Sublime

Until well into the seventeenth century, the Ottoman sultans balanced their dependence on the political and military service of the Turkish aristocracy by recruiting a slave army of Muslim converts (perhaps seven or eight thousand a year) separated in childhood from their Christian parents. Devshirme recruitment obliterated the ties of kinship and

Hirota cabinet (1936–37)

because he looked and sounded like the wealthy uncle to whom children in the family are forced to listen for profitable life lessons. When he

Pacific Bill.” As it passed parliament in February 1881, the legislation authorized the Canadian Pacific Railroad to link with the Canada Central Railway at Callander, near Georgian Bay, and to run westward to some Pacific port in British Columbia. Generously subsidized with $25 million in direct support and a twenty-five-million-acre, checkerboard

As Ivar explained, the desires of the three parties were clear: American investors wanted high returns, European governments wanted US dollars, and the match industry wanted monopoly power. The resources also were clear: American investors had dollars, European governments had the power to grant monopolies within their territories, and the match in

But generally, the move from government provision of housing, food, and jobs programs to this network of semiprivate organizations introduced perverse incentives into life-sustaining institutions. The result has been a wealth transfer of public money to boards of directors staffed largely by local elites that are more likely to be responsive to rea