TheMarketForIdeas

When Green Dreams Meet Geopolitical Nightmares: Europe’s Climate Diplomacy in a Fragmented World

Mihai Christopher Marian Radovici

No. 56, Nov.-Dec. 2025 Europe’s inclusive multipolarity, driven by climate diplomacy, faces its greatest test as geopolitical fractures threaten to derail the Paris Agreement’s momentum. With Washington and Beijing heading on a collision course and developing nations embarking on strategic non-alignment, Brussels must reinvent itself as a credible bridge-builder. More

Disciplining Disorder: A Juridical Meditation on Sanctions and Order in International Law Why international sanctions are never what they seem

Adrian Corobană

No. 56, Nov.-Dec. 2025 Who hasn’t heard of international sanctions these days has probably avoided reading any global news in the past decade. The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation triggered an avalanche of reports, analyses, and commentaries about the sanctions imposed on Moscow — tens of thousands of articles published in the international press, academic centres, and political think-tanks. More recently, after February 2022, that number has increased more than fivefold, a clear sign that international sanctions have become not only instruments of foreign policy, but also products of media consumption. More

Paso Doble: Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy

Silviu Cerna

No. 56, Nov.-Dec. 2025 Fiscal (budgetary) policies and monetary policies are macroeconomic and conjunctural in nature. They are developed and applied by different authorities, independent of each other, namely the government and the central bank. This does not mean that the two types of economic policies are not interdependent. Both act on the economy and influence its overall performance, and the interdependence between them is manifested by the reciprocal effects and constraints that they impose on each other. As a result, the coordination of fiscal and monetary policy is necessary for the stability of the economy, the promotion of sustainable economic growth and the efficient approach to various challenges. More

Salvation in Marble, Memory in Concrete – Romania’s Religious Return to Monumentalism

Mihai Christopher Marian Radovici

No. 56, Nov.-Dec. 2025 Renowned for its enchanting myths and timeless folklore, Romania continues to cling proudly to its spiritual dimensions. So much so, in fact, that the nation began a new era of (sacred) magnificence by raising the world’s largest Orthodox Cathedral, right in the very heart of Bucharest. 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

AIconomics: More, Faster or Outrightly Different? Economic science and algorithmic insightfulness

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 56, Nov.-Dec. 2025 There is no such thing as a closed science – the problem is not the (un)expected novelty, but the old, still unresolved epistemic conflicts. It is also the story of economics. From the classics and the revelation of price as a social compass, to the marginalists and the subjective revolution of utility; from the Keynesians, with their emphasis on aggregate demand and public policies, to the monetarists’ reply and then to the rigorous micro-foundations of the neoclassical “synthesis”; from the new macro- to the behavioural economics to be incorporated into fancy impact assessments (which no longer add apples to oranges, but make juice out of the both). Each stage wanted to have the “last word”, but the quarrel of the wise (among themselves and then with the world) continues unabated. The contemporary “synthesis” is not a stable temple, but a construction site. With plenty of scaffolding and sequelae. More

Price Increases and Their Economic Consequences

Silviu Cerna

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 In many countries, including Romania, the prices of goods and services tend to rise. This process is called inflation. Prices are determined by many factors: supply and demand, the cost of labour and raw materials, competition among sellers, and so on. But, in essence, inflation is related to supply and demand: if the demand for goods and services increases faster than the supply, prices tend to rise. More

It Is Time to Embrace an Anti-Polar World Order

Mihai Christopher Marian Radovici

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 For centuries, international relations have been defined by the rise or fall of great powers, but in today’s architectures we might be witnessing the emergence of a system where no power is truly great enough to lead. In this death of polarity what purpose do the uni-, bi-, multi- prefixes still have? More

Chinese-Style Industrial Development with American Characteristics

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 It’s not easy being a politician in America, especially a Republican one. The world’s largest economy is going through an ideological upheaval accompanied by a reorganization of the electoral coalitions that have dominated American politics for the past 50 years. The effects of demographic transformation, globalization, and social media are rewriting the rules of American politics in a very short time. More

Romania, Lowest Rate in the EU on Tertiary Educational Attainment

Dan Pălăngean

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 Romania has the lost lowest rate in the EU on tertiary educational attainment, according to data published by Eurostat for 2024. Ireland (65.2%), Luxembourg (63.8%) and Cyprus (60.1%) had the highest tertiary education attainment rates, while Romania (23.2%), Italy (31.6%) and Hungary (32.3%) had the lowest rates. 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

Closer than We Thought Romania and Kazakhstan – the digital edition

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 Before we discuss artificial intelligence, let’s test a bit of human intel. When carefully scrutinizing Romania–Kazakhstan relations, we have in mind a case study of Europe–Asia ties — between two countries coming from geographical and historical paradigms that make them so deeply different, yet (who knows?) surprisingly compatible. More

Economic Science and Economic Policy

Silviu Cerna

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

Via Transilvanica – Where Romania’s Heritage, Community and Tourism Converge

Mihai Christopher Marian Radovici

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 Romania’s landscapes have always rewarded those who explore them, from Carpathians’ ancient forests, layered cultural palimpsest, mythical monasteries to legend-worthy fortresses, living traditional villages and wildlife that still resides where it always belonged. When imagination met skills and perseverance, those gifts coalesced into Via Transilvanica, a road that is at once a hiking route, art gallery, strand of social infrastructure, and, increasingly, an engine for regional cohesive regeneration. More

