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Black Grape

Black Grape are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1993, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples.

Formation, first two studio albums and break-up (1993–1998)
The band was formed in 1993 by former Happy Mondays members Shaun Ryder and Bez. It was Ryder's first musical project after the disintegration of Happy Mondays due both to his multiple drug addictions and to disagreements about revenues with other band members. The formation of the new band was intended to draw a line between his past life and his new one. Ryder and Bez recruited rappers Paul "Kermit" Leveridge and Carl "Psycho" McCarthy, drummer Ged Lynch (like Leveridge, a former member of Ruthless Rap Assassins), and guitarist Wags (formerly of the Manchester-based group the Paris Angels) and Oli "Dirtycash" Dillon on ocarina. Recording of new material started that year, although the group was not under contract.

In 1995, Black Grape was signed by Radioactive Records (an imprint of major label BMG) and released its debut studio album It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah. The album debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart, and spawned three top 20 singles. The album was certified platinum in the UK in April 1996.

The third single, "Kelly's Heroes" – a song lampooning society's obsession with celebrities and idols that had much to do with Ryder's own previous hero worship of people he now saw as wastrels – had its opening lyric changed before recording from "Don't talk to me about heroes – Most of these guys snort cocaine," to "Don't talk to me about heroes – most of these men sink like subs". Another song on the album, "Temazi Party", mocked the then-current craze for abusing temazepam sleeping pills (a.k.a. 'jellies'), but was deliberately misspelt on the album sleeve as 'Tramazi' instead of 'Temazi' to forestall any legal injunction against the album's release.

The subsequent studio album Stupid Stupid Stupid was less commercially successful, but was certified gold in the UK in January 1998. The group broke-up in 1998 after Ryder fired the rest of the band while touring, starting with Kermit (who was suffering from septicaemia) and ending with Bez (who was unsatisfied with his financial situation).

Lynch went on to play drums and percussion on many other musical works, becoming a noted session musician.

Reunion (2010–present)
On 1 April 2010, Ryder briefly reformed Black Grape with producer Danny Saber for a concert as part of the 'Get Loaded in the Dark' gig series at The Coronet in London.

In 2015, Black Grape reunited for a gig in April at the Old Granada Studios in Manchester. The gig was a benefit for Bez's political party, We Are the Reality Party, which coincided with his bid for Parliament in the upcoming general election. Although Ryder and Kermit took to the stage, Bez joined them on stage towards the end of the gig. Soon after, it was announced that Black Grape had signed to Creation Management run by Alan McGee and Simon Fletcher and announced a reunion tour to coincide with 20 years of the band's debut studio album It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah (1995). Although an original member, Bez did not rejoin the band.

Black Grape recorded and released a song "We Are England" in support of the England national football team for the UEFA Euro 2016 football competition, in collaboration with DJ Paul Oakenfold and singer Goldie, under the name 4 Lions. It was released by the management label Fletcher McGee Ltd under license to BMG Rights Management.

On 4 May 2017, it was announced that the group's next studio album, Pop Voodoo would be released on 7 July. On the same day, "Everything You Know Is Wrong" was released. The album was eventually released on 4 August. Louder Than War listed the album as one of its top 100 albums of 2017, placing it high at #23.

In September 2021, Black Grape went on the road to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut studio album – originally planned for 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic saw the original shows rescheduled

Orange Head, the band's fourth album, was scheduled for release in November 2023, preceded by the single "Milk". Instead the single "Dirt" was released in November, and the album pushed back to January 2024.

Orange Head was released on 19 January 2024.

Promotional singles

 * 1997 – "Dadi Waz a Badi"

Film

 * The Grape Tapes (1997)

title: Black Grape


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Humpolec

Humpolec (Humpoletz) is a town in Pelhřimov District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Brunka, Hněvkovice, Kletečná, Krasoňov, Lhotka, Petrovice, Plačkov, Rozkoš, Světlice, Světlický Dvůr and Vilémov are administrative parts of Humpolec.

Etymology
The name is derived from the German personal name Gumpolt. The oldest written form of the name was Gumpoldis in Latin.

Geography
Humpolec is located about 22 km northwest of Jihlava, roughly halfway between Prague and Brno. It lies in the Křemešník Highlands. The highest point is the hill Krásná vyhlídka at 663 m above sea level. There is a significant amount of small fishponds; some of them are in the urban area.

History
The first written mention of Humpolec is from 1178. In the 13th–15th centuries it was a silver mining town. Humpolec became known for drapery production from the 17th century, which reached its peak in the 19th century.

Economy
Humpolec is traditionally an industrial town. The largest employer is Valeo Compressor Europe, a manufacturer of compressors for cars.

Since 1597, the Family Brewery Bernard is established in the town.

Transport
The D1 motorway from Prague to Brno passes through Humpolec.

The railway of local importance heading to Havlíčkův Brod begins here.

Sights
The Church of Saint Nicholas was originally an early Gothic church, rebuilt in 1721–1722 in the Gothic-Baroque style by Jan Santini Aichel. Its current Neo-Gothic form is a result of the reconstruction in 1895.

The Evangelical church was built in the Historicist style in 1862, and the tower was added in 1890–1891. Together with the rectory from 1854 and the evangelical school, it forms an area protected as a cultural monument.

Since 2022, the chimney of the Family Brewery Bernard has a public observation deck in a height of 33 m, which is accessible over a spiral staircase with 189 steps. It is a part of the Visitor Centre of the brewery.

Notable people

 * Jan Želivský (1380–1422), priest
 * Aleš Hrdlička (1869–1943), Czech-American anthropologist
 * Josef Stránský (1872–1936), composer and conductor
 * Anna Sychravová (1873–1925), politician
 * Jaroslav Augusta (1878–1970), painter
 * Anděla Kozáková-Jírová (1897–1986), lawyer
 * Jan Zábrana (1931–1984), writer and translator; lived here as a child
 * Ivan Martin Jirous (1944–2011), poet, underground writer and dissident
 * Joseph Drapell (born 1940), Czech-Canadian painter
 * Dusan Kadlec (1942–2018), Czech-Canadian painter
 * Miluše Horská (born 1959), politician
 * David Holoubek (born 1980), football manager
 * Jan Kopic (born 1990), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities
Humpolec is twinned with:
 * 🇸🇰 Námestovo, Slovakia

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Humpolec


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Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation

A transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS or TNS) is a device that produces mild electric current to stimulate the nerves for therapeutic purposes. TENS, by definition, covers the complete range of transcutaneously applied currents used for nerve excitation, but the term is often used with a more restrictive intent—namely, to describe the kind of pulses produced by portable stimulators used to reduce pain. The unit is usually connected to the skin using two or more electrodes which are typically conductive gel pads. A typical battery-operated TENS unit is able to modulate pulse width, frequency, and intensity. Generally, TENS is applied at high frequency (>50 Hz) with an intensity below motor contraction (sensory intensity) or low frequency (<10 Hz) with an intensity that produces motor contraction. More recently, many TENS units use a mixed frequency mode which alleviates tolerance to repeated use. Intensity of stimulation should be strong but comfortable with greater intensities, regardless of frequency, producing the greatest analgesia. While the use of TENS has proved effective in clinical studies, there is controversy over which conditions the device should be used to treat.

Pain
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is a commonly used treatment approach to alleviate acute and chronic pain by reducing the sensitization of dorsal horn neurons, elevating levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid and glycine, and inhibiting glial activation. Many systematic reviews and meta-analyses assessing clinical trials looking at the efficacy of TENS for different sources of pain, however, have been inconclusive due to a lack of high-quality and unbiased evidence. Potential benefits of TENS treatment include its safety profile, relative affordability, ease of self-administration, and availability over-the-counter without a prescription. In principle, an adequate intensity of stimulation is necessary to achieve pain relief with TENS. An analysis of treatment fidelity—meaning that the delivery of TENS in a trial was in accordance with current clinical advice, such as using "a strong but comfortable sensation" and suitable, frequent treatment durations—showed that higher-fidelity trials tended to have a positive outcome.

Acute pain
For people with recent-onset pain (i.e., fewer than three months), such as pain associated with surgery, trauma, and medical procedures, TENS may be better than placebo in some cases. The evidence of benefit is very weak, though.

Musculoskeletal and neck/back pain
There is some evidence to support a benefit of using TENS in chronic musculoskeletal pain. Results from a task force on neck pain in 2008 found no clinically significant benefit of TENS for the treatment of neck pain when compared to placebo. A 2010 review did not find evidence to support the use of TENS for chronic low back pain.

