Ideas and Ideals

The article discusses the concept of new financial instruments, known as synthetic assets, which combine traditional finance with blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi). These synthetic assets are digital tokens that are created artificially using derivatives. They aim to replicate the characteristics of realworld assets, such as stocks, commodities, and currencies, allowing investors to access these assets without owning them directly. These platforms are powered by smart contracts, which enable access to previously inaccessible markets.

The author examines the various classifications, operational models, advantages, regulatory challenges, and potential for future growth and integration of synthetic assets into the global financial system. These synthetic assets are classifi ed based on their underlying asset and liquidity/maturity, and their functionality is based on real-time price predictions transmitted through external tools to the blockchain. Key operational principles for synthetic assets include imitating the behavior of their underlying assets, decentralized operation through the use of smart contracts, the use of collateral, often in the form of cryptocurrencies, and mechanisms to increase liquidity. Various strategies, such as the use of derivatives and leverage, are employed in the trading of these assets.

The differences between synthetic assets and other financial instruments are discussed. Synthetic assets have several advantages compared to traditional, tokenized, and derivative assets. These include accessibility, improved risk management, partial ownership, lower transaction costs, programmability, and potentially higher liquidity.

However, there are also signifi cant risks associated with synthetic assets, such as volatility due to underlying cryptocurrencies, regulatory uncertainty, and the dependence on price forecasts. The author also considers regulatory and law enforcement issues regarding the classification and decentralized nature of these assets.

This article discusses the possibilities of using foresight analysis methods in relation to the issue of food supply. Taking into account the fact that food markets are a rather complex object of study, and food supply depends not only on quantitative (volume of consumption, total calorie intake), but also qualitative parameters (quality of nutrition, structure and macronutrient composition of the food basket, provision of micronutrients, etc.), using only quantitative, economic and statistical methods for analysis is inappropriate. The best effect can be achieved by foresight techniques that take into account non-trivial, deep connections and allow a more comprehensive look at the phenomenon under consideration.

Taking into account the above, the authors systematized modern approaches to foresight analysis, considered the most effective methods, such as identifying weak signals and wild card events, and also identifi ed the features of using these methodological approaches for analyzing food markets, which are subject to a wide range of diffi cult to predict climatic and technogenic factors, as well as factors of geopolitical and macroeconomic nature. An emphasis on identifying implicit connections, and also predicting key reference points that can have a decisive impact on the development of food markets, can help improve economic resilience in the face of emerging global food crises.

Thus, the study allows us to conclude that the use of modern foresight analysis methods for studying food supply issues is highly relevant. Identifi cation of weak signals and wild card events can allow a more rational and realistic approach to constructing scenarios for the development of food industry sectors, as well as early identifi cation of potential threats that could destabilize the situation and have a signifi cant negative impact on the level of food supply, both at the level of individual countries and in the world at large.

The question of optimal monetary policy is one of the most controversial among economists in different countries of the world. The answer to this is largely determined by the way money is formed in the economy. According to modern macroeconomic concepts, money supply can be infl uenced by factors other than monetary policy. This article discusses the main theoretical approaches to determining the mechanisms of formation of the money supply. The main attention is paid to the post-Keynesian theory of endogenous money supply, within which the accommodation and structuralist approaches dominate. Both approaches are based on the premise that the money supply in the country is affected by changes in bank loans. However, they differ in the degree to which the monetary regulator satisfi es the banks’ need for loans: full (accommodation) and partial (structuralism).

The main source of money supply growth in the modern world is the credit channel, which is considered key from the standpoint of post-Keynesianism, but considering the Russian economy in retrospect, one cannot help but note two more important sources, such as the currency channel, which was of great importance in the 2000s, and the fi scal channel, which currently also plays an important role in changes in the money supply. Since 2013, the Central Bank has been actively using such a regulatory instrument as the key interest rate in its monetary policy, which is consistent with the position of post-Keynesianism. Using the conducted theoretical review, as well as an analysis of the current state of the Russian money market and monetary policy, it is concluded that there are prerequisites for the endogeneity of the Russian money supply, which provides grounds for further analysis of the cause-and-effect relationships of key macroeconomic indicators using econometric models.

