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This paper first describes the Bretton Woods system: its origin, what it was meant to achieve, and why it collapsed. We then describe the emergence of the global non-system in which inflation targeting has replaced full-employment Keynesianism and floating exchange rates have replaced the Bretton Woods set-up of fixed but adjustable exchange rates. We describe how the Bretton Woods system set about achieving the three objectives laid down for a well-functioning international economic system by John Maynard Keynes: full employment without inflation, sustainable current account balances between countries, and a sustainable flow of international financial capital—on the understanding that an open trading regime is also fostered. Because the global non-system is now very different from the Bretton Woods system, Keynes's objectives now need to be achieved in a very different manner. Looking forward, this non-system faces a number of longer-term challenges. Important adjustment issues will arise in relation to the global demographic transition; the potential long-term slowdown in productivity growth; and the rise in investment in renewable sources of energy which will be necessary to help ensure that the world is able to move towards zero emissions of carbon by 2050. We also discuss important policy issues in relation to the flows of international capital to emerging market economies, and the likely need for a sovereign debt reconstruction mechanism. We then go on to consider two significant structural changes to the world—the emergence of the European Monetary Union and the rise of China. A final section of the paper considers the importance of leadership in this global non-system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on environmental quality has been discussed in the environmental economics literature over the last decades. Within this scope, the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) postulates that FDI inflows can cause environmental degradation in developing countries. Using data over the period 1993–2018 for 10 developing countries with current account deficits, this paper aims to test the validity of the PHH. Therefore, the paper examines whether or not developing countries face off a trade-off between financing current account deficits and environmental deterioration. The paper employs panel data methods that consider cross-sectional dependence. The empirical findings show that foreign direct investment inflows have no impact on environment, meaning the PHH does not dominate for these countries. Hence, the findings indicate that there is no trade-off between financing current account deficits and environmental deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that Lucas (1972. 'Expectations and the Neutrality of Money.' Journal of Economic Theory 4 (2): 103–124) played a significant role in changing Friedman's theoretical propositions of the 1970s, and that his restatement of Friedman's (1968b. Dollars and Deficits. Inflation, Monetary Policy and the Balance of Payments. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall International) address on monetarism helped Friedman refine his argument, regarding both theory and policy-making, in a consistent manner. First, the adoption of the rational expectations hypothesis eventually led to a confrontation with Friedman, whose own approach to probability, based on subjective uncertainty, originated in his early joint work with Savage. Second, Lucas' modelling of the aggregate supply function undermined Friedman's earlier approach to the interrelationships between prices and quantities, but also helped remind Friedman of his Marshallian lineage. Lastly, Lucas's monetary cycle theory, based on an extraction signal problem that was quickly criticized and abandoned, compelled Friedman to give a firmer theoretical foundation to his monetary policy rule based on a constant rate of growth in money supply, thanks to his earlier approach of subjective uncertainty and personal probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This is a theoretical paper in the field of international macroeconomics. The purpose of this paper is to focus on a dynamic interaction between current account imbalance and unemployment in response to some policy-induced shocks for a small open economy under a flexible exchange rate. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses a two-sector framework: one sector is traded and another is the non-traded sector that is subject to an effective demand constraint. The current account imbalance arises due to the discrepancy between production of traded goods, household consumption of traded goods and government purchases of importables. The authors keep the asset structure simple by considering only domestic currency and foreign bonds that are imperfect substitutes. The paper considers a standard methodology of dynamic adjustment process involving change in foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate under perfect foresight. The saddle path properties of the equilibrium are also examined. Findings: The results of comparative static exercises depend on a set of structural features of a developing country, which include asset substitutability, wage price rigidity and sectoral asymmetries. The paper shows that expansionary monetary policy, balanced budget fiscal expansion and financial liberalization have an ambiguous effect on the current account balance, foreign exchange reserves, non-traded sector and the level of employment. Originality/value: The existence of Keynesian unemployment with fixed prices is the key ingredient of this paper. The paper introduces the problem of effective demand to analyze the dynamics of current account balance and exchange rate, which, in turn, determine the sectoral composition of output and level of employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes and describes multinational companies as a business internationalization strategy through foreign direct investments (FDIs) for business internationalization to reach business values in the frames of globalization. The analysis and results demontstrated that Multinational companies (MNCs) and foreign direct investments (FDIs) may face challenges and risks in new locations due to economic and political instability, difficulties of infrastructure, distrust in the locations, locations, difficulties of balance in payment, challenging negotiations in business agreements and quality contracts, borders and transportation challenges, challenging in the market size. Multinational companies that go for foreign direct investment have an economic impact and can affect a country's economy in various ways, for example, in the balance of payments, in growth rates and in job creation. The effect of foreign direct investment by multinational companies can be negative