Another study examining knee osteoarthritis patients found that TENS demonstrated efficacy and a better safety profile relative to weak opiates. Given the age, comorbidity frequency, tendency toward polypharmacy, and sensitivity to adverse reactions among individuals most frequently reporting osteoarthritis, TENS could be a non-pharmacological alternative to analgesics in the management of knee osteoarthritis pain.

Neuropathy and phantom limb pain
There is tentative evidence that TENS may be useful for painful diabetic neuropathy. As of 2015, the efficacy of TENS for phantom limb pain is unknown; no randomized controlled trials have been performed.

A few studies have shown objective evidence that TENS may modulate or suppress pain signals in the brain. One used evoked cortical potentials to show that electric stimulation of peripheral A-beta sensory fibers reliably suppressed A-delta fiber nociceptive (pain perception) processing. Two other studies used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): one showed that high-frequency TENS produced a decrease in pain-related cortical activations in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, while the other showed that low-frequency TENS decreased shoulder impingement pain and modulated pain-induced activation in the brain.

Labor and menstrual pain
Early studies found that TENS "has been shown not to be effective in postoperative and labour pain." These studies also had questionable ability to truly blind the patients. However, more recent studies have shown that TENS was "effective for relieving labour pain, and they are well considered by pregnant participants." One study also showed that there was a significant change in laboring individuals' time to request analgesia such as an epidural. The group with the TENS waited five additional hours relative to those without TENS. Both groups were satisfied with the pain relief that they had from their choices. No maternal, infant, or labor problems were noted. There is tentative evidence that TENS may be helpful for treating pain from dysmenorrhoea, however further research is required.

Cancer pain
Non-pharmacological treatment options for people experiencing pain caused by cancer are much needed, however, it is not clear from the weak studies that have been published if TENS is an effective approach.

Bladder function
Percutaneous and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in the tibial nerve have been used in the treatment of overactive bladder and urinary retention. Sometimes it is also done in the sacrum. Systematic review studies have shown limited evidence on the effectiveness, and more quality research is needed. A major trial found that in a care home context transcutaneous posterior tibial nerve stimulation did not improve urinary incontinence.

Dentistry
TENS has been extensively used in non-odontogenic orofacial pain relief. In addition, TENS and ultra low frequency-TENS (ULF-TENS) are commonly employed in diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD). Further clinical studies are required to determine its efficacy.

Tremor
A wearable neuromodulation device that delivers electrical stimulation to nerves in the wrist is now available by prescription. Worn around the wrist, it acts as a non-invasive treatment for those living with essential tremor. The stimulator has electrodes that are placed circumferentially around a patient's wrist. Positioning the electrodes on generally opposing sides of the target nerve can result in improved stimulation of the nerve. In clinical trials reductions in hand tremors were reported following noninvasive median and radial nerve stimulation.

Transcutaneous afferent patterned stimulation (TAPS) is a tremor-customized therapy, based on the patient's measured tremor frequency, and is delivered transcutaneously to the median and radial nerves of a patient's wrist. The patient specific TAPS stimulation is determined through a calibration process performed by the accelerometer and microprocessor on the device.

The Cala ONE delivers TAPS in a wrist-worn device that is calibrated to treat tremor symptoms. Cala ONE received de novo FDA clearance in April 2018 for the transient relief of hand tremors in adults with essential tremor and is currently marketed as Cala Trio.

Contraindications
People who have implanted electronic medical devices including pacemakers and cardiodefibrillators are not suggested to use TENS. In addition, caution should be taken before using TENS in those who are pregnant, have epilepsy, have an active malignancy, have deep vein thrombosis, have skin that is damaged, or are frail.

Side effects
Overall, TENS has been found to be safe compared with pharmaceutical medications for treating pain. Potential side effects include skin itching near the electrodes and mild redness of the skin (erythema). Some people also report that they dislike the sensation associated with TENS.

Device types
The TENS device acts to stimulate the sensory nerves and a small portion of the peripheral motor nerves; the stimulation causes multiple mechanisms to trigger and manage the sense of pain in a patient. TENS operates by two main mechanisms: it stimulates competing sensory neurons at the pain perception gate, and it stimulates the opiate response. The mechanism that will be used varies with the type of device.

The table below lists the types of devices:

History
Electrical stimulation for pain control was used in ancient Rome, in AD 63. It was reported by Scribonius Largus that pain was relieved by standing on an electrical fish at the seashore. In the 16th through the 18th centuries various electrostatic devices were used for headache and other pains. Benjamin Franklin was a proponent of this method for pain relief. In the 19th century a device called the electreat, along with numerous other devices were used for pain control and cancer cures. Only the electreat survived into the 20th century, but was not portable, and had limited control of the stimulus. Development of the modern TENS unit is generally credited to C. Norman Shealy.

Modern
The first modern, patient-wearable TENS was patented in the United States in 1974. It was initially used for testing the tolerance of chronic pain patients to electrical stimulation before implantation of electrodes in the spinal cord dorsal column. The electrodes were attached to an implanted receiver, which received its power from an antenna worn on the surface of the skin. Although intended only for testing tolerance to electrical stimulation, many of the patients said they received so much relief from the TENS itself that they never returned for the implant.

A number of companies began manufacturing TENS units after the commercial success of the Medtronic device became known. The neurological division of Medtronic, founded by Don Maurer, Ed Schuck and Charles Ray, developed a number of applications for implanted electrical stimulation devices for treatment of epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and other disorders of the nervous system.

Today many people confuse TENS with electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). EMS and TENS devices look similar, with both using long electric lead wires and electrodes. TENS is for blocking pain, where EMS is for stimulating muscles.

Research
As reported, TENS has different effects on the brain. A randomized controlled trial in 2017 shown that sensory ULF-TENS applied on the skin proximally to trigeminal nerve, reduced the effect of acute mental stress assessed by heart rate variability (HRV). Further high quality studies are required to determine the effectiveness of TENS for treating dementia.

A head-mounted TENS device called Cefaly was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in March 2014, for the prevention of migraines. The Cefaly device was found effective in preventing migraine attacks in a randomized sham-controlled trial. This was the first TENS device the FDA approved for pain prevention, as opposed to pain suppression.

A study performed on healthy human subjects demonstrates that repeated application of TENS can generate analgesic tolerance within five days, reducing its efficacy. The study noted that TENS causes the release of endogenous opioids, and that the analgesia is likely due to opioid tolerance mechanisms.

The pain reduction ability of TENS is unconfirmed by sufficient randomized controlled trials so far. One meta-analysis of several hundred TENS studies concluded that there was a significant overall reduction of pain intensity due to TENS, but there were too few participants and controls to be entirely certain of their validity. Therefore, the authors downgraded their confidence in the results by two levels, to low-certainty.

Safety
There are several anatomical locations where TENS electrodes are contraindicated:
 * Over the eyes due to the risk of increasing intraocular pressure
 * Transcerebrally
 * On the front of the neck due to the risk of an acute hypotension (through a vasovagal response) or even a laryngospasm
 * Through the chest using anterior and posterior electrode positions, or other transthoracic applications understood as "across a thoracic diameter"; this does not preclude coplanar applications
 * Internally, except for specific applications of dental, vaginal, and anal stimulation that employ specialized TENS units
 * On broken skin areas or wounds, although it can be placed around wounds
 * Over a tumor/malignancy (based on in vitro experiments where electricity promotes cell growth)
 * Directly over the spinal column

TENS used across an artificial cardiac pacemaker (or other indwelling stimulator, including across its leads) may cause interference and failure of the implanted device. Serious accidents have been recorded in cases when this principle was not observed. A 2009 review in this area suggests that electrotherapy, including TENS, is "best avoided" in patients with pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). They add that "there is no consensus and it may be possible to safely deliver these modalities in a proper setting with device and patient monitoring", and recommend further research. The review found several reports of ICDs administering inappropriate treatment due to interference with TENS devices, but notes that the reports on pacemakers are mixed: some non-programmable pacemakers were inhibited by TENS, but others were unaffected or auto-reprogrammed.

The use of TENS is likely to be less effective on areas of numb skin or decreased sensation due to nerve damage. It may also cause skin irritation due to the inability to feel currents until they are too high. There is an unknown level of risk when placing electrodes over an infection (possible spreading due to muscle contractions), but cross contamination with the electrodes themselves is of greater concern. TENS should also be used with caution in people with epilepsy or pregnant women; do not use over area of the uterus as the effects of electrical stimulation over the developing fetus are not known.


