Vlad I. Roșca

Economist, Ph.D., freelance journalist and independent researcher

Atypical and Ambitious: The European Silicon Valley

No. 61, Sep.-Oct. 2026 The “Steinäcker” area, in the north of Heilbronn and south of the A6. To the west, on the other side of Grundäckerstrasse, is Fleischwaren Heilbronn, one of the largest meat processing plants for the Schwarz Group, owner of Kaufland and Lidl. To the east, the Neckar River and the city’s thermal power plant. From Grundäckerstrasse, tractors and seeders turn towards the nearby fields. The area was and still is predominantly used for agriculture, but now 23 hectares – the equivalent of about 42 football fields – have been cleared of vegetation to prepare the construction site. On a fence, the typical announcement: “This is where IPAI is built”. The sequel, perhaps, more atypical and as ambitious as possible: “The future Silicon Valley of Europe”. More

A Missing Violet Piece

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 60, Jul.-Aug. 2026 We may well be approaching an important moment for Romanian football: the possible return of Politehnica Timișoara to the top flight. After years spent trudging through the mud of the lower leagues, the white-and-violets have risen from adversity with remarkable endurance. Backed with increasing determination by the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, the city’s flagship football institution has gradually reclaimed the values, identity, and spirit that have always made it worthy of the highest stage. More

When Chaos Becomes a Playing System

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 59, May-Jun. 2026 Tactical systems in football are a thing at least since the Scots put the ball on the grass and developed the passing game at the expense of the “kick-and-rush”. If kick-and-rush can hardly be called a tactical system (there was / is nothing systemic about it), the passing game gave rise to the WM formation, later tweaked by Hungarian coaches such as Márton Bukovi and Gusztáv Sebes. And even with the WM, a distinction must be made between a playing formation (which it more closely resembled) and a tactical system (which it was not yet). But it became one, at least from the moment of Helenio Herrera’s Catenaccio, followed by Cruijff’s Totaalvoetbal, and more recently, Spanish tiki-taka. More

Beyond the Stats

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 At first glance, we might be tempted to think that the career of a two-time world champion is defined entirely by success and fulfilment. And, to some extent, that is true. Yet what remains far less visible is the effort behind the scenes. “Dan Carter. The Autobiography of an All Blacks Legend” (Headline Publishing, 2015) stands, above all, as a testimony to effort and resilience. More

Between Futures and Fields: Ideas in Motion at ICBE 2026

Octavian-Dragomir Jora, Vlad I. Roșca

No. 58, Mar.-Apr. 2026 For several years now, the International Conference on Business Excellence has become more than a platform for presenting research – it is increasingly a space where disciplines intersect and where emerging ideas are tested against real-world complexity. The recent 2026 edition, hosted in Bucharest between March 26 and 28, reaffirmed this role by bringing together scholars exploring the evolving relationships between business, society, technology, and governance. More

France’s Ruthless Reinvention: Mid-Tournament Mastery and Agile Management Lessons

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 57, Jan.-Feb. 2026 I’m penning these lines smack in the middle of the 2026 Six Nations, after the first three rounds, and I’ll say it without hesitation: France will clinch the title detached, for the second year running and the twentieth time in history. Raising the stakes? They’ll achieve the Grand Slam. And bolder still: France will sweep the Six Nations with a Grand Slam and maximum points: 25. There are two more rounds to play at the moment of writing, but miracle would it be if this didn’t happen. More

Unfinished Poems and Eternal Myths: Hungary ‘54 and Holland ‘74

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 56, Nov.-Dec. 2025 I have not lived through Hungary 1954 or Holland 1974, yet I feel them more deeply—perhaps more vividly—than anything I’ve personally witnessed or endured in my decades as a football fan (which started with USA ‘94 and England ‘96). Football thrives on myths. Immortal stories, some achingly painful, like those two etched in the sport’s soul. Both defied nature, logic, the very order of things. More

Dissolving Dreams: Breaking Records for All (the Wrong) Reasons

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 56, Nov.-Dec. 2025 2025 marks a bleak chapter for Romania’s economy. A number of structural and cyclical factors are responsible for a slowdown, including a 1.7% decline in gross fixed capital formation (investment) in 2024 (the first since 2020), a negative net foreign demand contribution brought on by a 3.6% year-over-year drop in exports and a 3.4% increase in imports, as well as a loss of momentum in important industries like construction following the most recent governmentally imposed austerity measures. More

Beyond Tragedy: Monuments of Hope and Mitteleuropean Legacy

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 Alexandru Potcoavă makes a keen observation in the August 2025 issue of the literary magazine Orizont, based in Timișoara: “You know you’re in a Central European city when, in one of its squares, you stumble upon a Column of the Plague, erected in Viennese Baroque style”. If in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, or Hungary these columns are a common sight (now cultural, religious, and artistic monuments, but with a less-than-pleasant origin), in Romania, we find columns of the plague only in Timișoara and Cluj-Napoca – proof that, if not geographically, at least ideologically, these two cities were (and continue to be) closer to a certain Central European ideal. More

The Price of a Global Stage

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 The cobblestones of Staroměstské náměstí, once echoing with the footfalls of Czech kings and the shouts of revolutionaries, now feel the soft-soled steps of global travellers. The medieval Pražský orloj continues its silent, gilded dance, not for the locals who once set their lives by its chimes, but for a sea of up-turned faces, each framed by a glowing smartphone screen. The square, which once hummed with the daily rhythm of local merchants, gossiping neighbours, and street performers, now exists as a curated postcard. It’s a stage where the only authentic performance is the ironic tableau of a city selling its soul to the very people who come to see what it once was. More

Hala Fatigue! Real’s Crown in Crisis

Vlad I. Roșca

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

From Periphery to Power: The Digital Renaissance on the Fringe of Culture

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 Ulf Hannerz wrote back in 1989 that that the twentieth century culture can be characterized as having been built on centre-periphery relationships. This divide has allowed cultural diversity to flow transnationally, empowering cultural creativity through the exchange of ideas and values, especially in peripheral societies. More