Działania Banku Centralnego Norwegii w czasie kryzysu gospodarczego 2007+

The period of global economic crisis starting from 2008 is a great challenge for public institutions responsible for macroeconomic management. Although Norway is a country that has not been significantly affected by the crisis, the pace and scale of countercyclical actions were a major challenge for Norwegian institutions. The activities of the Norwegian central bank included interest rate policy, liquidity management on the interbank market and supervision of the oil fund. The policy of interest rates had a huge importance in 2008 when the bank made a few decisions under conditions of high uncertainty and unprecedented scale. The initial phase of the crisis was also crucial in terms of liquidity and policy of enhancing stability of Norwegian banks. Due to high fluctuations of prices on stock, bond and real estate markets it was also extremely difficult to manage the oil fund portfolio. Nevertheless, through effective policy the Bank of Norway has contributed to minimizing the crisis’ costs.

Filozoficzno-historyczne zaplecze etyki biznesu

The text describes different philosophical concepts and historically important cultural phenomena that should be considered while rethinking ethical side of business. Broad range of both philosophical (such as the search for the foundations of morality, social contract) and social subjects (such as history of centralized state, individualism) is presented to help the reflections. The background for analysis is the history of culture, especially of primary collective society; contrasted with it is individualism of classical Athens with corresponding reaction of philosophers; development of state and Christianity in Roman Empire; organismic medieval state; Renaissance, reformation and the birth of capitalism; the Enlightenment breakthrough and English capitalism; liberalism and Darwinism of the 19th century; the catastrophe of European culture and success of America of the 20th century.

Wykluczenie finansowe i integracja finansowa – aspekty terminologiczne

The aim of the article was to present the issue of financial exclusion and define sensitive areas of this phenomenon. The factors that may be relevant for measuring the degree of financial exclusion were analysed. An attempt was also made to determine the difficulties in access to financial services in the context of practices applied by both the supply and demand sides. In addition, barriers to the use of services were analysed as were financial products in terms of practices used by supply and demand. The typology of financial exclusion presented in the article is an attempt to define the type and scope of the phenomenon. Bank exclusion, credit exclusion and exclusion from the savings system are financial exclusion indicators. Each of those types of exclusion affects the economic and social level. Financial exclusion, which is one of the symptoms of the imbalance between demand and supply, is understood here as total or partial access to financial services offered by the market. The article also attempts to analyse the causes of exclusion with the division into supply and demand factors. The typology of financial exclusion proposed in the article may be a contributing factor to the reverse phenomenon, which is financial inclusion.

Skutki wprowadzenia podatku bankowego w Polsce w kontekście możliwości ograniczenia negatywnych efektów zewnętrznych generowanych przez krajowy sektor bankowy ​

The main goal of this article is to present the possibility of internalization of negative externalities generated by banks with bank levy introduced in Poland in the beginning of 2016. The conducted survey considers Polish banks’ adaptive response to newly implemented tax (tax optimization) and co-effects of group response materialized on local interbank and sovereign debt markets. Empirical assessment of bank levy introduction and evaluation of its externalities internalization potential was based on statistical data gathered in 2015–2017.

Combating Poverty as a Main Challenge of Sustainable Development: The Case of Brazil’s Bolsa Família

Brazil’s conditional cash transfer Bolsa Família is one of the largest poverty reduction policies worldwide, providing cash transfers to poor households on the condition of fulfilment of a series of health and schooling requirements. Bolsa Família helps 13.8 million families or 25% of the total population. Since its launch in 2003 results are the following: poverty in Brazil has notably decreased; three million people left poverty and four million are no longer indigent; the Gini coefficient and Human Development Index has improved. Therefore, Brazil has implemented a policy in the realm of sustainable development strategies, combatting the most pressing and degrading condition of deprivation: poverty. As Bolsa Família’s impact became prominent due to international media and international organisations, 63 countries have sought Brazilian expertise on social policies. The aim of this essay is to assess if Bolsa Família is an effective mechanism for sustainable development, particularly poverty alleviation.

