The flat tax in Romania. A good economic strategy?

This paper evaluates the main effects of the implementation of tax flat system in Romanian economy. If accompanying measures are not going to be enforced, the introduction of the flat rate of 16% in Romania will lead to unsustainable budgetary deficits and inflationist pressures. The flat tax favors the workers with big salaries and also big and financially solid companies (which, mainly “export” the profit). It will attack the fragile macroeconomic stability. It is uncertain if it will lead to the increase of the degree of employment, having in view the fact that the contributions to the social insurances have a very high level. The alternative scenario is simple. Romania should have chosen to continue what it was confirmed to be a valid element of the economic evolution towards a European standard (progressive fiscal system).flat tax; fiscal policy; inflation; AD-AS model

IS READY ROMANIA FOR EURO ADOPTION? FROM STRUCTURAL CONVERGENCE TO BUSINESS CYCLE SYNCHRONIZATION

The objective of this study is to identify gaps between economic and commercial structures between Romania and the euro area and to explain whether the results obtained justify recently decision to delay euro adoption beyond 2015. According to theory of optimum currency areas, the existence of similar economic structures, increasing trade integration and synchronization of business cycles with monetary union will provide greater symmetry of shocks between Romania and the euro area. If the shocks are more symmetrical, then common monetary policy of the European Central Bank will act as a tool to neutralize the shocks in the case of Romania, and the euro adoption would have fewer adverse effects. To meet the research objective, we have structured this paper into three parts. In the first part we referred to the importance of the proposed theme in the economic literature. In the second part, we used several statistical methods to identify how divergent is Romania relative to the euro area economies. The results obtained show increasing divergence between economic structures until 2009 year using the NACE 6 methodology. In fact, Romania has the most divergent structure in EU-27 countries, being characterized by lowest contribution of services to GDP. However, structural differences do not constitute an obstacle to euro adoption, as long as Romania becomes more commercially integrated with other European countries. Thus, Romania is the seventh economy in terms of trade with the EU-27 (73.3% of exports and 74.3% of imports), and the degree of convergence between the structure of exports and imports have increased significantly compared with 2000 year. In the third part, we estimated the degree of synchronization of business cycles between Romania and the euro area, based on Hodrick-Prescott filter. Results showed an increasing correlation of business cycles as a result of increasing industrial activity and export synchronization.euro area, sectoral divergence, business cycle synchronization, Krugman index, Hodrick-Prescott filter

THE ANALYSIS OF EQUITY-EFFICIENCY TRADE-OFF IN THE EUROPEAN UNION ECONOMY

The European Union’s economic evolution for the last sixty years is specific to the long term stages of the economic cycle, of Kondratieff type. The economic expansion period has been characterized by a higher efficiency level (growth in productivity, in the labour occupation degree) which favoured the reducing of the inequalities related to incomes through the redistribution process. The economic recession stage showed that, under the terms of an increased unemployment, of a low aggregate demand and of a less flexible aggregate supply, the economic efficiency level is relatively lower. On these conditions, the providing of social equity (of the cohesion) will affect negatively the efficiency degree, fact which will extend the period of economic recession within The European Union.economic growth, labour productivity, economic recession, total factor productivity

Public Pensions Reform in Romania. How Affect the Public Finance Sustainability?

This paper deals with the problem of the public pension system’s sustainability in Romania and its impact upon the sustainability of the public finance. Thus, the public pension deficit increased in the last three years, caused by the unsustainable increase of pensions during expansionary years and by decrease of number of taxpayers in the economy. Unfortunately, the pressure on public pension system will continue in the next decades due to decline of the total population and of the working age population and to increasing share of the older people. The first part of the paper is an explanation for the factors which affect the public pension system, and it presents this system’s vulnerabilities. The second part is a brief presentation of the effects of the reforms made after December ’89, with reference to the public pension system. The third part outlines the impact of the unitary pension law upon the improvement of the balancing position of the public pension system. The last part makes an analysis for the budget impact of the unitary pension law, outlining the comparison between the basic scenario – keeping the current system and the alternative scenario, which provides a rich package of reforms with reference to this field.public pensions system, private pensions system, finance sustainability, reforms, ageing problem

The flat tax in Romania. A good economic strategy?

This paper evaluates the main effects of the implementation of tax flat system in Romanian economy. If accompanying measures are not going to be enforced, the introduction of the flat rate of 16% in Romania will lead to unsustainable budgetary deficits and inflationist pressures. The flat tax favors the workers with big salaries and also big and financially solid companies (which, mainly “export” the profit). It will attack the fragile macroeconomic stability. It is uncertain if it will lead to the increase of the degree of employment, having in view the fact that the contributions to the social insurances have a very high level. The alternative scenario is simple. Romania should have chosen to continue what it was confirmed to be a valid element of the economic evolution towards a European standard (progressive fiscal system)

The flat tax in Romania. A good economic strategy?

This paper evaluates the main effects of the implementation of tax flat system in Romanian economy. If accompanying measures are not going to be enforced, the introduction of the flat rate of 16% in Romania will lead to unsustainable budgetary deficits and inflationist pressures. The flat tax favors the workers with big salaries and also big and financially solid companies (which, mainly “export” the profit). It will attack the fragile macroeconomic stability. It is uncertain if it will lead to the increase of the degree of employment, having in view the fact that the contributions to the social insurances have a very high level. The alternative scenario is simple. Romania should have chosen to continue what it was confirmed to be a valid element of the economic evolution towards a European standard (progressive fiscal system)

Fiscal Adjustment Programs versus Socially Sustainable Competitiveness in EU Countries

After implementing harsh austerity measures during 2008–2011, in the period 2012–2014 the fiscal adjustment programs also involved social equity measures, the quantitative fiscal consolidation being changed into a qualitative one—a reduction of the structural budget deficit accompanied by an improvement of social sustainability indicators. The 2015–2017 period shows mixed evolutions in terms of social progress brought by the recovery of the economic potential lost during the crisis. This research analyzes the sustainability of economic competitiveness dynamics from a social viewpoint during 2012–2014. In this paper, we analyze the way in which the economic and social components of fiscal adjustment programs are dynamically balanced in 24 EU member states. We identify four clusters of countries depending on the relationship between fiscal consolidation/fiscal stimulation and the social dynamics of the sustainability adjusted global competitiveness index. We found that under the pressure of “fiscal adjustment fatigue” caused by tough austerity programs in the period 2008–2011, most of the European countries completed the fiscal adjustment packages with measures to improve the social situation between 2012 and 2017. The fiscal consolidation programs have become more balanced from the perspective of the combination of budgetary austerity—social equity measures. Furthermore, we analyze how some countries on the EU periphery (Central and Eastern Europe, Baltic countries and Portugal, Ireland and Greece, countries that have joined the EU with a lower level of development) are experiencing or not an improvement in the social sustainability generated by the measures aimed at stimulating the economic growth implemented during 2012–2017. To conclude, we proposed a few pillars that could be integrated if an “ideal adjustment program” is to be achieved

The Hepatic Fetal Venous System

The vascular architecture of the human liver is established at the end of the 10th week of gestation as a result of a complex process. Recent developments in ultrasonographic imaging facilitate the prenatal evaluation of this system. However, many of the involved mechanisms are poorly understood. The hepatic primordium is in contact with the vitelline veins and the umbilical veins, and by the end of the 6th week, the afferent venous system of the liver is acquired giving rise to the portal vein, the portal sinus, and the ductus venosus. The only afferent vein of the liver that remains open at birth is the portal vein. Also, the efferent venous system of the liver is formed and emerges from the vitelline veins