Responses to Science and the Industrial Order, 1914-1950

Steven Alan Samson

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 Modern technology invests political and other organizations with the means to increasingly organize all variables which impinge upon their operation. The need to economize an organization’s activities, due to a condition of insufficient means and material, motivates an effort to secure greater control over those variables on behalf of the organization’s presumed interests. This article – the first of two parts – is drawn from the first part of a paper written in 1971, which was used as the second chapter of my 1974 M.A. thesis, The Methodical Conquest: Perceptions of the Impact of Modern Technology on Society. It focuses on ideas put forward by British and some continental writers from 1914-1950. More

Bianconeri Big Dreams: Juventus and the Stadium that Prints Money

Teodor Burnar

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 Juventus knew exactly what they were doing back in 2011 when they cut the ribbon on their new home, the Allianz Stadium. Fourteen seasons later, the math is dazzling: roughly €800 million in revenue has flowed through the turnstiles, hospitality suites, and naming rights, according to Football Italia. For a club once renting the cavernous Stadio delle Alpi, this compact, privately owned fortress has been a goldmine. Annual revenues now flirt with the nine-digit mark, and the Bianconeri plan to squeeze even more juice by staging concerts, corporate events, and whatever else can keep the lights on year-round. 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

Le Petit Prince Thank you for your service!

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 55, Sep.-Oct. 2025 “Armies of slaves to fight for freedom” – the twisted and torn morality of conscription cannot be too far away from such a trenchant verdict. Nationalist-patriotic speeches leaning into ardour and bombast may get the blood running, but reason is impaired for the blood rarely bypasses the bulging veins of the neck presaging epic bloodbaths. Somewhere, sometime, Prince Harry of the UK has called for the reintroduction of compulsory military service, giving as the supreme argument the fact that both he and the soldiers he commanded were helped in life by their military career. The newsfeed does not detail one aspect: help with what? What could the 30-year-old prince, the fifth heir to the crown [N.B.: meanwhile, self-“spared” from the royal line], have understood from the army to such an extent that his life experience would become a governmental duty for the rest of the people? “I dread to think where I’d be without the army”, the precocious sage said (serving it to the grunts: “Maybe in Las Vegas, at some naked party”). More

Argentine President Javier Milei’s Economic Reform: A Model Worth Considering

Silviu Cerna

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

Did You Say Neoliberalism? The Dirigiste Theories of the Romanian Postcommunist Elite

Cornel Ban

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 Economically speaking, where did we start from within the political project shepherded by Ion Iliescu in 1990? I see that this project is called at the same time “Gorbachevite”, “neoliberal”, “shock therapist” even. Yet, rigor is needed here. My analysis is that at the decisive moment of 1990, before the fragmentation brought about by the 1991 reforms, at an intellectual level in power circles there was actually a split between market socialism and a strange neo-developmentalism grafted on social-democratic aspirations whose undercurrents neither Iliescu nor his allies understood very well, given the data of the problem in Romania in those years and the terrible isolation experienced in the 80s. The Neoliberal Consensus from Washington, not to mention shock therapy, had no supporters in the power apparatus until 1996. What was done in this regard was fragmentary and under the coercion applied by financiers (here the IMF) to the rulers of a state without access to capital. In the final socio-economic outcome – overall an extremely brutal one with millions of lives –, these economic paradigms mattered less than objective material and political factors, some inherited from the late stage of Ceausescu’s reign, others new. But in no case can we see in the dominant actors of this period simple projections of structural constraints. Some socialist countries gravitated towards the ideas that were the basis of European social democracies (Slovenia). Others went towards a kind of market socialism without the advantages of China (Belarus). Others gravitated towards liberalism, although some socially embedded it quite a lot, at least for a while (Visegrad) or did not bother to put in serious safety nets (the Baltics). More

Romania, Lowest Prices for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages in EU

Dan Pălăngean

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 Romania has the lowest prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages in EU, according to a study published by Eurostat. Romania’s prices were 24% below the average, followed by Slovakia (at 17% below the average) and Poland (-13%). The study was focused primarily on price levels for food, beverages and tobacco in 36 European countries. The country groups included in the analysis were the 27 European Union (EU) countries, 3 EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and 6 candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye). More

The EU-US Trade Agreement, a Study in the Contrast between Politics and Reality

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 While few would compare Donald Trump to Mahatma Gandhi, a saying by the Indian leader applies to the US President: “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win.” The recently announced EU-US trade agreement represents a political triumph for Donald Trump and his political vision of recalibrating trade, economic, technological, and security relations with the rest of the world, including its most important allies. From the famous clip of German delegates laughing at Trump in 2017 when he warned them about their dependence on Russian gas to today’s “unequal treaty”, Trump has managed to prevail despite domestic and foreign opposition. The economic realities behind the agreement are uncertain, as is the implementation of its vague commitments. It may well be that US citizens will suffer the most from Trump’s campaign, but the way these negotiations were presented as conflict and aggression required the designation of a winner and a loser. The agreement is therefore a political disaster for Ursula von der Leyen and the “Geopolitical Commission” that was meant to transform the EU into a global power. Several European leaders, including Pres. Macron who wanted the most aggressive approach against the US, have denounced the agreement as a continuation of a “century of humiliations” for Europe similar to those suffered by colonized countries. The hyperbole takes on a life of its own and may lead to drastic political changes in the EU. The problem is not that the Europeans do not have skilled negotiators, but that their negotiating position was weak from the start after the EU’s economically lost generation (after the 2008 crisis) and after the effect of “perma-crises and poly-crises” (in the World Economic Forum’s formula). These include the sovereign debt crisis, the refugee crisis, the Covid pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine, the sanctions imposed on Russia and the failure of the EU’s political and economic system, in particular the drastic bet on combating climate change at the expense of energy security. From aspiring to equality with and surpassing the US, the EU has fallen far behind and its strategic and technological autonomy has regressed. More

