Future Economics

The article provides a socio-economic analysis showing how the export-raw material model of economic
growth adopted in post-Soviet Russia affects the socio-economic situation within the country in the context of an
unprecedented global recession that is gaining momentum due to COVID-19. As a working hypothesis, the authors
propose that the Russian Federation, where the extraction and export of mineral raw materials are the basis of its social
and economic growth, has led to numerous production imbalances. This not only lowers the quality and growth potential
of Russia's future GDP but also undermines its macroeconomic stability and makes its national economy prone to oil
shocks due to the dramatic global recession and lower demand for hydrocarbons. The paper builds a linear regression
model to assess the dependence of Russia's GDP on oil exports from 1996 to 2019. Besides, the authors obtained
statistically significant regression equations confirming the theoretical assertion that the dependence of the rates of
socio-economic growth on the export of natural raw materials reduces the quality and efficiency of state and public
institutions since those in power are trying to legislatively facilitate their access to resources, which, in turn, significantly
reduces the potential for economic growth. The article confirms the need for a transition to a new (neo-industrial) socioeconomic paradigm since this will help overcome the production imbalance that has developed in the Russian economy,
ensure long-term socio-economic growth, and increase its efficiency. Proposals are formulated for the formation of
economic conditions for neo-industrial economic development, the basis of which should be innovativeness,
environmental friendliness, and inclusiveness.

Rola bezpośrednich inwestycji zagranicznych w kształtowaniu aktualnego i przyszłego profilu gospodarczego województwa łódzkiego, red. Janusz Świerkocki, Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Łódź 2011, s. 253 Recenzowana książka jest efektem realizacji projektu badawczego Rola bezpośrednich inwestycji zagranicznych w kształtowaniu aktualnego i przyszłego profilu gospodarczego województwa łódzkiego, współfinansowanego ze środków Unii Europejskiej w ramach Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego. Zespół autorski liczy 6 osób: A. Dorożyńska, T. Dorożyński, A. Kłysik-Uryszek, M. Plich, J. Świerkocki, W. Urbaniak. Wkłady poszczególnych autorów są zróżnicowane. Autorstwo i współautorstwo rozdziałów zostało jednoznacznie przypisane poszczególnym osobom. Tytuł książki dobrze koresponduje z jej zawartością.

The essay reviews Joel Kotkin's The New Class Conflict (2014). It looks at the failures of the tech industry and the knowledge economy (and their left-liberal political supporters) to sustain American jobs and living standards. Over time America’s middle class has been hollowed out. The ranks of the low-income service and welfare classes have swelled. The essay considers how this process may intensify, as a new wave of automation and robotics prepares to replace jobs of all kinds, including service, professional, para-professional, manual and transport work.

Is sex work (specifically, prostitution) vulnerable to technological unemployment? Several authors have argued that it is. They claim that the advent of sophisticated sexual robots will lead to the displacement of human prostitutes, just as, say, the advent of sophisticated manufacturing robots have displaced many traditional forms of factory labour. But are they right? In this article, I critically assess the argument that has been made in favour of this displacement hypothesis. Although I grant the argument a degree of credibility, I argue that the opposing hypothesis -- that prostitution will be resilient to technological unemployment -- is also worth considering. Indeed, I argue that increasing levels of technological unemployment in other fields may well drive more people into the sex work industry. Furthermore, I argue that no matter which hypothesis you prefer -- displacement or resilience -- you can make a good argument for the necessity of a basic income guarantee, either as an obvious way to correct for the precarity of sex work, or as a way to disincentivise those who may be drawn to prostitution.