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Rabanus Maurus

Rabanus Maurus Magnentius (c. 780 – 4 February 856), also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who became archbishop of Mainz in East Francia. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis ("On the Natures of Things"). He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible. He was one of the most prominent teachers and writers of the Carolingian age, and was called "Praeceptor Germaniae", or "the teacher of Germany". In the most recent edition of the Roman Martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, pp. 133), his feast is given as 4 February and he is qualified as a Saint ('sanctus').

Life
Rabanus was born of noble parents in Mainz. The date of his birth remains uncertain, but in 801 he was ordained a deacon at Benedictine Abbey of Fulda in Hesse, where he had been sent to school and had become a monk. At the insistence of Ratgar, his abbot, he went together with Haimo (later of Halberstadt) to complete his studies at Tours. There he studied under Alcuin, who in recognition of his diligence and purity gave him the surname of Maurus, after the favourite disciple of Benedict, Saint Maurus.

Returning to Fulda, in 803 he was entrusted with the principal charge of the abbey school, which under his direction became one of the most preeminent centers of scholarship and book production in Europe, and sent forth such pupils as Walafrid Strabo, Servatus Lupus of Ferrières, and Otfrid of Weissenburg. It was probably at this period that he compiled his excerpt from the grammar of Priscian, a popular textbook during the Middle Ages. According to Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, Rabanus ate no meat and drank no wine.

In 814 Rabanus was ordained a priest. Shortly afterwards, apparently on account of disagreement with Abbot Ratgar, he withdrew for a time from Fulda. This banishment was long thought to have occasioned a pilgrimage to Palestine, based on an allusion in his commentary on Joshua. However, the passage in question is taken from Origen's Homily xiv In Librum Jesu Nave. Hence, it was Origen, not Rabanus, who visited Palestine. Rabanus returned to Fulda in 817 on the election of a new abbot, Eigil, and at Eigil's death in 822, Rabanus himself became abbot. He handled this position efficiently and successfully, but in 842 he resigned so as to have greater leisure for study and prayer, retiring to the neighbouring monastery of St Petersberg.

In 847 Rabanus was constrained to return to public life when he was elected to succeed Otgar as Archbishop of Mainz. He died at Winkel on the Rhine in 856.

Hymns
Rabanus composed a number of hymns, the most famous of which is the Veni Creator Spiritus. This is a hymn to the Holy Spirit often sung at Pentecost and at ordinations. It is known in English through many translations, including Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire; Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest; and Creator Spirit, by whose aid. Veni Creator Spiritus was used by Gustav Mahler as the first chorale of his eighth symphony.

Another of Rabanus' hymns, Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels (Christe, sanctorum decus Angelorum), sung for the commemoration of Saint Michael and All Angels, and to include the archangels Gabriel and Raphael, is found in English translation in The Hymnal 1982 (of the Episcopal Church), and was harmonized by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Works
Rabanus' works, many of which remained unpublished, comprise commentaries on scripture (Genesis to Judges, Ruth, Kings, Chronicles, Judith, Esther, Canticles, Proverbs, Wisdom, Sirach, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Maccabees, Matthew, the Epistles of St Paul, including Hebrews); and various treatises relating to doctrinal and practical subjects, including more than one series of homilies. In De institutione clericorum he brought into prominence the views of Augustine and Gregory the Great as to the training which was requisite for a right discharge of the clerical function. One of his most popular and enduring works is a collection of poems centered on the cross, called De laudibus sanctae crucis or In honorem sanctae crucis, a set of highly sophisticated poems that present the cross (and, in the last poem, Rabanus himself kneeling before it) in word and image, even in numbers.

Among the others may be mentioned the De universo libri xxii., sive etymologiarum opus, a kind of dictionary or encyclopedia, heavily dependent upon Isidore of Seville's Etymologies, designed as a help towards the typological, historical and mystical interpretation of Scripture, the De sacris ordinibus, the De disciplina ecclesiastica and the Martyrologium. All of them are characterized by erudition (he knew even some Greek and Hebrew). He also published an annotated version of De re militari to improve Frankish warfare.

In the annals of German philology a special interest attaches to the Glossaria Latino-Theodisca. A commentary, Super Porphyrium, printed by Cousin in 1836 among the Ouvrages inédits d'Abélard, and assigned both by that editor and by Haurau to Hrabantis Maurus, is now generally believed to have been the work of a disciple.

In 2006 Germans marked the 1150th anniversary of his death, especially in Mainz and in Fulda. Highlights of the celebrations included the display of Codex Vaticanus Reginensis latinus 124, an extremely rare loan by the Vatican to Mainz of a spectacular manuscript containing De laudibus sanctae crucis. The anniversary also saw the publication of no fewer than three book-length studies of Maurus and his work.

Marcomannic runes
A runic alphabet recorded in a treatise called De Inventione Litterarum has been ascribed to Rabanus. It consisted of a mixture of Elder Futhark with Anglo-Saxon runes and is preserved in 8th and 9th-century manuscripts mainly from the southern part of the Carolingian Empire (Alemannia, Bavaria). The manuscript text attributes the runes to the Marcomanni, quos nos Nordmannos vocamus (and hence traditionally, the alphabet is called "Marcomannic runes") but it has no connection with the Marcomanni, and rather is an attempt of Carolingian scholars to represent all letters of the Latin alphabet with runic equivalents.

Wilhelm Grimm discussed these runes in 1821.

title: Rabanus Maurus


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Liquidity trap

A liquidity trap is a situation, described in Keynesian economics, in which, "after the rate of interest has fallen to a certain level, liquidity preference may become virtually absolute in the sense that almost everyone prefers holding cash rather than holding a debt (financial instrument) which yields so low a rate of interest."

A liquidity trap is caused when people hold cash because they expect an adverse event such as deflation, insufficient aggregate demand, or war. Among the characteristics of a liquidity trap are interest rates that are close to zero and changes in the money supply that fail to translate into changes in the price level.

Origin and definition of the term
John Maynard Keynes, in his 1936 General Theory, wrote the following: "There is the possibility...that, after the rate of interest has fallen to a certain level, liquidity-preference may become virtually absolute in the sense that almost everyone prefers cash to holding a debt which yields so low a rate of interest. In this event the monetary authority would have lost effective control over the rate of interest. But whilst this limiting case might become practically important in future, I know of no example of it hitherto."

This concept of monetary policy's potential impotence was further worked out in the works of British economist John Hicks, who published the IS–LM model representing Keynes's system. Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, in his work on monetary policy, follows the formulations of Hicks: "A liquidity trap may be defined as a situation in which conventional monetary policies have become impotent, because nominal interest rates are at or near zero: injecting monetary base into the economy has no effect, because [monetary] base and bonds are viewed by the private sector as perfect substitutes." In a liquidity trap, people are indifferent between bonds and cash because the rates of interest both financial instruments provide to their holder is practically equal: The interest on cash is zero and the interest on bonds is near-zero. Hence, the central bank cannot affect the interest rate any more (through augmenting the monetary base) and has lost control over it.

Elaboration
In Keynes' description of a liquidity trap, people simply do not want to hold bonds and prefer other, more-liquid forms of money instead. Because of this preference, after converting bonds into cash, this causes an incidental but significant decrease to the bonds' prices and a subsequent increase to their yields. However, people prefer cash no matter how high these yields are or how high the central bank sets the bond's rates (yields).

Post-Keynesian economist Hyman Minsky posited that "after a debt deflation that induces a deep depression, an increase in the money supply with a fixed head count of other [financial] assets may not lead to a rise in the price of other assets." This naturally causes interest rates on assets that are not considered "almost perfectly liquid" to rise. In which case, as Minsky had stated elsewhere, "The view that the liquidity-preference function is a demand-for-money relation permits the introduction of the idea that in appropriate circumstances the demand for money may be infinitely elastic with respect to variations in the interest rate… The liquidity trap presumably dominates in the immediate aftermath of a great depression or financial crisis."

Historical debate

In the wake of the Keynesian revolution in the 1930s and 1940s, various neoclassical economists sought to minimize the effect of liquidity-trap conditions. Don Patinkin and Lloyd Metzler invoked the existence of the so-called "Pigou effect", in which the stock of real money balances is ostensibly an argument of the aggregate demand function for goods, so that the money stock would directly affect the "investment saving" curve in IS/LM analysis. Monetary policy would thus be able to stimulate the economy even when there is a liquidity trap.

Monetarists, most notably Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner, Allan Meltzer and others, strongly condemned any notion of a "trap" that did not feature an environment of a zero, or near-zero, interest rate across the whole spectrum of interest rates, i.e. both short- and long-term debt of the government and the private sector. In their view, any interest rate different from zero along the yield curve is a sufficient condition to eliminate the possibility of the presence of a liquidity trap.