The Curious Case of Techno-Reversion Going forward by passing backwards, just like in rugby

Bogdan Cozma

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 I remember about two years ago, some viral videos from China presenting what was described as a major breakthrough in public transport: the trackless tram. However, it did not take long for terminally online to point out that these “smart trams” were essentially just trolleybuses. Since then, I started to notice this pattern more often, innovations that are in reality just repackaged ideas. More

The Asian Future of Europe? Prepare for the pole shift – geostrategic, not magnetic!

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 “The light comes from the east” – a go-to byword spread in Eastern Europe in the dawn of the Communist rampage to come, hiding one of the most tragic optical illusions in history. However, the saying is, in fact, much older. “Ex oriente lux” marks the ultimate (“Eastern”) spiritual origin of our (“Western”) world: Indo>European populations, Greco>Roman syntheses, Judeo>Christian religions. All these, E>W. It would also be the other way around. “Ex occidente lex” shows us that the law and order of civilization flourished where an unmistakable chain reaction between various ideas and institutions occurred. The recipe, for Niall Ferguson, includes competition, science, private property, medicine, consumerism and the work ethic. This time, the arrow is W>E. While this explains the historical rise of the “West” over the “Rest”, it predicts a reversal of polarity too, amid Western degeneration under the cumulative burdens of intergenerational over-indebtedness, market over-regulation, legislation hypertrophy and civic atrophy. The “Rest” (Westernized or at least modernized) demands a reassessment of its share of participation within the production (and consumption) of “a better future”. With the East (aka Asia) at the forefront. More

The New International Economic Order

Silviu Cerna

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

Markets and Robots

Dan Bubuilă

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 Robots have become an active part of our economic life. They are already present on the stock market where they act almost independently, buying and selling assets and resources although they are still following the requirements previously given by an entrepreneur who shoulders the risk for its actions. The development of sufficiently complex models that are able to predict and alter the conditions under which they operate will lead us, at some point, to question the role of man in the whole economic mechanism. More

Romania, Penultimate Spot in the EU for Labor Force Occupation Rate for People Over 50 Years Old

Dan Pălăngean

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 The data revealed by Eurostat showed that Croatia and Romania had the lowest employment rates among people aged 50-74, with less than 40% of individuals in this age group employed. Among the 60-74 age group, Luxembourg and Romania had the lowest employment rates, with less than 15% of people employed. More

The Limits of Complex Systems: The Power Outage in the Iberian Peninsula

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 On 28 April 2025, a power outage affected the entire Iberian Peninsula and border areas of France, as well as Andorra. Reports of outages in other countries turned out to be false or unrelated to the events in Spain and Portugal. The power outage affected all of the mainland parts of the two countries. The islands were not affected, as they had independent power grids. By the next day, power had been restored in almost all of the affected areas. Damage was estimated at 4.5 billion euros, but even more important in the long term is the erosion of confidence in the reliability of European critical infrastructure. Politically, there could be major consequences, including increased risks of populism, since the European Union has in recent years been moving strongly (and often self-defeatingly) towards decarbonizing energy production, electrifying important areas of the economy such as transport, and increasing the share of renewable energy in the European mix, under the auspices of the dual digital and green transitions (and, ironically, the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council was talking about the triple transition, including the social one). While it is too early to have definitive answers about the root causes of the incident, the blackout was a shock to Europe and perhaps a wake-up call about the weaknesses of a strongly ideological and political approach to pragmatic and technical realities. More

Energy Infrastructure Development in Romania and Bulgaria – A Strategic Necessity for the Energy Security of Central and South-Eastern Europe

Răzvan Munteanu

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 In the extremely unstable geopolitical context of recent years, marked by armed conflicts, sabotage of energy infrastructure and the deliberate decoupling of Russian natural gas supplies to Europe, the need for a fundamental reconfiguration of the gas supply route becomes obvious and urgent. The suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine, the shutdown of the Yamal-Europe pipeline and the compromise of the Nord Stream pipelines have led to the collapse of the old traditional delivery routes, putting countries such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia and Austria in difficulty. The only remaining functional route – TurkStream/Balkan Stream – crosses Bulgaria and has a limited capacity, which shows the vulnerability of the European energy system. In this tense context, the joint initiative of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania to create a “Vertical Gas Corridor” takes on vital strategic importance. This initiative, discussed since 2014 but reactivated in practice after the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, proposes a complete reversal of the gas transport paradigm: instead of north to south, gas would flow from south to north – from the LNG ports and terminals in Greece, through Bulgaria and Romania, to Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine, and further to the rest of Central Europe. More

Governance Unboxed (for Dummies, not for Dumbs) Economic policies are based on political power, not economic science

