TheMarketForIdeas

The Professionalization of the Public/Political Decision-Making Economy Near Us (IX)

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Emil Dinga

The professionalization of the public decision-making involves, of course, two distinct semantic aspects: a) turning the politician - the public decision-maker into a professional; b) ensuring the professional character of the public decision-making process.The first requires that the person making public decisions (in general, the politician) become an expert in public decision-making. This is possible and even desirable, but here the term expert must be given a particular meaning. Typically, we call the expert a person who can formulate explanations (based, of course, on theories), that is, they can establish effective causality. In this sense, the politician cannot become an expert, because there would be a contradiction in terms. Therefore, according to the first significance of the professionalization of the public decision, the politician must become a professional not in the theoretical foundation of the public decision, but in the ethical foundation of it. The professional’s expertise in public decision-making will therefore consist in his ability to capture the common (or majority) interest of the community, to translate this interest into a political target and to co-ordinate social action towards achieving this goal (the content of the leadership concept). The “profession" of a politician therefore presupposes a specific competence, namely to build visions, to formulate (in interpersonal language) the objectives associated with those visions, to implement social mechanisms and procedures to achieve the objectives and to ensure the ethics of the distribution of public goods generated by achieving the objectives (i.e. the social justice). As we can see, the professionalism of the politician is not about designing means but designing goals. As goals do not imply an effective causality, but, as has been shown above, a teleological one, it results that the politician, the political decision-maker or the public decider, cannot be both an expert in the instrumental sense of the term. More

Is Small still Beautiful? A Swiss Perspective

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Henrique Schneider

Small polities have different advantages. Because of their smallness, they can be more efficient; this allows them to be alert to opportunities. Because of their social tissue, small polities have the advantage of self-regulating through bonding and bridging, i.e. through social capital, rather than through bureaucracy. Social capital increases with its usage and is a resource for implementing novelties based on alertness. The third factor that contributes for small polities being at an advantage is competition – in its economic and political sense. There is a cautious note, however: not all small polities can mobilize these factors.  More

The Romanian National Cathedral: The Voice of a People Freed

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Georgiana Constantin-Parke

The recent dedication of the Romanian National Cathedral has been seen by many as the symbol of modern Romania’s centennial celebration. Having been designated as a goal by the authorities over a century ago, Romanian historical figures have referenced it in terms which imbue it with a special symbolism for the newly unified and hopeful country and as a symbol for the unity sought over the ages. More

Wisdom and Perseverance On the 47^th celebration of the National Day of the United Arab Emirates

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Ahmed Abdulla Saeed Bin Saeed Almatrooshi

These days mark the National Day celebrations as my country, the United Arab Emirates, strides forward with wisdom and perseverance, following in the footsteps of its founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, under the leadership of the President, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his brothers their Highnesses the members of the Federal Supreme Council, Rulers of all the emirates, and through the hands of its loyal daughters and sons, pillars of the country’s growth and development, attaining developmental, cultural, economic, political and social achievements.  More

The NEET Tag and Intergenerational Existence on Labour Market Economy Near Us (X)

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Monica-Florica Dutcaș

The challenge today is to analyse unemployment among young people from different generations in terms of understanding their values and attitudes, as well as their influence on the labour market.The labour force is an important factor of production, but we cannot say about work itself that it is a commodity like everything else, because it involves a man with a whole system of values ​​and expectations that influence his individual decisions.  More

The Regional Resources of Ukraine and New Opportunities for Economic Development Until 2030

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

The heterogeneity in the development of the Ukrainian regions leads to rhetoric which states that there are regions which "feed the whole country", but there are also regions which are "eternal dependents". Such rhetoric is extremely dangerous, because it generates a separatist mood. Every region of Ukraine is important and unique – each makes a unique contribution to the overall prosperity of the country. Now in Ukraine there is a situation where the regional development takes place as a competitive struggle between regions for resources (foreign investments, transfers from the state budget, labour resources, etc.), and not as a co-operation. On the one hand, competition supports the strengthening of capacity of the local community, and, on the other, it worsens cooperation between them and prevents the synergy effects from their interaction. More

Romanian Priorities and the Presidency of the Council of the EU

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Clara Volintiru  Maria Popescu