In recent times, when the Japanese economy fell into a period of prolonged stagnation, despite near-zero interest rates, the concept of a liquidity trap returned to prominence. Keynes's formulation of a liquidity trap refers to the existence of a horizontal demand-curve for money at some positive level of interest rates; yet, the liquidity trap invoked in the 1990s referred merely to the presence of zero or near-zero interest-rates policies (ZIRP), the assertion being that interest rates could not fall below zero. Some economists, such as Nicholas Crafts, have suggested a policy of inflation-targeting (by a central bank that is independent of the government) at times of prolonged, very low, nominal interest-rates, in order to avoid a liquidity trap or escape from it.

Some Austrian School economists, such as those of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, reject Keynes' theory of liquidity preference altogether. They argue that lack of domestic investment during periods of low interest-rates is the result of previous malinvestment and time preferences rather than liquidity preference. Chicago school economists remain critical of the notion of liquidity traps.

Keynesian economists, like Brad DeLong and Simon Wren-Lewis, maintain that the economy continues to operate within the IS-LM model, albeit an "updated" one, and the rules have "simply changed."

Global financial crises of 2008 and 2020
During the Global Financial Crisis, in the period 2008–2010, as short-term interest rates for the various central banks in the United States and Europe moved close to zero, economists such as Paul Krugman argued that much of the developed world, including the United States, Europe, and Japan, was in a liquidity trap. He noted that tripling of the monetary base in the US between 2008 and 2011 failed to produce any significant effect on domestic price indices or dollar-denominated commodity prices, a notion supported by others, such as Scott Sumner.

U.S. Federal Reserve economists assert that the liquidity trap can explain low inflation in periods of vastly increased central bank money supply. Based on experience $3.5 trillion of quantitative easing from 2009–2013, the hypothesis is that investors hoard and do not spend the increased money because the opportunity cost of holding cash (namely the interest forgone) is zero when the nominal interest rate is zero. This hoarding effect is purported to have reduced consequential inflation to half of what would be expected directly from the increase in the money supply, based on statistics from the expansive years. They further assert that the liquidity trap is possible only when the economy is in deep recession.

Modest inflation during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, despite unprecedented monetary stimulus and expansion, was similarly ascribed to hoarding of cash.

Post-Keynesians respond that the confusion by "mainstream economists" between conditions of a liquidity trap, as defined by Keynes and in the Post-Keynesian framework, and conditions of near-zero or zero interest rates, is intentional and ideologically motivated in ostensibly attempting to support monetary over fiscal policies. They argue that, quantitative easing programs in the United States, and elsewhere, caused the prices of financial assets to rise across the board and interest rates to fall; yet, a liquidity trap cannot exist, according to the Keynesian definition, unless the prices on imperfectly safe financial assets are falling and their interest rates are rising. The rise in the monetary base did not affect interest rates or commodity prices.

Taking the precedent of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, critics of the mainstream definition of a liquidity trap point out that the central bank of the United States never, effectively, lost control of the interest rate. Whereas the United States did experience a liquidity trap in the period 2009/10, i.e. in "the immediate aftermath" of the crisis, the critics of the mainstream definition claim that, after that period, there is no more of any kind of a liquidity trap since government and private-sector bonds are "very much in demand". This goes against Keynes' point as Keynes stated that "almost everyone prefers cash to holding a debt." However, modern finance has the concept of cash and cash equivalents; Treasuries may in some cases be treated as cash equivalents and not "debt" for liquidity purposes.

title: Liquidity trap


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Microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulator

A microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulator or MENS (also microamperage electrical neuromuscular stimulator) is a device used to send weak electrical signals into the body. Such devices apply extremely small microamp [uA] electrical currents (less than 1 milliampere [mA]) to the tissues using electrodes placed on the skin. One microampere [uA] is 1 millionth of an ampere and the uses of MENS are distinct from those of "TENS" which runs at one milliamp [mA] or one thousandth of an amp.

Uses
MENS uses include treatments for pain, diabetic neuropathy, age-related macular degeneration, wound healing, tendon repair, plantar fasciitis and ruptured ligament recovery. Most microcurrent treatments concentrate on pain and/or speeding healing and recovery. It is commonly used by professional and performance athletes with acute pain and/or muscle tenderness as it is drug-free and non-invasive, thus avoiding testing and recovery issues. It is also used as a cosmetic treatment.

History
The body's electrical capabilities were studied at least as early as 1830, when the Italian Carlo Matteucci is credited as being one of the first to measure the electrical current in injured tissue. Bioelectricity received less attention after the discovery of penicillin, when the focus of medical research and treatments turned toward the body's chemical processes. Attention began to return to these properties and the possibilities of using very low current for healing in the mid-1900s. In a study published in 1969, for example, a team of researchers led by L.E. Wolcott applied microcurrent to a wide variety of wounds, using negative polarity over lesions in the initial phase, and then alternating application of positive and negative electrodes every three days. The stimulation current ranged from 200 to 800 uA and the treated group showed 200%-350% faster healing rates, with stronger tensile strength of scar tissue and antibacterial effects.

In 1991, the German scientists Drs. Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their development of the patch-clamp technique that allows the detection of minute electrical currents through cell membranes. This method allowed the detection of more than 20 different types of ion channel which permit positive or negatively charged ions to cross the cell membrane, confirming that cellular electrical activity is not limited only to nerve and muscle tissues.

Efficacy
A study by a neuroretinologist in the late 1980s suggested that microcurrent stimulation of acupuncture points for the eye had positive effects in slowing and even stopping progression of macular degeneration. This treatment is used to treat both the Wet and Dry forms of AMD. This study was based on Ngok Cheng's research on the increased amounts of ATP levels in living tissue after being stimulated with microcurrent.

Mechanisms of action
While the mechanisms of efficacy are not well established, a few studies have shown that there may be a correlation between the traditional Chinese medical system of acupuncture and microcurrent. A study published in 1975 by Reichmanis, Marino, and Becker concluded in part that. "At most acupuncture points on most subjects, there were greater electrical conductance maxims than at control sites."

Manufacturers
Many companies manufacture microcurrent devices for both professional and personal use,  and microcurrent stimulation is used as a "complementary" veterinary modality.


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F-statistics

In population genetics, F-statistics (also known as fixation indices) describe the statistically expected level of heterozygosity in a population; more specifically the expected degree of (usually) a reduction in heterozygosity when compared to Hardy–Weinberg expectation.

F-statistics can also be thought of as a measure of the correlation between genes drawn at different levels of a (hierarchically) subdivided population. This correlation is influenced by several evolutionary processes, such as genetic drift, founder effect, bottleneck, genetic hitchhiking, meiotic drive, mutation, gene flow, inbreeding, natural selection, or the Wahlund effect, but it was originally designed to measure the amount of allelic fixation owing to genetic drift.

The concept of F-statistics was developed during the 1920s by the American geneticist Sewall Wright,  who was interested in inbreeding in cattle. However, because complete dominance causes the phenotypes of homozygote dominants and heterozygotes to be the same, it was not until the advent of molecular genetics from the 1960s onwards that heterozygosity in populations could be measured.

F can be used to define effective population size.

Definitions and equations
The measures FIS, FST, and FIT are related to the amounts of heterozygosity at various levels of population structure. Together, they are called F-statistics, and are derived from F, the inbreeding coefficient. In a simple two-allele system with inbreeding, the genotypic frequencies are:

 * $$ p^2(1-F) + pF\text{ for }\mathbf{AA};\ 2pq(1-F)\text{ for }\mathbf{Aa};\text{ and }q^2(1-F) + qF\text{ for }\mathbf{aa}. $$

The value for $$F$$ is found by solving the equation for $$F$$ using heterozygotes in the above inbred population. This becomes one minus the observed frequency of heterozygotes in a population divided by the expected frequency of heterozygotes at Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium:

 * $$ F = 1- \frac{\operatorname{O}(f(\mathbf{Aa}))} {\operatorname{E}(f(\mathbf{Aa}))} = 1- \frac{\operatorname{ObservedFrequency}(\mathbf{Aa})} {\operatorname{ExpectedFrequency}(\mathbf{Aa})}, \!$$

where the expected frequency at Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium is given by

 * $$ \operatorname{E}(f(\mathbf{Aa})) = 2pq, \!$$

where $$p$$ and $$q$$ are the allele frequencies of $$\mathbf{A}$$ and $$\mathbf{a}$$, respectively. It is also the probability that at any locus, two alleles from a random individual of the population are identical by descent.

