Blockchain Papers

Robert C. Hockett

No abstract is available for this record.

Nicolas Thompson

This dissertation analyzes the institutional development and policy performance of the Federal Reserve System from 1913-1968. Whereas existing scholarship assumes Federal Reserve institutions have remained static since 1913, this project demonstrates that the Federal Reserve was a site of extensive institutional experimentation across its first half century of operations. The 1913 Federal Reserve Act created thirteen autonomous agencies without offering guidance regarding how these units should function as a coherent system. The extent to which this institutional jumble congealed into a central bank-like organization has fluctuated over time. Institutional changes were driven by external shocks and shaped by an ongoing internal debate about normative systemic governance. Some agents called for greater institutional centralization to increase the system’s strategic capacity. Others drew upon shared liberal ideals to defend the system’s decentralized governance traditions. These debates resulted in frequent reconstitutions of the policy-making regime. This dissertation argues the Fed’s temporally-specific institutional configurations were consequential for United States monetary and exchange rate policies. During periods of relatively centralized Federal Reserve governance, internationally-oriented agents wielded control over the system’s policy-making levers to help stabilize the dollar’s exchange rate. During periods of institutional fragmentation, by contrast, monetary policies grew increasingly rigid, promoting dollar instability. Consequently, the structure of American central banking institutions has important implications for both the domestic and international political economies. This project suggests that insights from the positive study of institutions should be applied to the design of central banking institutions. Although institutional fragmentation can check arbitrary power, it likewise can paralyze the policy-making process and undermine the formation and steady pursuit of long-term strategic goals.

James Epstein

V. S. Naipaul's bookA Way in the World (1994) is perhaps most strikingly about obsession—about historical figures obsessed by an idea: dreams of new worlds, the fulfillment of large schemes, and the universal failure of such visions. In his long chapter “In the Gulf of Desolation: An Unwritten Story,” Naipaul imagines the wasted year that the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco Miranda spent on the island of Trinidad in 1806, marooned after an abortive insurrection across the gulf on the mainland. Nine years before Miranda's arrival in Port of Spain, Trinidad was part of the Spanish empire, but now it is British. The island is dominated by plantations: “no place for a metropolitan man like Miranda,” writes Naipaul.1 And yet his work turns on the often hidden or forgotten exchanges between metropolitan spaces of empire and subjugated spaces of colonization. At Port of Spain, Miranda is met by General Thomas Hislop, the British governor. “Hislop is a man of jangled nerves,” Naipaul tells readers. And for good reason. The brutal repression of incipient slave revolt—“the hangings and the mutilations”—has raised legal questions back in London. Much of the chapter centers on imagined conversations between Miranda and Hislop. Hislop is deeply troubled by uncertainties, by the shaky foundations of Britain's Trinidad regime and his responsibility for actions, inhumane and possibly illegal, taken to maintain order. Most particularly, he is anxious about the investigation of General Thomas Picton, the island's first British governor, and by Picton's conviction in the court of King's Bench. “Strange,” Hislop observes, “that all the bigger charges of hanging and theft should have been thrown out, and this case of petty theft should have brought Picton down. Signing the order that the very respectable magistrate brought him for the torture of the young mulatto girl.”2 In fact, this glancing reference to an anonymous “young mulatto girl” marks a return, a reworking of themes and characters that Naipaul introduced twenty-five years earlier in The Loss of El Dorado: A History (1969). As he notes, his earlier book “is made up of two forgotten stories,” two moments when his native Trinidad “was touched by ‘history’” or was brought within European historical consciousness.3 The first story marks the final chapter in the search for El Dorado with Sir Walter Raleigh's return to Trinidad in 1617; the second is that of Louisa Calderon, the young mulatto girl whose torture brought Governor Picton to trial and whose case became a cause célèbre. Calderon now appears at the fringes of British history, given a walk-on part in histories of Trinidad.4 Picton is generally remembered not as a colonial governor but for his role in the Peninsular Campaign and as the highest-ranking officer killed at the Battle of Waterloo; his portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, and his heroic death is commemorated by a statue erected in St. Paul's Cathedral.5 In his Nobel Prize lecture for 2001, Naipaul describes growing up without a sense of his own family's historical past: “All children, I suppose, come into the world like that, not knowing who they are. But for the French child, say, that knowledge is waiting. That knowledge will be all around them … In Trinidad, bright boy though I was, I was surrounded by areas of darkness.” Those “areas of darkness … became my subjects,” writes Naipaul, and that darkness sent him “to the documents in the British Museum and elsewhere, to get the true feel of the history of the colony.”6 The “postcolonial” moment has been one of recovery, as well as one for redrawing boundaries and identities. The blurring of cultural and spatial boundaries has led historians, as well as novelists