Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in katiecat's InsaneJournal:

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Sunday, November 6th, 2011
11:29 am	research THE RESEARCH PROCESS Anatomy of a Term Paper Assignment: Conduct the research for a term paper. Do everything except write it. At various stages, students submit such term paper services: 1) a clearly defined topic, 2) an annotated bibliography of useful sources, 3) an outline of paper, 4) a thesis statement, 5) an opening paragraph and summary. Purpose: Focuses on stages of research and the parts of a paper, rather than on the writing of it. SCHOLARLY VS. POPULAR INFORMATION RESOURCES Research a News Item Assignment: Find an article in a popular magazine, such as Time, Newsweek, Psychology Today, or Life, which references an original research study. (Look for a phrase such as, “According to a study….”) Then locate the original research or the actual study in a scholarly journal. Compare the authorship, content, format, and the conclusions of the two articles. Purpose: Highlights the distinctions between popular and scholarly sources, and between primary and secondary sources. Helps students understand differences in audience and in authority of sources. (Comment on this)
11:29 am	print out a hard PROOFREADING GUIDELINES essay proofreading services are about catching grammar and mechanical errors you KNOW are errors. The most important requirement for successful proofreading is TIME. If you rush through proofreading, you will miss errors. If you miss errors, your grade will be lower than it would have been had you proofread. When working on your assignment, plan to finish working on its content before you proofread print it out before you proofread set it aside for a couple hours before you proofread proofread it at least twice. When using a word processor, use the spell-checker, but remember that it won’t catch all misspellings (like from/form, two and to, their and there). Grammar checkers are also limited. It’s good to give your essay to someone else to proofread for typos, but YOU need to proofread it too. The trick to proofreading is to slow down the transfer between your eyes and your brain, so that what you read is actually what is on the page, not what you WANT to be on the page. To proofread successfully, use the strategies below: Be aware of what grammar and mechanical errors you are prone to making: run-on sentences, typos, fragments, etc. Know that you should check extra carefully for those errors. After you finish all revision and editing (in other words, when your assignment is complete except for proofreading), print out a hard (paper) copy of your essay (proofreading on the computer screen is not as effective). Print the draft in a different font from the one you have been using so the words will LOOK NEW to your brain. Cover up all but the line you are reading with a blank piece of paper in order to slow yourself down. Read the work out loud with a pencil in your hand and mark errors. Read the draft backwards at both the word level (to catch spelling errors) and the sentence level (to catch grammatical errors). Lightly mark sentences that you’re unsure of. Ask me about them in class before you turn in the essay. (Comment on this)
11:28 am	information such How to write a professional resume A well-written resume should summarise your qualifications, skills and qualities and help you get a job interview. Tailor your resume to the job. Create different resumes for jobs that are academic, casual, graduate, postgraduate, voluntary, vacation, industry-based learning or in the creative industry. What to include Personal details First and last names Current address (and postal address if different) Home and mobile phone numbers (recorded messages should be business-like) Email address (avoid using unprofessional email addresses) Citizenship or residency status (only if requested by the employer) Don't include personal information such as your date of birth. Education Course dates (eg 2009 - current) Full course name Educational institute Subjects that are relevant to the job (use no more than 3) Achievements and awards (Comment on this)
11:27 am	Admissions how Resume To complete your application for transfer admission, you must submit a resume that shows information about your previous five years of academic, extracurricular, community and work activities and your honors and awards – including your high school accomplishments if they fall within the last five years. The people who will be making your admission decision are looking for information that demonstrates how applicants will fit in among the students who are already enrolled at UT Austin. They’re looking for students who are involved in their communities – their neighborhoods, their towns, their churches, their colleges, universities, and high schools. Your resume is your opportunity to show the Office of Admissions how you’ve made your mark on the world so far – and how you’ll be ready to hit the ground running when you enroll at UT Austin. After you write your resume you'll necessarily need to deal with your resume proofreading. (Comment on this)
11:26 am	for the job Your résumé is your chance to display your qualifications, skills, and ambitions. It is a record of your goals and successes, and a way of communicating your capabilities to a potential employer. The résumé conveys to others what you already know, namely that you are a competent, distinctive, and enthusiastic candidate for the position. Even so, because most employers receive heaps of applications for every open position, your résumé has to do more than showcase your credentials. In order to be effective, your résumé must do the following: Show that you are qualified for the job Incorporate keywords and terminology from the field Highlight your strengths even if the reader only has time to skim it Offer details about your experience to a reader who is looking for them Present the strongest possible version or image of you This handout can help you write résumés that accomplish all of these things. Remember, however, that every job (and therefore, every résumé) form best resume writers is unique, so be thoughtful about how you incorporate the suggestions it offers. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