or positive depending on certain factors. A multinational company's pattern of internationalization represents different factors of possibilities, costs, risks and difficulties faced during its internationalization. In conclusions, Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an important step towards business internationalization and if the domestic company decides to go multinational towards FDI, it has to consider the factors of ownership, location and internalization to reach business internationalization as confirmed in Dunning's framework and this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some countries, a sizable fraction of savings is derived from corporate savings. Although larger, traded corporations are often co-owned by foreign portfolio investors, current international accounting standards allocate all corporate savings to the host country. This paper suggests a framework to correct for this misleading attribution and applies this concept to Germany. For the years 2012–2020, our corrections retrospectively reduce German savings and consequently the German current account surplus by, on average, €11.5 bn annually. This amounts to lowering Germany's average official current account surplus (€226.6 bn) across these years by approximately five percent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines whether certain macrofinancial indicators can be used for early detection of recessions. Analysing a sample of small open economies from Central and Eastern European Union, we first identify the most important indicators used for early detection of recessions, and then test the validity of the selection by using the signal method and multivariate probit regressions. Our results imply that the most effective predictors of upcoming recessions are the slope of the yield curve, current account balance to GDP ratio, real estate price index, self-financing ratio of commercial banks, nominal effective exchange rate, global exports and LIBOR rate. Using the Mann-Whitney U Test, we also find that foreign indicators emit earlier signals of incoming recessions in analysed countries than domestic ones. This type of research is important because of the various stakeholders that base their decisions on the signals provided by these indicators. Primarily, these are various government agencies that participate in monetary and fiscal policy making. Early warning of an impending recession allows economic policy makers to take corrective action to avoid a recession or to significantly mitigate its effects, while unreliable indicators may lead to adoption of unnecessary measures with adverse effects on the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to find the most important patterns in published papers on the twin deficits. The research methodology includes text-mining analysis covering all the relevant Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) works. It turned out that Ricardian equivalence and the Mundell-Fleming approach dominate twin deficit research, especially in developed countries. The current account targeting hypothesis and bi-directional causality are confirmed mainly in developing countries. As regards the methodology, the most used are cointegration techniques and Granger causality testing. The percentage of papers proving Ricardian equivalence did not change during the analysed period, while the percentage of those confirming the Mundell-Fleming model decreased when using more recent data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses principal components analysis to describe the evolution of current account imbalances in a sample of 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries from 1950 to 2020. The analysis shows, using only statistical methods, how two groups of countries formed in the 1980s. There is the current account surplus group including countries in Northern Europe, Japan and Switzerland and then the deficit group including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and several countries in Southern Europe. The divergence cannot be attributed to divergence in fiscal and monetary policy. Instead, there is some support for the thesis of Robert Aliber set out in another paper in this issue that capital flows between countries affect exchange rates, asset prices and the current account. The paper builds on two earlier papers in this journal by the same author, one showing how countries that have experienced a financial crisis tend to subsequently develop current account surpluses and the other showing how surpluses and deficits caused by capital flows affect the domestic real economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of high short-circuit currents (200–300 kA) in autonomous and generator power systems of low and medium voltage classes, causing a decrease in the switching resource of switching facilities, necessitates the search for ways of limiting the current. The paper proposes a solution to this problem: a semiconductor current-limiting device based on a DC chopper, a DC-to-DC converter. This devices' features are its low dimensions and losses during typical operation. Semiconductor elements can be arranged quite compactly due to the lack of radiators for cooling, since the cooling process—taking into account the short duration of the current limitation process—is not efficient. The choice of semiconductor devices takes into account the short duration of the current load, as a result of which the temperature of the semiconductor structure does not exceed its permissible value. This paper presents a method for calculating the parameters of semiconductor devices, taking into account the current load as well as adjusting the magnitude of current limitation to a value that can be disconnected by switching devices. The short-term mode of operation of the power semiconductor device with current regulated by the frequency and duty cycle of its operation makes it possible to facilitate the required current limitation in the circuit for the subsequent fault clearance with a typical electrical device. The problem of overcurrent of one of the elements of the limiter is noted, which requires special attention to ensure that the semiconductor device is not overheated. This paper also presents the principle of current limitation, summarizes the results of experimental studies, and analyzes the presented capabilities of a semiconductor current limiter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this contribution is to assess the development of the economic condition of the Slovak Republic in the context of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation regarding the development of and changes in the economic condition of Slovakia is compared with that in selected EU countries, considering the effects of previous global crises, with a focus on the impacts on small and medium-sized enterprises. The economies