scholarly journals The Ambiguous Effects of Targeting Trade Surpluses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Eichacker

Ceteris Paribus, current account surpluses may be preferable to current account deficits. Export surpluses should increase domestic GDP, and they may lend economic and political power to industries and states in domestic and international systems. However, the frame of analysis matters when considering the net benefits or costs of pursuing current account surpluses: benefits of pursuing export-led strategies may change over time, they may be unevenly distributed within a given economy, and they may create problems for trade partners, depending on the trade-boosting strategies deployed. This chapter considers potential downsides of pursuing current account surpluses over time, across economic sectors, and at the international level. It surveys work on export-led growth, neomercantilism, and import-substitution strategies in work by a range of economists in Post-Keynesian, structural development, and world-systems theories. Every economy cannot run a trade surplus all of the time: the costs of avoiding this inevitability may be greater at the global level or over time than the benefits of accruing current account surplus in the moment.

2015 ◽  
pp. 20-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Afontsev

Economic sanctions against Russia form a completely new context for public and private efforts to cope with crisis trends in Russian economy. With limited access to global goods, capital, and technology markets, it can at best minimize costs of the crisis but not come back to the normal growth path. Strategies to find new trade partners and sources of capital outside the group of countries that have introduced economic sanctions against Russia are welcome, but their potential is rather limited. Under these circumstances, crisis management should be centered neither on the alleged ‘Russia’s pivot to the East’ nor on the wide-scale import substitution but on normalization of economic relations with key country partners, regaining currency stability, and structural reforms aimed at moving national economy away from commodity specialization.


Author(s):  
Eckart Woertz

West Asia is one of the most water-scarce regions of the world and one of its foremost importers of virtual water despite sustained efforts at self-sufficiency, especially in cereal production. Technology-oriented policy solutions eye a reorientation of agriculture towards fruit and vegetables that are less water-intensive than cereals and provide more value added per water unit consumed. Turkey is a role model here; the country has an agricultural trade surplus and ranks among the top ten agricultural economies globally in value terms. Yet technology-oriented policy prescriptions overlook the sociopolitical ‘problemsheds’ that emerge (along with new agro-lobbies) and agriculture as the main water consumer has to compete with other economic sectors and sprawling urbanization. This article looks at the different categories of countries and their specific challenges.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6313
Author(s):  
Ramona Ciolac ◽  
Tiberiu Iancu ◽  
Ioan Brad ◽  
Tabita Adamov ◽  
Nicoleta Mateoc-Sîrb

The agritourism activity can be a characteristic reality of the present, considering rural area’s sustainability, being at the same time a business reality for rural entrepreneurs and a “must have” for rural communities that have tourism potential. It is a form of tourism, through which the tourist can receive a qualitative product at a reasonable price, but also a field that can ensure sustainable development over time, being at the same time environmentally friendly. The purpose of this scientific paper is to identify the aspects that make agritourism “a possible business reality of the moment”, for Romanian rural area’s sustainability. We take into account the following areas: Bran-Moieciu area—considered “the oldest” in terms of agritourism experience, and Apuseni Mountains area, with a great inclination and potential for this activity. The study conducted for these two areas is focused on several aspects: the degree of involvement in agritourism activities, considering the number of years and managerial experience, the analysis of the types of activities/experiences offered by agritourism structures, the identification of the main reasons/motivations for the orientation towards agritourism and the manner in which this field is perceived. Aspects related to the marketing-finance part of the agritourism business are also taken into account: customers, distribution channels, financial sources, shortcomings observed by agritourism business owners and possible action directions so as to improve the activity/agritourism product. Agritourism may be “a possible business reality of the moment” for the studied areas and not only, but in the future, the entrepreneur/farmer must be constantly updated because of the changing situations that appear on the market, be able to make sustainable decisions for his/her own business, which in the future will ensure its viability and obviously its long-term profitability and development, and in the same time rural area’s sustainability.


Foods ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Spence

Complexity is generally perceived to be a desirable attribute as far as the design/delivery of food and beverage experiences is concerned. However, that said, there are many different kinds of complexity, or at least people use the term when talking about quite different things, and not all of them are relevant to the design of food and drink experiences nor are they all necessarily perceptible within the tasting experience (either in the moment or over time). Consequently, the consumer often needs to infer the complexity of a tasting experience that is unlikely to be perceptible (in its entirety) in the moment. This paper outlines a number of different routes by which the chef, mixologist, and/or blender can both design and signal the complexity in the tasting experience.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Belyakov

