The EU, the Visegrád Group, and Southeast Europe: Conflicting Perspectives within an Enlarging “European Identity”

This paper will compare and contrast Visegrád and Southeast European mobility towards (and away from) the European Union (EU) ideal of cohesion, in the process investigating conflicting “core” and “peripheral” assertions of “Europeanness.” Though the Visegrád states have exceeded economic expectations, they have to varying degrees stood in opposition to the values of the EU’s self-professed “European identity,” with Hungary and Poland in particular demonstrating increasing illiberalism. Meanwhile, in Southeast Europe, lacklustre economic performance has tended to contrast with increasingly liberal democratic rule and strong popular support for the EU “project.” The EU’s cohesion strategy has prioritized economic convergence and, ultimately, this has meant that budgetary considerations, and political rhetoric and scrutiny, have often favoured the rebellious but economically resurgent Visegrád states over the weaker economies of a more compliant Southeast Europe. The EU’s integration strategy of constructing “identity hegemony” depends upon both economic and socio-political convergence. This paper questions the congruence of these focuses, given the discriminatory application of integration incentives and the persistence of Orientalism/Balkanism in West European rhetoric.

Building on Vietnam’s Recent COVID-19 Success: A Job-Focused Analysis of Individual Assessments on Their Finance and the Economy

Despite the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on income and employment loss around the globe, hardly any formal study exists on household finance and future economic expectations in poorer countries. We offer an early study that aims to fill this gap from the labor market angle. We implemented and analyzed a new web-based rapid assessment survey immediately after the removal of lockdown measures in Vietnam, a low-middle income country that has received widespread recognition for its successful fight against the pandemic. We find that having a job is strongly and positively associated with better finance and more income and savings, as well as more optimism about the resilience of the economy. Further disaggregating employment along the security dimension into different types of jobs such as self-employment and jobs with permanent and short-term contracts, we find those with permanent job contracts to have fewer job worries and better assessments for the economy. Individuals with good health tend to have more positive evaluations for their current and future finance, but there is mixed evidence for those with higher educational levels. These findings are relevant for the ongoing fight against the pandemic and post-outbreak labor policies, especially in a developing country context.

Economic Expectations

The chapter “Economic Expectations” explores how Generation Disaster’s career hopes have been shaped by the depressed economy of their youth, the mortgage crisis that destroyed many families’ primary investments, and the current competition for work in a job market that was still recovering from the Great Recession and then crashed again due to the pandemic. Many members of the group express serious pessimism about their financial prospects, including their chances of securing satisfying work and being able to retire. Others are more optimistic, particularly if they started off with more resources. This divide in expectations reinforces the growing income and wealth gaps between segments of the population and demonstrates that the myth of the “American Dream” is not available to everyone.

Is There a Mineral-Induced ‘Economic Euphoria’?: Evidence from Latin America

A development imperative emphasising the economic benefits of mineral extraction has led researchers to speculate about whether minerals inflate citizens’ economic expectations and, due to an upward shift in aspirations, cause a degree of dissatisfaction. Using survey data from 18 Latin American countries, this study finds evidence of the ‘euphoric effect’ of minerals materialising among household expectations concerning future changes in the economic situation of their country. Similarly, it also finds a positive and significant relationship with expectations concerning future changes in respondents’ personal economic situation. However, it does not detect a significant relationship between minerals and citizens’ life satisfaction.

On the priority development areas in international tourism

Subject. The article discusses the issues concerning the emergence of priority development areas in international tourism. Objectives. I point out various types of priority development areas, evaluate their capabilities for tourism development. Methods. The study is based on methods of analysis, synthesis, scientific abstraction, and SWOT analysis. Results. The article describes in comparison of various types of priority development areas, spotlights their capabilities for tourism development. I propose a new type of priority development areas, such as a local recreation and health complex, and provide its description. Currently, inbound tourism grows more important, which almost surpasses economic expectations. As the confrontation between Russia and Western countries perseveres, inbound tourism serves as a crucial element of public diplomacy, or the so called soft power of Russia. Inbound tourism may definitely have a positive effect on the public sentiment in the Western countries and help mend international relations. Conclusions and Relevance. It is still relevant and effective to create priority development areas, which can be used for the production and servicing sectors of the economy. The creation of priority development areas can give an additional impetus to tourism development. It is noteworthy that various types of priority development areas have their own strengths and weaknesses. It is important to maintain the optimization of inbound tourist flows, their more even dispersion across the area, and prevent excessive tourism in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the Black Sea resorts.

