Issue 3, 2001

The article deals with economic growth and productivity, as well as with the challenges and tensions in the macroeconomic policy of the developed countries under the conditions of an informational coup d'état and globalization of the world economy. The new technologies parallel with the telecommunication networks area driving force for the formation of a post industrial or informational model of development. The effect from the information revolution under certain conditions and prerequisites of institutional and socio-economic nature can be manifested also at a macro-level, although with considerable lag. Shown is the contents of the basic concepts of the theory of endogenous growth: lack of competitiveness of knowledge as a source for an increasing resource return rate, the partial unexcluding of knowledge as a factor for generating "technological externals". Data, showing that during the second half of the 90-ties the United States have achieved considerable progress in respect of productivity dynamics, are presented. Proofs and arguments are put forward for the necessity of creating an institutional structure of the global economy by means of reforming the existing currency system.

The accent is put on the institutional and functional characteristics of the three currency boards as well as on the historical and political context of their implementation. The tasks of the investigation can be summarized down to two: descriptive - systematizing and summarizing the facts concerning the functioning of the three currency boards; theoretical - the advancement of some hypotheses concerning the functioning of the currency boards. Special attention is paid to the "automated mechanism" of the currency board as an advantage compared to the traditional central bank.

The article shows the possibility for implementing the Logit method as an alternative approach, which allows avoiding a great part of the difficulties connected with the construction and estimation of the models with rational expectations. The idea is to use the Logit method for estimating "the degree of adequacy" of the public in respect of the inflation behaviour in Bulgaria during the period 1993-2000. In the model, expectations are defined as rational, when the subjective probabilities of the economic agents compared to the full set of possible results, are really reflecting the objective conditional mathematical probabilities, based on the available information at a defined moment. By specifying a variable of reliability and by comparing its dynamics with the one of inflation, the Logit method allows to test the validity of the hypothesis for rational expectations by means of the principle of correlation. Furthermore the model of inflation and its interaction with the individual solutions is not estimated directly but this is done in respect of the effect of this interaction. The results obtained allow to make conclusions in respect of the structure of the information basis and the process of "training" when forming rational expectations.

Discussed are basic theoretical problems of the political marketing which are connected with its substance, definition and general characteristics. In order to clarify them, a theoretical revision of part of the existing definitions of this marketing is made. They give us ground for a critical reinterpretation of its subject. Given is also an individual point of view (definition) for the political marketing in the wide and narrow sense.
Special place is given to its principles, methods and functioning as an inseparable element of the theoretical and methodological tools of this interdisciplinary science.
The article makes difference between the concepts "political marketing" and "political market" (in four basic points), and on this basis the most important characteristics of the political marketing are formulated. In this sense a conclusion is confirmed that political marketing can not be viewed and understood only as organization and conducting election campaigns.
The article includes also some other principal points from a methodological nature such as for example: the difference between political marketing and political communication, differentiation between the different categories of the political marketing, etc. which are contemplated and analyzed in a critical aspect.

Pegging the CEECs exchange rates to the Euro can be assessed by using the criteria for entering the EMU (European Monetary Union). This approach is explicitly taking into account the process of enlargement started in June 1993 in Copenhagen, where a subset of CEECs was selected for admission into the EU. Fiscal discipline, implied by the Maastricht criteria, enhances the transition process. But the question of whether pegging the currency contributes to further stabilize inflation can be asked only when economic recovery resumes, and when inflation does not result mainly from relative price adjustment. The analysis of business cycles correlation helps to answer that question. The correlation of industrial production and unemployment cycles in the CEECs and the EU, point towards a deeper integration of the CEECs with Germany than with the EU. They also emphasize that pegging the currencies is a good policy option for Central European Countries.

The article deals with the problems connected with the result from the labour of intellectuals. In the countries with developed economies one can notice tendencies towards a strong decrease of manual labour participation and intensive increase of the share of those employed in services and intellectual labour. On this background a number of important and complex by character problems are already outlined. They are valid not only for the developed economies but also for our country, which for more than a decade is in a difficult transition. They include: new requirements towards the people of intellectual labour (employees and managers); difficulties in measuring the results from this labour; need of special care for creating skills and motivation for increased innovation activity of the people of knowledge. The discussed problems are valid in an equal degree for economists researchers and managers, technologists, sociologists, IT specialists, people from the sphere of education, health care, administrative servicing and politicians.