Rubrics » Bridging News
The Macroeconomic Dashboard: From Financial to Corona Crisis
Worldwide, economies periodically face cyclical evolutions, economic crises, shocks generated by exogenous factors of the economic system, as is happening right now amid the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The common ground of these developments is the need for policies able to support the economy and to establish the necessary corrections, in accordance with imbalances. Nevertheless, solutions must be accurately identified and adapted to the real causes of crises, otherwise economic treatment will fail. More
The Lords of the Olympic Rings
The idea of sport is associated with peace in an almost reflexive manner. At the same time, prosperity is being called into the arena of sport’s allies. But if we overcome the reflexes and become reflective, we can take into account the counter-opinions to the standard pleadings according to which sports competitions, for example the Olympic Games, both in their original, ancient expression and in modern and contemporary forms, would be, politically, victories against war, and, economically, it would mean triumphs against (of?) waste. More
Requiem for the Forever War
The Biden Administration, contrary to its partisans’ and detractors’ expectations that it would dither or outright renege on the previous Administration’s plans to exit Afghanistan (overtly), pulled the trigger on a ramshackle retreat that created incredibly bad optics and elicited negative reactions from around the world, especially from allies. The problem of whether to take in Afghan refugees and how many is already starting to rear its head in the domestic politics of Western countries, and will assume center stage once all of the countries have removed their nationals from Afghanistan. The latter is an incredible oversight given the transparent nature of the term for American retreat from Afghanistan, and illustrates both the incredulity, up until the last minute, that the Biden Administration would keep to the deal and the shocking nature of the Taliban’s series of victories over the Kabul Government. More
The Lockdown-Quagmire
Economics tells us that every decision comes at a cost, an opportunity cost. In the same period of time that I am writing this article, I could have done other things. Deciding to spend time writing automatically entails missing out, for example, on watching TV, reading a book, or writing other pieces. The missed opportunities are the costs of writing this article. More
New Institutional Economics, the Anthropomorphization of Institutions and Pathologies of Organisations
One of the main weaknesses of New Institutional Economics (NIE), identified by Herbert Alexander Simon (1991), is the inability of NIE to understand organizations, and thus the institutions themselves, on account of the fact that the mechanisms and tools used in this sense had been derived from neoclassical economics and from the market. More
Benedetto Croce – Liberal, Idealist, Activist (In This Order)
Many people throughout history are known for acts of great courage and grand conquests. Some live by through immortal creations forever bearing their name. Others were examples of irreproachable ethics and conduct, strength of character and Olympian serenity. They are usually separated in men which demonstrated either active or passive involvement in asserting dedication to their ideals, much more rarely both. But even far less are those who showed they had achieved all these signs of distinction during their lifetime, troubled by the fatality of history and hazardous game of eras. In the shade of the dusk of epochs rise strong characters ready to resist the darkness of upcoming times and bring back the light spread by the flame of liberty. After years of spiritual wickedness, ethical scarcity and social cowardice, it is possible that justice be made. If so, those who once took up their role as freedom fighters and tirelessly took action in favour of what they believed to be just shall get their sincere recognition from their admirers. More
Penetrating the Fog of Culture War
Protracted conflict is a historical phenomenon. It attends upon every systemic breakdown and the ensuing quest for a new equilibrium. Every revolutionary movement issues from a position of physical inferiority vis‑a‑vis the defender of the status quo. The revolutionary movement, to assure its final victory, must perforce rely more upon the breadth of its vision than the strength of its arms. Its strategy derives from a superior understanding of the total historic situation; the spectrum of revolutionary conflict techniques is as wide as the entire scale of social change. Within that spectrum, a central intelligence organizes and phases the instruments of conflict ‑‑ political, economic, psychological, technological and military. That central intelligence discerns potential weapons where the defender of the status quo sees only the tools of peace; in short, it turns plowshares into swords.[1] More
The Obese State – A Political Metaphor or a Milestone?
This is not the place and the occasion to deeply discuss the crucial (and endless) issue of the size of the state and its involvement in society (especially in the economy). From the minimal state shaped by the invisible hand (Nozick), to the contractual state instituted on basic principles (Rawls), to the socialist state constituted as the big brother, all of these versions have their pros and cons. However, regarding any of these types of state, a common topic could be of interest: the efficacy and/or efficiency of the works of the state. Regarding the public money, the efficacy of the state intervention (either through regulation/deregulation or through public spending) seems to be of interest (both politically and ethically) – thus, if an objective of common interest must be accomplished, the question of efficiency is not relevant at all; the only relevance is carried by the efficacy of the intervention. I strongly and irremediably believe that the money public should be associated with efficacy only. But is this belief beyond any doubt? Honestly, I have to accept that it is not. The main reason to doubt consists in the very structure of the public sector (nb: the private domain of the state is another issue entirely). I shall provide some considerations in this area. More
Crypto-Kim: Blockchain, Yes; Break Chains, No
The incredible speed with which technology has developed has often left a gap in the regulation of their use. The lack of regulation has become extremely visible in the field of cryptocurrencies, which can be termed as “virtual money” lacking intrinsic value like gold or state backing like fiat currencies. While they are mostly known for their speculative potential, virtual currencies are also used for practical purposes, facilitating e-commerce but also for less orthodox purposes such as illicit trafficking, terrorism, masking illicit earnings and tax evasion. North Korea has taken full advantage of the lax regulations and by using them the Pyongyang government has been able to secure luxury goods that it could not have had access to because of Western economic sanctions. As a determined and sophisticated international player in terms of cybersecurity, in a constant search for financial resources to meet its needs and ambitions, North Korea is expected to continue its efforts to identify ways in which to obtain and spend cryptocurrencies. The prospect of Pyongyang engaging in large-scale operations to avoid sanctions and using virtual currencies as a means of paying for luxury goods and services, or for easing import prohibition, is a risk that could increase in the future and needs to be addressed accordingly. Southeast Asian states are extremely vulnerable to the various types of illicit activities in which North Korea engages using virtual currencies. The ineffective approaches to regulating virtual currencies in the region create a galling systemic risk in the cryptocurrency industry that North Korea will try to make full use of. More
On Conspiracy Theories and Theorizing
We are inundated with both conspiracy theories and warnings to recognize them as such and ignore them. These instructions come from legitimate elites employing legitimate media sources that feel they are being crowded out by “alternative facts” and other phenomena which have gained new (visible) breadth and scope through the rise of social media. Accompanying it is the individual who is not only a consumer but also a producer of media, if only through his ability to retweet or repackage messages for delivery to his own network. More
Why Nations Move Their Capitals
When asked about the capital city of a country, the obvious answer may not be the correct one and there are plenty of examples for this. Usually, we tend to think of cities like Istanbul, Sydney, Lagos or Rio de Janeiro as being capitals, but in fact, they are not. Sometimes the biggest city is not the seat of government and the list might grow as both Egypt and Indonesia announced they plan to build new ones from scratch. More
Adaptive Preferences in the Labour Market
We are currently witnessing a reconfiguration of labour market requirements both in terms of employment and in terms of significant changes in skills and knowledge required by digital technologies, with an effect on contractual work arrangements. Under the influence of technology, especially digital technology, some jobs change, others disappear, others are created, thus we are witnessing a phenomenon of polarization of employment with implications, including on wages, leading to increasing inequalities in society. More