This week, the authors launched a White Paper on the Romanian Priorities and the Presidency of the Council of the EU. As Romania’s term at the Presidency of the Council of the EU is approaching at the beginning of 2019, many are still left wondering what does it mean for our country to hold this position? We argue that both the opportunities and challenges of this position are linked to the broader context in which Romania and the European Union function today. More

Populism.exe in Europe The Programless Programmers

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Narciz Bălășoiu

In recent years, the populist and extremist movements have altered the European Union’s political landscape, cynically capitalizing on a speech based on hate, differences, or any other topic that promised to pay off - regardless of the consequences. Starting with Hungary and Slovakia and continuing with Italy’s Five Stars Movement, or Germany’s AfD, the trend is clear, while framing the issue is a mere step towards accepting that the fundamental European principles and values are at stake. The political forecast in the EU looks rather gloomy since most of the established parties have proved unable to tackle this insidious tide. On the other hand, one must not be surprised that the issues left unaddressed year after year have led to the current political unrest. The fact that demagogy and hatred have been fully operationalized during numerous electoral campaigns with such great success suggests that there is a widespread popular discontent that mainstream politics have failed to address. The number one issue is undeniably the so-called “refugees/migration crisis”. Populists and extremist electoral gains demonstrate something unimaginable a few years ago in the liberal and democratic societies: for the first time in the last couple of decades, people have spoken openly about immigration and how difficult it is to integrate minorities, especially ethno-religious minorities (predominantly Africans and Arabs). The so-called "silent majority" prefers not to participate in debates filled with formal speeches and to sanction this "politically-correct" approach by voting all sorts of anti-system entities. The vote given to populists does not necessarily mean that people identify themselves with their narrative, but that they want to condemn the inability of traditional parties to tackle these problems for such a long period of time.  More

The Great Firewall of Europe

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Alexander Fotescu

This issue is about statecraft, long-term strategy and will: Wille zur Macht.Incidentally, it is also about EU policies in trade, defence, democracy, industrial strategy, cybersecurity and digital, the Security Union, counter-terrorism and finance.Europe’s slowness and apparent inability to take strong action to protect its interests has long been decried by stakeholders on all sides. Yet, at the conclusion of Juncker’s term (last #SOTEU 12/9), we have the means to finally protect Europe and start asserting ourselves as a world power. That is, if we manage to get the political understanding and will to wield what is at our disposal. We now have the tools. This is about a cluster of policies coming together. Cybersecurity is but one piece of the puzzle. More

The Geography that Forged Our History

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Marius-Cristian Neacșu

I do not know if we, Romanians, have a fixation for numbers, I tend to believe not, but we certainly have a penchant for inaugurations: we inaugurate whatever, in any way, just in case. We have reached the performance to crown them all, in 2018, of cutting the ribbon on a school toilet (!), or an end of a road that goes from nowhere to anywhere, and many others. We inaugurate with great pomp the openings of new “construction sites”, no matter which construction, because/although we are certain of one thing, that we will never finish them. More

Human Action. The Foundation of Society

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Savian Boroancă

Over time, numerous socialist utopians have sought the perfect society. Some had colossal plans and some claimed good intentions, but when social conditions would not meet their hopes and dreams, they blamed moral precariousness. In order to achieve their ideal society, they needed only the “good princes” and the so called “virtuous citizens”. In some cases, these utopians (or their followers) used brute force to reshape society for “a greater good”. They brought concentration camps, instituted reeducation programs, abolished all beliefs that were not theirs, rebuilt the past to match their claim, and redesigned the language in order to limit and control the thought process. In all of these cases, socialist utopia, through the application of brute force, leads to dystopia. More

A Single European Tax? Economy Near Us (XI)

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Emil Dinga

The European budget is the main financial tool by which the process of economic integration and convergence is driven within the European Union. In the European construction, we can identify four tools aimed at initiating, conducting, and finalizing such a construction:An axiological tool: the set of European values on which and for which the European construction is initiated and made. Although a properly European set of values is still undergoing crystallization, many of them are in force and guide the formation of purpose and establishment of actions. This tool represents the final cause of the European construction;
A political tool: is the most important and productive tool. In fact, the European Union is a deliberative social construction, underwritten by an intellectual project[1]. Moreover, the European construction is based on fundamental political documents – the treaties – as primary macro-norms, which generate all the secondary and tertiary norms (communitarian legislation) to design the path of European construction. This tool represents the formal cause of the European construction; More

A Turkish Scenario for the Romanian Economy?