and other writers, to rethink our own work, sending us back to the archives to get “the true feel,” or at least a new sense, of history. As Antoinette Burton explains, “the imperial turn” “is not a turn toward empire so as a return to the between and and the and the of the on to the case of Picton and the cause of Calderon, with new historical questions and of us who work on British have Picton's case legal that an of In my own A Way in the World and it to a to the to the trial the and the the But as historians, our or the documents after the of the and with other and to the story deeply on And Britain's historical is of the of that history, the by Picton's trial In or British about empire, it is on the of empire as a in empire in on the of colonial to the between a of and the of colonial As cause but one in the long and history of colonial one of The and us of the of empire and of the of exchanges between and this the of British in the and metropolitan about the of that by Picton's trial for Louisa Calderon colonial for a the of as observes, metropolitan was on of colonial the of often the between and and the of on was to The Picton's most the of cultural of and that the and of of to be the of and to and The of was The dominated British an of all British in this that the was an and of and not the the of British and French they the most A of in in all the British and of and a was by and the French of with of of and as the Trinidad was of a The island's and the of very with who French the of of and the island to a Spanish Trinidad became an and the slave to was a large of of who The British Trinidad in but after the of was it to the British Trinidad and it the of with the Spanish British in the and French Trinidad a for the of In the of the General Picton in of Trinidad with a he was governor in and to the of Picton and his within the of a thrown into by and the of the the the of or legal to in a by British his of Picton was by a with long that the of the in the of the him or of Picton this to it in of his was the he was brought to after the of on 1806, Picton's case before and a in the court of King's Bench. Picton was for a the to be Calderon, a in The case first before King's two years in but been sent on to Port of for the case has a the trial was a of a one in a legal The case the as it of death brought a to for or the In Picton been taken into in order to charges before the case was the charges of and was brought to King's for other that Picton was of and of the and of the by Picton around the that Calderon was Most at least for the was the that he without a young of and a of the case in on to when Picton was all charges and his of Picton's case was, in fact, part of a the of British colonial in the A colonial the In the of Picton as governor of Trinidad and him with a by with Picton as second and as and Picton of colonial and Picton was a of his own in and to a In this he was of with British for for and the who was to in to the as an of of imperial responsibility been at an earlier moment of imperial he as a the as an of and a of Picton was a who his at was a of the his at he as to the British in at he and as a of the of and he on in and in The between Picton and and a with a of in that documents at into The of the and to the imperial us to King's the of the the court was to have been a of the to after The trial was for Picton was brought to court on the the trial as the for him to the of the case to As in the the case Picton was of the most to our and has for a of Picton was he was the of the case was by the role of a for his who led the The was brought and by the the the case raised questions about Spanish or British the British of And Spanish was the legal and the case questions about of and the of colonial was the case by his that Picton, in his role as of our and governor of one of our colonial and to his … has the to he was been by the of the of that after the British Spanish to be but to the to his Picton's of British introduced the of Louisa At the of or been by “to with him as his to the court that such to us in this … yet in that the of is it is for them to at the of at that they or into a of with Calderon “was in an with one to him to of a of and Calderon taken into to in the and at the of the or Picton the the torture was first brought to the of and two or who to the on a of and a British governor for the first torture into a British as a for and and as a of a this Calderon in at the was The of torture was The was by one to a other was to and was by of a a the of on The for to by to this was that but was of a that the torture not be for an Calderon but was up but not to the was The the torture was for Louisa Calderon on the The of Governor Picton for the on Louisa Calderon was a British but that it be a the to the torture on Calderon by the the should be “that it be by the most by it be and be as a to such the of British and history. on the of the of was Picton's that it was to have the of the of this new a conviction of the they of the they the and of British to that of to of a to to the of Picton's to the now around was the In a the that was and was that of a and that was in with a on in the of the was and two one for Spanish and one for “the the of the was to in or to with that was to the years in this and the of was that not who taken “the was to his the at who the and who the and two to an of by in the so was by the to the with to and the in … in with the and his the of the that it was an to that he his have him to “the of the of the at the to of this before the it to be with the of the the that that should be made by the Calderon the court that on the was to to in and and a was in in a between for without a to be before arrival and his of the inhumane At the of the marks of torture in the of or on two Port of Spain, or and to British the to the of of torture and the of the by that the case was not and but of