In this book, Justin Russell Greene examines how Quentin Tarantino uses his auteur identity to further cement the masculine tropes of Hollywood – and ultimately, society – through language, visual aesthetics, and performative representations of masculinity in his films and media appearances. Greene posits that the careful crafting of his auteur persona allows Tarantino to project a consistent version of what it means to be a writer-director-artist, and that through his interview and speeches, he reveals the deeper intensions behind the representations his characters present in his films. However, although he is valorized by audiences, media personalities, and peers as an artistic genius, Tarantino traffics in many of the systemic issues embedded within the United States’ socio-cultural environment. Greene argues that although Tarantino promotes a political vision in his films and public appearances that illuminates the restrictions of hegemonic masculinity, this is not sufficiently effective at truly disrupting entrenched ideologies about masculinity in U.S. culture due to how Tarantino hides his critical takes within genre stereotypes. Scholars of film studies, gender studies, and popular culture will find this book of particular interest.

In September 1985, emissaries of the world's five leading industrial nations-the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Japan-secretly gathered at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and unveiled an unprecedented effort to correct the largest set of current account and exchange rate imbalances that had ever threatened the world economy. The Plaza Accord is credited with sharply realigning exchange rates, significantly reducing current account imbalances, and countering protectionist pressures in the United States. But did the Accord provide a foundation for ongoing international financial stability and policy coordination? Or was it simply a unique one-time coincidence of national interests?The Plaza experience continues to inform today's debates about the limits and possibilities of international monetary cooperation. In late 2015, leading policymakers and economists-including those who were involved in the Accord's design, negotiation, and implementation-held a Plaza Retrospective conference at the Baker Institute for Public Policy to evaluate the Accord's legacy and how its collaborative spirit can be applied today. This volume presents their views and analyses to provide guidance for a time when the world again faces the prospect of currency disequilibria, growing imbalances, trade policy reactions, and thus uncertainty for both the global economy and world politics.Data disclosure: The data underlying the analysis in this volume are available. The data used in chapter 14 are taken directly from William Cline's Policy Briefs 15-8 and 15-20, with the exception that they have been manipulated with a key assumption stated in the chapter.