of European countries are mentioned to illustrate the ideas of the presented paper, with an emphasis on the economic dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent impact on the Slovak Republic. This research is conducted through basic analytical tools and an analysis of the development of macroeconomic indicators, and by addressing the issue through data from a globally available database. The results in this paper serve as proposals and recommendations for the mitigation of negative economic impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of four historical tropical storms on the Colonial Bank's operations in the British Caribbean between 1922 and 1927. By employing a high-frequency data set of bank transactions, this study reveals how these severe shocks influenced the banking activities of clients. The findings reveal a multifaceted and significant impact of tropical storm strikes on the banks' operations, particularly a surge in borrowing via overdrafts of current accounts. Moreover, the study reveals the multifaceted nature of such storms' impact on the bank's functionality, with affected branches demonstrating an uptick in deposits and savings as a strategy to mitigate funding shocks. The results of the econometric analysis indicate that the impact of such storms on banks' functionality during the early 20th century was significant and multidimensional. It highlights the critical role that the Colonial Bank plays in facilitating recovery from these devastating events and contributes to the existing literature by studying multiple shocks at different geographical locations and time frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Collective intentional actions are intentional actions of more than one individual. These actions come in many forms. Some are pursued spontaneously by strangers in face-to-face situations, others are performed by highly coordinated groups of individuals that know each other very well, others are actions in which the participating individuals, widely spread in space and time, act in organized ways. Current accounts of collective intentional action have privileged one or other kind of case, leaving out the study of other cases. This paper seeks to remedy this situation by offering a methodological framework that allows to study, both conceptually and empirically, all the variety of cases of collective intentional actions. It first presents the standard accounts of collective intentional action and argues that they fail in capturing all the cases that arguably count as cases of this kind. It then puts forward a multidimensional and paradigmatic (MAP) methodology for the study of collective intentional actions. It is shown how this methodology offers a unified, overarching, characterization of collective intentional actions. In conclusion, the paper compares the different methodologies and shows how the MAP methodology can inform the interdisciplinary study of collective intentional action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper provides a structured literature review of blockchain in accounting. The authors identify current trends, analyse and critique the key topics of research and discuss the future of this nascent field of inquiry. Design/methodology/approach: This study's analysis combined a structured literature review with citation analysis, topic modelling using a machine learning approach and a manual review of selected articles. The corpus comprised 153 academic papers from two ranked journal lists, the Association of Business Schools (ABS) and the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC), and from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). From this, the authors analysed and critiqued the current and future research trends in the four most predominant topics of research in blockchain for accounting. Findings: Blockchain is not yet a mainstream accounting topic, and most of the current literature is normative. The four most commonly discussed areas of blockchain include the changing role of accountants; new challenges for auditors; opportunities and challenges of blockchain technology application; and the regulation of cryptoassets. While blockchain will likely be disruptive to accounting and auditing, there will still be a need for these roles. With the sheer volume of information that blockchain records, both professions may shift out of the back-office toward higher-profile advisory roles where accountants try to align competitive intelligence with business strategy, and auditors are called on ex ante to verify transactions and even whole ecosystems. Research limitations/implications: The authors identify several challenges that will need to be examined in future research. Challenges include skilling up for a new paradigm, the logistical issues associated with managing and monitoring multiple parties all contributing to various public and private blockchains, and the pressing need for legal frameworks to regulate cryptoassets. Practical implications: The possibilities that blockchain brings to information disclosure, fraud detection and overcoming the threat of shadow dealings in developing countries all contribute to the importance of further investigation into blockchain in accounting. Originality/value: The authors' structured literature review uniquely identifies critical research topics for developing future research directions related to blockchain in accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stewardship is a concept that has historically underpinned the practice of accounting, with a focus on the stewardship of financial resources. As times change, so too do the elements of organisational performance that might be subject to stewardship demands. Critically for this paper, a roadmap for organisational stewardship in the Anthropocene is developed. In brief, the Anthropocene is a term used to describe how human actions drive earth systems functioning, generating effects (for example) on the climate system as well as on the diversity of living creatures. Given these effects, an enlarged understanding of stewardship emerges that focuses on corporate purpose that takes account of wider than financial ambitions and effects as well as on governance processes that can support a broader perspective. The paper also highlights that achieving stewardship for 'wicked problems' that emerge from complex adaptive systems (with emergent elements and tipping points) might be best addressed by coalitions of organisations collaborating to achieve systems effects. Such an approach also suggests that accounting data gathering and tracing of organisational impact will require greater spatial capabilities than have previously been the case. Accounting for stewardship in the Anthropocene, therefore, represents a significant advance to current accounting practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]