TheMarketForIdeas

An Age of Hollow Words and Mutilated Souls

No. 41, May.-Jun. 2023

Georgiana Constantin-Parke

The history of marriage goes back thousands of years and has looked and been defined in different ways over time and in different corners of the world. But the modern understanding of the idea of marriage in most Christian or former Christian... More

Warfare Economics and the Proper Use of Individual Incentives on the Battlefield

No. 41, May.-Jun. 2023

Petru-Răsvan Iatan

The science of economics has oftentimes proven itself to be more than capable at exceeding the role most people, especially those foreign to its potential, would grant it – the mere study of the economy – by having direct applications into many other... More

America – Pirouettes Based on Geopolitical Events of the World

No. 41, May.-Jun. 2023

Alexandru Georgescu

On June 10, 2022, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a meeting for over an hour with his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, in Singapore on the occasion of the 19th edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue. This meeting follows President Joe... More

Early Christendom: Crysalis of the West

No. 41, May.-Jun. 2023

Steven Alan Samson

So powerfully did the transformational grammar of the new religion, Christianity, change the western world that Arnold Toynbee has described the church as “the chrysalis out of which our Western society emerged.” Historians have both... More

State and Prosperity

No. 41, May.-Jun. 2023

Silviu Cerna

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... More

What Do People in Romania Think of Capitalism?

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Rainer Zitelmann

How do the Romanians feel about capitalism and the free market economy, and how do the attitudes in Romania compare to those in 33 other countries? This was the subject of a survey conducted between June 2021 and December 2022 in a total of 34... More

My First Encounter with Corneliu CoposuMemories from 1986 communist Romania

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Dennis Deletant

There is no reference in my Securitate file to the above episode, nor to that involving my contact with Corneliu Coposu who, after the 1989 revolution, became President of the National Peasant Party, although a report of my visit to him appears in... More

Natural Disasters as Economic and Political WeaponsThe Turkish earthquake against the Kurdish community

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Hesam Jebeli-Bakht-Ara

Kurdistan, or the impossibility of its existence, represents a millennial problem in the heart of the Middle East, being moreover one of the most controversial and at the same time current dilemmas of modern history. The most recent... More

Eurostat: Young People Materially and Socially Deprived, Highest Proportion Recorded in Romania

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Dan Pălăngean

In 2021, the EU Member States with the highest levels of young people (aged 15-29 years) at risk of poverty or social exclusion were Romania (36.1 %), Greece (35.4 %) and Bulgaria (31.8 %), while the lowest rates were found in Czechia (10.6 %)... More

“Twin transitions” and (the Transformation of) ArtExordium to an economist’s inquiry into the ecology and technology (and assorted ideologies) of tomorrow’s cultural and creative sector

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

The future of what is currently happening in the European Union (although the process we are discussing is ultimately and inevitably global) constitutes the beginning of the “twin transitions” that may find us, decades from now, in the... More

China as a Space Power

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Alexandru Georgescu

After the death of the famous admiral Zheng He, whose fleet had explored the Indian Ocean and even reached East Africa, the move of the empire’s capital to Beijing and the threat from the Mongols led to an inward reorientation of China, which... More

Where To? The European Union between Brexit and the War in Ukraine

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Bogdan C. Enache

What has become of European integration? The present concerns regarding Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, a bloody war on the European Union’s Eastern borders, and transatlantic solidarity makes the question seem a bit irrelevant. Beneath the... More

Republicans and Support for Ukraine

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Stephen R. Bowers

Trump has been the most vocal of Republican critics of the Biden policy and has suggested that more money needs to be directed toward our domestic needs. DeSantis has also been moving in that direction and on 14 March, The New York Times... More

Digitally United We Stand, Digitally Divided We Fall!Or vice versa?