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 54, Jul.-Aug. 2025 Mythology and, beg your pardon, the mythomania of governments – this being the case everywhere and since forever – maintain the idea that the solutions for the peace and prosperity of the polis somehow come “from above”: either from the heights of the skies (descending from the divinity and transmitted, through epiphanies, to the priests), or from the heights of the sciences (processed by gifted brains, organs that are in the custody of the scholars). Am I insinuating that this is not how things are?! To be honest, if I can’t really say anything useful about the first route, because my own heavenly revelation is still waiting to be experienced, about the second I can say that it is a huge hoax: an erroneous interpretation, which can degenerate into a… fraudulent one, of the area of sciences – economic and political ones alike. More

The Tariff War and the Future of the Dollar

Silviu Cerna

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

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Collapse of Colonial River Governance

Mara-Andreea Tudor

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 The Nile River has long been governed more by politics than hydrology, with its control imposed by foreign powers, not equity. The Nile Water Agreements, signed in 1929 and 1959, were negotiated by colonial powers who deliberately excluded upstream-state Ethiopia, giving Egypt control over 66% of its waters and effective veto power over upstream development. On the contrary, Ethiopia, whose highlands supply approximately 85% of the Nile’s volume, has been relegated to the margins of a system designed to entrench dominance, not foster shared control. Now, after decades of foreign monopoly, Ethiopia’s construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has shattered the status quo, a move viewed by Egypt and Sudan as destabilizing, though long seen by Ethiopia as a necessary correction to decades of imposed marginalization. More

Romania, Second Among EU Members Regarding Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion

Dan Pălăngean

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 In 2024, 93.3 million people in the EU (21.0% of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which means they lived in households experiencing at least 1 of 3 poverty and social exclusion risks: risk of poverty, severe material and social deprivation, and living in a household with very low work intensity. Compared with 2023, there was a slight decrease of 0.3 percentage points (21.3% of the population, 94.6 million people). More

Trade War: Between Populism and 5D Chess

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 As President of the United States and leader of the free world, Donald Trump has pursued a radical agenda of institutional reform, reevaluating and recalibrating America’s relationships with both the international community and its formal allies. Although he faces pressing global security concerns—such as the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, the looming prospect of a confrontation between Israel and Iran, and even rising tensions between India and Pakistan—Trump’s focus has remained firmly on his populist agenda: illegal (and legal) immigration, foreign trade, and the internal culture war. More

The Modern Complex Economy: Symphony or Cacophony? Cosmos or Chaos?

Mihai-Vladimir Topan

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 The overarching question concerning complex modern economies is the following: are they symphonic systems, harmoniously coordinated for the smooth functioning of the human economy and society and the fulfilment of human needs? Are they, also, compatible with virtue, beauty, honesty, character and, in general, with the life well lived and human flourishing? Or, are they rather huge arenas of vice, profiteering, greed, impersonal cold human interrelations, instability and recurring economic crises and cycles etc.? More

Mathe…magicians’ Superpower…lessness Beware the societies of numbers

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 I don’t know if Bertrand Russell, the famous and fabulous logician and philosopher, writer and civic activist (arrested, at 89, at an anti-nuclear protest, foreshadowing the roughing up, some 13 years ago, of a Romanian mathematician at an anti-real estate developer protest), would have liked the play on words in the subtitle. No more, no less, the Briton sought to rebuild mathematics entirely, emptying it of the rubble of overly specific notions, such as “number” or “square root”, in favour of pure concepts, such as “proposition” or “class”. The Russellian, logical reordering of mathematics follows the Newtonian, mathematical reordering of the natural sciences, but the logic of the physicist-mathematization of the social sciences is much shakier ground, despite its spread. From the arithmetic of the modest merchants to the econometrics of the modern mandarins, something makes it so that neither derivatives nor integrals automatically produce economic growth nor balanced budgets. Mathematical sciences are still exhibiting a quite majestic incapacitation. More

Rethinking Tariffs: A Critique Through the Lens of Strategic Trade Theory

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 In recent years, particularly during the Trump administration, we’ve seen a revival of protectionist policies that have sparked lively discussions about the role of tariffs in a nation’s development strategy. While people often support these policies as a way to boost domestic industries, protect jobs, or address unfair trade practices, classical economic theory—especially David Ricardo’s Theory of Comparative Advantage—provides a thoughtful critique of this approach. Yet modern trade dynamics captured in New Trade Theory, Global Value Chain analyses, and theories of Weaponized Interdependence suggest that today’s policymakers face a far more complex environment than Ricardo ever envisioned. To unpack the modern logic behind these tariff strategies, we must bridge historical trade theory, modern strategic trade models, and insights drawn from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal. More

Hala Fatigue! Real’s Crown in Crisis The world is on the brink. Never mind Trump. Forget about him. This is bigger. This is about Real Madrid.

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

Romania, Largest Increase in Labour Cost Last Year

Dan Pălăngean

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 In 2024, compared with 2023, hourly labour costs at whole economy level expressed in euro rose by 5.0% in the EU and by 4.5% in the euro area. Within the euro area, hourly labour costs increased in all countries. The largest increases were recorded in Croatia (+14.2%), Latvia (+12.1%) and Lithuania (+10.8%) and the lowest in Czechia (+1.3%), followed by Finland (+1.8%) and Luxembourg (+2.1%). More

Nuclear Energy’s Economic Impact: A Balance Between Long-Term Gains and Accident Risks

Eduard Chiriac  Beniamin-Cătălin Chiriță

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 More than before, people have become aware in an in-depth manner regarding global issues which not only define the present, but have also impacted recent decades, such as political instability, wars, pandemics, climate change, and, on top of these, a growing energy crisis, which is fueled by the rising demand of consumers and producers (with large corporations serving as both). The world has seemingly accepted the need for a less polluting, low-carbon intensive source of energy, as the fossil fuel usage declined by 2-3%, a modest percentage considering that the global energy demand has surged by 15% in the same period. Roughly 40% of this growth consisted of the so-called “clean” or “green” energy, which included sources like hydropower, wind, solar and also nuclear energy, which will be our main topic for this article. More

Offshore Wind Energy: A Solution for the Revival of the Black Sea Region?