3:52 pm	The Annual Register The attack on Gordon came perhaps because he was an enemy of John Hancock. As treasurer of Harvard, Hancock was reluctant to account for his use of its funds, and Gordon had been baying at his heels. Gordon's friends stuck by him and declared him without blame as he left for England in the spring of 1786. In England he had as much trouble as Ramsay: it was said that he was too friendly to Americans and made libelous statements about the English. Several clergymen revised the manuscript by cutting out much of his source material and copying in large chunks of the Annual Register. In 1788 the work appeared as The History of the Rise, Progress and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America. An American edition appeared the next year. The History is in the form of "letters." The effort is made to give them the appearance of being contemporary with the events they describe. For long, the History was regarded as an authoritative source, as were the works of David Ramsay, although a modern scholar says that both are worthless because of plagiarism from the Annual Register. That cv writing service should guide you receive excellent job overnight (3 Comments |Comment on this)
3:52 pm	inelegance of style Gordon had no money to publish, so he sold advance subscriptions and finally decided to publish in England. Soon he was attacked in the newspapers. One "Jonathan Lumberwit" was said to have established an insurance office where subscribers, for a ninety-eight per cent premium, would be guaranteed the book or their money in forty years. But the "underwriters" refused to be liable for damages "arising from the history being disgusting to the Americans, abusive to particular characters, from inelegance of style, or want of taste in the author." Soon it was reported that Gordon had cut out passages favorable to the United States. Others argued that while he had been "squibbed, roasted, and basted on all sides," much that had been said against his history was untrue. However, he should have told people that he intended to publish in England. No one could blame him for wanting to make a fortune but in any other than the parson's profession the proposal would be "called by some a species of knavery. . . ." He had been a "most furious and flaming whig" and it had been known for years that he would be partial to one side or another. At any rate let him go to his native land in peace, and those who choose to, have the right to send their money with him. Everybody should try resume writing service to have a job of their abilities (4 Comments |Comment on this)
3:51 pm	"some things probably, will never be known" When the war was over Gordon once more asked Washington's permission and once more Washington told him that no historian could write a "perfect history of the Revolution" if he did not have access to all the sources, and even then that "some things probably, will never be known." Congress soon agreed that Gordon could use any of its papers that were not secret, and also any papers that Washington thought could be "submitted to the eye of the public." Armed with the confidence of Congress and Washington's permission, Gordon spent part of the summer of 1784 at Mount Vernon. He got "to Gen. Washington's by breakfast on June 2; when he had read the resolve of Congress he told me that he would make no reserve and keep no papers back, but should trust to my prudence for the proper use of them." Gordon went to work with a will, rising at daylight and continuing until far into the evening. He stopped only for meals and refused all invitations, which must have been difficult for the gregarious parson. By 19 June he had finished searching and "extracting" thirty-three volumes of copied letters and many bundles of private letters. He had labored hard but he said, "my gain of knowledge will amply compensate." Even at that, when he got back home he found that one of his notes was incomplete and Washington cheerfully obliged by checking it for him. Individuals in search of professional essay writing services have a wide choice! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 19th, 2009
10:15 am	Taking the Reins of a Career Not always forethoughtful about their career direction, women later become aware of influences that have moved them one way or another. While the work itself is engrossing, an awareness of its meaning in relation to organizational structure gradually unfolds. Women who are untutored in the plotting of a career are also unaccustomed to the informal communication that can shape direction and opportunity. At first, others in the organization might be doing the engineering for them. Women whose careers were unanticipated began with a focus on the work itself and later attended to corporate climate and structure. In retrospective reflection they realize that forces aside from their performance propelled them on their paths without their full awareness. Other woman observations about covert planning by others are echoed by Rebecca, a contemporary whose technical training prepared her for a more straight-line path to her current position as systems supervisor in transportation. Content with her direction to date, woman wants to become more actively instrumental in her career path. Women are still in the