Reading Lounge

1. "preponderant design assemblage"

2. Chinese Folklore Gets Reimagined as High Fashion Couture Photo Shoots

3. The tiny union beating the gig economy giants

4. The Modi vision

5. In Europe's east, a border town strains under China's Silk Road train boom

6. How Warner Brothers Resisted a Hollywood Ban on Anti-Nazi Films in the 1930s and Warned Americans of the Dangers of Fascism

7. Honeymoon planner for billionaires

A monetary union cannot work without also being a political union

Nicholas Kaldor prescient in 1971:

"… Some day the nations of Europe may be ready to merge their national identities and create a new European Union – the United States of Europe. If and when they do, a European Government will take over all the functions which the Federal government now provides in the U.S., or in Canada or Australia. This will involve the creation of a “full economic and monetary union”. But it is a dangerous error to believe that monetary and economic union can precede a political union or that it will act (in the words of the Werner report) “as a leaven for the evolvement of a political union which in the long run it will in any case be unable to do without”. For if the creation of a monetary union and Community control over national budgets generates pressures which lead to a breakdown of the whole system it will prevent the development of a political union, not promote it."

[italics in original]

Wynne Godley in 1992:

"If a country or region has no power to devalue, and if it is not the beneficiary of a system of fiscal equalisation, then there is nothing to stop it suffering a process of cumulative and terminal decline leading, in the end, to emigration as the only alternative to poverty or starvation. I sympathise with the position of those (like Margaret Thatcher) who, faced with the loss of sovereignty, wish to get off the EMU train altogether. I also sympathise with those who seek integration under the jurisdiction of some kind of federal constitution with a federal budget very much larger than that of the Community budget. What I find totally baffling is the position of those who are aiming for economic and monetary union without the creation of new political institutions (apart from a new central bank), and who raise their hands in horror at the words ‘federal’ or ‘federalism’. This is the position currently adopted by the Government and by most of those who take part in the public discussion."

Lars P. Syll in 2018:

"There would, of course, be huge problems of turning the European Union into a kind of United States of Europe. And when the peoples of Europe are asked about the prospect, a clear majority says no.

Turning the eurozone into a political-fiscal union would give a couple of countries — especially Germany — the power to more or less dictate earlier sovereign countries’ taxes and spendings.

The peoples of Europe do not want to deprive themselves of economic and political autonomy. They do not want to be enforced to lower wages and slash social welfare at the slightest sign of economic distress. Increasing income inequality and a federal überstate is not the stuff that our dreams are made of."

How much boobs weigh

 With thanks to Today in Tokyo

Mondlicht

"testosterone increases positive attitudes toward positional goods when they are described as status-enhancing, but not when they are described as power-enhancing or high in quality"

You hear that Louis Vuiton?

The Froomester showed that inhaling Salbutamol wins you the Vuelta. After three weeks of steep climbs on a road cycle in sweltering heat. Good to know you can gain status easier.

Single-dose testosterone administration increases men’s preference for status goods

Abstract

In modern human cultures where social hierarchies are ubiquitous, people typically signal their hierarchical position through consumption of positional goods—goods that convey one’s social position, such as luxury products. Building on animal research and early correlational human studies linking the sex steroid hormone testosterone with hierarchical social interactions, we investigate the influence of testosterone on men’s preferences for positional goods. Using a placebo-controlled experiment (N = 243) to measure individuals’ desire for status brands and products, we find that administering testosterone increases men’s preference for status brands, compared to brands of similar perceived quality but lower perceived status. Furthermore, testosterone increases positive attitudes toward positional goods when they are described as status-enhancing, but not when they are described as power-enhancing or high in quality. Our results provide novel causal evidence for the biological roots of men’s preferences for status, bridging decades of animal behavioral studies with contemporary consumer research.

Reasons are manifold. Like shagging.

