Lifelong learning is key in the age of accelerations
When taking a ride on the London underground some time ago, I noticed a remarkable thing. Nearly all passengers were reading something, many of them educating themselves. The train was also all covered by small display ads on all kinds of part-time or evening...
On geography and size of government
Some memories last long. Such as do the ones, which relate to my graduate studies of economics at Harvard. Amongst the most interesting lectures, which I ever attended, were those given by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, one of the world’s most influential economists and a very...
Boosting human capital is quintessential
Elsewhere recently, I argued that advanced, sophisticated services with an international focus might significantly help the future growth of the Slovak economy. (1) With the manufacturing sector’s dynamism petering out, a more multi-prong policy focus would likely...
Advanced services: the next big thing?
The result of the three decades of the transformation of Slovakia’s economy has been substantial catching-up with the developed West. In 2019, the income per capita in Slovakia in comparable prices reached 72% of EU-28 even surpassing Greece and nearing the level of...
Slovak economy: What next?
After the Velvet revolution in 1989, Slovakia - as a part of former Czechoslovakia - embarked upon the road to building a new socio-economic system based on market principles and liberal democracy. A thorough transformation of its economy was needed as the country...
Nominal vs Real: An Inquiry
In my blog from December 2018 - Is the advanced East as rich as Southern Europe? - I tried to flash out why it is worth looking at nominal variables alongside the real ones when gauging the state of convergence of the Eastern European countries to the developed West....
AI in CEE: Time to ponder
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied to many sectors of national economies and thus driving Industrial Revolution 4.0. will likely bring a large increase in output and labor productivity in economies of Central and Eastern Europe. This is because the...
AI and Slovakia: Labor cost to become less important
Artificial intelligence (AI) fueling 4.0 Industrial Revolution has put on center stage several questions in the context of a converging economy, such as the one of Slovakia. Will the introduction of AI help the main pillars of the Slovak economy such as FDI-owned...
It is brands, Economist !
It is brands, Economist ! Typically, many economists have not always fully appreciated business disciplines of softer nature – marketing as a field quickly comes to one’s mind. Yet, it is enormous how significant is the value astute marketing people can create for the...
Euro and real exchange rates
This year it has been twenty years since the introduction of the euro on the financial markets following the fixing the cross-exchange rates of the currencies of founding eurozone countries. For some, this step as of 1 January 1999 meant a reason for celebration as...
Beyond FDI model
Nearly three decades ago, at the onset of transition, ex-socialist countries’ enterprise sector was lagging severely behind that in the developed West - machines, and technology more broadly, were largely obsolete, labor productivity low and managerial techniques...
Is the advanced East as rich as the Southern Europe?
As a regular visitor and keen admirer of Andalusia of southern Spain or Crete of Greece I not only get enchanted by the marvels of the two vacation heavens. Being an economist from an ex-socialist country, I also like to keep my eyes open to gauge the contrasts and...
Pro-growth agendas to gain traction in CEE ?
It is nearly three decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall which led to an upheaval in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) unleashing fundamental changes in the formerly socialist countries of the region. The task of revamping the socio-economic systems of these...