Birmingham Assay Office was established in 1773 by Toy manufacturers producting plated goods like Matthew Boulton. Main products of Birmingham were plated by gilt technique, so it was not easy to get credit for their products as growing area. Assay office had to be needed not only for the...

This paper examines a number of traditional characteristics of the Swedish welfare state, and discusses how they have been changed over time, especially since the economic crisis in the early 1990s. It emphasizes that the country did not only suffer from the economic crisis and recent...