At the individual level, higher social rank improves mating opportunities, promotes access to resources, reduces stress, and increases social influence. Therefore, individuals exert considerable effort to enhance their social rank by gaining status (i.e., respect and admiration from others, sometimes also referred to as prestige) and power (i.e., control over valuable resources, sometimes also referred to as dominance).

There is also the risk of outspending yourself and you might end up looking like an idiot.

Understanding the drivers of costly signaling through positional consumption is important because this behavior is, by definition, wasteful—in the sense that less expensive goods could have the same functional value as their high-status counterparts (e.g., cars and houses). Status consumption therefore creates inefficiencies. Spending resources to elevate perceived status might, for instance, perpetuate poverty by reducing self-investment in health and education among the poor, who spend disproportionately more on status signals and thus substitute status signaled through consumption for long-run wealth accumulation.

Then again, you might be an idiot but a fit one.

The handicap principle explains these adaptations as costly signals of male fitness: because only the fittest can afford to waste resources on traits that do not directly increase survival probability, these adaptations become reliable indicators of fitness.

Speaking of fit idiots, you want of course Calvin Klein's crap.

Testosterone’s effect on brand preference

Participants viewed five pairs of pretested apparel brands in a randomized, counterbalanced order. One brand of each pair was associated with higher social rank than the other (e.g., Calvin Klein, high vs. Levi’s, low). Importantly, perceived social rank difference between the brands in each pair was substantially greater than perceived difference in quality, mitigating the possibility that the latter influenced participants’ preferences in our task (see Fig. 2b and Supplementary Table 5). Participants indicated the extent to which they preferred one brand relative to the other using 10-point rating scales (Fig. 2a).

More testosterone-laden stuff here.

"Fastidiously appointed with preponderant design assemblage, your thirst for unrivalled condo indulgence is concluded now."

"Live in Windsor Park. Live in unit 401 in the desired luxury building, the Bentley. Fastidiously appointed with preponderant design assemblage, your thirst for unrivalled condo indulgence is concluded now. Without exception, superiority and merit of distinction in workmanship is evident respectively right through. Extravagant first-rate Miele paraphernalia. Seductive illumination motif to inspire every scene. South gleaming sun to radiate and energize your soul. Master retreat with gratifying en-suite. Custom imported bathroom mirrors with accent lighting and built in obliging electrical outlets. Mediate , relax , read or journal in the Exemplary sitting room which is also the 2nd bedroom prerogative paired with a private bathroom. Attentive den space with extra retractable stacking beds and storage structure for overnight guests. Foremost superior specification in flooring , cabinetry and fixtures. The owners upgraded what had already been ameliorated. No other shall compare in its class."

Just shoot me.

The Federal Rep. of Germany is seeking: Transit Resort Human Resources Managers cum SSupervisor

Job Offer

The Government of the Federal Rep. of Germany is seeking:

Transit Resort Human Resources Managers cum SSupervisor

Expected skills:

• Strong people skills,
• Advanced concentration capabilities, also to be applied on human resources lounging in concentrated environ,
• Excellent visual acuity particularly trained on tourists dressed in pleasing vertically-striped suits,
• Physically and emotionally demanding working environment with often strong-willed tourists,
• You are action-packed and short-fuse decisioned,
• Immunity to sexually attractive tourists and/or advances by them,
• Kick-ass approach on all occasions,
• You show convincing tactile proficiency,
• Basic interlocutory capabilities, less is more,
• Highly developed olfactory tolerance level and cultural indifference,
• Diploma in German Leitkultur a definite plus.

Transit Resorts are located in the province of Bavaria populated by rather sullen indigenous people speaking a strange dialect. Applicants need to be prepared to face impromptu exchanges with former colony to the South.

Tazer training provided plus pabulum and generously stocked bar with indigenous spirits. You've been warned.

Please note: ONLY the BEST need to apply!

If you feel you have got what it takes, please contact VBFL (Völkisches Büro für Flüchtlingslösung) next to Chancellory in Berlin. STILLGESTANDEN!