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Vlad I. Roșca

The European environment – business and wider society alike – is undergoing significant disruptions following the impact of digitalisation. Traditional value creation models for European businesses change. Value creation models are impacted... More

The Broken Avant-garde of Max Hermann Maxy

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Bogdan C. Enache

The exhibition currently displayed by the National Museum of Arts of Romania (MNAR) in honour of Max Hermann Maxy is both an artistic and a historical event. Despite its limitations and imperfections, “M. H. Maxy: From Avant-gardisme to... More

Romania, Third Among EU Economies Regarding Net Personal Transfers as Percentage of GDP and First in Nominal Terms

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Dan Pălăngean

In 2021, the EU countries that generated surpluses of personal transfers, representing more than 1% of their respective gross domestic product (GDP), were Croatia (2.7% of GDP), Bulgaria (1.6%), Romania (1.5%) and Latvia (1.1%). In contrast... More

Dead Men Tell Many TalesReflection on one year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Part III)

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Adrian-Ioan Damoc

It is worth noting that one of the most important issues the past three years have brought to the forefront is the fact that the EU’s unity and capacity to act coherently have been challenged both by the pandemic and by the ongoing war; to be more specific... More

Restoring the EU Competitiveness: Challenges and Opportunities in the Context of the Twin Green & Digital TransitionThursday 23 March 2023 - online event, Zoom platform -

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

The Market for Ideas

Since its creation in 1993, the single market has helped to make everyday life easier for people and businesses, fuelling jobs and growth across the EU. In the aftermath of the pandemic crisis and the war against Ukraine, the Council of the EU, through its... More

Dead Men Tell Many TalesReflection on one year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Part II)

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Adrian-Ioan Damoc

As one year since hostilities began approaches, we are left to contemplate the harsh realities the ongoing situation has yielded thus far and what insights can be gleaned from them. As already stated, we have learned that even in the 21st century, war... More

Presidential Summits and the Role of the Host States: Lessons from the Three Seas InitiativeTime: 22th March, 2023, 11.00-12.30, Venue: Dworkowa St. 3, Warsaw

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

The Market for Ideas

The aim of the seminar, organized by the Three Seas Initiative Research Center, affiliated with the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science, is to review the results of the Three Seas Initiative Summits, the importance of the... More

Dead Men Tell Many TalesReflection on one year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Part I)

No. 40, Mar.-Apr. 2023

Adrian-Ioan Damoc

An estimated 18 000 civilian deaths, 1250 of whom are children; over 17 million people who have fled Ukraine in 2022; a shrinking of the Ukrainian economy by 35%; a staggering total of 200 000 military casualties evenly split between Russia and... More

Where We Head to When There’s Nowhere to RunThe Metaverse, the Universe and the (sad) future of our species...

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

The phrase “life is a struggle” aptly describes the experience of writing about anything other than the ongoing war a year after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but so much has already been written on the topic (and so much will yet be written – in vain ... More

Capturing the Commanding Heights

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Steven Alan Samson

Half a century ago the German sociologist Helmut Schelsky succinctly dissected the political strategy of left-wing radicals in West Germany and the West generally. His essay, “The New Strategy of Revolution,” remains one of the best... More

The Reality of War

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Bogdan C. Enache

The 24th of February, the Russian invasion of Ukraine rather slowly awoke Europe to the forgotten reality of war. Despite the numerous armed conflicts all over the continent and in the world at large in which Westerners have been involved during... More

The Anti-Capitalist Mentality: A Big Problem for Romania

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Silviu Cerna

Decades of anti-capitalist propaganda have left deep traces in Romanian collective psyche, which causes poverty, unemployment, corruption, etc., to have an air of verisimilitude to capitalism, not to the reminiscences of communism. The... More

GfK: Romania, 51% below the European Purchasing Power Average in 2022

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Dan Pălăngean

Romania had a spending potential of €8,017 per capita in 2022. This is 51% below the European average and puts the Romanians in 31st place. Compared to the previous year, the gap between counties with high and low purchasing power has... More

China’s Economic Role Amid the Prolonged War in Ukraine

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Min-Hua Chiang

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, China’s position on the war has been a topic of discussion. Unlike Western countries’ consistent condemnation of Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, China’s attitude has been... More

The American Elections Confirm the Course Will Be Maintained in Foreign Policy

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Alexandru Georgescu

During the recent midterm congressional elections, I had the opportunity to observe a polarized nation at the ground level while in Washington, DC. This was a competition in which political affiliation has become an element of identity as strong as... More