the to Picton and the at In Picton's the the between and the was a whose been “the of by and the a and in a to that of Louisa was as as a in the of and in a of with in a with the court that to the and of this have met on the … a a to a of this … the is to and the is by an The not in Picton introduced the to to the to and two years to the to torture he that Picton to the order after all other been As it was that Spanish was to be British Picton's case on that Spanish and that in this he without the between and well that two of be the of our and that of the the that a who for years on the island of St. to and was taken into on charges brought by a who in court and with his and his and that his been by the as for his a was him to be for his that of the been not and the of his that a of death been a man for his a and man who this But when the to the in St. that a slave who a was to the death the an is the of Spain, but the of an and was in that a to his at At was the Spanish as it was to be in a British court was to Spanish legal the island as a of that it a for of and other Picton was “no a man of he been with order colonial As for the of torture to the of inhumane and of this The of on Calderon was as in of and the this of is for the of the of the is it who and in the and for the of was for of of Spanish the was a The was to the of Spanish to torture in the to the that Picton's torture been in A for the was was to a of as it became that he about Spanish he his to Spanish without the of a The was by who was in A in who the Spanish he that he of that The case to a the Spanish torture in the that the that Picton with As in his Picton should have not be a but was an and governor of a British who should have or him in this his for the to as to who by the of the British have and will the in the of has the of his his to for his before a court of The a of but this was the of the for a new A case that with torture in that first in King's in when it was sent on to Port of and that to King's in 1806, was two years in a it torture to be legal in Trinidad at the of the island to and Picton not to have been by Calderon of the of the as on British But the case to come to as legal on the the of In the court the the case was Picton was on the the him this of cause was Louisa At one Picton's case and the his regime in Trinidad of within a a for colonial at other the case the of a between metropolitan and colonial of between of and cause with of British own this of was legal was to be the of a British The case raised British was in to other European as well as to of the world for colonial such with Picton's torture of it about in the of a British governor the Spanish brought torture to of the of Picton's was that the and Trinidad, Trinidad to In order to of Picton's the of torture and to the death that and have in for the In was or about was a to British of to Picton's actions, the of the of Britain's own and the St. of the man with his and as a colonial British slave generally of or The trial of the of of British in the Louisa was not a but was a of to been into In to this Picton and his by of Calderon as an of Picton that a been made to the of the in of a of the and most who with a or introduced into the of “to his and him of his between two was around the of a of to the of colonial In the role of or of became a of of the of the In the in Trinidad and the of a of torture to the British of the of colonial the of or was to a for As a into own in the but as a of a long one to colonial to of as with the of of and the of the was the in Louisa to the the of the imagined of and was perhaps to the As has the of torture is In at trial and the of trial the to the of the of Louisa and when the of the torture of torture and by to the the was given the was As Louisa to the The of and to Picton's In fact, of the to the was the most of the it is to the about the of given that and British legal The that own the was in the that was by a that the in was and in a for the that in have been by the of the in and of King's Bench. Picton to in to in the and in the as “the Governor of the case to the the by the of the and the The most of the the that in The this a of in of that it not be the and the of this the this trial is to be of Picton's that he his own to the British into in order to the by the in of the of Louisa that and the and of the part of the the and and has been to such and by the of the and the of torture the been in in and in all at to and in the the and with the the on his was so so so so of all to and that he have to and taken a lecture him to to the of his and of and us to the In the of Picton and his a be about as well as for cause was of of to the to this was was with the of with the by the of by the as and As the “was not so a and as an of themes and be taken and in or The of as the of the and the first of the a for the by the of and that be to the and of The of as on on new of and a of Louisa and story in and between and often with between the and the the it was a or story was by of to and trial to the of the was the was not to be and in when the was to a of it with a of the most the As to and Louisa appears in in of the torture appears The Picton Picton the of the the of the is a of very about years of and was in The was it to the of on the first of The the is as the of a is in the of this man … was of a the of a and As the governor of a Spanish island by Spanish Picton into the of the so in The was an a of was The of Port of Spain, with and on a of darkness and to a place by an in Trinidad and the of Picton's to the first him to the of Picton's within a of he to the about “the of that In a of and was on first a of was taken the so that on and in order to to was so young at the that not the is but by years was for without trial on Picton's with of work to The colonial was by Louisa Calderon other figures in a of with slave of and the of by was and for