Marc Pilkington and Christine Sinapi
The purpose of this article is to highlight the need for renewed collaborative efforts between linguists and economists to develop a multidisciplinary approach to discourse…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to highlight the need for renewed collaborative efforts between linguists and economists to develop a multidisciplinary approach to discourse studies to single out, in the case at hand, how financial media discourse might reflect either a prevailing mainstream or a Minskian conceptual apparatus in financial crisis related papers.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper conducts exploratory research by focusing on semantic analysis, so as to indicate how the latter might possibly indicate a shift in the prevailing framework in contemporary financial media discourse. After a clear exposition of a theoretical dichotomy between the Minskian and mainstream approaches, it relies on Tropes software to conduct applied discourse analysis and discover evidence for the aforementioned shift. It exploits a set of three crisis-related articles from the Financial Times written by Martin Wolf. The selected corpora consist of opinion articles, a genre believed to be both emblematic of financial media discourse and subject to the influence of underlying theoretical frameworks.
Findings
The paper has identified a convincing Minskian vs mainstream dichotomy that may be substantiated by a set of disciplinary criteria. It argues that these criteria can be further used in applied discourse analysis. It demonstrates the relevance of our methodology from the exploratory test conducted. Eventually, these exploratory results, although they remain embryonic, suggest that a shift in the conceptual frameworks underlying the media discourses has taken place, from the Mainstream in fair weather conditions to (possibly) a more Minskian framework in times of crisis and financial instability.
Research limitations/implications
The sample size is extremely restricted (albeit acceptable in an exploratory research context); these limitations are inherent in exploratory research and do not preclude the validity of the broader interdisciplinary research agenda. In our proposed theoretical dichotomy, the mainstream approach is subject to caution insofar as no single and consensual definition of the latter exists to date in the literature.
Social implications
This article has highlighted the need for further multidisciplinary collaborative research endeavors (in particular, linguistics and economics). It has also touched the issue of crisis prevention and early warning systems, which may include financial press monitoring.
Originality/value
There exists a powerful media sphere within which financial discourse may exert an influence on decision-makers through the influence of underlying theoretical frameworks, eventually shaping real economic outcomes. The research program initiated, by combining the insights of economics and linguistics; therefore, aims to uncover the modus operandi of financial media discourse.
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What do economists talk about? This seemingly innocent interrogation conceals a broader and innovative research programme, with the potential to renew the reflection on heterodox…
Abstract
Purpose
What do economists talk about? This seemingly innocent interrogation conceals a broader and innovative research programme, with the potential to renew the reflection on heterodox economics in a post‐crisis scenario. The aim of this paper is to show that convergence between language for specific purposes and economics is possible, so as to single out the genesis and the emergence of critical economic discourse.
Design/methodology/approach
After underlining the necessary collaboration between language and subject‐matter specialists, the paper addresses the question of the problematic use of economics textbooks in English‐speaking countries. Then, it deals with the fascinating question of the multiplicity of specialized meanings in economics. After pointing out the shortcomings of orthodoxy characterized by hyper‐formalization and its inevitable corollary, the mathematical nature of the discipline, it investigates the genesis of critical economic discourse, which requires the acknowledgement of pluralism and the components of heterodoxy, in order to converge towards a process of disciplinary acculturation that goes hand in hand with the learning process of language for specific purposes.
Findings
A deep‐seated renewal of economics, consisting of a methodological shift towards the components of heterodoxy, has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of teaching English for economics, so that the latter effectively conveys specialized meaning.
Research limitations/implications
Teaching and researching English for specific purposes necessitates enhanced collaboration between subject‐matter specialists and applied linguists. However, this type of collaboration can be hampered by institutional or socio‐professional obstacles.
Social implications
Discursive analysis has become indispensable in order to surmount the collective failure of mainstream economics in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. With the help of textbooks of a new kind, one must go beyond the vision of students as mere consumers of knowledge.
Originality/value
Language for specific purposes has long shown interest in economics, but is the reciprocal true? This paper proposes an original association, by putting the two disciplinary fields on an equal footing, and by bringing new synergies forward.
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The purpose of this paper is to reinterpret Attali’s worldview through the lenses of liberalism and Buddhism by mobilizing the relevant literature, beyond the mere book review…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reinterpret Attali’s worldview through the lenses of liberalism and Buddhism by mobilizing the relevant literature, beyond the mere book review. This paper is an essay based on the book “Devenir Soi” by Jacques Attali, published in France in 2014. These analytical grids were chosen, because freedom and self-realization are two themes that pervade the book.
Design/methodology/approach
After presenting the book structure, the objective and the methodological approach, we uncover Attali’s interrogation, namely how to free oneself from the omnipresence of evil, the withering away of the State and growing xenophobic populist self-entitlement. We make explicit Attali’s liberalism and plea for freedom, and we present a critical discussion of his method, based on the idea of selfness essentialism and a novel comparison with Buddhism. Finally, we assess the overall success of Attali’s intellectual endeavor.