In the modern world, tourism, as an industry of interconnected sectors, infl uences the development of specifi c sectors of the economy and performs social and cultural functions. The article presents the author’s position, based on summaries of existing approaches and considering the paradigms of urbanization theory, that urban spaces today serve as a unifying sphere for various types of tourism, which are viewed as structural components of urban tourism. Based on the research fi ndings, the author provides a unique interpretation of the concepts ‘urban tourism’ and ‘urban tourism services market’, characterizing the urban tourism services market of Novosibirsk by highlighting various types of tourism resources – cultural-historical, architectural, infrastructural, etc.; the necessity for theoretical exploration of specifi c aspects of the urban tourism services market is argued. In particular, the possibility and necessity of implementing a conceptual economic model for assessing the current state and forecasting the development of the urban tourism services market based on the identifi cation of basic factors of its functioning – demand potential and supply potential – are justifi ed. The role of investment policy in the development of the urban tourism services market and the possibility of using cluster tools to activate demand and stimulate the sale of urban tourism services in the metropolis are outlined.

The article presents the results of a study assessing the impact of economic freedom on economic growth and public welfare, which is based on a formalized theoretical representation of degrees of freedom in the form of a parabolic curve with an optimum and deviations from it. This notion of economic freedom echoes the vision of socially useful ‘private vices’ described in Bernard Mandeville’s “The Fable of the Bees”. The evaluation tool is a theoretical-analytical economic-mathematical model of economic reproduction, refl ecting the dynamic process of production and distribution of a public product. Imitation of the development of the socio-economic system with different degrees of economic freedom and in conditions of institutional transformations leading to a change in the degree of freedom confi rmed the expediency of striving for the optimum of freedom. At the same time, contradictions were revealed that arise in the simulated system due to the ambiguity of the interests of economic agents involved in the reproduction process. It also shows the contradictory nature of the institutional reforms themselves, which have far different consequences for different social strata with overall positive changes in the economy.

The planning process is important for the rhythmic functioning of an organization. Planning at each stage of the production process leads to forecasting fi nancial results, in particular the profi t from sales of the organization.  As a rule, in the process of forecasting profi t from sales, only internal factors or processes that infl uence the organization’s activities are taken into account. The purpose of this paper is to substantiate the use of correlation and regression analysis as a tool for forecasting profi ts from a sales organization. The paper considers two approaches to forecasting profi t from sales, taking into account, among other things, the infl uence of external factors affecting organizations whose main activity is related to the rental and management of its own or leased real estate. The fi rst approach to profi t forecasting is based on the direct counting method and economic and mathematical algorithms. The second approach is the use of correlation and regression analysis, based on the infl uence of selected external factors. Profi t forecasting using correlation-regression analysis showed that the average rental price of commercial real estate has a negative relationship with sales profi t, and the amount of electricity consumed has a positive relationship with profi t from sales. Based on the results of the correlation analysis, it can be concluded that changes in the rental price of commercial real estate and the volume of electricity consumed affect the company’s sales profi t.  The value of the forecast sales profi t obtained under the optimistic scenario, calculated by the direct calculation method, is close to the forecast values calculated by the methods of correlation and regression analysis, which proves the importance of using this forecasting tool.

The article discusses the issue of crediting medium-sized companies in the current economic situation under the infl uence of sanctions. It examines the specifi cs of lending to these companies under such conditions. The author used methods such as complex analysis and system analysis. The paper considers the impact of economic restrictions on the Russian economy over the past decade, with a focus on sanctions imposed since 2022. Complex analysis allowed identifying the impact of sanction pressure on the crediting process. System analysis helped establish internal links between risks associated with lending under sanctions and decision-making regarding lending to individual borrowers. A list of the main risks associated with the implementation of a credit mechanism for companies borrowing from banks under the sanctions regime was formulated. The article explores the transformation of trade in trucks and other specialized equipment under economic constraints, as well as the tools banks use to assess the possibility of lending to these borrowers in current conditions.

The article highlights the features of car dealerships and analyzes the truck market in 2023: 144,000 new trucks were sold in the fi rst 12 months of 2023, accounting for 3.9 % of the overall cargo market in the country. There has been a shortage of heavy-duty tractors, estimated at 40,000 units. The top-selling tractor brands were identifi ed – domestic Kamaz and Chinese brands such as Dongfeng, Shacman, Howo, and Sitrak. Historical information is presented on the development of the truck market since 2022, including the role of credit institutions in promoting Chinese models. The activities of a Russian freight transport dealer (the name and location of the company are confi dential and subject to bank privacy) are analyzed using the author’s risk assessment method to determine the potential for lending to this business.

