Monday, December 20, 2010

Heads-up for 20 December 2010

The History of Rome
120- Interregnum
After Aurelian's death, an old Senator named Marcus Cluadius Tacitus briefly reigned before the throne fell to Probus, who ruled from 276-282.
(review, feed)

Binge Thinking History
1914 to the decline of Empire
The First World War marks the end the supremacy of the battleship and the beginning of the end for Pax Britannia. The decline of Royal Navy mirrors the that of the British Empire for obvious reasons and the it's future is unclear.
(review, feed)

EconTalk
Nocera on the Crisis and All the Devils Are Here
Joe Nocera, New York Times columnist and co-author with Bethany McClean of All the Devils Are Here, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the origins of the financial crisis. Drawing on his book, Nocera identifies many people he considers devils for contributing to the crisis and a few angels who tried but failed to stop it. The discussion covers the history and development of securitization and the peculiar incentives created by securitization and the relative lack of regulation of the securitization process. The conversation also includes a discussion of whether past bailouts contributed to the crisis.
(review, feed)

University of Warwick Podcasts
Dating the Birth of Jesus and the 'first Christmas' with a Herodian Coin
Anno domini. Today we use the system devised by the sixth-century monk, Dionysius Exiguus, as a way of synchronising events, and associate its origin with the nativity of Jesus and the 'first Christmas'. But did Dionysius get his dates right? Professor Kevin Butcher from the Department of Classics explores how a coin issued by Herod Antipas suggests not.
(review, feed)

No comments: