Archives for: December 2011
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XV, Soviet Union, June 1972–August 1974
December 9th, 2011Link: http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v15
The volume includes numerous direct personal communications between President Richard Nixon and Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev covering a host of issues, including clarifying the practical application of the SALT I and ABM agreements signed in Moscow. Other major themes covered include the war in Indochina, arms control, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), commercial relations and most-favored-nation status, grain sales, the emigration of Soviet Jews, Jackson-Vanik legislation, and the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war. High-level meetings and summits, both in the United States and the Soviet Union, are documented in detail, including Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger's conversations with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko leading up to Nixon's final visit to the Soviet Union in June 1974.
Finance and the Economy: Occupy Wall Street in Historical Perspective (Congressional Research Service via FAS)
December 9th, 2011Link: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42081.pdf
"This report presents examples of political statements about the fundamental costs and benefits of finance and recent economic research that points to aspects of financial activity that may not be advantageous to the real economy. The report does not attempt a comprehensive survey of either literature, but provides a reminder of the breadth of the historical debates that have shaped congressional oversight of financial institutions and markets."