process of discovery. The first discovery is that they can work effectively in the corporate world. Once the newness of professional employment in business has worn off and they are established in relation to the job itself, they learn that they are entitled to plan a career path that stretches beyond the task at hand. Making this cognitive leap takes time and experience, which includes interaction with others who prompt and stimulate it. Some women, for example, are encouraged to enter a dialogue with a superior, exploring possibilities for career direction. At forty-three, woman recognizes that both her frustration and selfblame reflect a female stereotyping by society that became a part of her. research writing services - buy original research paper prepared from scratch by trusted writers! Her superior's help strikes a disingenuous chord because exposure to choices is insufficient as long as she lacks information about them, about the larger organizational structure, and, more importantly, about herself in relation to them. The choices are foreign to her; they can become meaningful when she is able to see some degree of fit between what they offer and the person she has become. Woman, like other accidental careerists, is in the process of revised selfperception simultaneous to her negotiation of a career. Social ideology about women has been dramatically altered in the course of her development, and she finds herself with one foot in each camp. Though her behavior is in line with the new female image, her attitudes about self and life direction lag behind. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
10:15 am	The Development of Career In the absence of active and conscious planning, how do the women interviewed develop careers? Several of them describe a path that evolved through experience. Their successful performance at a particular job gave them access to other jobs and functions wherein they repeatedly proved their capabilities to themselves and to others. custom written essay papers of sufficient quality is rare. Order original service, essay and paper writing, at this site! Increased opportunities followed successful experience. Based on what she has found useful, a thirty-one-year-old sales representative for a large, diversified corporation, advises other women: The key is to get into the organization. And then do a good job. Learn as much as you can. . . . Go in with an open mind. Be selective in the information that you give out. Sell yourself. And get that first job and then work like crazy. Do the best you can. Then, from there, select what you want from within that company. If you've already demonstrated that you're good and you have a track record, you are going to get that opportunity. Woman’s advice is reminiscent of woman: I believe that if an opportunity comes along you take it, take your chances. Otherwise, you get stagnant. These remarks, which come from women who worked their way up from secretarial beginnings, represent a mixture of messages. On the one hand, women appear to be passive with regard to opportunity, taking it if and when it comes along. On the other, they also talk of making and choosing chances, putting themselves forward and taking risks. Given the history of female exclusion from the corporate world, an incontrovertible first step is, as Bonnie suggests, securing a toehold in the organization. Beginning with a gender-linked uncertainty about their position that transcends ordinary newcomer status, women must ascertain standing before plotting strategy. They do this by proving themselves through diligent and consistent achievement. Initially, the amount of energy devoted to proving themselves precludes simultaneous strategizing. In lieu of advance decision making, the pattern of women's experiences maps their careers. It is possible that these women's abilities were impressive enough to preclude their having to plan deliberate directions. Immersed in work and moving rapidly from one position to another, they view their paths in retrospect, and then their careers seem to have happened almost without their deliberation. Professional written term paper are ready to help you with essay writing; qualitative services! These observations speak to more than women's lack of career planning. They could describe what psychologists have called an external locus of control, a tendency to attribute successes to factors external to oneself and to assume the blame for failures. An external locus of control had been found to be disproportionately distributed among women and minorities, although this is less so when the status and, therefore, the power of these groups are enhanced. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
10:14 am	Job versus Career Though the distinctions between job and career are several, central to them is a significantly different way of thinking about and approaching work. Given that many of these women did not anticipate working for the long haul, it is not surprising to find them stumbling into jobs without considering careers. If you are looking for custom written essay papers, get original custom paper writing service online! Although an intrinsically female passivity might account for the absence of planning, it is just as likely that social context could prevent or promote an instrumental work orientation. Thirty-five-year-old woman attributes her psychological transition from job to career to the context of her employment. In addition, her coming of age in the early seventies was surrounded by a societal shift in consciousness about women's life paths. Knowing that one is pursuing a career seems requisite to planning its course. There are many reasons why these women were not imbued with a sense of career planning. Some did not expect to work, never mind have a