Very little is known about diplomatic professionals specialising in eastern affairs in the Muscovite state until the seventeenth century. The issue has only occasionally been touched upon in some research works. This is explained by the limited number of surviving sources. For this reason, the Baymakov-Rezanov family is unique, as the extant data make it possible to trace the uninterrupted service of this clan’s representatives over the course of a century. This is thanks to cadastres and embassy records from both sides, a few extant documents from the Ambassadorial Prikaz, and the family’s persistent nickname. Ambassadorial service was a family business where traditions were passed from generation to generation, from elder sons to younger ones. Several generations of Baymakov-Rezanovs took part in organising the diplomatic contacts of the Muscovite state with Muslim countries as reconnaissance riders (Rus. stanichniki) and interpreters (Rus. tolmachi). They repeatedly headed diplomatic missions and were very well paid for their work. The examination of their family’s story makes it possible to observe the organisation of diplomatic service from a longer historical perspective. Initially, the technical side of contacts with the countries of the east was organised by princely Tartars, who served the grand prince proper. They were provided with land close to Moscow. Gradually, they started forming smaller groups of specialists, such as translators (Rus. bakshei), tolmachi, stanichniki, and the newly baptised (Rus. novokrescheny). This structure was largely destroyed by the Time of Troubles. This affected the circle of people recruited to the service; it grew considerably and was quite often created in accordance with the demands of the moment. Over time, it was predominated by service Tartars from Meshchera. The classic model of the peripheral staff of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, consisting of translators and tolmachi, only formed in the mid-seventeenth century as inherited positions dwindled significantly.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 31-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Germán Silva

This paper considers the effect of income on the risk of having the first births in Sweden from 1968 to 2009. Variations by gender are given particular atention. The study follows men and women from the moment they turn 18 until they enter parenthood and it is based on register-based data covering the entire population of Sweden. Complementary log-log models show that there is a positive association between income and the risk of childbearing. The association gets stronger over time and the differences between men and women diminish. Gender differences appear when the income effect is related to the demand for work in the economy. An income above the median does not increase the risk of childbearing for women when the demand for work is relatively high.


Author(s):  
Gillian Doyle

Although from the moment the Film Council was set up, it was clear that the intention was to found an organisation focused on bringing ‘sustainability’ to the British film industry, the Council gradually retreated from this term in favour of a wider set of priorities and the way in which it articulated its mission also gradually shifted. Drawing on a wealth of original interviews with senior politicians, film executives, independent producers, industry experts and leading filmmakers, this chapter examines the key players, forces and assumptions which drove the Film Council’s agenda, how the weighting of priorities shifted over time and why the Council’s sense of mission changed over its lifetime.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-51
Author(s):  
Ferdinand Eibl

Chapter 1 sets out the main empirical puzzles of the book, which are (i) the early divergence of welfare trajectories in the region and (ii) their long persistence over time. Drawing on literature from authoritarianism studies and political economy, it lays out the theoretical argument explaining this empirical pattern by developing a novel analytical framework focused on elite incentives at the moment of regime formation and geostrategic constraints limiting their abilities to provide welfare. It also outlines the author’s explanation for the persistence of social policies over time and broadly describes the three types of welfare regime in the region. It sbows the limitations of existing theories in explaining this divergence and bigbligbts the book’s contribution to the literature. The theoretical argument is stated in general terms and sbould thus be of relevance to political economy and authoritarianism scholars more broadly. The chapter ends with an outline of the chapters to come.


Author(s):  
F.C.T. Moore

In his youth, Bonnet made a meticulous and creative study of insects, which won him international fame for his discoveries, as well as his methods. He turned to psychology and offered a detailed, but speculative, account of the physiology of mental states. His empirical work was overtaken by speculative ambition. In later life, he developed (from elements already present in his early studies) a comprehensive view of the universe, of its history and its natural history, of theology and of moral philosophy. Christianity was proved, the great chain of being was mapped over time towards an ultimate perfection, and human morality, based on self-love, formed part of the Creator’s scheme. The Creator, at the moment of creation, brought into being all the elements from which this vast unfolding would occur, without further intervention.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviane Sergi

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to suggest a situated conception of projects, in order develop finer understanding of how these endeavors emerge and unfold over time. The author proposes that these understandings should be rooted in a process ontology, conceive action as situated and focus on actual practices as they are performed by all project actors. Taken together, these dimensions can renew how one views and approaches projects and their management.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is illustrated with examples taken out of a study of a software development project, conducted in the ethnographic tradition.FindingsThe examples expose how a specific practice, planning, was accomplished differently depending on the moment and was affected by different circumstances and constraints. The paper also discusses how preferring a processual worldview is especially befitting projects. As endeavors instigated to create or to make something happen, projects are perpetually changing and in movement; it is therefore relevant that their conceptualization takes fully into consideration their intimate nature.Originality/valueThe originality and value of the paper lie in the combination of perspectives, which can be both useful in theorizing projects differently, and in enhancing practitioners' reflexivity. This combination, it is argued, can address a wide array of issues in the context of projects, can favor localized reflection on project management prescriptions and tools, and can help practitioners to sharpen their sensitivity to their own practice.


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