How Time Flies in Cambridge and Why It Matters

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Mariana Nicolae

I spent the 2022 winter holidays in Cambridge, UK. When we say Cambridge, we Romanians think primarily of the university, the University of Cambridge, although our Romanian mental image of a university is very different from theirs. And the fact... More

Time – Resource and CurrencyOutlines of a book written by the Romanian economist and entrepreneur, Octavian Bădescu

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

The Market for Ideas

Although it is a work that appears – at first glance – to be very analytical, the essence of this book is a relatively simple one – a practical vision for a better world. Continuing the ideas expressed in another book by the same author (For a Golden... More

Fight (Book) ClubPolitical philosophers’ punches: on Plato and Machiavelli vs. Sun Tzu

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Neven Vidaković

The war in Ukraine is the starting point for the creation of a new global structure. The process might last several decades. For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the West is truly faced with a united and purposeful adversary whose endgame... More

Romania, Above Eight EU Member States in Terms of Actual Individual Consumption

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

Dan Pălăngean

In international comparisons of national accounts data, such as GDP per capita, it is desirable not only to express the figures in a common currency, but also to adjust for differences in price levels. Failing to do so would result in an overestimation... More

The Planet on a Collision CourseYet, the world’s menaces are not from out there, but sadly from within

No. 39, Jan.-Feb. 2023

The Market for Ideas

The development of science fiction and the Space Race in the mid-twentieth century turned mankind’s attention to the stars, fuelling our collective imagination about the wonders and threats that may lie beyond the skyes, from alien contact to... More

Foot(Glo)ballisation by World CupThe most relevant ad-hoc study on the current state and fate of our planet

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

If people were to tell their story to the inhabitants of other worlds in this universe, it would suffice to produce a chronicle of earthly discussions containing the keyword or hashtag #WorldCup. I believe we can safely leave out “football” from this label... More

Global Initiatives and Supply Chains

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Alexandru Georgescu

The security of global supply chains is a topic that the global public is actively debating for the first time since the OPEC crisis of 1973.There have been incidents since then that have highlighted the vulnerabilities produced by this stage of... More

Breaking the Long Truce

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Steven Alan Samson

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element of democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government... More

Inflation Is Back: What Is to Be Done?

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Silviu Cerna

The pressing matter of inflation is once again on the minds of the citizens and the National Bank of Romania (NBR), whose goal is to preserve and maintain price stability. Over the previous year, inflation has dramatically risen. It continues to include a... More

The 17th International Conference on Business ExcellenceRethinking business: Sustainable leadership in a VUCA world (23-25 March 2023, Bucharest, Romania)

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

The Market for Ideas

Business excellence is about achieving superior business results in relation to the competitors by means of developing and strengthening the management systems and processes of an organization; it is targeted at improving performance... More

My Brentry after Their BrexitUpon revisiting the UK, I’ve found it just as I’d left it: as if the EU had never existed

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

Could Britain be immutable as well as irreplaceable? This is a question worth pondering, given several of Britain’s attributes: its greatness as an island with tendrils reaching across the entire planet, even if it is limited today to a mere... More

Italy’s New Populist Government, in Context

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Alexandru Georgescu

Contrary to many pundits, many of them hysterics with crypto-fascist hallucinations, I do not believe the victory of Giorgia Meloni has a meaningful significance at the European level. There were many voices anticipating an advance of populist political... More

Cold War Ballet BattlesThe Arts of Diplomacy [VI]

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Mihaela-Lorena Vălean

From 1959 through 1962, a series of ballet exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union led to mutual admiration for the arts as well as some miscommunication. Both the public and the dance critics from the US and USSR (both being... More

The Woodstock Days of Peace and MusicThe Arts of Diplomacy [V]

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Cătălina-Mihaela Lupu

The 60s and 70s in the United States of America were eras whose counter-cultures were defined by war, racial tensions, and a population of youth defying their government. Held in Bethel, New York, from August 15 to 18, 1969, The Woodstock... More

“Comfort Woman” and an Uncomfortable HistoryThe Arts of Diplomacy [IV]

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Ana-Maria Gheorghe Ioana-Adelina Gheorghe Octavia-Iulia Stănescu

