Senado da Câmara de São Paulo para enfrentar seus contextos de crise e a radicalização de relações de poder em torno deste circuito mercantil, como fator desencadeador de disputas e hostilidades entre interesses políticos locais, negociantes-arrematadores e autoridades régias.

Subsistemas de comércio costeiros e internalização de interesses na dissolução do Império Colonial português (Santos, 1788-1822)

Discutem-se os primeiros resultados de uma pesquisa sobre o comércio costeiro e suas relações com o funcionamento do sistema colonial e com o contexto da Independência. A tese é de que em portos menores da costa da capitania de São Paulo, como em Santos, havia um grupo de comerciantes que atuava efetivamente no comércio costeiro e defendeu seus interesses de exclusividade de participação nesse setor contra a presença de comerciantes externos à vila. A discussão apoia-se em documentos da alfândega de Santos, como mapas de exportação-importação, mapas de embarcações, ofícios de governadores e juízes da alfândega e requerimentos de negociantes estrangeiros.

Duração do teste de germinação de Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu (Hochst. ex A. Rich ) Stapf

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)