For example, consider the data from E.B. Ford (1971) on a single population of the scarlet tiger moth:

From this, the allele frequencies can be calculated, and the expectation of $$f\left(\mathbf{Aa}\right)$$ derived :

 * $$p = {2 \times \mathrm{obs}(AA) + \mathrm{obs}(Aa) \over 2 \times (\mathrm{obs}(AA) + \mathrm{obs}(Aa) + \mathrm{obs}(aa))} = 0.954$$

 * $$q = 1 - p = 0.046\,$$

 * $$F = 1- \frac{ \mathrm{obs}(Aa) / n } { 2pq } = 1- {138 / 1612 \over 2(0.954)(0.046)} = 0.023$$

The different F-statistics look at different levels of population structure. FIT is the inbreeding coefficient of an individual (I) relative to the total (T) population, as above; FIS is the inbreeding coefficient of an individual (I) relative to the subpopulation (S), using the above for subpopulations and averaging them; and FST is the effect of subpopulations (S) compared to the total population (T), and is calculated by solving the equation:

 * $$(1-F_{IS})(1-F_{ST}) = 1-F_{IT}, \, $$

as shown in the next section.

Partition due to population structure

Consider a population that has a population structure of two levels; one from the individual (I) to the subpopulation (S) and one from the subpopulation to the total (T). Then the total $$F$$, known here as $$F_{IT}$$, can be partitioned into $$F_{IS}$$ and $$F_{ST}$$:

 * $$ 1 - F_{IT} = (1 - F_{IS})\,(1 - F_{ST}). \!$$

This may be further partitioned for population substructure, and it expands according to the rules of binomial expansion, so that for I partitions:

 * $$ 1 - F = \prod_{i=0}^{i=I} (1 - F_{i,i+1}) \!$$

Fixation index
A reformulation of the definition of $$F$$ would be the ratio of the average number of differences between pairs of chromosomes sampled within diploid individuals with the average number obtained when sampling chromosomes randomly from the population (excluding the grouping per individual). One can modify this definition and consider a grouping per sub-population instead of per individual. Population geneticists have used that idea to measure the degree of structure in a population.

Unfortunately, there is a large number of definitions for $F_{ST}$, causing some confusion in the scientific literature. A common definition is the following:

 * $$ F_{ST} = \frac{\operatorname{var}(\mathbf{p})}{p\,(1 - p)} \!$$

where the variance of $$\mathbf{p}$$ is computed across sub-populations and $$p\,(1 - p)$$ is the expected frequency of heterozygotes.

Fixation index in human populations
It is well established that the genetic diversity among human populations is low, although the distribution of the genetic diversity was only roughly estimated. Early studies argued that 85–90% of the genetic variation is found within individuals residing in the same populations within continents (intra-continental populations) and only an additional 10–15% is found between populations of different continents (continental populations). Later studies based on hundreds of thousands single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) suggested that the genetic diversity between continental populations is even smaller and accounts for 3 to 7%     A later study based on three million SNPs found that 12% of the genetic variation is found between continental populations and only 1% within them. Most of these studies have used the FST statistics or closely related statistics.

title: F-statistics


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The Beachcombers

The Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy drama television series that ran on CBC Television from October 1, 1972, to December 12, 1990. With over 350 episodes, it is one of the longest-running dramatic series ever made for Canadian English-language television.

Series overview
The Beachcombers followed the life of Nick Adonidas (Bruno Gerussi), a Greek Canadian log salvager in British Columbia who earned a living traveling the coastline northwest of Vancouver with his partner Jesse Jim (Pat John) aboard their logging tug Persephone tracking down logs that broke away from barges and logging booms. Their chief business competitor is Relic (Robert Clothier) (whose actual name is Stafford T. Phillips), a somewhat unsavoury person who will occasionally go to great lengths to steal business (and logs) from Nick.

The series also focused on a supporting cast of characters in Nick's hometown of Gibsons, often centering on a café, Molly's Reach, run by Molly (Rae Brown), a mother figure to virtually all the characters in the series (including Relic). In addition, Molly rented out a room to Nick as living quarters and office space for his salvage business. Molly had two grandchildren living with her, Hughie (Bob Park) and his younger sister Margaret played by Nancy Chapple in the first season then by Juliet Randall from the second season onward.

Other characters included Nick's Indigenous business partner and friend Jesse Jim (Pat John), and RCMP Constable John Constable (played by Alberta-born Jackson Davies).

The series' pilot episode was called "Jesse's Car" and was turned down by CBC for broadcast. The first episode to air was called "Partners" and described how Jesse and Nick formed their business ties.

During the run of the series, storylines became more complex as the characters developed. Many episodes focused on Nick's Greek heritage.

The series' musical score was composed and orchestrated by Canadian composer and producer Bobby Hales and later by Vancouver based composer, Claire Lawrence. Numerous Vancouver-area musical artists appeared on the soundtracks of the series, including Cos Natola.

Changes to original series
The series' removed "The" from its title, becoming simply Beachcombers in 1988 (with the CBC announcing that the intent was to give the aging show a new look), coinciding with the replacement of the show's original theme music with a new composition. Subsequent funding cutbacks at the government-supported CBC, however, led to Beachcombers being cancelled even though it was still popular in its homeland and syndicated around the world, though attempts to revamp the series by giving it more suspenseful storylines and making it more action oriented met with fan criticism.

The final episode had Nick Adonidas accused of stealing logs during a time when rising expenses were causing many beachcombers to seek another occupation. The story ended with Nick saying to Relic, “We gave ‘em a run for their money, didn’t we?”

Multicultural
The show was an active window into Canada's multicultural heritage. Gerussi's character, Nick Adonidas was a Greek and one storyline in a later season chronicled Nick's return to his homeland, while Clothier's character, Relic, was of Welsh ancestry.

Pat John, who played Jessie Jim, was a member of the shíshálh First Nation. Other Indigenous cast members were Charlene Aleck as Jessie’s sister Sara, Marianne Jones as Jessie’s wife Laurel, and Chief Dan George as Chief Moses Charlie.

Spin-off series, TV movies, reboot series
A short lived spin-off television show called Constable Constable ran in 1985. The show was based on Jackson Davies's Beachcombers character Constable John Constable. The series was filmed in Vancouver and starred Jackson Davies and Walter Learning.

Jackson Davies, Pat John and Charlene Aleck were the only original cast members who had speaking parts in the show's follow up television movie The New Beachcombers, produced in 2002, a pilot for a revived series that ran for two years. Bob Park (Hugh) and Dion Luther (Pat) appeared in cameo roles. By this time, Gerussi, Clothier, and Brown all had died, so new characters were introduced played by (among others) Dave Thomas, Graham Greene, Cameron Bancroft, and Deanna Milligan. A sequel, A Beachcombers Christmas, was also produced, though this too failed to spark a new series.

A documentary about the show called Welcome Back to Molly's Reach aired in 2002. On July 27–29, 2007, former cast and crew gathered in Gibsons, British Columbia, for the show's 35th anniversary.

A best selling book, Bruno and The Beach: The Beachcombers at 40 celebrating its 40th anniversary was released in December 2012. It was co-written by Marc Strange, co-creator of the series, and Jackson Davies, who starred in the series as Constable John Constable.

In October 2022, it was announced that The Beachcombers will be remade as an animated series that was slated to air in Spring 2023 but is currently delayed.

Filming locations
The series was filmed on location in Gibsons, British Columbia, and the surrounding area. The café featured in the show was built as a hardware store in 1934 and served various retail functions until rented as a film set for the series, used mainly for exterior shots and storage. The building only became a café after the series ended. After The Beachcombers was cancelled in 1991, the building sat vacant for a time with an uncertain future. Eventually, private investors converted it into a functioning restaurant under the television-inspired name "Molly's Reach". As of August 2023, the restaurant is closed and the property is available for lease.

Persephone, the boat used by Nick Adonidas during filming, was a tug and work boat named John Henry built in 1965. The tug was chartered during series production from Harry Smith, who donated it to the town of Gibsons in 1991. The vessel sat outside at a town works department gravel pit where it deteriorated quite badly until it was restored by the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives. Persephone was installed in a small park near Molly's Reach in 2007.

There were two jet boats used by the character Relic. The one most fans remember was called Hi Baller II and was used from the second season until the end. The first craft, Hi Baller I, was used for just the first season. She was slightly smaller than her successor and had more square windows. She did reappear for an episode called "Jet Boat Gemini" in 1974. Both boats were seen together as the man in the second craft was impersonating Relic. He was stealing logs and hassling local residents until Relic saved the day at the end in a duel of jet boats.

International broadcasts
The series was syndicated around the world and was shown by ITV in the United Kingdom, SCTV in Indonesia and on PBS (as well as in syndication on commercial stations) in the United States. It has also been shown in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Seychelles, Malaysia, Brunei and Egypt. The West German television station ZDF also broadcast the series, as Strandpiraten ("Beach Pirates").

