Patrick O'Sullivan

This book takes a fresh look at an age-old controversy in ethics and political economy that stretches right back to Aristotle: the morality and the economics of debt financing, or the charging of interest on loans. It endeavours to show the immense relevance of those ancient debates in the contemporary economy. Outside of countries which practise Islam and Islamic finance, the charging of interest is taken completely for granted today and little or no thought is devoted to its morality or economic and social impacts. This book argues that in fact the question of the morality of charging interest is still debatable and deserves to be considered anew in the 21st century for the light it can shine on certain salient contemporary sources of economic malaise. This book will first of all review the ancient debates on these questions stretching back to Aristotle seeking to restate the concerns in terms of contemporary economic theories and realities. It will also then delve into the current practices in respect of lending of all kinds that can be found in those Islamic countries and financial institutions which endeavour to follow the prohibition of riba (charging of any kind of interest). This will be contrasted with the impact of interest and debt financing in the contemporary non-Islamic economies arguing that debt financing of businesses promotes greater rates of bankruptcy over the business cycle and that the charging of interest on loans for current consumption purposes will over time increase inequality and inequitable concentration of wealth in societies where it is practised. It will also be shown how in a system without predetermined interest charges problems of exponentially exploding government debt could largely and neatly be avoided by linking bondholder rewards to levels of fiscal proceeds of states. This book will be of significant interest to readers in ethics, moral philosophy and political economy as well as to policymakers and thinkers grappling with issues around debt burdens (public and private), inequality and fairness.

Döden är människans grundvillkor, våra rädslors fixpunkt och förutsättningen för våra strävanden. Idéer om döden präglar alla kulturer och har gett upphov till såväl världsreligioner som lokala myter. I sekulära miljöer är dödens tillvaro dock mer undanskymd. Livsförlängande åtgärder har ersatt tanken om döden som meningsfull i sig eller en passage in i det okända. Denna volym täcker hela spektrumet av dödens skepnader med global spännvidd och historiskt djup; från några av de tidigast nedtecknade poetiska texterna via religiösa källskrifter och schamanistiska praktiker till rådande filosofiska och vetenskapliga perspektiv.I tjugofyra essäer utforskar svenska och inter­nationella experter olika vägar att närma sig döden. Bidragen omfattar egyptiska och sumeriska dödsriken, de stora religionernas etik, antika och moderna teorier om själen och medvetandet samt konstnärliga och litterära gestaltningar. I centrum för denna rikligt bildsatta antologi står frågan om vad historien kan lära oss inför vårt eget umgänge med döden och de döda. Boken finns även i engelsk utgåva.

The concept of Creating Shared Value (CSV) – creating 'economic' value in a way that also creates value for the whole of society – has risen in prominence as a corporate policy and a strategy in recent years, mainly for third sector or development organisations. However, while it has received considerable interest among business leaders and practitioners, it has also sparked a bitter debate among academics, proponents and sceptics of the idea. Starting from this argument, the book develops a meta-critical examination of the hidden presuppositions of both supporters and critics of Creating Shared Value, particular in relation to the concept of value. It is argued that there are not two separate types of value, i.e. an economic value and a social value, but only a unique one: which essentially means the creation of well-being. If anything, the distinction that is drawn relates to the value capture (how the value created is distributed among different staekholders) and not to value creation (additions to potential well-being) since the notion of value itself is univocal. Behind the debate are two implicit opposed viewpoints on the philosophy of history: an antagonistic (pessimistic) and a cooperative (optimistic) view. The authors are thus led to a discussion of which of the two visions appears to be the most rational in today's world. The book is addressed to readers with an interest in the core concept of value, primarily in economics, strategic management, and philosophy.