Cătălin Murarașu

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 The need for a transition to a green economy is a debate that should have been settled long ago so that the world’s countries could focus on making clean production technologies not only environmentally friendly but also cost-effective. Today, in an age when truth feels more subjective and interpretable than ever, this debate has become increasingly ambiguous and has taken on political connotations that are far too strong for a field as technical as this one. More

Bridges Are Built Not Only with Steel, Concrete, and Asphalt, but with Trust, Vision, and Economic Freedom Ten years of the Three Seas Initiative and the timeless common sense – a view from Romania

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 In the age of “infrastructure diplomacy”—and we may place under such label the Three Seas Initiative (3SI)—, it is tempting to think that connectivity is just a matter of tracks, pipelines, and wires. But the true lifeblood of regional cooperation does not flow through stone, steel or silicon—it pulses through institutions, as, inter alia, last year’s laureates of the the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel—Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson—convincingly demonstrated. “Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better” —this is how the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences justified the award. It is common sense, before anything else, yet “command and control” does persist in governments’ fantasies. In the “Trimarium”—as 3SI is sometimes nicknamed, a reminder of Józef Piłsudski’s interwar geopolitical plan, Intermarium/Międzymorze—, where strategic geography meets political ambition, economic freedom emerges as “the” indispensable condition for durable connectivity. More

Protectionism: Solution or Problem? (III)

Silviu Cerna

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

The Tariff Man Strikes Again

Tudor Gherasim Smirna

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 Ideas have consequences. Wrong ideas have disastrous, deadly consequences. Adam Smith got the theory of value wrong. Starting from the mistaken premise that prices are causally explained by costs and identifying labor as the homogeneous element that is present at different stages in the production chain of a good, he developed the labor theory of value. A flawed theory that had very serious consequences in the real world. More

Protectionism: Solution or Problem? (II)

Silviu Cerna

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

Trump, the Tariff Man, and the Necessity for a Distinction: Economist vs. Entrepreneur

Andreas Stamate-Ștefan

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 The dispute between Trump and the rest of the world regarding custom duties calls back into question a fundamental issue: the distinction between economist and entrepreneur. Furthermore, it shows us the fact that being a businessman, an entrepreneur or a capitalist (I shall use these three terms interchangeably), does not imply having a correct understanding of what is happening in/to the economy. Sometimes, simple economic consequences, such as the ones brought about by imposing a customs duty on imports, can pass you by. The way Trump, the Tariff Man, gives credit to certain Mercantilist principles of seeing international trade, enables us to take a deeper look into this distinction between economists and businessmen/entrepreneurs. More

Protectionism: Solution or Problem? (I)

Silviu Cerna

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

“Liberation Day”, the Nightmare to Stay?! Traders’ traitors

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 It is said, for example, that America has not even responded with tariffs commensurate with the mockery it has been subjected to by friends and enemies alike; that nations that sell it more goods or services than they buy from it are, in fact, raping it with a sick lust; that the country will fare better by repatriating the industries exiled abroad by the ignorance of previous administrations. Except that America is not populated only by “xenophobic economic agents,” but also by consumer-citizens hurt by suddenly inflated prices by thickly penned signatures, as well as by producer-citizens hit by shrapnel from supply chains blown up by tzealous “equalizer” – the US/world’s economies/societies are far more diverse and complex than that… More

President Trump’s Trade War: The US-China Tariffs and Global Implications

Emmanuel Olusegun Stober

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 This article examines the origins, mechanics, and global ramifications of the US-China trade war initiated under President Donald Trump’s administration, focusing particularly on the reciprocal tariffs imposed by both nations. While the policy was intended to address structural imbalances, such as trade deficits and intellectual property theft, the escalation of tariffs has revealed the deep interdependencies within global supply chains—especially those tied to China. The study analyses the impact of these measures on the United States, the European Union, and developing economies, as well as their implications for global manufacturing, trade norms, and geopolitical alignment. Drawing on classical and modern trade theories, the article argues that although protectionist measures may offer short-term leverage, they often undermine long-term global economic stability and efficiency. 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

Living Standards by Cities in Romania – Cluj Has Overtaken Bucharest

Dan Pălăngean

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 Cluj is just ahead of Bucharest in terms of local purchasing power and the amount needed for monthly expenses, according to data aggregated by the international website numbeo.com. Thus, with +0.7% in the first indicator and a slightly lower need for money for the same standard of living (despite higher rents), the capital of Transylvania marginally outperformed the capital of Romania. More

The Green Craze Is the new trend environmentally-conscious?