The show was seen in reruns on Vision TV and the pre-news channel version of Sun TV in Canada as well as the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) in Canada and ALN in the United States.

Media references

 * The show was featured in the 2001 video for Same Thing Twice by The Flashing Lights.
 * The show and its main characters were referenced by some of the characters on a 2007 episode of Corner Gas called "Cable Excess" in a failed attempt at comparing themselves to the show. The character, Brent Leroy, rhetorically asks "You think maybe The Beachcombers was the best Canadian TV show of all time?"
 * The show was referenced in a 2019 episode of The Simpsons called "D'oh Canada".

title: The Beachcombers


text: User talk:68.156.245.36

title: User talk:68.156.245.36


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Argentine Football Association

The Argentine Football Association (Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torneo Regional Federal and Torneo Promocional Amateur), including domestic cups: Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina, Copa de la Liga Profesional, Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional and the Supercopa Internacional. The body also manages all the Argentina national teams, including the Senior, U-20, U-17, U-15, Olympic and women's squads. Secondly, it also organizes the women's, children, youth, futsal, and other local leagues.

The AFA also organised all the Primera División championships from 1893 to 2016–17. From the 2017–18 season the "Superliga Argentina", an entity which was administered independently and had its own statute, took over the Primera División championships. Nevertheless, the Superliga was contractually linked with the main football body. The last championship organised by the Superliga was 2019–20, shortly after the season ended the body was dissolved.

History
The Argentine Association Football League (in English) was founded on 21 February 1893 by Alexander Watson Hutton, considered "the father" of Argentine football. The Argentine Association is the oldest in South America and one of the oldest to be formed outside Europe. In 1906, Florencio Martínez de Hoz became the first Argentine-born president of the association.

In 1912, the president of Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA), Ricardo Aldao, broke up with the association, establishing an own league, the "Federación Argentina de Football" which organized a parallel tournament. Some teams moved to the FAF were Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP), Independiente, Estudiantes (LP) and Atlanta. The league lasted until 1914 when rejoining Asociación Argentina de Football, forming a unique league for the 1915 season.

The second dissident league was formed in 1919 and named "Asociación Amateurs de Football", organizing its own championships (as FAF had done) until 1926 when it merged to the official association. The dissident league included some of the most prominent teams, such as River Plate, Racing, Independiente and San Lorenzo, with the exception of Boca Juniors that remained in the official "Asociación Argentina de Football".

When both leagues merged for the 1927 season, the association was again renamed to "Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football" until the professionalization of the sport in 1931 when it switched to "Liga Argentina de Football". The first round of the recently created professional championship was on 31 May 1931.

Despite football turning professional in Argentina, some clubs wanted to remain amateur, so they formed a new league, the "Asociación de Football Amateur y Profesionales", which organized a parallel tournament until 1934 when the dissident association merged with LAF on 3 November 1934 to form the "Asociación del Football Argentino" which has remained since.

In 2015, during the presidential elections to elect a new president for the body, there were two candidates to occupy Julio Humberto Grondona's chair, Marcelo Tinelli –who wanted a change in how things were going, like eliminating corruption between some clubs and the AFA– and Luis Segura, who had taken charge after Grondona's death, with the intention of extending his mandate.

With 75 presidents of different Argentine clubs voting, on election day something went wrong when the final count resulted in a draw of 38 to 38 (76 votes in total). The explanation given was that one of the electors put a double vote and that mistake was not reported. As a result, the executive committee decided to postpone the election.

After some meetings to put an end to the conflict, both candidates agreed to have another election in June 2016.

In June 2016, AFA president Luis Segura was charged with "aggravated administrative fraud". Segura has been replaced on an interim basis by the AFA's executive secretary, Damián Dupiellet.

In 2017, the association approved the creation of a new entity, named "Superliga Argentina de Fútbol", which would take over the organization of the Primera División championship. The main European football leagues such as the English Premier League or the Spanish La Liga, that are organized by associations dedicated exclusively to those championships and run as separate entities from their respective National Associations, served as inspiration for the creation of the Superliga.

The 2016–17 Primera División championship was the last tournament organized by the AFA. Starting with the 2017–18 season to 2019–20 season, the "Superliga Argentina", an entity administered by itself with its own statute, organised Primera División championships. In March 2020, AFA dissolved the Superliga and took over the Primera División again.

Names
The body has been renamed several times since its establishment in 1893, in most of the cases translating the original English names to Spanish. The list of names is the following:

 * Argentine Association Football League (1893–1903)
 * Argentine Football Association (1903–1912)
 * Asociación Argentina de Football (1912–1927)
 * Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football (1927–1931)
 * Asociación de Football Amateurs y Profesionales (1931–1934)
 * Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (1934–present)

 * Notes

Current staff

 * President: Claudio Tapia
 * Vice-presidents:
 * Jorge Amor Ameal (Boca Juniors)
 * Rodolfo D'Onofrio (River Plate)
 * David Garzón (Huracán)
 * Carlos Montaña (Def. de Belgrano)
 * Guillermo Raed (C.A. Mitre)
 * General Secretary: Víctor Blanco
 * Treasurer: Pablo Toviggino
 * Executive Secretary: Luís M. Chebel
 * Men's senior head coach: Lionel Scaloni
 * Men's U-20 head coach: Javier Mascherano
 * Women's head coach: Carlos Borrello
 * National teams General Director: César Luis Menotti

Official Competitions
The list of official competitions organized by the Argentine Football Association since its creation in 1893 are:

 * Notes

Dissident Competitions
The following table include competitions organized by dissident associations.

 * Notes

Presidents
Official Association

Dissident Associations

 * Notes

title: Argentine Football Association


text: User talk:195.110.139.78

title: User talk:195.110.139.78


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Talk:Liquidity trap

interest rate below 0
Is there any in principle reason why interest rates could not drop below 0, at least for state owned banks? Mark Richards 23:22, 27 May 2004 (UTC)

Well, I think it is inherent in the concept of interest rates. They are "rent" on money, right - someone lends someone else money and receives 'interest' for that service. So negative interest rates would be just like someone throwing money at you to live in their appartment or someone giving you extra money for borrowing their money. However, someone who definitely knows what he's talking about seems to suggest that there is such a thing as negative interest rates. Check out Paul Krugman's article on the Liquidity Trap: [web.mit.edu/krugman/www/trioshrt.html] Cheers, User:Tmstapf

 * Well, intuitively yes, but in reality, lending below the rate of inflation is throwing money away (forget for the moment that we are talking about an example where inflation is also zero). You break even on lending if you lend at the rate of inflation, anything above that is profit, below it is loss. Governments frequently lend at rates below what they could get at market in order to increase the availability of capital in the market, to stimulate growth - they incur a loss against what they could in theory 'rent' the money for in return for political gain of stimulating the economy. I don't see why they could not, as inflation approaches zero, and if interest rates were also zero, lend at below that for the same reason. I agree that the scenario is unlikely. Mark Richards 05:51, 29 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Sure I agree that governments often lend/spend for the political gain rather than the profit (political gain is so to say government's profit). But still I cannot see a negative interest rate making sense. If I borrowed $5 from you today, promising to give it back to you in a year at -10% interest I would need to give you back only $4.50 at the end of the year. So in effect you would pay me to take your money. And even though governments are sometimes desperate to gather political support I don't think they would need to do this, because people are going to be happy to take their money already at 0% interest rate.