This book takes a fresh look at an age-old controversy in ethics and political economy that stretches right back to Aristotle: the morality and the economics of debt financing, or the charging of interest on loans. It endeavours to show the immense relevance of those ancient debates in the contemporary economy.Outside of countries which practise Islam and Islamic finance, the charging of interest is taken completely for granted today and little or no thought is devoted to its morality or economic and social impacts. This book argues that in fact the question of the morality of charging interest is still debatable and deserves to be considered anew in the 21st century for the light it can shine on certain salient contemporary sources of economic malaise. This book will first of all review the ancient debates on these questions stretching back to Aristotle seeking to restate the concerns in terms of contemporary economic theories and realities. It will also then delve into the current practices in respect of lending of all kinds that can be found in those Islamic countries and financial institutions which endeavour to follow the prohibition of riba (charging of any kind of interest). This will be contrasted with the impact of interest and debt financing in the contemporary non-Islamic economies arguing that debt financing of businesses promotes greater rates of bankruptcy over the business cycle and that the charging of interest on loans for current consumption purposes will over time increase inequality and inequitable concentration of wealth in societies where it is practised. It will also be shown how in a system without predetermined interest charges problems of exponentially exploding government debt could largely and neatly be avoided by linking bondholder rewards to levels of fiscal proceeds of states.This book will be of significant interest to readers in ethics, moral philosophy and political economy as well as to policymakers and thinkers grappling with issues around debt burdens (public and private), inequality and fairness.

Originally published in 1979 and with a case-study from Indonesia, this volume examines the question of planning the provision of transport facilities as a special case of the general planning problem. It deals with the modelling (including conceptual short-comings of it), analysis, estimation and control of transport planning and the challenges associated with planning in uncertainty. As well as devoting specific chapters to network planning, the book also provides background material on transport planning, locational theory and economics.

They say you can never go home again.Ciar n mac Diarmuid knows that saying isn't about a scientific fact. It's a convenient lie people tell themselves and others. The truth about such sayings isn't what gets said, but what doesn't. The fact is you can go home again.And when Ciar n does?Trouble knows exactly where to find him.Now Merchant Captain Ciar n mac Diarmuid must decide. Just how far will he go to protect his home and family?The sky is not the limit.It's only the beginning.Note to Readers: This story is a prequel to Impossibly Alien and a bridge between the Quite Possibly series of stories and the new series of adventures beginning with Impossibly Alien. Singularity Sun also includes the Indecent Proposal, a secret communication and tell-all summary of the hidden history of the Freeman Universe.Long time readers may find Singularity Sun a useful refresher. Readers just beginning the series with Impossibly Alien may find the Indecent Proposal's revelations particularly illuminating.Singularity Sun. Book 4.5 in the Freeman Universe series. Read it today

When half-human enchanter Maddy Dune saves the royal heir and unexpectedly wins a magical competition she accidentally plunges into the heart of an ancient conflict. Ordered to protect the competition's trophy for a year and a day, Maddy reluctantly agrees, only to discover the trophy is coveted, cursed, and in the wrong hands. Ask anyone.Now the magical and unpredictable Folk are whispering of prophecy and plotting rebellion. Changelings grown from stolen hair and fingernails are turning up on Maddy's doorstep. Undead sorcerers are turning up everywhere. And Its Royal Tanist, her soul mate and heir to the throne has disappeared.The Department of Criminal Magic is clueless. Her adoptive parents are hopeless. Maddy is on her own, her only allies a birdlike emissary created by the murderous kylochs of Ghula, and her adoptive father's fantastically clever clockwork cat. Maddy must puzzle out the hidden truth about the enigmatic Spelling Bee trophy before it's too late. But first she must face an even more terrifying truth--and one she can't escape.

The concept of Creating Shared Value (CSV) – creating 'economic' value in a way that also creates value for the whole of society – has risen in prominence as a corporate policy and a strategy in recent years, mainly for third sector or development organisations. However, while it has received considerable interest among business leaders and practitioners, it has also sparked a bitter debate among academics, proponents and sceptics of the idea. Starting from this argument, the book develops a meta-critical examination of the hidden presuppositions of both supporters and critics of Creating Shared Value, particular in relation to the concept of value. It is argued that there are not two separate types of value, i.e. an economic value and a social value, but only a unique one: which essentially means the creation of well-being. If anything, the distinction that is drawn relates to the value capture (how the value created is distributed among different staekholders) and not to value creation (additions to potential well-being) since the notion of value itself is univocal. Behind the debate are two implicit opposed viewpoints on the philosophy of history: an antagonistic (pessimistic) and a cooperative (optimistic) view. The authors are thus led to a discussion of which of the two visions appears to be the most rational in today's world. The book is addressed to readers with an interest in the core concept of value, primarily in economics, strategic management, and philosophy.