Mara-Andreea Tudor

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 Over the past few years, Western society has emphasized the importance of taking care of the environment. From providing access to volunteering opportunities, introducing ecological education in schools and adopting legislative projects such as the Green Deal in the European Union, everybody seemed to be consumed by the need to take care of our planet. Micro-trends such as veganism, replacing gas-powered vehicles with electric ones and slapping a sustainable sticker on every product on the market are now daily truths. The question is, however, are these efforts really directed towards the conservation of our precious resources or is this simply a smoke-screen to distract the masses from what’s going on behind closed doors? This article aims to draw attention to what might be the true effect of recent environmental policies, particularly in the EU space. More

The Geopolitics of Indignation and the Paradox of the Taboo Peace

Narciz Bălășoiu

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 For years, even whispering the word peace in the context of Ukraine was considered an act of geopolitical heresy. To suggest negotiations was to be instantly branded a Putin apologist, a traitor to democracy, a naive dreamer unwilling to confront the world’s harsh realities. The official narrative was simple and rigid: war was not just necessary but morally imperative, a struggle between good and evil that could only be resolved through complete and total victory.And yet, suddenly, everything has changed. The United States, under Donald Trump, has abruptly pivoted towards ending the war, leaving European leaders in a state of ideological havoc. Those who once fetishized war as an existential duty, who derided diplomacy as cowardice, are now scrambling, utterly unprepared to cope with the new geopolitical reality. More

Flat Earth and Rare Earths The oneiric and the onerous in international relations

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 The rules-based international order, through which global organizations were conceived for collective problem-solving, for reducing protectionist impulses and for stabilizing the postwar global economy, is a feeble exception to the world’s true “state of nature”: the anarchy of the balance of power. Fetishized by the idealists who naively believe in the vigor of its architecture, this “order” makes, by comparison, the flatness of the Earth seem like a reasonable hypothesis. More

Stuck in the Middle: The “Sale” of Tiran and Sanafir Islands Geopolitical Shopping Mall [VII]

Adriana-Antonia Tudor

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two worlds seemingly separated by the waters of the Red Sea, are bound by a connection that transcends physical borders. On one hand, Egypt, an ancient cradle of civilization, serves as the bridge between Africa and the Middle East, where deeply rooted traditions forge an identity that stands resilient against the winds of change. On the other, Saudi Arabia stretches vast and enigmatic, a land where the desert meets modern dreams, and the interplay of oil wealth and religion creates an economic and geopolitical powerhouse that resonates far beyond its borders. More

The Linguistic Divide: How Philological Decisions Shaped Markets and Economies

Vlad I. Roșca

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 In My Russia (Romanian language edition at Curtea Veche, 2024, in translation of Adriana Dănilă), Mikhail Shishkin argues that one of the defining moments in Russian history was the choice of the “Old Church” language for Kievan Rus instead of Latin. This decision, which had major consequences for the cultural, scientific, and geopolitical development of the Russian sphere, cannot be attributed to a single ruler. Rather, it was a long historical process linked to the influence of Byzantium and the Christianization of Kievan Rus. It is true that the seeds were sown by Vladimir I of Kiev (978–1015), who decided to Christianize Kievan Rus in 988, adopting Byzantine Orthodoxy as the official religion. Through this decision, the path of the Slavic liturgical tradition, introduced by Saints Cyril and Methodius, was chosen, making Old Slavonic the liturgical and administrative language of the emerging Russian state. The decision was consolidated during the reigns of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) and Ivan III (1462-1505), the latter’s rule coinciding with the period when, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Russia proclaimed itself the heir to the Byzantine Empire, and Moscow began to be regarded as the “Third Rome”. By choosing a language within the Byzantine sphere of influence, Kievan Rus distanced itself from Latin (the language of the Catholic world) in favour of the Orthodox model. The choice belonged to Vladimir I, who had to decide between Orthodoxy, Catholic Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. More

The Caribbean Crossroads of Empires – St. Croix from Spain to the US Geopolitical Shopping Mall [VI]

Delia-Maria Tătaru  Dragoș-Marius Pană

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 St. Croix Island is one of the most interesting places in the Lesser Antilles, and is today part of the US Virgin Islands. In addition to its indigenous history of habitation, the strategically located island has been passed around by almost every major empire of the era before arriving in 1917 under US rule, where it is located today and is part of an unincorporated territory and therefore not part of a US state with Senate representation or electoral votes for president. How it ended up in this situation is a fascinating discussion and its unique blend of cultures, including the Danish culture which otherwise became submerged in the US cultural mainstream in Northern US states. More

București-Ilfov, Leading Region in EU at Work Intensity

Dan Pălăngean

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The work intensity of a household is the ratio of the total number of months that adult household members have worked during the income reference year and the total number of months the same household members theoretically could have worked in the same period. It is defined in levels, ranging from very low (household working time was equal to or less than 20% of the full potential) to very high (working time was more than 85% of the full potential). Generally, the higher the work intensity within a household (the closer people are to full employment), the lower the probability of being at-risk-of-poverty. More

Nevada’ Bonanza: How this Libertarian Paradise Came to Be Geopolitical Shopping Mall [V]