 * Your assumption is that the inflation rate is 0%. This is why it appears that the real interest rate can't be negative.
 * Let's bring inflation into it. Let's say you lend me $100 with a nominal interest rate of 10%.  Now, let's say (for the sake of this discussion) that the real inflation rate is also 10%.  In one year, then you would need $110 in value to equal the value that you have in the $100 today.  Thus, the real interest rate of the loan that you gave me would be 0%.  That is, you would have $110 in one year, but that $110 at the end of that year is worth the same as the $100 that you have now.  You would not have a net gain.
 * Now, let's say that you charge me only 5% nominal interest, with an inflation rate of 10%. In 1 year, you will get back $105, which is worth less than the $100 that you have now (remember, you need at least $110 to match the value that you have now).  You have, in effect, "paid" me the other $5 because I got the value out of that money immediately, before the interest rate affected it.
 * This is why it is possible to have a negative real interest rate. The nominal rate can't go below 0%, but if the inflation rate is higher than the nominal rate, then the real rate is negative.  The key here is understanding the distinction between the nominal and real rate.--76.104.90.6 03:24, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Wouldn't it just end up being a partital grant? There are many examples of govts giving grants, subsidies and tax breaks along with loans to encourage business to one thing or another. I guess this is the practical manifestation of negative interest rates. Mark Richards 15:50, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * There is a very good reason why interest levels cannot drop below zero. If the central bank decided to do so it would mean offering money that din't already exist. So it would need to increase M1. But such an increase would merely correspond to what Krugman already suggested. Hence it is useless to discuss interest levels below zero because that simply means increasing the amount of money. Also, if the interest is 0 demand will be explosive which means that the central bank would have to impose direct quantative restrictions on M1 rather than using the interest rate to clear the money market. This would effectively disrupt the money market and result in adverse effect on the goods market and in turn labor market. This is why central banks prefer to use the interest rate. One notable exception is if the central bank is following a fixed exchange rate rule. In such a case the central bank cannot set the interest by itself but needs, roughly speaking, to accept it as given. In this case the central bank does indeed regulate M1 directly but in this case interest levels below or at 0 would imply other problems beyond the scope of this article. MartinDK 13:37, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

 * That's not true. REAL interest rates can go below 0%. It is only the nominal interest rate that cannot go below 0%.  The REAL rate is the nominal rate corrected for inflation.  As stated above, if the inflation rate is higher than the nominal rate, then real interest is negative.--76.104.90.6 03:26, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Batman picture
In case anyone objects to the picture based on the quality or how well it illustrates Friedman's views, the scene in question is on YouTube. This is where I got my screen shot due to limited technical capabilities, but if anyone can get a better shot (other moments I would have rather used were too pixelated to see) feel free to do so. Paliku (talk) 22:41, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

The picture is almost nonsensical. It's hard to tell what it depicts, and what it depicts is a scene from a 1989 fantasy movie that has nothing to do with economics or Friedman. Also, it does not "illustrate Friedman's views," unless one thinks that Friedman advocated free money raining down from Government sources (he did not). This is trolling, and bad trolling at that. Take your editorial elsewhere. 209.193.36.155 (talk) 00:36, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

 * Are you sure the sentence about trolling wasn't a self-reference? I can't help wondering if the anon who left the comment even read the section in question, let alone its description about bypassing the bank. But yes, the part about it being hard to see is why I posted here... Civil comments are welcome if you'd care to have an actual discussion. Paliku (talk) 04:22, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Austrian Critique?
Is there a reason every article on economics has to have an "austrian" view covered? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.131.62.113 (talk) 00:41, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't know if I can answer that, but it's been a matter of much discussion: here, here, here, and here besides in individual article talk pages. C RETOG 8(t/c) 01:26, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I think it's a good question. The Austrian school is a fringe view that seems to be given unequal weight in most places. Maracle (talk) 23:17, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * The validity of any discipline claiming to be a science is demonstrated by its ability to predict. Have the various "Austrian School" economists been correct in their predictions of what would happen if certain economic policies were enacted by the officers of civil government, or not?  Recent events have given (and will continue to give) cause to state that they have. The fact that most of these economists are profoundly hateful of Mencken's "Malevolent Jobholders" (Murray Rothbard's famous quote: "Hatred is my muse") says nothing more than that they are hostile - with good cause - toward the career politicians and bureaucrats who are served by such policies.  (See also public choice theory.)  The Austrians' consistent argument is merely that "public servants" make decisions that dispose of their polities' wealth for reasons at best tangential to - and too commonly diametrically opposed to - the real welfare of the people they're supposed to be "serving." For this very good reason, the Austrians argue that society in general and individual citizens in particular are better off when government action in the marketplace is sharply limited to the preservation of the classic negative rights of the individual (to life, to liberty, and to property), and are not undertaken to force politically "sweet" but economically nonviable outcomes on the population.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.125.131.24 (talk) 07:18, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

I don't think that there is a problem with having the "Austrian School" view on the issue. But there is the problem of what the "Austrian School" view is. This material seems to be "Rothbardian" Austrian School material. And the "Rothbardians" are but one of several groups within the Austrian School and are generally considered to be the most radical in their views. --Nogburt (talk) 01:31, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

I don't mind having austrian views present as long as we follow up by posting why they are known to be wrong. For example, the Austrian view is that Ronald Reagan or George Bush would have a higher growth rate than FDR. You can see how well that turned out here: https://dddb4a4a-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/thecakeparty3/home/GDP-LogoForWeb.gif
 * Please excuse the interruption. I don't know how reliable your chart is but to imply that under Reagan or GW Bush the American economy operated on Austrian-school economic principles is a real knee slapper! What if it is the case that the stimuli of Democratic administrations pumps up the GDP in the near term and the inflation doesn't do its dirty work until the perps are out of office? What if both the good and evil that men do lives after them? I think Mr. Krugman, for one, would claim that GW Bush is responsible for our poor economic performance under Obama and by the same logic, Eisenhower would be responsible for JFKs success, all of which goes to demonstrate the lure of the post hoc fallacy and the absurdity of such meaningless macroeconomic "proofs." It's clear that the readily and repeatably observable principles of goal-directed human action provide a sounder scientific basis for predicting the results of proposed economic policies. As for being 'fringe', there's no percentage in proving to the government agencies that hire economists that they should shut down and go home, and speaking that kind of truth to power, no matter what the subject matter, is guaranteed to get you nudged out of the "mainstream" very quickly. Just thought I would clear that up. —Blanchette (talk) 07:53, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

But anyway, Reading this particular article makes me feel like the entire world has gone insane. Is there not an economist we can quote that will say that Liquidity trap is not just something that happens every once in a while for no known reason and is instead the inevitable, only possible result of shifting money that would have been aimed at consumption to be aimed at capital after you pass a certain point? Surely someone has made the obvious point that capital is fighting over return, which in turn comes from consumer dollars. If too large a fraction of the revenue dollars fall outside the radius of consumption, then required capital investment approaches zero (from a required production capacity standpoint) while dollars that are aimed at financing capital investment increase past all normal limits which is practically the definition of interest rates heading to zero. Apparently even the liberals are not able to communicate that clearly, and it is profoundly disturbing that even some people who understand the problem with supply-side economics still favor supply-side stimulus in a low interest rate situation.70.113.72.73 (talk) 09:28, 30 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Hello again. That's a very nice Austrian-style piece of reasoning in your second paragraph where you argue on observable principles (of goal directed action) that capital is fighting over return, and so forth. I can't say if you have left out any vital factors, like the real source of all those dollars aimed at capital investment, but you make an excellent point and finding a RS for that view would help the article. —Blanchette (talk) 07:53, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

The austrian comment looks like self publicity by the book's author — Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.228.106.149 (talk) 08:34, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Section entitled "Macroeconomic dynamic" in need of an expert
The section "Macroeconomic dynamic" is gibberish for non-experts. What is "the money demand function Pr"? Is there one money demand function, which is called "Pr", or are there several money demand functions, among which this section is discussing the one that happens to be named "Pr"? What is the parameter/argument/independent variable of which it is a function? If the workers of the world unite and demand more money, does the money demand function increase? What does "the output Y" represent? GDP? Beer production per annum? And what do R, Ry and Py stand for? Finally, what is "the IS curve"? Enquiring non-experts demand to know. --Lambiam 09:56, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Third paragraph of intro
The first two paragraphs provide a pretty good summary of the meaning of liquidity trap. The third paragraph, a two sentences sentence, is just sort of hanging out there, and doesn't (to me) make a lot of sense. It reads:

The liquidity trap theory applies to monetary policy in non-inflationary depressions. The theory does not apply to fiscal policies that may be able to stimulate the economy.[citation needed]

First sentence may be true, but isn't terribly meaningful without additional explanation. Second sentence seems pointless. There are all sorts of things that the theory doesn't apply to.

