Issue 5, 2005

The main schools and achievements in the development of the economic thought during the past XX century are outlined. The evolution of economic concepts is presented on the background of the real economic processes that marked the economic theory. The most important aspects in the development of orthodox and unorthodox economic schools are covered consecutively. The study has two parts: the first one interprets the characteristics of the economic XX century and the evolution of the neoclassical theory relevant to the microeconomics. The second part (which will be published in the next issue) is focused on the emerging and developing of the modern macroeconomics within the framework of the neoclassical analysis, as well as on the development of the unorthodox economic thought. The study outlines the difficult, contradictory but ascending course of seeking after truth in the economic theory.

The evolution of the theory of economic policy during the second half of the XX century is analysed. Three periods of its development are outlined. The first is immediately after the World War II and is called "the age of optimism" - age of belief in the advantages of state interference in the economy and growing roles and functions of governments. The second (1960s - 1970s) is the "age of doubt" -years of serious reflection on the potentials of the economic policy based on the latest development of macroeconomics and the diminishing role of the state in the economy. The third stage, which covers the last twenty years of the XX century, is studied in detail. A new trend in the theory of economic policy has emerged, which is related to the development of the New political economy.

The topic of the study is a three-stage model of organisational development, which evolves logically from a chaotic, through sustainable into perfect organisation. The main thesis is that the integration of evaluation and design processes in one common model is a concept framework of the organisational transformation. The adoption of the core characteristics of the model is an important condition and prerequisite for organisational development.
The processes of evaluation and design are in the base of the organisational transformation. The transformation of organisations from chaotic into perfect requires adequate cultural attitudes, responsiveness and an active project focus on all levels of the system (organisation -teams - individual). The main challenge to the management in the new millennium is to realise the maximum potential of the human factor.
Main principles and models, which are investigated, are the tools by which the top management will answer the above needs.

The demographic situation in Bulgaria is analysed - declining birth rate, aging of the population, as well as demographic determinants of the socio-economic development. Comparisons with a number of EU countries are drawn and the main aspects in which the demographic factors could lead to significant disadvantages are studied: deficits in social security, insufficient employment of the work force and migration fluctuations, transfer of capitals and slowing down of the economic growth in developed countries, crisis in state budgets and the financial systems, etc.

There has been a significant rise in prices of real estate in Bulgaria for the last several years, whereas their tax values remained the same. It is a common practice to declare the tax value as a transaction price, when a transaction with a real estate is done. This leads to a number of risks to buyers and sellers, low revenues for municipalities, notaries and register offices, as well as to distortion of statistics of real estate prices and their growth. Some possibilities for updating tax values are analysed, which will increase the transparency of real estate markets in the country and the confidence of investors - local and foreign.

The development of integration processes in the EU and East Asian countries is analysed as a basis of the economic relations between them. The relations of the EU with the countries from the Northeast and Southeast Asia are studied. The countries from East Asia have undergone an impressing transformation for the last decades. This was a period of economic prosperity, which was stopped only during the years of the Asian crisis 1997-1998, when one of the most important issues was how to accelerate regional and international cooperation.