career. For many, entry in business was almost a random event. Early work in social service or other nonprofit organizations may have led to a business choice in contrast. A woman's employment path might also be shaped by other circumstances in her life. One woman, for example, found jobs where her husband's work took them. As long as her work was secondary to his and her jobs transient, she could not entertain career prospects. Only when able to settle into a position could she perceive career possibilities. The psychological shift in her perception comes in the context of opportunity offered by a s, continuing position. It is not that females eschew career planning; it just comes as a surprise to them. The life path of many of these women took an unexpected turn for which no preparation was provided. An altered societal context that allowed women more career opportunity was still not structured for their direction; both the individuals and the institutions lack provision. Untutored and inexperienced, women grope for a map that has yet to be drawn and that they must then learn how to read. Devoid of clues, this woman's search bespeaks not psychological antipathy to career strategy but rather the tabula rasa that both she and the organization face. Even when business was a first and uninterrupted toehold, few interviewees had formal training preceding employment. research paper writing services - purchase customized research paper draft from scratch by professional writers! Instruction in the form and content of business is likely to include strategies for analyzing and planning the development of a career. Technical expertise represents, therefore, only partial preparation for corporate employment. Knowing how to plan and implement a career path may be equally important. Women who lack such knowledge sometimes assume that men do not. Although females' shortcomings in mapping career strategy have been amply described, there is little documentation that most men naturally do this and are effective at it, as commonly assumed. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
10:13 am	Career Planning among Women A dearth of career planning among women has been alternately attributed to nature and nurture. On the one hand, psychological traits assumed to be characteristic of females--for example, passivity and a primary concern with interpersonal connection--have allegedly stood in the way of the assertive, instrumental, apersonal behavior needed for the setting of a career strategy. On the other hand, sex role socialization has been called to task as responsible for women's lack of career preparation. Unambiguous examples of that socialization were seen above in the gender-directed advice given by 1960s high school guidance counselors. Even now, with an ever-increasing majority of women, married or single, working, females continue to be seen as having a choice about work that men do not have. It is not difficult to Edit my essay with the help of qualified paper editors! Make your essay the best! If this is the case, an ambivalence could interfere with both the individual woman's career planning and corporate acceptance of women as a permanent part of the professional picture. Women have been more work-oriented than traditional ideology has allowed. Even prior to the current women's movement, some were determined to enter the male-dominated business world. In the 1960s few mechanisms were in place to prepare women for business careers. Graduating from high school in the late sixties, Marie saw opportunity in business, particularly for women, and she pursued relevant academic preparation. With a liberal arts background and a somewhat more specialized, but not business, graduate degree. The psychological development of these women does not conform to the social influences of their time. Ideology rarely subsumes everyone, and individual variation in relief can anticipate more collective change. Prior to large-scale change, however, the structures and practices that would teach women about career were absent. That they could even have business aspirations at that time belies female passivity regardless of their ability to take the next step of planning. Women's thinking about business careers was truncated not by their unsui natures but rather by the absence of societal guideposts for females to take such a path. If the question is to work or not to work, it is clear now that women can anticipate spending much of their adult lives employed. Perhaps they have less of a choice about work than they do about career. It makes sense, however, that if women must plan to be self-supporting, a career, as opposed to a job, would be the preferred route. Although the women interviewed may have been tentative in their initial employment explorations, they developed the ambition that transforms a job into a career relatively quickly. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
3:07 pm	Monopoly capitalism (organizational theory) This article considers the relation between monopoly capitalism and recent hypotheses about long-term changes in skills, as a crucial factor in the production process and employment relationships. The theorist who has been most influential in analysing monopoly capitalism in relation to the labour process is Braverman. His ideas have been discussed in earlier chapters, but essentially he selectively developed certain ideas from Marx on the detailed division of labour and mechanisation in order to identify a dynamic of deskilling as the underlying force governing all forms of work in capitalism. During the phase of monopoly capitalism, this dynamic is based on Taylorism and automation and these processes lead to the decisive transition from formal to real subordination of labour (i.e. a qualitative shift in capitalist