More than 200,000 girls and women from Korea and other parts of Asia were kidnapped from their homes, trafficked, and held captive at front-line brothels by the Japanese army during World War II. These women and girls were given the euphemistic... More

On Sustainability TodayEconomy Near Us (LIX)

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Gabriela-Mariana Ionescu

The current period characterised at global level by the action of economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological crises is leading to the transformation of production and consumption systems, making it necessary to accept for a... More

A Drive with the DevilFord’s affair with Nazi Germany (War creatures, great and small [III])

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Ana-Maria Teodorescu Dragoș-Ioan Zăinescu

World War 2… When you think of it, you think of all the pain and destruction that it has caused from 1939 until 1945. Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, Soviet Russia and the United States have been some of the most important... More

Is Neutrality the Answer?Switzerland’s economy in the aftermath of the World Wars (War creatures, great and small [II])

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Vlad-Mihail Ghețu Ana-Maria Pașcu

Ever since before the establishment of the first settlements, people engaged in wars for various reasons, at first for survival and territorial expansion and then out of economic, political, religious and ideological reasons. When talking about war... More

The Fashion of WarThe mark bellicosity put on clothing (War creatures, great and small [I])

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Elitsa Pasheva

The wars that our parents and grandparents fought and died for in the last century drastically changed the people’s minds and views in regards to many aspects, from creating special rules for the conduct of war to reaching goals through peaceful... More

R&D Expenditure of Major Economic Actors. Romania, Last Place in the EU

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Dan Pălăngean

In 2021, the EU spent €328 billion on research & development (R&D), up by 6% compared with the previous year (€310 billion). Compared with 2011, there was a 43.9% increase. These rates of change are in current prices, meaning they reflect both... More

What Cost Disinflation?

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Bogdan C. Enache

The debate over the causes of the 2021 worldwide surge in inflation has been superseded by events without having furnished a consensual conclusion. Many economists and policymakers still hold that the key determinants are supply-side... More

The Dark Side of Black Friday: Expensive CheapnessMIND(s that filled) THE GAP(s) [XIX]

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Karina Duțu David Budărescu

Black Friday has become a well-known commercial event, but how many of us know what it means? Is it a boon to our pockets or is it really just a way for the big retailers to sell their products?People believe that Black Friday is named after the concept that... More

Robotize This! The (Im)Personal Care IndustryMIND(s that filled) THE GAP(s) [XVIII]

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Amalia Bobeică Delia Dumitru

In recent years, there has been more and more talk about digitalization and the use of robots in redundant activities, and the discussions also touch on people’s fear of being replaced by robots. Specialists appreciate, however, that robots do... More

Alibaba and the Opened Treasure of Online TradingJack Ma’s brief (business) life story, the reformer that few believed in – MIND(s that filled) THE GAP(s) [XVII]

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Daria-Ana Coară-Florescu

Ali Baba is an Arabian folktale hero, conjured up by Scheherazade in one of her 1001 tales, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”. But how do you get from this fairy tale character to naming a company after him? Perhaps it has something to do with an... More

The Value of Agricultural Output in Romania, Up by 25% in 2021

No. 38, Nov.-Dec. 2022

Dan Pălăngean

The value of agricultural output in Romania increased by 25% in 2021, according to the economic accounts for agriculture (EAA) for 2021 published by Eurostat. The sharpest rate of increase was recorded in Bulgaria (+37%) and the third best... More

The Future of the Outer Space Economy: Powerful States and Visionary Entrepreneurs in the Exoeconomic ParadigmCall for articles

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

The Market for Ideas

The analysis of the economic integration of the off-planet space in the sphere of human activities is an arduous and complex process, a crucial, even vital one. The exploitation of the outer space has become a decisive component of the... More

Evergrande – a Test of China

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Alexandru Georgescu

For several months, the financial world has been watching with concern the evolution of Evergrande Group in China, whose financial problems have conjured up the specter of an economic contagion that can destabilize not only China's opaque... More