Expectations About Future Economic Prospects and Satisfaction with Democracy: Evidence from European Countries during the COVID-19 Crisis

Recent studies highlight that economic expectations are a crucial determinant of citizens’ satisfaction with democracy (SWD). This article relies on a cross-sectional analysis of European survey data collected in the aftermath of COVID-19 disease to investigate the relationship between citizens’ expectations about future economic prospects and their SWD. Our findings support the idea that citizens’ expectations about future economic prospects are correlated with SWD. Furthermore, they reveal that perceived conditions of material wellbeing moderate this relationship.

DEPOSIT POLICY OF BANKS OF UKRAINE IN CONDITIONS OF COVID-2019 PANDEMIC

The pandemic COVID-2019 has been an unexpected challenge for the economies of many countries. In order to avoid the rapid spread of the disease, the governments of most countries imposed quarantine, forcibly closed borders, imposed restrictions on the movement of the population, and so on. Obviously, this provoked instability in financial markets, sharp fluctuations in national exchange rates and worsened the economic expectations of the population. In the scientific article, the authors conducted a study of the deposit policy of Ukrainian banks in this economic instability, which was provoked by the COVID-2019 pandemic. Based on statistical data, the structure of deposits of legal entities and individuals, the dynamics of interest rates, the regional distribution of deposits, as well as identified the leading banks to raise funds. The authors obtained unexpected conclusions about the lack of significant impact of the pandemic on the deposit market. Despite all the negative forecasts, there was no significant outflow of deposits in Ukraine, rather the opposite — banks were able to increase the amount of funds raised from individuals and legal entities. However, the negative expectations of the population affected the structure of deposit resources, in particular, in the analyzed period the share of demand deposits and short-term deposits increased significantly. Based on the analysis of experts’ opinions, as well as the forecast of the main economic indicators that have an impact on the deposit market, three scenarios for further development of Ukraine’s economy and the banking sector were developed and substantiated — optimistic, critical and realistic. According to the authors, the most reasonable in these conditions may be a realistic scenario that will provide positive dynamics in the growth of basic economic indicators, which will affect the growth of deposit resources in banks, while taking into account potential non-economic risks that could destabilize the situation. The findings can be applied in developing strategies for the development of individual banks and the banking system as a whole. Keywords: deposits, deposit policy of banks, pandemic, financial resources, banks, financial risks. JEL Classification G21, E58 Formulas: 0; fig.: 4; tabl.: 10; bibl.: 13.

Intensity of Khasi Production: Understanding the Challenges of Modern Agriculture System in Betel Leaf Cultivation

The intensive agriculture system is prominent in the mainstream production technique of Bangladesh. The paper illustrates the contests of the traditional production system of Khasi about mainstream social and economic expectations of resource use. The specific Khasi adaptation process and the patterned dependency on available environmental resources can be observed in the traditional Khasi production practices. Meanwhile, the logic on the need for intensive production has been rising in the changing socio-economic resource maximization process towards sustainability. The impact of the mainstream trends of agriculture practices on a small-scale economy has been analyzed here with the changes in labor mobility, mechanism of labor control, production cost, and hierarchy issues of the traditional production system. The research findings reflect that modernity initiatives have changed the social and natural support system in production, and changes occur in the system through the market-induced priority of development. The production process is trending towards intensive cultivation. Whether a generalized community, i.e., dependent on multiple natural yielding, diversified forest resources, and social value-oriented cultivation system, can continue the traditional living in a staple food dominated mainstream agro-economy. The study shows that intensive production is growing in the traditional production field of Khasi with modern technologies. As the ongoing production process is found segmented and capital intensive, the research suggests the community-based production behavior to defend the vulnerability of the economic capital-poor Khasis of Bangladesh.