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Bogdan C. Enache

Since the Social Democratic Party’s (PSD) ascent to power in 2012, which was sealed by the 2016 Romanian parliamentary and local elections, some commentators and opposition leaders have compared the actions of Social Democratic leaders – such as former PM Victor Ponta or party chairman and Chamber of Deputies President Liviu Dragnea – not only with those of their peers in Hungary and Poland, but also to those of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. More

Populism, Bank Tax Edition

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Bogdan C. Enache

The Romanian government has approved, almost overnight, through an Emergency Government Ordinance, a new bank tax. The idea of imposing a special tax on banks is an old one and tends to resurface during times of financial crises. Thus, the bank tax was floated around by the Left and radical Left in the West, when the 2007/2008 Crisis began, from where it was most eagerly adopted and put into practice mainly by Eastern Europe’s Right-wing populists. The Crisis which began in 2007/2008 is now over and even the governments that have instituted a special bank levy, like the Hungarian and Polish governments, have now reduced it or plan to eliminate it. This is a first indication of how ill-thought and ill-advised this late decision of the Romanian Government to institute its own special bank tax really is.  More

The Reference Social Indicator – Between Necessity and Moral Obligation Economy Near Us (XII)

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Gabriela-Mariana Ionescu

The Reference Social Indicator (RSI) comes to our attention after a ten-year period in which its value has not changed. The lack of political stability and, sometimes, the irresponsibility of governing parties creates the risk of deviating the value of RSI, established by political decision, from the economic, social and moral significance with which this indicator is invested.Considering the consequences generated by the possible arbitrary situation in setting the RSI value, it is necessary in the near future to identify a methodological anchor for the dynamic adjustment of the RSI value, avoiding the incidence of the political factor in this matter. It is therefore necessary to identify a relevant macroeconomic indicator for anchoring the Reference Social Indicator (RSI), so that its variation can be done automatically (via the automatic stabilization mechanism) without the conjunctural intervention of the political factor. More

Commercial Reflections for a Centennial Romania: Trading Abroad Adds to the Prosperity of a Nation, Albeit National Prosperity Shall Never Be Tradable

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Dumitru Miron

In the history of a nation, its commercial relations with neighbouring countries or with those over the seas matter a great deal. Someone once said that, across centuries, the most common ways of interrelating between people were war and trade. Both activities have many advantages but also significant costs. History has shown that in the case of trade, the balance is tilted towards its benefits. Although they also participated in armed conflicts, most often against their will, the Romanians contributed to the history of Europe and the world especially by participating in cross-border trade. Who were their ancestors and what did they do? Who are their contemporaries, and most importantly what must they do? The answers to these questions rest on today’s youth, who are obliged to flesh them out and to better understand their past in order to become the main actors to bring about a positive change in the Romanian society. It is the authors’ hope that the work presented in article is going to contribute to the process of dealing with the various facets of the historical development of this nation, which has done well in the past and should take great pride in itself.  More

Diaspora, in Theory and at Crossroads

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Iulia Rășcanu

Although it has been a developing field for some time, Diaspora Studies is a discipline which has remained unapproached at the academic level in our country. As the ‘diaspora’ has been more frequently mentioned in the media, in political debates and by the common people, it is necessary to understand the various aspects of the concept along with other connected ones. My two books, “Transnational Networks, Identities and Homes: South Asian Diasporic Women in Fiction and Film” (2017a) and “‘Love’ and ‘sisterhood’ in the Identities of Women in Novels by Writers of the South Asian Diaspora” (2017b), include several theories and large analyses on diaspora(s) and ‘home(s)’ (in the plural). More

Drifting Away In the “middle” of “extremism”