Livia-Ioana Toader

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The earliest historical records date back to the 16th century, with the arrival of the first Europeans of Spanish origin in Mexican territory, aiming to conquer new lands for Spain. By 1535, Mexico had already become an integral part of Spain, along with the Nevada region. These were the first beginnings of the area as a component of the Spanish Empire, which also explains the origin of its name. The term “Nevada” has Spanish roots, derived from the expression Sierra Nevada, meaning “snow-covered mountain range” (Behnke, 2016). Thus, the Spanish colonies laid the foundational stones of the state, as they were the ones who associated the term “Nevada” (snow-covered) with the climatic conditions of the region during winter. Later, in 1821, the region became part of Mexico. However, the changes did not stop there, as Nevada was acquired by the United States in 1848, following the Mexican American War. This conflict began on May 13, 1846, after the United States had already annexed Texas a year earlier, paving the way for disputes with Mexico. The issue revolved around the existing border between the U.S. and Mexico, as the latter considered the Nueces River to be the northern boundary of its territory, while the United States claimed the Rio Grande as the official border, which included the Nueces Strip as part of Texan territory (Zeidan, 2024). Additionally, there were disputes regarding the recognition of Texas as American territory, with the United States affirming this claim, while Mexico was entirely opposed. More

Artificial (Un)Intelligence: Beyond Data and Into Human Complexity

Nicolas-Costinel Negrea

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The concept of Artificial Intelligence has captivated modern society, offering promises of advances from self-driving cars to digital personal assistants. However, the term “artificial intelligence” carries an inherent contradiction, and is actually an oxymoron. It combines the idea of intelligence—deeply tied to human experience, intuition, creativity, and emotional richness—with the mechanical nature of machine simulation. This contrast invites a deeper exploration of what true intelligence entails. Intelligence is more than the ability to execute tasks or generate outputs; it involves complex faculties like reasoning, self-awareness, and moral judgment, areas that seem beyond the reach of algorithms and data processing. More

California Dreaming: How the West Was Won by the US Geopolitical Shopping Mall [IV]

Raluca-Maria Marinescu  Iuliana-Elena Niculae

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The nineteenth century saw the United States aggressively expand its territories, fueled by the Manifest Destiny and the notion that American expansion was a divine purpose. In 1848, this philosophy culminated in the annexation of California, which transformed the American geopolitical landscape and solidified Anglo-American domination. However, California’s annexation was more than just geographical; it also signified a dramatic transformation in which Mexican-Americans were subjugated via systematic exclusion on legal, cultural, and political levels. This heritage informs current challenges of disenfranchisement and cultural repression in Latino communities across the United States, demonstrating how conquest strategies endure in present racial inequities (Perea, 2003; Montejano, 1987). More

The Astonishing Fact Revealed by the Market Economy

Silviu Cerna

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

The Merlion’s Roar: How the Brits Created Singapore, One of the Greatest City-States in the World Geopolitical Shopping Mall [III]

Adela Nițescu

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 Singapore is a symbol of global prosperity, a city-state that dominates world trade with the highest standards of living, being one of the fastest industrializing and economically developing nations in South-East Asia. The modern origins of Singapore can be traced to an acquisition initiated in 1819 and concluded in 1824, when the British purchased the island from the Sultanate of Johor for what would now be considered a trivial amount for such a territory. Long before European colonization, the island had previously hosted the Kingdom of Singapura, or the lion city, while its earlier name, Temasek (possibly Sea Town), later became the name of the country’s sovereign wealth fund. This transaction established the groundwork for Singapore’s prosperity, transforming it from an obscure island into a vital economic centre. More

Between Solidarity and Self-Interest within the European Union: Critical Technologies, Power Struggles, and Backdoor Fragmentation

Mihaela Iacob

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 Industrial Revolutions (IR) have fundamentally revolved around advancements in information and communication technologies (IT&C), facilitating both global integration and connectivity. The power of steam not only moved goods but also transported people and ideas across borders (IR 1.0). This was followed by the rise of electricity, mass production, and the standardization of interchangeable parts (IR 2.0). The subsequent electronic era, marked by the proliferation of microprocessors, set the stage for the widespread diffusion of the internet (IR 3.0). Today, we witness the zenith of these transformations with the emergence of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cryptocurrencies, and the metaverse (IR 4.0). More

Cajun Enlargement: How the Louisiana Purchase Turned the US into a Superpower Geopolitical Shopping Mall [II]

Daria-Antonia Pătrașcu  Doina Pînzaru

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The territory that would later become Louisiana boasts a rich and complex history, shaped by the ambitions of European powers vying for control of North America. Initially explored by the Spanish, it was the French who ultimately established settlements and incorporated the region into their sprawling North American colony, New France. This vast domain stretched from the icy reaches of Eastern Canada to the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, encompassing an immense and diverse landscape. Yet, despite their formal claim, the French never fully colonized or controlled this expansive territory. Instead, their primary focus—along with that of the Spanish who followed—was on commercial exploitation, particularly the lucrative fur trade. Key settlements such as Baton Rouge and New Orleans emerged under French and Spanish rule, eventually becoming pivotal hubs for political and economic development. More

Technological and Institutional (Co)Evolutions, Revisited by (Political) Economists Recommended reading: Amfiteatru Economic (Volume 27, Issue 68)

