Revista de Economie Mondiala/ Journal of Global Economics

11-28

Authors: Iulia Monica Oehler-Șincai

Trade and investment remain the solid foundations for the transatlantic relations. However, divergent positions on a multitude of issues have come to dominate bilateral relations. New tensions arose after president Donald Trump took office in January 2017. In the same year, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was finally abandoned, after 15 rounds of negotiations that took place between 2013 and 2016. To the controversial subsidies directed towards aircraft manufacturers and the agricultural sector, other issues have been added, such as those related to the taxation of digital services by European countries. Divergent positions on the Covid-19 pandemic raised new questions about trust in bilateral relations. The main objective of this analysis is to identify the sources of conflict in bilateral relations, but also the ways to ease tensions, as a solid relationship based on mutual trust is to the advantage of both parties.

49-61

Authors: Dorina Clichici

The use of basic financial services, such as bank accounts, loans or savings, has become a necessary condition for participation in economic and social life. However, parts of the global population and firms remain excluded from the financial sector for various reasons. This paper aims to analyse the main issues of financial inclusion globally and its role in economic development. To achieve this goal, the economic and social benefits of financial inclusion are identified, as highlighted by the existing literature; further, the main factors that determine the exclusion of the population and firms from the financial system are revealed; and finally, the global trends in the evolution of the financial inclusion indicators are presented. Notwithstanding the role of financial inclusion in achieving important economic goals, our analysis highlights the existence of significant disparities internationally in the level of financial inclusion, as well as the need to address them through public policy actions.

14-25

Authors: George-Cornel Dumitrescu

In the current economic context, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and the related uncertainty, decision-makers worldwide are looking for viable post-crisis solutions, being aware that the problems we are facing require an exhaustive and sustainable approach. The circular economy is getting more and more attention, especially at the European Union (EU) level, as an alternative to the linear economic model that prevailed until now. Using the latest technologies, methods and techniques to recycle and produce secondary raw materials is paramount for the transition to the circular economy. Consequently, our paper analyses if at the EU level there is a statistically significant correlation between the number of patents related to recycling and secondary raw materials and the persons with tertiary education and employed in science and technology. To this end, we rely on the Eurostat database and the tools of statistical analysis, and conclude that there is a trend synergy between the analysed variables, useful în the context of promoting the circular economy.

40-48

Authors: Dorina Clichici

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented economic shock globally, affecting entire sectors, such as transport, travel and tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other economic sectors. The situation of the Russian Federation in the context of the pandemic crisis is aggravated by two great vulnerabilities, i.e., the unstable pace of its economic growth in recent years and the dependence of this growth on the oil and natural gas exploitation industry. The paper aims to analyse the vulnerabilities of the Russian economy under the impact of the pandemic crisis. In order to achieve this goal, the paper emphasises the main sources of dependence of the Russian economy, and identifies the measures taken to mitigate the negative economic effects of the pandemic. It also presents the possible scenarios for the evolution of the economy in the period 2020-2022. The analysis highights that the disruptive effects of the pandemic are going to undermine the basic source of the Russian Federation's income and its ability to cope with the adverse economic consequences of this crisis.