Findings
Attali’s thesis is generally consistent and solid. Nevertheless, a few weaknesses are identified.
Practical implications
Anybody willing to read Attali’s book as a self-development book will gain some valid insights with this paper.
Social implications
Attali’s book is largely centered on the individual. Yet, through the lenses of liberalism and Buddhism, a new vision of society is put forward.
Originality/value
Attali enjoys an international reputation as an intellectual, economist and essayist. Devenir Soi has not yet been translated in English. More than a mere translation, the present paper will bring his ideas to the fore in the English-speaking world.
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Tae‐Hee Jo, Lynne Chester and Mary C. King
The purpose of this article is to introduce heterodox economics as a viable alternative to market‐fundamentalist economics and to outline the articles of the special issue.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to introduce heterodox economics as a viable alternative to market‐fundamentalist economics and to outline the articles of the special issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This introductory article provides an overview and summary of the contributions in the special issue.
Findings
Market‐fundamentalist economics has failed to adequately explain the economy or to provide guidance to policymakers that lead to widely‐shared prosperity and human well‐being. By contrast, heterodox economics offers social and historical narratives of both market and non‐market activities.
Originality/value
The article helps general readers to get acquainted with visions and approaches that are alternative to market‐fundamentalist economics. This will allow them to imagine more concretely that a better world is possible.
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In Korea and abroad, this paper investigates the use of blockchains in the financial sector. This study aims to examine how blockchains are applied to the financial sector and how…
Abstract
Purpose
In Korea and abroad, this paper investigates the use of blockchains in the financial sector. This study aims to examine how blockchains are applied to the financial sector and how to respond to the Korean conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates the movements of the financial sector and related services using the blockchain in the current market.
Findings
First, as a result of examining domestic and foreign cases, it can be seen that the areas where blockchains are most actively applied in the financial sector are expanding into settlement, remittance, securities and smart contracts. Also, in Korea, many of the authentication procedures based on the equipment possessed by the consumers are used so that introduction of the blockchain in the authentication part is prominent. Second, the move to introduce a closed (private) distributed ledger that does not go through the central bank is accelerating in payments between banks. Third, domestic financial institutions also need joint action by financial institutions through a blockchain consortium to apply blockchain technology to the financial sector. Fourth, consumer needs and technological developments are changing. At the same time, as the opportunity to infringe on the information held by individuals has expanded, the need for blockchain technology is strongly emerging because of the efforts of the organizations to defend it.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to understanding the changes in the financial sector using the blockchain.
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The development and application of the MINICS machine‐readable record is reviewed from its conception in the late 1960s to its present status as the basis of monographs…
Abstract
The development and application of the MINICS machine‐readable record is reviewed from its conception in the late 1960s to its present status as the basis of monographs cataloguing at Loughborough University of Technology. The underlying principles of MINICS are described and subsequent attempts to incorporate these principles in a working system are summarized. Reference is made to associated developments such as the introduction of microfiche catalogues and retrospective conversion of the card catalogue.
John Arfield, Jeff Brown, Jim Burton and Richard Wallis
The development of networked access to academic library catalogue records has been conspicuously slow compared with that of campus‐wide information systems in general. In…
Abstract
The development of networked access to academic library catalogue records has been conspicuously slow compared with that of campus‐wide information systems in general. In cooperation with its systems suppliers BLCMP, the Pilkington Library in Loughborough is seeking to remedy this situation by developing an interface that allows users to access its OPAC via the Web. The benefits of such a facility are reflected in BLCMP's decision to incorporate a revised version in the forthcoming release of the commercial Talis system; but problems relating to the ‘statelessness’ of HTTP and to the inadequacy of traditional catalogue records as access points for electronic information resources are still cause for consideration.
– The purpose of this study is to examine two rival narratives regarding the nature and evolution of money with reference to metaphor.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine two rival narratives regarding the nature and evolution of money with reference to metaphor.
Design/methodology/approach
The article draws on theoretical literature on money. Post-Keynesian perspectives are given consideration due to the particular attention that this school has given to money.
Findings
A crucial divide in the understanding of money is interpreted in terms of two different narratives. We conclude that the narrative of money as credit has greater explanatory power, but that the commodity narrative, which is metaphorical in nature, is easier to comprehend and conceptualize.
Research limitations/implications
This study has been qualitative in nature; further research would require specification of a linguistic methodology, including selection and analysis of a corpus. A process for detecting metaphors within a selected corpus would also need to be established. Moreover, the discussion of the commodity metaphor as a normative theory has not considered the moral aspects of different views on debt and credit.
Social implications
Study of metaphor should shed light on basic assumptions behind public policy choices. This should enhance the general understanding of related debates, for example on public spending (i.e. austerity versus stimulus).
Originality/value
This article examines a familiar debate in economics using the methods of linguistics. The approach may also serve a function as a pedagogical tool.