Rubrics » Bridging News
Hala Fatigue! Real’s Crown in Crisis
No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 Wait—what? Bigger than politics? Yes. Because this isn’t about some passing political scandal. This is about the club. The biggest, boldest, most-decorated institution in the most beautiful game of all: football. It’s about Real Madrid. The Real Madrid. More
Romania, Largest Increase in Labour Cost Last Year
No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 In 2024, compared with 2023, hourly labour costs at whole economy level expressed in euro rose by 5.0% in the EU and by 4.5% in the euro area. Within the euro area, hourly labour costs increased in all countries. The largest increases were recorded in Croatia (+14.2%), Latvia (+12.1%) and Lithuania (+10.8%) and the lowest in Czechia (+1.3%), followed by Finland (+1.8%) and Luxembourg (+2.1%). More
Nuclear Energy’s Economic Impact: A Balance Between Long-Term Gains and Accident Risks
No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 More than before, people have become aware in an in-depth manner regarding global issues which not only define the present, but have also impacted recent decades, such as political instability, wars, pandemics, climate change, and, on top of these, a growing energy crisis, which is fueled by the rising demand of consumers and producers (with large corporations serving as both). The world has seemingly accepted the need for a less polluting, low-carbon intensive source of energy, as the fossil fuel usage declined by 2-3%, a modest percentage considering that the global energy demand has surged by 15% in the same period. Roughly 40% of this growth consisted of the so-called “clean” or “green” energy, which included sources like hydropower, wind, solar and also nuclear energy, which will be our main topic for this article. More
Offshore Wind Energy – a Solution for the Revival of the Black Sea Region?
No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 The need for a transition to a green economy is a debate that should have been settled long ago so that the world’s countries could focus on making clean production technologies not only environmentally friendly but also cost-effective. Today, in an age when truth feels more subjective and interpretable than ever, this debate has become increasingly ambiguous and has taken on political connotations that are far too strong for a field as technical as this one. More
Bridges Are Built Not Only with Steel, Concrete, and Asphalt, but with Trust, Vision, and Economic Freedom
No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 In the age of “infrastructure diplomacy”—and we may place under such label the Three Seas Initiative (3SI)—, it is tempting to think that connectivity is just a matter of tracks, pipelines, and wires. But the true lifeblood of regional cooperation does not flow through stone, steel or silicon—it pulses through institutions, as, inter alia, last year’s laureates of the the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel—Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson—convincingly demonstrated. “Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better” —this is how the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences justified the award. It is common sense, before anything else, yet “command and control” does persist in governments’ fantasies. In the “Trimarium”—as 3SI is sometimes nicknamed, a reminder of Józef Piłsudski’s interwar geopolitical plan, Intermarium/Międzymorze—, where strategic geography meets political ambition, economic freedom emerges as “the” indispensable condition for durable connectivity. More
Protectionism: Solution or Problem? (III)
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 One might think that any market imperfection is a good reason to adopt protectionist measures. Indeed, a number of economists have fallen into this trap for almost two centuries: from the beginning of the modern history of international trade, in the first decades of the 19th century, to the 1950s, the solution of protectionism was repeatedly tried. Today, most economists argue, on the contrary, that protectionism is an inadequate and ineffective way of correcting internal market deficiencies. For example, if wages do not adjust quickly enough to the decline in demand for the products of a particular branch, a reduction determined by foreign competition, some contemporary economists argue that the appropriate government policy is to intervene – or, possibly, to cease intervention – in the labor market, where remedial measures can indeed be adopted that directly target the causes of the problem. More
The Tariff Man Strikes Again
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 Ideas have consequences. Wrong ideas have disastrous, deadly consequences. Adam Smith got the theory of value wrong. Starting from the mistaken premise that prices are causally explained by costs and identifying labor as the homogeneous element that is present at different stages in the production chain of a good, he developed the labor theory of value. A flawed theory that had very serious consequences in the real world. More
Protectionism: Solution or Problem? (II)
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 The fact that preventing free trade affects the economy has been known for a long time. The idea is as old as economics itself. Thus, in his book, The Wealth of Nations, which marks the birth of economics, Adam Smith justifies free trade at the international level, showing that, by specializing in the production of certain goods, all nations benefit from freedom of trade. Just as, within a national economy, the division of labor, specialization and free exchange of goods lead to increased productivity and, therefore, general well-being, at the level of the entire world economy, free trade leads to increased wealth of all nations and to world peace. However, Smith admits the establishment of customs duties in two situations: in the case of industries that are of strategic importance for national defense and in reaction to duties imposed by other countries on imports of goods from that country. According to Smith, protectionism is, therefore, an exceptional measure, which, as a general rule, hinders the proper functioning of the economy. More
Trump, the Tariff Man, and the Necessity for a Distinction: Economist vs. Entrepreneur
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 The dispute between Trump and the rest of the world regarding custom duties calls back into question a fundamental issue: the distinction between economist and entrepreneur. Furthermore, it shows us the fact that being a businessman, an entrepreneur or a capitalist (I shall use these three terms interchangeably), does not imply having a correct understanding of what is happening in/to the economy. Sometimes, simple economic consequences, such as the ones brought about by imposing a customs duty on imports, can pass you by. The way Trump, the Tariff Man, gives credit to certain Mercantilist principles of seeing international trade, enables us to take a deeper look into this distinction between economists and businessmen/entrepreneurs. More
Protectionism: Solution or Problem? (I)
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on the US’s three largest trading partners, prompting immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into turmoil. Starting on March 4, 2025, tariffs of 25% on Mexican and Canadian imports and 10% on electricity imported from Canada will take effect. Canada’s representatives argue – and they do – that the tariffs are inconsistent with the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (1947) and the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO) (1964). The next day, the White House announced that President Trump would exempt car manufacturers from the punitive 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month if these countries comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). More
“Liberation Day”, the Nightmare to Stay?!
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 It is said, for example, that America has not even responded with tariffs commensurate with the mockery it has been subjected to by friends and enemies alike; that nations that sell it more goods or services than they buy from it are, in fact, raping it with a sick lust; that the country will fare better by repatriating the industries exiled abroad by the ignorance of previous administrations. Except that America is not populated only by “xenophobic economic agents,” but also by consumer-citizens hurt by suddenly inflated prices by thickly penned signatures, as well as by producer-citizens hit by shrapnel from supply chains blown up by tzealous “equalizer” – the US/world’s economies/societies are far more diverse and complex than that… More
President Trump’s Trade War: The US-China Tariffs and Global Implications
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 This article examines the origins, mechanics, and global ramifications of the US-China trade war initiated under President Donald Trump’s administration, focusing particularly on the reciprocal tariffs imposed by both nations. While the policy was intended to address structural imbalances, such as trade deficits and intellectual property theft, the escalation of tariffs has revealed the deep interdependencies within global supply chains—especially those tied to China. The study analyses the impact of these measures on the United States, the European Union, and developing economies, as well as their implications for global manufacturing, trade norms, and geopolitical alignment. Drawing on classical and modern trade theories, the article argues that although protectionist measures may offer short-term leverage, they often undermine long-term global economic stability and efficiency. More