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Vlad I. Roșca

Summers in Germany are usually temperate. The humid winds from the West and from the North keep temperatures at a decent average, letting people enjoy sunny, but not torrid days, while also safeguarding some vital sales of the traditional beer. Away from the proverbial workaholism, Germans can also find their ways for letting off steam. Some of them do it in the ‘Biergartens’ of the ‘Vaterland’, while most of the others jump on the plane to Mallorca to work on a tan which is unavailable back home. “Little Germany”, as Mallorca has come to be known, offers cheese cubes, roast pork (to put it ‘simply’: “Schweinebraten”) or apple salads next to traditional paellas in what has become a ‘saxon-iberic’ mix meant at attracting tourists. More

Equality, Justice and Other Nonsense

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Henrique Schneider

There are different conceptions of “equality”, and “justice”, but only some of these conceptions are commensurate with the institutions of individual liberty, private property, consensual contractualism and personal accountability. This essay argues that classical-liberal thinkers like Adam Smith and John Locke offered superior conceptions of equality and justice than much of the contemporary discourse does. This essay claims that the contemporary use of equality and justice is nonsensical; whereby nonsense is the absence of meaningful denotation and the intentional hiding of subjective normativity.  More

Nigeria’s Senators and Their Jumbo Pay

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

Pursuant the revelations of Senator Shehu Sani on BBC, Nigerian senators are entitled to monthly expenses of N13.5 million ($37,500), in addition to their monthly salaries of N750,000 ($2,088). With a minimum wage of N18,000 ($50), it would take the average Nigerian worker 792 years to earn the annual salary of a Nigerian senator.  More

The China - Africa Relationship: A Recolonization?

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

Behind all of the big headlines concerning the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, there comes the African story which only a few in the print media has really shown interest in. When President Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo was given the podium to address the assembly, he quickly used the opportunity to clear the air concerning the China-Africa relationship. He told the world to discard any insinuation that the movement of Ghana and some African countries towards China would result in the recolonization of the continent by a new power. He said this is not a uniquely Ghanaian or African phenomenon. “It has not been lost on us that the developed, rich and well-established countries have been paying regular visits to China and seeking to open new economic ties and improve upon existing ones”. What President Nana Akufo was pointing out was the difference between trade and colonization. The benefit of African trade with China is the return in form of investment in infrastructure. Meanwhile, the colonization process involves taking human and natural resources from Africa with no return, and there is nothing the continent can do about it. So, Africa does not perceive it relationship with China as a form of colonization or recolonization, because what they are getting from China has enduring value.  More

National Sovereignty in Crisis What does it mean and how does it work today? Should it gradually be abandoned?

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

George Zgardanas

In the following article, we will analyze the issue of sovereignty, its characteristics and the elements that form and compose the term. Afterwards there will be a historical overview, so that we can observe what was the springboard that led to the introduction of the concept, who dealt extensively with the issue and what were the views that prevailed over the centuries. There will be also an examination of the issue in the modern world and the so-called New World Order, whether with positive or negative connotations. Τhe role of sovereignty will be examined within the international and European organizations, such as: the European Union, the UN, etc. We will also look at the reasons why national sovereignty is indispensable for states, as well as the risks that need to be avoided for it to continue to exist in practice.  More

A Conversation with John Mearsheimer On 30 October 2018, in Aula Magna of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

The think tank Romania Energy Center (ROEC) in partnership with the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) and the Romanian US Alumni Association invites you to the event of fall 2018 in Romania: a conversation with the renowned American professor of political science John J. Mearsheimer about his latest book: The Great Delusion. Liberal Dreams and International Realities.  More

Join this School of Liberty October School in Philosophy, Economics and Politics 2018:
The Minimal State Solution for Romania

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

The Center for Institutional Analysis and Development – Eleutheria (CADI), The Atlas Network, The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), the Institute for Economic Studies Europe (IES-Europe) and the Society for Individual Freedom (SoLib) welcome you to the 2018 edition of the October School in Philosophy, Economics and Politics entitled “The Minimal State Solution for Romania”. The event will take place between October 23rd-27th at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, Romania. More

The 16^th European Resource Bank Meeting March 28th to 31st, 2019 in Chisinau, Moldova
Academy of Economic Studies in Moldova

No. 13-14, Sep.-Dec. 2018

In 2019 we will celebrate the 16^th European Resource Bank Meeting. Join the Austrian Economics Center and The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom for a weekend full of discussions, networking, exchange of expertise and experience, the Dragons’ Den Competition, and a tangible history lesson.  More