control) which did not occur within earlier phases of capitalism. Experienced professional resume writer: we hire great writers! Get your resume edited by professional resume writers! We are online 24/7! Five years after Braverman, Edwards attempted to develop a broader perspective by bringing together the sociological literature and the recent work of labour economists such as Doeringer and Piore. Despite Edwards's indebtedness to Braverman, there are clear inconsistencies between the interpretation of monopoly capitalism in Edwards's Contested Terrain and Braverman's analysis. Firstly, Taylorism is primary to Braverman's argument because of its role in under-mining craft control. But for Edwards, Taylorism and systematic management have a secondary significance. Instead the lessons of Taylorism are incorporated within a model of work organisation which Edwards terms 'bureaucratic control'. Braverman insists on rejecting the concept of bureaucratisation for fear of losing sight of Marxist fundamentals and of class antagonisms by making use of Weberian concepts. Associated with this fundamental difference in relation to managerial strategy are conflicting views in relation to skill trends. For Braverman there is an overall trend of deskilling based on the logic of Taylorism and the implicit design principles embedded within modern machinery and automation. In contrast, Edwards points to a complex process in relation to skill levels and argues that bureaucratic control is not necessarily associated with a mass of unskilled labour: It seems clear that deskilling has occurred in the traditional craft trades, including the machinists' tradition out of which Braverman himself came. It also seems correct to emphasise the tendency for capitalists to replace high-skill (or more precisely high-wage) labor with low-skill (low-wage) labor whenever possible. Nonetheless, the development of both the forces and relations of production continually throw up new products, new technologies and a demand for re-skilled, especially educated labor as well as deskilled labor. Thus accumulation must be seen as simultaneously deskilling and re-skilling the labor force. Rather than the simple, one-way process that Braverman describes, we must recognize this more complicated, two-way movement. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
11:20 am	The Impact of the Production of Precious Metals The impact of the production of precious metals in the central areas as well as the trade that linked the indigenous economies with international markets meant that interregional and intraregional integration was not as strong as conceived by traditional historiography. Furthermore, the increase in the production of precious metals during the second half of the eighteenth century may not have been as great as traditionally believed. The scholar J. H. Coatsworth has noted that the growth in this sector began not at the end of the century but at the beginning of the 1720s. Reducing the total of the mint according to the price index, he discovered that the mining industry was faced with serious problems at the end of the colonial period to the point of falling revenues. The production of a kilogram of silver was more expensive at the end than at the beginning of the eighteenth century owing to increases in the cost of production (deepening of the mine shafts, the need for greater investment, the rise in the cost of money) at the same time as the value of silver in international markets dropped. Thus the mining industry survived in the second half of the eighteenth century largely because the Crown agreed to favor it with tax exemptions while maintaining control over the prices of such vital products as gunpowder, cereals, and mercury. Traditionally it has been emphasized that growth in the mining industry was favored by the Crown's protectionist measures that drove the economic recovery and intensified the integration in spatial terms of the northern areas of the colony. Nevertheless regional analysis makes it clear that without taking away the importance of silver production, the reality was rather more complex. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:19 am	Export Trade in Spain Commercial pressure groups in Spain (notably the Consulates of Cádiz and Seville) tried to control the benefits of export trade from the American colonies in every way, with diverse results. For example, the Real Compañia de Filipinas (The Royal Philippine Company) was created in 1785 to connect the port of Manila directly with that of Cádiz and thereby eliminate both the Manila Galleon (which linked Manila to Acapulco) and the traditional control over this traffic exercised by the colonial merchants. Arguments soon erupted between the suppliers based in the Mexican Consulate and the Andalucian shipowners. As regards intraregional flow, the growth that might have been expected never fully materialized. True, there was demographic expansion, urban concentration, and development in the mining sector. Nevertheless, the market was not present to support and take advantage of these developments. Bartering increased and local self-sufficiency was widespread. The migration from the country to the town did not take place in the context of a manufacturing sector that could absorb such a labor force; thus, urban concentration brought not an upswing in commercial transactions and scale economies but rather an increase in unemployment and poverty. By the end of the eighteenth century, increased taxation pressure and inflation reduced available revenues. The reduction in real salary (at fixed prices) and real disposable income (net salary after tax) indicated an over-exploitation of labor; consequently, the demand for secondary and tertiary products did not increase, making it impossible for