SOME ADDITIONAL LINKS (SESSION 3: CREDIT MARKETS & THE RULE OF LAW)

- Links related to governance indicators. The well-known World Bank Governance Indicators can be found at Governance & Anti-Corruption. There are two large-scale surveys of judicial independence: (a) the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World 2009 Annual Report; (b) the World Economic Forum's table. The "network readiness" indicator is taken from the WEF Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010 [see]. Property rights: this is the link to International Property Rights Index (please note that the IPRI does include some of the previously mentioned variables).

- The Ambrogio Lorenzetti frescoes @ Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. A key feature of tyranny appears to be the complete submission of judicial authority. Magnificent! See Quentin Skinner: "Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Buon Governo frescoes: Two old questions, two new answers", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, LXII, 1999. (More frescoes details here).

- Galiani on interest rates. A great quote from Ferdinando Galiani (1727-1787), a follower of Montesquieu. Galiani writes about interest rates in Della Moneta (1751). He argues that interest rates fell across Europe not because of the abundance of money, but thanks to the effects of moderate government (la dolcezza del governo). Galiani clearly reasons in terms of the supply of loanable resources. Note the comment on the abundance of credit and its impact on poverty. Sadly, I cannot provide a decent translation!

Per render bassi gl'interessi secondo l'esposto di sopra basta evitare il monipolio del danaro, e assicurare la restituzione. Perciò non è stata la sola abbondanza de' metalli preziosi che ha sbassate e quasi estinte le usure da due secoli in qua; ma principalmente la dolcezza del governo quasi in ogni regno goduta. Sieno le liti brevi, la giustizia certa, molta industria ne' popoli, e parsimonia, e saranno tutti i ricchi inclinati a prestare. Là dove è folla di offerenti, non possono esser dure le condizioni dell'offerta. Così saranno i poveri trattati senza crudeltà.

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- Tom Friedman on the "new realism". Is good governance the "new realism"? (Tom Friedman: "Attention: Baby on Board", The New York Times).

- Judicial independence in China (I). Randall Peerenboom specializes in China and the rule of law. He has just edited Judicial Independence in China. Lessons for Global Rule of Law Promotion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010 see). From the introduction:

This is the first book in English on judicial independence in China. This may not seem surprising given China remains an effectively single-party socialist authoritarian state, the widely reported prosecutions of political dissidents and the conventional wisdom that China has never had independent courts. On the other hand, this may seem surprising given that China has become a possible model for other developing countries – a model that challenges key assumptions of the multibillion-dollar rule of law promotion industry, including the central importance of judicial independence for all we hold near and dear. Although China's success in achieving economic growth and reducing poverty is well known, less well known is that China outscores the average country in its income class, including many democracies, on many rule of law and good governance indicators, as well as most major indicators of human rights and well-being, with the notable exception of civil and political rights. How has China managed all this without independent courts?

- Judicial independence in China (II). An interesting case of Chinese innovation in the field of ... judicial independence! Liu Li: "Software helps judges mete out sentences", China Daily, July 9, 2006

- Nigeria & the cost of capital. A BBC documentary highlights the case of a talented Lagos entrepreneur (in the gas station business) whose main complaint is the high cost of capital: 25%! By definition, credit depends on confidence and —as Adam Smith put if— on the performance of contracts. Can we trust the performance of contracts when we see scenes like this one?

- On Russia & its political culture. Writing about present-day Russia, Margareta Mommsen and Angelika Nussberger uncover the remnants of Stalinist political culture in matters related to the separation of powers and judicial independence. In the USSR, judicial independence was disdained as bourgeois prejudice. See their book Das System Putin. Gelenkte Demokratie und politische Justiz in Rußland (Beck, 2007) [details].

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