No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 Economic science (economics) contributes to the design of economic policy through its analyses of supply and demand, economic growth, taxation, regulations, financial stability, etc. This discipline sometimes guides public debates on economic policy. More
No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 Before World War I, Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world, with a per capita income close to that of the United States. In the last half century, the country has been undermined by inflation, recession, and the ineffectiveness of state institutions. The cause is the economic policy pursued by Argentine governments in the post-war period. More
No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 After the first 100 days of US President Donald Trump’s second term, which saw the most serious escalation of the US-China conflict and the greatest financial instability in recent history, some observations can be made about the changing international economic order. If the trends of this period continue, the rules-based world order will be replaced by one based on power relations. More
No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 The chaotic decisions of the Trump administration, the unpredictable tariff measures that are likely to affect even the most important economic partners of the US – Canada, Mexico, China and the EU – as well as the equally disorderly reconsideration of American geopolitical interests in relations with Russia, Ukraine and Europe have triggered a new series of debates on an old issue: the role of the dollar in the world. More
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
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
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
No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The great economist Friedrich Hayek, a Nobel laureate, devoted his entire life to proving that the spontaneous order of the market is superior to the central planning of the economy. In his book entitled The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism (1988), he states that this is not an opinion, but an “astonishing fact”. More
No. 50, Nov.-Dec. 2024 Published in 1945, the book “The Open Society and Its Enemies” is the major work of the philosopher Karl Popper. This work was an important source of inspiration for the political orientation defined by Winston Churchill in his 1946 speeches in Fulton (Missouri) and Zurich: the formation of a group of Western states, based on the principle of freedom and human rights, to confront the Soviet empire. Consequently, the Iron Curtain became not only a physical but also an ideological border: the free world against the expansion of communist totalitarianism. This orientation constituted the framework within which political activity in the West took place after the Second World War: regardless of interests and political programs, the liberal constitutional state, based on fundamental human rights, in opposition to communist totalitarianism, was accepted by all major social groups and political parties. This framework shaped Western politics and society for over four decades. In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the continuation of this orientation seemed normal: freedom and the rule of law had won. The American sociologist and political scientist Francis Fukuyama even spoke of the end of history! More
No. 49, Sep.-Oct. 2024 It is often said that by declaring that he would do “whatever it takes”, the then President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, saved the Eurozone from the financial and sovereign debt crisis of 2012. His solutions for reviving the growth of the Union’s competitiveness European (EU) are presented in a much larger document (400 pages), published last week, but the general principle is the same: “whatever it takes” must be done. This organization needs, he claims, a “new industrial strategy” to stimulate economic growth, which involves additional investments of 800 billion euros annually. The amount represents 4.7% of GDP, more than double the American aid received by European economies through the Marshall Plan. But it is an “existential challenge”. More
Over the past two years approximately, inflation has resurfaced in Romania. Initially, price increases appeared to be temporary and due to purely external causes: international commodity market tensions and supply difficulties in a context of strong recovery of the global economy after the end of the pandemic restrictions.[1] Thereafter, inflation was found to be persistent and fueled by domestic factors, both on the supply and demand side.[2] In the short term, the most recent and possibly the most important cause of inflation has been the increase in energy prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. In the medium to long term, inflationary pressures are likely to increase as a result of structural factors such as imbalances in the Romanian economy, stagnating investment, demographic decline, a shift to (more expensive) green energy etc. The way these factors act and combine is specific to the Romanian economy, and, as a result, a monetary policy adapted to indigenous realities is necessary. The monetary policy decisions taken by the Fed, the ECB and the other central banks in the region that are not part of the euro area will also be of particular importance. These external decisions are important in view of the evolution of the interest rate differential and the orientation of international capital flows into which the Romanian economy is inserted. More
The strong global recession, caused by the containment measures imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak, as well as the aid granted by many countries to people and companies, has led to increased budget spending and public debt all over the world. This phenomenon has been added to the expansionary monetary policy of central banks, which in many cases has gone as far as monetary financing of a large part of public debt, which has led to the rise of inflation. In addition, the “relaunch” measures and the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine have led to the increase and intensification of the state’s intervention in economic activity and the continuous weakening of the market economy, on whose proper functioning depends on the well-being reached by a part of the world at the beginning of this third millennium. More