the internal market to extend either horizontally or vertically. Some self-sufficient campesinos (peasants) could not increase their consumption via the market, and the urban workers scarcely had sufficient income to feed themselves, having to use their family connections in the country to cover their most immediate necessities or migrate and thereby go back to self-sufficiency. The hacienda owners, on the other hand, did not see any necessity for investing in new technology in view of the drop in relative terms of the cost of labor. In turn the growth of currency exports by the Royal Exchequer limited public spending on American soil, and the increase in the export of goods metamorphosed into a process that bled the American economies of legal tender (the extraction of currency was higher in some years than the total production of the mint). It appears to be no accident that the speed of monetary circulation (via bills of exchange, drafts, money orders, compensatory payments) had to increase by the end of the eighteenth century to compensate for the drain on payment methods imposed by the new colonial policy. Growth in terms of foreign trade meant poverty for internal markets. Population increase in the central areas was not as intense as traditional historical accounts have indicated. From 1650 to 1690, annual rates of population increase have been given as 2 percent; between 1690 and 1736 they oscillated between 0.33 percent and 2.9 percent and from 1737 results became negative. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
11:19 am	Trade and Markets: Bourbon New Spain During the eighteenth century various events coincided to modify the volume of goods exchanged through external, interregional, and intraregional trade routes in Viceregal New Spain; these events also modified the destination and composition of these goods to a large extent. Each one of these commercial sectors, although interconnected, responded to an individual dynamic that makes it impossible to establish a common rule of behavior or disentangle cause and effect. It must be recalled that although an increase in the global volume of foreign trade between the Iberian peninsula and New Spain is historically documented and has been constantly restated by historians, it is still necessary to be cautious regarding the level of this increase. Although the increasing number of ships that officially left and entered the Spanish ports may be taken as an indicator, it must not be taken as a faithful reflection of reality. On the one hand, the rise in traffic via legal channels correspond to a clear decrease in contraband; on the other hand, the volume of vessels during the century was reduced to increase speed, so more boats were required to transport the same merchandise than previously. Furthermore, when looking at data on the growing sums paid in excise duties, insurance, or any other tax relating to foreign trade, the inflationary process at the end of the eighteenth century must be taken into account; higher prices can be confused with increased trade. This trend toward an increase in foreign trade was basically owing to an increase in international demand (the economic expansion of European economies), faster transactions, reduced transport costs (a decrease in the cost of freight and insurance), and speedier productivity (the Spanish Crown favored those manufacturing sectors orientated toward export with tax benefits). The increased volume of foreign trade also brought a change in the interregional or intraregional areas. Official data prove that prior to the ruling on commercial liberalization in 1789, precious metals averaged 80 percent of the value of the export freight of the Viceroyalty, but dropped to 60 percent after commercial liberalization went into effect. In addition, the control of the old merchant bases, basically concentrated in the Mexican Consulate, tended to disperse, as typified by the creation of new consulates in Guadalajara, Veracruz, and Puebla. Each new region moved toward making direct links abroad while reducing local ties between provinces. As a result, some indigenous manufacturing bases entered crisis when faced with competition from European products, thereby undermining the partial integration and specialization that had been achieved up to that point. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:19 am	Twilight of the Hapsburg Dynasty In the 1630s and 1640s, New Spain's merchants had formed a coalition with other elites and resisted a series of tax increases imposed by the Spanish government. They objected to paying for a new Caribbean defense squadron after the king declined to grant their requests for reforms. But in 1660 the Spanish Crown did respond in part. It ended all the commercial taxes based on the value of what was being shipped and imposed instead a fixed payment on the merchants of each region in the Indies trade to finance the convoys. Imperial policy makers started to recognize that their fiscal measures hurt trade. In late- seventeenth-century New Spain, the white and mixed-race population was rising, and even the number of Indians started to increase. Silver production rose to about 55,000,000 pesos in the 1670s. The payment of fines for contraband rose from 505,764 pesos in the 1660s to 742,000 pesos in the 1670s, suggesting a revival in trade, as well. Provincial cities like Guadalajara that had once lacked capital now found cash more available and agricultural production increasing. Despite years of famine and disease in the early 1690s, New Spain's economic position improved in the last third of the century. The structure was in place to continue the path of development that New Spain was already on: an export-oriented economy with modest but resilient regional markets that stretched from Parral to Chiapas. Eighteenth-century historians disagree about when, or even if, these segmented networks of exchange became an all-Mexican market. But we can say that the seventeenth century bequeathed the potential for its emergence to the eighteenth. Carlos II, the last enfeebled Hapsburg ruler who died in 1700, has long been regarded as an apt symbol for the decline of Spain. For New Spain a good symbol is the wealthy merchant, born in the mother country but contributing to the economic recovery of late-seventeenth-centuryMexico. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