Rola banków i sektora FinTech w świetle implementacji dyrektywy PSD2 ​

The aim of the article is to define the prospects for the development of cooperation between the banking sector and FinTech in the context of the implementation of the PSD2 directive. First, attention was drawn to the changing role of banks that have already taken actions to use the opportunities related to the implementation of this EU regulation of the European payments market. It has been pointed out that the opening of the banking system will result in close cooperation with the FinTech sector, so-called API economics, and this will affect the emergence of new business models. Next, new solutions developed in the PSD2 Directive were presented, with reference to new regulatory technical standards between the banking sector and third parties. The last issue raised in the article concerns cooperation between banks and the FinTech sector. Financial institutions should use innovative solutions offered by fintechs and thanks to that they will increase operational efficiency and create products and services better suited to clients' needs. In the next years, it will be possible to observe how the financial services market will change and which entities will play a significant role in it.

Zróżnicowanie przestrzenne dochodów własnych budżetów gmin w Polsce w latach 2007–2015​

The experience of systemic transformation in Poland and the progressing socio-economic development prove that the importance of organizational units classified conventionally as a part of the public sector has increased significantly. It turned out that during rapid economic and social changes, the development of technical and social infrastructure became one of the drivers of development. In the conditions of the market economy in Poland, two important areas related to the functioning of the public sector have come to the fore: quantification of objectives and tasks necessary for the proper functioning of the state and society and ensuring efficient sources of financing these tasks. In this paper the aim of the research was to analyse and assess the financial situation of municipal territorial self-government units in Poland in 2007–2015. The research results clearly indicate the existence of differences in the level of budget revenues between differentiated territorial self-government units in the years 2007–2015. In that time the budget revenues of communes increased and significant positive changes in the budgetary situation of municipal local government units took place, in almost all regions these incomes doubled. This increase was accompanied by persistence of disproportions between less developed regions and regions that were economically and socially developing faster. In the discussed period, we had to deal with the improvement of the income situation of the budgets of local government units, with the simultaneous increase in the differences in the level of income with all the consequences associated with this for future development.

Społeczne i ekonomiczne przesłanki sycylijskiego separatyzmu od zjednoczenia Włoch do połowy XX wieku. Mafia a kwestia niepodległości Sycylii ​

The article presents broad historical context, including socio-economic factors, of the rise and periodic resurgence of the movement for Sicilian independence following the unification of Italy in the 1860s. Furthermore, the involvement of Cosa Nostra in the movement for Sicilian independence in the period beginning with the Allied invasion of Sicily during the Second World War is analysed.

Problem symetrii między otwartą gospodarką a otwartym społeczeństwem​

The article discusses the problem of absence of symmetry between opening of the economy and opening of the society. Even though both discussed occurrences have their history, they are studied separately. In the article a hypothesis is put on existence of asymmetry between opening of the economy and opening of the society and this fact is seen as one of the obstacles which limits both studied and analysed processes. The attention in the article is turned to fact that there are measures which help to estimate the scale of opening of an economy, however there are no similar tools to measure openness of a society. This asymmetry limits our ability to understand the problem and to construct tools necessary to reduce it. The aim of the article is not to show actions or a plan for narrowing the existing gap between the two processes but pointing at the role of those two processes in shaping the effective policy in the two fields.

Ocena roli usług ekosystemów miejskich w zrównoważonym rozwoju lokalnym

Ecosystem services are an important framework for linking ecological infrastructure to urban social infrastructure, which can benefit people and ecosystems. Designing, planning and managing of complex urban systems for health and wellbeing requires urban ecosystems that are both immune to systemic changes and managed sustainably. Literature review reveals that so far only several researchers have focused on urban ecosystem services (UES). The paper aims at assessing the importance of ecosystem services at the local level with an emphasis on urbanized areas. The basic conditions and barriers to the implementation of the concept of ecosystem services in the EU policy and local development have also been identified. The paper also presents solutions concerning the creation of integrated systems of providing such services by local governments and their monitoring.