I'd just delete both, but before I do, wanted to make sure that these don't have some special meaning for one of the regular editors. --66.28.243.126 (talk) 03:34, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

'The monetary authority must act covertly to give gift money to specific individuals or firms without appearing to give money away.'
Is this really an accurate representation of the predicament of a government stricken with democracy, or else is the above sentence written by a believer of conspiracy theories? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shane.Halloran (talk • contribs) 19:56, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

The edit at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liquidity_trap&curid=683586&diff=296770653&oldid=296608056 of this page contains weasel words. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shane.Halloran (talk • contribs) 18:32, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

did we really want to delete half the article?
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liquidity_trap&diff=prev&oldid=318347239 i'm not going to be bold and revert this one, though. Gzuckier (talk) 01:27, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

A civilian--an intelligent, well-read citizen with no training in economics--cannot enter into this article. There's a thorny barrier of jargon that prevents passage. No wonder the article rates a "C" for writing. Can someone please give an overview in plain language? 97.115.103.109 (talk) 06:19, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, the article does contain a ton of jargon and it also lacks references. But as a student of economics, I must attest for its significant increase in accuracy since that massive edit. Please, nobody revert the article back to its old state. As per 97.115.103.109, less jargon ridden text would be way better. --Dwarnr (talk) 23:16, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Helicopter Drop
Why does "helicopter drop" redirect here when it's not even mentioned? Did that part of the article get deleted? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.183.171.30 (talk) 20:28, 12 July 2011 (UTC)
 * A big chunk of the article that lacked citations for Austrian criticisms was gutted out of the article in March of 2009. That part included the "helicopter drop" reference. While I'm sympathetic to the Austrian view, I think the edit was justified. Without sources, that section had to go. -- SpareSimian (talk) 16:24, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Naming
Should be called 'Low interest or Zero rate trap'. ??--70.240.151.123 (talk) 22:14, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

 * The 'Liquidity Trap' is a different concept from the 'Zero Lower Bound', which I believe is what the previous user may be referring to.
 * There seems to be no article yet on the concept of 'Zero Lower Bound'. I strongly suggest that we do not mix this concept into the present article until it achieves a higher quality.--Jergas9 (talk) 21:39, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

Introduction
The introductory paragraph has as its second and last sentence: "Liquidity traps typically occur when expectations of adverse events (e.g., deflation, insufficient aggregate demand, or civil or international war) make persons with liquid assets unwilling to invest."

What is the source for that statement? It doesn't make sense to me.

Now, I am not an economist, merely a retired engineer and an amateur actor. But figuratively walking a mile in the moccasins of a "person with liquid assets," I would not be deterred by mere expectation, considering the uncertainties inherent in any new investment. Absolutely the only thing that would make me "unwilling to invest" would be the absence of any opportunity for investment that might furnish a rate of return in excess of the cost of capital.

I would not object if the sentence said "Liquidity traps typically occur when the virtual absence of investment opportunities that offer a rate of return greater than the cost of capital makes persons with liquid assets unwilling to invest." I have no authority for that statement either, but it seems more plausible to me than the one in the article.

However, my only legitimate objection to that sentence is that there's no citation to support it. Marty39 (talk) 00:28, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
 * in our case Bernanke doesn't think he can raise due to people with mortgages stuck in those low rates. What happens if you raise them.  They foreclose.  It's a trap.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.240.151.123 (talk) 09:56, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

 * I concurr with Marty39 in that the two last sentences of the introduction are not entirely appropiate. Moreover, I believe that the very first sentence should be slightly modified as well.--Jergas9 (talk) 22:04, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

self-perpetuating?
In the case of a liquidity trap is there an expectation that the absence of investment caused by an expectation of adverse events can in fact cause (or perpetuate) the adverse event itself? For example, if banks stop lending money because they're worried about the possibility of a recession, then that in itself could cause a recession. Similarly, if they continue to not lend, again because of worries about the economy, then that can perpetuate the recession? I was under the impression that it was this aspect of things that made it a "trap" - if this is the case then I don't think that this is reflected in the article. --Kick the cat (talk) 13:32, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

 * The 'Liquidity Trap' is a relatively old concept. Most people would agree that its father is John Maynard Keynes. At that time, expectations were just beginning to be formalized in economics. So the 'Liquidity Trap' typically refers only to the (almost) infinite slope of the demand for money in the (amount of money, nominal interest rate) plane [money on the horizontal axis, interest rate on the vertical axis], and not (necessarily) to expectations.--Jergas9 (talk) 21:49, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
Prior content in this article duplicated one or more previously published sources. The material was copied from: A dictionary of economics by John Black, Nigar Hashimzade, Gareth D. Myles, Oxford University Press p. 265. Infringing material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a compatible license. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.) For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or published material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use copyrighted publications as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. Voceditenore (talk) 13:54, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

Criticisms - Austrian viewpoint
In the Criticisms section, it currently states: "Austrian School economists generally argue that a lack of investment during periods of low interest rates are the result of malinvestment and time preference instead of liquidity preference."

Do they argue it's a result of low or high time preference? Or neither? I'm not too familiar with this, so I don't personally know the answer to clarify it in the article. Anyone care to expand on this? Thanks. Error9900 (talk) 18:52, 15 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Here's the idea--If there's a lot of malinvestment that hasn't just happened (there's been enough time for it to not pan out and for the bubble to burst), then the economy is probably in a slump, which will discourage people from investing. Also, with respect to the time preference thing, if people aren't doing a lot of investing, then that's also probably partially the result of people preferring consumption now to more consumption in the future at the cost of forgoing consumption now. Byelf2007 (talk) 18 March 2012

Interpretations section
I had previously removed the content that has now been added to the "Interpretations" section. I don't have have access to FT article, but I looked at the other sources used in this section, and I don't think they are relevant here. Only one of the sources (Sumner) directly mentions liquidity traps. Most of the sources are focused on quantitative easing, which is a potential policy response to liquidity traps, but that relationship isn't made clear here and generally isn't discussed in the referenced sources. The "Democracy Now" source is clearly misused because Stiglitz never mentions liquidity traps while the text suggests he explicitly discusses them.

I think this section is extremely confusing to readers looking for an explanation of liquidity traps. Readers might be led to believe that liquidity traps are synonymous with quantitative easing. Generally the section is a confusion of quantitative easing, liquidity, and currency wars without reference to anything directly related to liquidity traps or "Interpreting" them. I am removing it again and hoping it stays removed.--Bkwillwm (talk) 21:28, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Dennis Robertson (1926)
"Liquidity trap" was first introduced by Dennis Robertson in 1926 (and not by Keynes, it's annoying !).

Richard Koo critique
Is it worth including Koo's critique here? He seem's to be having an increasing influence in the theory associated with this in the context of the current economic crisis. Bradqwood (talk) 20:01, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Random asterisk with no associated note.
>In its original conception, a liquidity trap refers to the phenomenon when increased money supply fails to lower(*) interest rates.

Seriously, what the f#$@ is this even referring to? An asterisk would normally denote a note or NB, but nothing of the sort is provided! I'm removing it for now since it's redundant. -Matt (JVz) (talk) 00:26, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

Where's the part about the trap?
The Trap is that the BANKS are holding onto cash and not lending because of their own Liquidity Preference yet the Fed cannot raise rates due to inflation fears.

Simply put, loan rates are tied to the Fed rate. The banks have been hording cash because interest rates are so low they aren't willing to loan at the low rates. That's called their Liquidity Preference, they prefer cash to the nominal interest they might earn by loaning money. They are waiting until interest rates rise. All this cash ($4T from QE1/QE2/QE3) never made it to the economy, it is sitting in bank vaults. If the Fed were to raise rates, even a little, that money would start flowing, madly, out of the banks and into the economy. When all that cash hits the economy, it will cause inflation, not just a little inflation but possibly hyper-inflation. Most economists think a rise of 25 basis points (0.25%) would be enough to start the gushing. That's the trap. Even a small rise in rates could cause hyper-inflation.

The Central Bank has caused this problem and they can't get out. They normally pull excess money out of the economy by raising rates but in this case there is too much money yet they can't raise rates - they are trapped. The Fed understands all this but most Americans do not.

There is nothing in the article about the trap? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joenitwit (talk • contribs) 14:59, 23 September 2015 (UTC)

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Removed incorrect claim about M1 spike in 2020
There was a claim in the section on 2020 which claimed that M1 increased from $4 trillion to $20 trillion as a result of monetary stimulus. While quantitative easing did occur, about $11.5 trillion of this increase was the result of a change to the definition of M1 in May 2020. Possibly this section could be reworked to incorporate evidence from M2 or a measure of M1 that corrects for the redefinition, but as it is, it's simply wrong and doesn't belong here. The actual increase in M1 was about 33%, not 400%. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BergerCode (talk • contribs) 02:30, 10 June 2023 (UTC)

End of the 'Historical Debate' section
There's this sentence: "Keynesian economists, like Brad DeLong and Simon Wren-Lewis, maintain that the economy continues to operate within the IS-LM model, albeit an 'updated' one, and the rules have 'simply changed.'"

One problem is that the two economists referenced come from a prior revision, and the material that was specific to those two is now gone.

The other problem here is that when you go to the cited articles, they're misquotes. I'm not expert enough to state what's intended here. Something about IS-LM not being applied consistently. But the overall effect, as it is now, is to try to discredit an argument that's not even presented. I'm going to take it out, even though I wish I knew more so I could save those two citations. Maybe somebody knows how to fix it properly. Kyle Cronan (talk) 21:33, 21 June 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Liquidity trap