like the for of was the and the part of the charges brought Picton to of was by the of the to with the of on large “the of was before the and as a was and … the into the it the when the in the of the and a it to of it was on the a was one of the or so who on Picton's the the of to be the least of Picton's so on the brutal of a colonial regime of to a of metropolitan the of the and the was to the of the of the … The as the of repression in slave by of out, with As of and of “to a “the to into the of such not be but to metropolitan as well as colonial At the of the in a of to the in this with the And as the of and with the in “the of The was In the case of Louisa Calderon, was a with and case on a with the of colonial As have European on be without reference to a As a mulatto Louisa was a of for mulatto a of and they often in European as by and to work, and to the of British the of not the of European but “the of and for and slave and of about boundaries of the in the of on for European and Calderon an imagined between and was a of but was an of for to be taken into as his In metropolitan of Picton's trial with of torture in order to The of one of the by is of as it Calderon with in the to to in the the torture and the around the of the the is and a of of revolutionary The on of the to the perhaps on of of a for of a the of an that became part of the In the of is the as they be by But the slave is is a of on a a to the Louisa torture of Thomas Picton … Governor of the of Trinidad for Louisa Calderon by of The of the torture of a of a the of by of The The of story was that it brought the of the colonial to the between and in of and by the of colonial in such they an the on the of own into a by it at a the by the for to the and to the with to be about as it was him that cause touched on that of as a man of and on the fringes of metropolitan in the of such as he his own he at a young to the of the before at the slave he to have arrival at Port of in with A he Picton him of as a in not long for to get into at Port of Spain, cause with British for Picton him and the book in Trinidad, his return to was the most of Picton's As a of Picton's he the of a The the book as an given that the of the French of of and the the a for for as the of imperial and the a of for a such as that the by the to the and In a of other on the he the first was to a his he for in the for a in … this of his in all … the of all he is at into the of the of not Picton was of Picton brought and to Picton up with a mulatto his he to and “to Picton the for the and the this to all the in the to the of … Those who or on his became the of his of to of of and the British of the British Thomas the of on the island “is by the or of a of the has to Picton across an it was not for a colonial to a of as his or to such a was was in the in about the of and of the of as was a the of the of his was a to back the on to to the court of was an of The of figures to was a man on the he was a after his own he been to Picton's with Calderon as a of he was at Picton's trial to he have as a or at least as a British the of The of of the trial Louisa Calderon as of the of or in the of of colonial British British to the the in the of the the the slave the of The of Governor Picton General The and The is not As was in a British who not in to be as In the of the of questions with in the colonial slave in and for in in the British raised the of for in and questions about the legal and to such in Trinidad, part of the to British and an colonial about the of of and to be with revolutionary who colonial And about the an of to and to slave and other British troubled by in the as and the of in of the of as and by a of come within the of a in cultural history toward he As with work in this one the of historical it is not by of this but that and cultural As the story of torture the colonial the trial and it up cultural in of and The was to as well as to The story not in of but and it and on colonial and Calderon the of of as the case Picton the of colonial of and brought to be metropolitan The the metropolitan to colonial and the historical in a between it us to it to the as a an as of a of across made and the Britain's imperial and and about of the of imperial and the of colonial The of empire as a the of by to as the the of colonial to of to the of of the on and the as a of In fact, in the and brought before by in an to a of and to Picton's But the the place at they of and to the governor to the the of colonial in the of one the of colonial an of and the of imperial In Trinidad, Picton's as a to General Hislop, his whose regime Britain's to the a or to British legal and to The characters Picton's was in when the governor to the at of good Picton for the Peninsular Campaign on the of Miranda's the Calderon case At the Picton was an to a in part of the of the in that for the case Picton, in his to in a that the of his in the Picton a of As for Picton's him the of the of the between and and he became deeply in the most as for the of who was of before his death in A and a to the of And about Louisa is like to about at the in a Trinidad, in a my when I was that, with with his a the and about with them in they as the who was the of Picton's that the was introduced by to in be to that his young has a of by an to all his In before King's at Picton's new The St. to be and in knowledge of with and a in the that be a to return to be the as the in the of the of the in Port of as given in to an this be the of the to by A in History of Trinidad, in that Louisa Calderon of in on to Louisa As a colonial was the of became an of metropolitan and as well as in and a young of and as an within the boundaries to a of Most the world of cultural a of and perhaps Naipaul has that he one a to the the other the world that one In Louisa the of the our to or to story to a sense of that has to turn the historical to the in an to the of