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A Walking Encyclopedia: Revisiting Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, an Austrian aristocrat who lived in the United States with his family for a decade after the Anschluss, was a journalist, linguist, novelist, encyclopedist, political scientist, theologian, and student of the human character who reported – on site – and bore even-handed witness to many of the great events of the mid-twentieth century, including the Ukraine famine, the Nazi revolution, the Spanish civil war, and Congolese independence. The first part of this retrospective appreciation is drawn from the first part of a review of Leftism Revisited published as “Yes, but…,” Modern Age, 34 (Spring 1992): 241-45.[1] More
Inflation: A Well-Known Phenomenon
Over the past two years approximately, inflation has resurfaced in Romania. Initially, price increases appeared to be temporary and due to purely external causes: international commodity market tensions and supply difficulties in a context of strong recovery of the global economy after the end of the pandemic restrictions.[1] Thereafter, inflation was found to be persistent and fueled by domestic factors, both on the supply and demand side.[2] In the short term, the most recent and possibly the most important cause of inflation has been the increase in energy prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. In the medium to long term, inflationary pressures are likely to increase as a result of structural factors such as imbalances in the Romanian economy, stagnating investment, demographic decline, a shift to (more expensive) green energy etc. The way these factors act and combine is specific to the Romanian economy, and, as a result, a monetary policy adapted to indigenous realities is necessary. The monetary policy decisions taken by the Fed, the ECB and the other central banks in the region that are not part of the euro area will also be of particular importance. These external decisions are important in view of the evolution of the interest rate differential and the orientation of international capital flows into which the Romanian economy is inserted. More
Adam Smith’s 300th Birthday
We know very little about the man Adam Smith. We do not even know the famous Scotsman’s birthday. All we know is the date of his baptism, June 5, 1723 (Julian calendar), which means that, according to our Gregorian calendar, he was baptized on June 16. He never knew his father, a customs official, who died at the age of 44, just a few months before Adam Smith was born. More
The Limits of Merit as the Diverging Point between Economics and Moral Philosophy
The compatibility between the moral and the practical has always been a key issue for many philosophies and schools of thought. When it comes to Economics, advocates of certain systems have, more often than not, tried to argue that it isn’t only their primary interest in said system that makes it superior to all the others, but also the secondary ones. For instance, economists who advocate for a free-market economy will not only tell you that Capitalism is economically more efficient than its alternatives, but that it is morally superior, too. Alternatively, it is not unusual for someone whose moral outlook on life makes him prefer a certain system to also end up believing that that system is also the likeliest to lead to material prosperity. More
Geopolitical Perspectives and Technological Challenges for Sustainable Growth in the 21st Century
The world today is vastly different than what it was even a few decades ago, as a result of advances in technology, globalization, and societal changes. Recently, a particular attention was given to sustainable development, raising the question of how to drive economic growth in a responsible manner by harnessing technology’s potential while accounting for diverse national perspectives. In 2015, the United Nations agreed upon 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed to transform our world by 2030. However, without the support of stakeholders from the government, business and civil societies, the SDGs are only aspirations. More
Preparing for OECD – Responsible Reforms and Policies
Joining the OECD and embracing its values, especially in the current context, will allow Romania to achieve a better alignment with the OECD motto: “better policies, better lives”. The preparation for accession is not an easy task, but Romania will benefit from the advantage of international expertise, which must be accompanied by determination and consistency in achieving the set objectives. The progress made since the Roadmap for Accession and up to the present is evident, but more is needed.About these advances of Romania, as well as about the challenges regarding necessary reforms and policies, I spoke today [N.B. May 3, 2023] at the opening of the conference “Romania in the OECD: toward the club of the good international economic practices”, organized at the National Bank of Romania, in company with the Prime Minister of Romania, the Governor of the National Bank of Romania and the chief economist of the OECD, Álvaro Santos Pereira. More
One Fifth of Young Romanians, Neither in Employment Nor in Education or Training
Last year, one fifth of young Romanian people were neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET), according to data compiled and published by Eurostat. It is the largest proportion in any EU Member State, well above the European average and the situation deteriorated in the last ten years, as opposed to the progress recorded in neighboring countries.*In 2022, 11.7 % of 15-29 year-olds in the EU were neither in employment nor in education and training.* The proportion of 15-29 year-olds in the EU neither in employment nor in education and training in 2022 ranged from 4.2 % in the Netherlands to 19.8 % in Romania. More
Cultural Branding Strategies: Leveraging National Identity for Economic Prosperity
In the vast arena of international politics, where nations battle for influence and power, the art of branding cities or institutions/buildings plays a crucial role. By understanding the historical context, concepts, and authors behind this strategy, we can explore how states can effectively capitalize on cultural branding to enhance their geopolitical strategies and achieve economic prosperity. More
An Age of Hollow Words and Mutilated Souls
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 countries comes from the religious union between a man and a woman.This is an institution encouraged and lifted to a dignified place by Jesus Christ through His attendance of the wedding in Cana of Galilee. It was there that He chose to perform His first miracle.And it was within the stability of a family that Christ chose to come into the world, in a place and from a people who had a very particular understanding of marriage. So, the dignity of marriage originates from such a tradition, one of both man and woman serving God together in union. More
Warfare Economics and the Proper Use of Individual Incentives on the Battlefield
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 fields. One need only read through the pages of David Friedman’s famous book Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life (1996) in order to get a grasp on how economic thinking can be used to improve the way of tackling his daily challenges. Furthermore, in his academic course on Price Theory (1986), Friedman’s writings feature an entire chapter called The Economics of Love and Marriage, which uses economic principles to describe how the marketplace of love works and how certain policies may be implemented to improve the societal outcomes related to it. More
Bad Political Decisions as an Engine for Change
Progress, in all its forms, implies the destruction of the status quo and its replacement by a new one. It cannot exist without emancipation or change, without the evolution of the old into the new, or even the disappearance of an element giving place to a novel one. Considering this view, progress can be viewed as a (r)evolutionary process. By changing the status quo, the foundations of a society shake or cease to exist. More
America – Pirouettes Based on Geopolitical Events of the World
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 Biden's maiden tour of Asia, ending on May 24, 2022, after visits to South Korea and Japan to reassure traditional allies of American support in the face of what they describe as aggressive behavior by China and North Korea. Given the resumption of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022 and the limits of American resources, especially given turbulent domestic economic and social conditions, is the old pivot to Asia still possible? More