11:19 am	The Seventeenth-Century "Depression" The commercial triumphs of the late sixteenth century had an unwelcome sequel in the business failures of the seventeenth century. Scholars now agree that from the 1640s through the 1660s colonial Mexico's silver output slumped. Given that silver was New Spain's main export, this meant that transoceanic trade shrank and the capital it generated for investment at home also shrank. Even interregional trade with Central America or Venezuela depended on New Spain's silver. Lacking the mercury needed to process the silver ore, mine owners went bankrupt; lacking specie, merchants failed; lacking loans, sugar planters and cloth producers curtailed operations. Combined with the Indian population reaching its lowest point ever in 1630-50, and with increased attacks by foreign corsairs, New Spain seemed to be in the grip of a depression. Yet, where some historians have found depression, others have seen opportunity. With the decline of fleet sailings, contact with Spain became less frequent, and this has led to the claim that the seventeenth-century contraction presented New Spain with a chance to produce more of its manufac tured goods and assert more control over its own economy and its governance. Since registered silver declined from about 46,000,000 pesos over the 1630s to about 35,000,000 pesos over the 1640s, and remained close to the latter level for the next two decades, there was still enough to finance some production and trade. The seventeenth century may have offered a chance for a pattern of growth centered more on Mexico and possibly less controlled by an elite linked to Spain. The history of merchants and markets during these problematic years offers the best evidence we now have to address the autonomy hypothesis. Examining the history of the seventeenth-century wholesalers and their families, we do not see much change in how the economy was organized. Relative to other social groups in the elite—bureaucrats, clergy, hacendados, and mine owners—the wealthy merchants remained very important to the economy, particularly as sources of credit. Studies of Puebla, Guadalajara, Zacatecas, and Cuernavaca all confirm this. Nor did they modify their approach to conducting business. Indeed, their trade became more monopolistic and their ties with Spain remained close, as many wholesalers continued to act as commission agents for Sevillian traders. Consumers, for their part, continued to seek foreign fabrics. Even buyers with modest incomes could sometimes purchase the fine-quality but less expensive China wares. Yet, colonial Mexico's wholesalers also continued to plow some of their profits back into financing production. The same internal trends that fostered a certain degree of specialization and regional exchange before the 1630s continued during the slump. Whether total textile production expanded to compensate for lack of imports is hard to say. We know it grew in regions like Queretaro but declined in others like Puebla. It is certain that craftspeople continued to turn out clothing. Sugar producers continued to seek licenses to plant and processed their crop into sweets and cane brandy, ranchers sold their hides to make saddles and shoes and interregional trade benefited. The structure of the economy formed in the sixteenth century persisted through the contraction. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:18 am	Spaniards Need The Spaniards, of course, at first needed Indian maize, fruits and vegetables to survive. In addition to designating city markets, the first viceroys imposed the requirement that Indians within a certain distance of the capital must bring maize and other foodstuffs to sell. Even after the settlers grew their own wheat and other necessities, they sought Indian cacao and rich red and blue dyestuffs. The two trading economies thus existed side by side and intersected in the markets and also on the road. Although each side incorporated valued elements of the other's commerce, this was not an equal arrangement because the Spaniards held most of the political power. This is easily seen by the history of the pochteca, the elite longdistance merchants of the Aztec Empire. Scholars differ about how well they fared after the Conquest. Through the 1540s, at least, Indians claiming to be pochteca or their descendants continued a flourishing long-distance trade. They quickly grasped the great advantage of the mules and plied their wares over a large region. They were harassed, however, by the Spanish alcaldes mayores (local governors), who wanted to monopolize the products in their jurisdictions. Spanish competition and loss of Indian interest in the Aztec luxury wares that had been pochteca specialties compressed these professionals into a broad petty trader group. The 1560s seem to have been the turning point in the pochteca's change of status. The culmination of this process came when the local Spanish officials imposed the repartimiento de comerclo (forced sale of goods) on the Indian villages. They paid below market prices for Indian corn and cloaks and charged the Indians above market prices for the cloth, mules, and ribbons that they sold them in return. (2 Comments |Comment on this)