Institutions (norms and rules) play an important role in the development of any socio-economic system, and largely determine its direction and speed. Economic freedom is one of the most important ‘products’ generated by the institutional environment. Strictly speaking, there is no unambiguous understanding of this phenomenon, but there is an almost universally accepted opinion that without freedom it’s diffi cult to achieve success in economic development and thereby ensure the growth of public welfare. The degree of freedom determines the extent and forms in which the interests of economic agents, related to the desire to obtain private benefi ts, which ultimately benefi ts the whole society, can manifest themselves. Bernard Mandeville, who can be considered the “petrel of economic freedom” almost the fi rst among scientists and philosophers of Modern times, addressed this issue long before the founders of classical political economy and presented his judgments in allegorical form in “The Fable of the Bees”. Mandeville’s understanding of economic freedom as an opportunity for the manifestation of socially useful ‘private vices’ differs markedly from the interpretations of economic freedom that currently prevail and on the basis of which the relevant international indices are built. Nevertheless, Mandeville’s views, which were frank and devoid of any hypocrisy, served as the ideological foundation of modern views on economic freedom as an extremely useful, but very contradictory phenomenon in people’s lives.

The history of international economic sanctions is simultaneously old and relatively young. The fi rst sanctions recorded in written history were applied in ancient times, but the newly introduced punitive economic measures received legal status only after the First World War. At fi rst, sanctions were not given much political signifi cance and there were not many of them. The situation changed radically after the Second World War and especially after the collapse of the USSR. The rapid increase in sanction activity over the past two decades is a manifestation of the desire of the United States and its satellites to protect their position as a world hegemon. The punitive economic apparatus, the most powerful in the United States, is set up for sanction activity and generates restrictions and prohibitions as the main products of its activity. To paraphrase the philosopher Rene Descartes, the western sanctions government offi cer use to say: “I authorize, therefore I exist”. International economic sanctions are losing their original function as a means of preventing military confl icts and are turning into an economic weapon. But, paradoxically, attempts to interpret them as an instrument of economic policy are not valid, if only due to the fact that working with the categories of “effi ciency”, widely used in economic science, is impossible in the case of sanctions. Instead of “effi ciency”, the term “effectiveness” should be used, but measuring the latter, unlike “effi ciency”, is impossible; therefore, the phenomenon of sanctions, as such, largely goes beyond the scope of economic science. The nature of modern sanctions is perverse. Their use not only entails economic degradation and destruction of the institutional structure of society in the target countries, but also causes damage to the sending countries. Most modern sanctions are illegitimate and have no moral justifi cation. Sanctions and their systematic application are nothing more than a geopolitical weapon used to undermine the sovereignty of independent states. This article shows the historical evolution of the sanctions mechanism, its degeneration and transformation into a stable institutional entity.

In recent decades, space has begun to be viewed as an important economic resource, an engine of global competition and technological development, capable of having a multiplier effect on the development of the entire economic system of a country. It is a necessary factor in global communication and information. Each state can use space for peaceful purposes, since it is a common resource for all countries. That is why the space industry is the object of the careful study by many researchers and a special sphere of government regulation. The top three leaders in the space industry are the USA, China and Russia. The purpose of this article is to conduct a comparative analysis of the development of the space industry in the USA, China and Russia, as well as to develop recommendations for improving the regulation of the Russian space industry based on foreign experience. The author selected the following characteristics as the main parameters of comparison: 1. Signifi cant space achievements, 2. Industry fi nancing, 3. Structure of the space industry, 4. The scale of private space sector development, 5. Motives for international cooperation in the fi eld of space exploration.

Based on the analysis, the features of space industry development in each country were identifi ed. Special attention in the study is paid to the Russian space industry. In particular, it was found that the main structural feature of the Russian space industry, in contrast to the USA and China, is the signifi cant predominance of state-owned companies over private enterprises. This is associated with the lack of the necessary regulatory framework in our country and, as a consequence, the underdevelopment of the market for space products and services. At the same time, Russia can be considered a leader in terms of funding for the space industry (as a percentage of GDP), but in absolute fi nancial indicators (in millions of dollars) Russia lags signifi cantly behind the United States and China. In addition, Russia adheres to the practice of participating in international cooperation in the space sector, based primarily on political factors rather than economic motives, which fundamentally distinguishes its approach from the approach used by the United States. The article proposes a number of practical recommendations, the implementation of which, according to the author’s opinion, will contribute to increasing the effi ciency of space activities in Russia.