Sovereignty, Security, Prosperity, and the Future of the Eurasia Project

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

James Jay Carafano Anthony B. Kim

It is time to think big, far beyond China’s Belt and Road. From the Arctic Circle bordered by the Nordic nations in Europe to the steppes of Central Asia, the peoples that live and work across the breadth of the world’s oldest trade routes have an... More

Three Seas Initiative: New Direction Foreign Policy CouncilDubrovnik, Croatia, 14 October 2022

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

The Market for Ideas

Since its founding in 2015, the Three Seas Initiative has grown in importance in the region, uniting the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and becoming the primary forum for discussion of investment opportunities and energy security. However... More

The Digital Economy – Generating Opportunities or Vulnerabilities?Economy Near Us (LVIII)

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Monica-Florica Dutcaș

I have argued several times (including in papers published in TMFI) that technological progress can be approached as an opportunity, since, through education and the training of new skills on the labour market, it creates circumstances... More

Romania: The Highest Shares of Children in Poverty or Social Exclusion in the EU

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Dan Pălăngean

Among the EU Member States in 2021, the highest shares of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion were recorded in Romania, according to Eurostat data. The percentage of 41.5% was well above those for Spain (33.4%) and Bulgaria... More

Some Reflections on My Experience of Romania

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Dennis Deletant

My first direct contact with Romania took place in July 1965. It was choreographed in such a manner that opportunities to meet members of the public were limited. An inescapable feature of life in Romania under the Communist regime was the... More

CAPITOL LETTERS (Ep. ∞): The Industrial Revolutionizing of the Social Contract: 4.0 Generation UpdatesRead more on that in the VISIO JOURNAL latest issue

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Octavian-Dragomir Jora Mihaela Iacob

The “egg-and-chicken” problem when, for instance, reasoning on and ruminating about the history-long and worldwide plethora of technological shifts/rifts/drifts and social/political/economic realities is secondary to a principal obviousness... More

The Restless Desire of Power for Power

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Steven Alan Samson

Today, the regulatory operations of central governments impinge upon virtually all areas of life, leading to widespread efforts by interest groups to have their vision of the good life implemented through law and regulatory oversight. Much of the... More

CAPITOL LETTERS (Ep. 12): The Truth per Thaler Spent (or the Return on Insightfulness)The Economics of Science

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

That Economics is a science is a statement against which it is difficult to argue. Be that as it may, enquiring “what kind of science it is” (exact or social science) should be taken as a pertinent question in its own right. Economists, both... More

The Hunger Games: Weaponizing Food

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

Since the beginning of time, food has been used as a weapon of war. Enemies have tried to starve each other to death. The Romans did it, and so did the Germans, the Americans, and Britain weaponized food against India and the Central... More

CAPITOL LETTERS (Ep. 11): Across (Twelve) Land(s) and (Three) Sea(s)3SI. And a déjà-vu

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

Phobos, kerdos and doxa: fear, egotism and glory. These are the inner forces of human nature, according to Thucydides, the “grandfather” of political realism, if we are to concede paternity in modern times to H. Morgenthau. These forces animate... More

Material Consumption, a Key Problem for Sustainable Development in Romania

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Dan Pălăngean

Romania is on the podium in the top 3 in terms of domestic material consumption between EU Member States and holds the first position in the category of non-metallic materials, which includes household garbage. The data were presented... More

CAPITOL LETTERS (Ep. 10): Samuel F.B. Morse, the Janusian CreatorAmerica’s Da Vinci (de)code(d)?

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

“What hath God wrought?” Biblical wonder in the face of divine creation, spelled out by a creative man of science and of art, a man of faith, as well as one of feud. Samuel F.B. Morse by his name, the founding father, in the electro-magnetic “field”... More

Give Us, God, Our Daily Experts (Part II)Economy Near Us (LVII)

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Emil Dinga

I continue now with the other remaining two classes of incompetency (or, equally, of incompetents), which give themselves the high title of expert. In other places and moments, I have spoken about the conceptual distinction between... More

From Apollo to Artemis and Beyond

No. 37, Sep.-Oct. 2022

Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu

I consider human curiosity and quest for knowledge to be the main element that propels space exploration. We want to know what lies beyond the limits of our planet, beyond the limits of our solar system, beyond the limits of our galaxy, and to... More