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 Industrial Revolutions (IR) are more than just marches of technological and scientific advancement; they are strides of profound societal transformation that defy and reshape the very structures of political, economic, and social life. The forces of technological progress, economic development, and political maturation have historically collided, for instance, with those of tradition, heritage and conservation, placing the accommodating institutional settings under significant strain. In times of transformation, societies undergo veritable “stress tests” that demand realignments, rebounds and resilience. As technological innovation pushes the boundaries of possibility, social/political/economic institutions are forced to respond, either by embracing change or opposing it, resulting a dynamic interplay between progress and stability. These periods of transformation are not just of interest to historians or theorists in economics and other social sciences; they are crucial for everyone’s understanding of the future existential trajectories – micro, meso, macro, mondo. The study of Industrial Revolutions can be set as a needed inquiry into the future of humanity itself. The current episode, Industrial Revolution 4.0 – driven by artificial intelligence (AI) as its flagship –, has already raised common sense questions regarding what systems of production and governance, of social security and civic engagement will become commonplace. Notably, the relationship between Industrial Revolutions and socio-political-economic institutions is one of co-evolution. Technological breakthroughs often drive the restructuring of social, political, and economic systems (with their norms and habits), while these systems, in turn, influence how technology is adopted, regulated, and integrated into society. The interaction between institutions (immanently, stabilizing forces) and technologies (congenitally, disruptive) is simply… complex. More

The Mirage of the New American Expansionism Geopolitical Shopping Mall [I]

Alexandru Georgescu

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 Donald Trump has spent the last weeks before the start of his new term as US President throwing populist proposals left and right related to renaming landforms, annexing Canada, America’s ownership of the Panama Canal, and annexing Greenland. I would add to this populist trend the unrealistic proposal for NATO members to allocate 5% of GDP to defense, which serves as a bargaining chip for an acceptable level. This article aims to analyze the proposal for Panama and Greenland and to emphasize that, regardless of how realistic the non-violent and unforced annexation of these territories is, Americans have a complex strategic and historical perspective on these regions. This is not another Trump idiosyncrasy, but another case of Trump saying out loud what a faction of the American elites is thinking. The annexation of Canada does not seem credible to me in terms of the costs it would entail and the impact on American politics, and therefore represents only an attempt to bully former Prime Minister Trudeau in order to promote an ascendant pro-American right compatible with Trump. Only Alberta, among the regions with secessionist movements, would fit culturally with the United States and would have a chance of being a state compatible with Republicans and Trump’s conservative populism in the context of the political calculations that have always accompanied the debates about accepting new states. More

Immediate and Ultimate Foreign Direct Investment

Dan Pălăngean

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 In 2023, for the 11 EU Member States that reported inward Ultimate Investing Economy (UIE) in Foreign Direct Investment positions, the top UIE was Germany, (12.1% of total value of UIE FDI positions of the 11 reporting countries), followed by the United States (11.9%). Romania is included in the reporting EU Member States, alongside Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Italy and Portugal, which reported inward UIE FDI positions to Eurostat. More

Sovereigntists, Europeanists, and the Forgotten

Nicolas-Costinel Negrea

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 In Romanian politics, where party lines blur as frequently as electoral promises, the stage for the upcoming elections presents an all-too-familiar tableau. Sovereigntists and Europeanists jostle for dominance, their rhetoric bold but their substance often lacking. Beneath their self-ascribed labels lies a muddled political landscape—a reflection of a society oscillating between the pull of transformation and the weight of inertia. More

Revolt of the Disdained: America’s 2016 Presidential Election

Steven Alan Samson

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The 2016 presidential election hinged on the return of overlooked or marginalized middle-class and working-class Democrats and independents – many of whom had earlier supported Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan – to reinvigorate traditional patriotism and help form a new “populist-conservative fusion in rural and industrial areas” within the Republican party. Eight years later, following his successful reelection, Donald Trump’s political fortunes still rest to a considerable degree on his ability to secure broad public support while maintaining the loyalty of his original coalition of the disdained.This article is drawn from “Revolt of the Disdained: America’s 2016 Presidential Election,” The Western Australian Jurist, 9 (2018). https://walta.net.au/wajurist/vol9/revolt-of-the-disdained-americas-2016-presidential-election/.An 2020 update of the original conclusion was published as “Revolt of the Disdained: Sovereignty or Submission,” The Market for Ideas, 23 (May-June 2020). https://www.themarketforideas.com/revolt-of-the-disdained-sovereignty-or-submission-a589/. More

The Anatomy of a Media Lynching Organizational structures over the cyber mob

Mladen Čudanov

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 This article analyses organizational aspects of media/cyber lynching, especially when performed in the yellow (sensationalist) press and passionate parts of the Internet community. Media and cyber lynching can be defined as extremely aggressive, unjustified, untrue verbal attacks, insults and discrediting in the media. One good book says: “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice”. However, we often do, maybe because we scroll brainrot media more than we read books. I try to add a drop in the ocean of medicines that our sick societies desperately need, so we might cure them without the accompanying evils of revolution. More

The Most Serene DOGE The canals of government inefficiency are plied not by gondolas, but by war galleys

Octavian-Dragomir Jora

No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The President-Elect of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has begotten an inquisitorially-minded anti-waste institution dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The bicephalous institution (an initial red flag when it comes to institutions everywhere) is jointly run by noted tech giant Elon Musk (worth 330 billion dollars or thereabouts) and the pharma entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (a mere 330 times “poorer”). The department will not be an actual government body, which presumably would require Congressional complicity in downsizing the leviathan it helped create. DOGE will be a sort of outside consultant specializing in “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies” (Trump dixit). Presented as a veritable “Manhattan project for our times”, the nascent body is born under a feeble star sign (since the President relies on bipartisan support from Congress, not just a pen, no matter what Obama claimed back in the day), while also being coupled with unrealistic and exaggerated claims of two trillion dollars in yearly savings, which is a third of all federal expenditures outside those of interest on debt. More