To save the living he must wake the dead.Seansc al means 'old story'. Like a parable, or a fable, but generally more long-winded. It's like... entertainment, but often with something meant to be learned hidden inside. Not only is it good fun, but sharing a seansc al is also a way of getting around the not-waking-the-dead custom.And that's exactly what Ciar n does, three times, skirting custom to explain: How he won a posting to the Freeman Merchant Academy.How he and his cat, the mong hu Wisp, first met.How he learned the Iron Rule and the enduring cost of that lesson.It's no small thing, breaking with custom. But when the price of ignorance is measured in lives?Someone has to speak up.

Blood from a StoneGetting a straight answer from the mysterious Hector Poole is like getting blood from a stone. But once the blood starts flowing there's no stopping it, not without revealing further secrets best kept hidden.Senior Captain Maris Solon knows better than to trust Poole twice. But trust him she must, when she's lured to the planet Sampson by the Queen's Merlin and forced to choose between darkness and light.There is more at stake than anyone has imagined and Maris isn't sure she wants to know.Will the truth set her free or shackle her to a destiny only a martyr, or a madman, would embrace?

He was born bent. He refuses to die broken.Raised a merchant prince and heir to the family business, Seamus mac Donnacha expects to follow in his crime lord father's footsteps, profiting from the indiscretions of saints and sinners alike. But when Seamus returns from his apprentice cruise maimed, disgraced, and branded a slaver he discovers he's no longer needed. Disowned and tossed down the Trinity system gravity well, Seamus wants to do as his father demands.Crawl away and die.Maybe he will, once he's kept his word, and helped his friends defeat the evil spreading from star to star. He knows more about that evil than any man alive. It's been inside him.Seamus doesn't want to defy his father. And he doesn't want to war with his family. Only a dead man would dare to cross them. Only a man who deserved to pay for his sins. Crawl away and die. Seamus doesn't know what to think about that. But he knows exactly what to say."Make me."

Originally published in 1979 and with a case-study from Indonesia, this volume examines the question of planning the provision of transport facilities as a special case of the general planning problem. It deals with the modelling (including conceptual short-comings of it), analysis, estimation and control of transport planning and the challenges associated with planning in uncertainty. As well as devoting specific chapters to network planning, the book also provides background material on transport planning, locational theory and economics.

When it comes to prayer, most of us need reassurance. We see all too clearly the poverty of our efforts to pray, the cloud of distractions that eat away at our prayer like cabbage moths, the gap between our words and our actions ... Like any good writer on prayer, Fr Pat O'Sullivan knows how we feel. Andrew Hamilton sj, from the ForewordHere is a collection of reflections on prayer, gathered over a lifetime of thinking and praying. And, always, the focus is Jesus. 'Whenever we treat people with love, care, respect, compassion', Pat O'Sullivan says, 'we experience them the way Jesus does - we truly have the mind of Christ. Whenever Jesus is the way we relate - that is, we have his mind in what we do - that is a Jesus event and it deepens our relationship with him ...'If Jesus is at the centre of my life, so that the basic context for any venture, any experience, is my relationship with him, then the whole quality of my life changes. My life becomes a partnership with Jesus.'As always, Pat O'Sullivan writes in a friendly and accessible style, with many down-to-earth and often humourous stories and examples.This book is also about things that matter. Prayer is not the decoration on the cake but the flour that goes into its baking, In an earlier period, spiritual writers used to speak about solid devotion expressed in faithfulness to the constant demands made on us in everyday life. They distinguished it from a superficial and emotional faith. This book is solid, but never stolid.Andrew Hamilton sj, from the Foreword