In the mid-1990s, following the collapse of socialism and the accompanying socialist planned economy system, a publication entitled “People Who Have Left Their Mark on the 20th Century. Lectures on the History of Ideas” was published with the participation of the then Hungarian intellectual elite (Andor et al., 1996). Nearly a quarter of a century after the book’s publication, with some “intellectual import”, and by correcting the title, this welcome by the editor-in-chief undertakes to provide a brief awareness-raising outreach to what is happening, but especially to the challenges ahead.

From Tibor Erdős to György Matolcsy, prominent economists discussed the fact that the Great World Economic Crisis, which “launched” the economy of the twentieth century, John M. Keynes’ response to the crisis and Keynes’s own theoretical work, were utterly decisive and have left their mark on the events of the century behind us.

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Over the past decade, the Hungarian economy has achieved unique successes building on the fiscal and monetary policy turnaround implemented in the early 2010’s. The targeted measures of the government and the central bank have helped to put the Hungarian economy on a sustainable convergence path, and at the same time, they have strengthened the immune system of the economy. As a result, the Hungarian economy has been properly prepared to face the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic recently. However, in addition to addressing the short-term consequences, a longer-term perspective must be continously kept in mind as well. Only countries that are rapidly adapting to the norms of the new – post-Covid-19 pandemic – world, will be able to win the next decade. The norms of the 21st century are just taking shape, so every country has a chance to become a frontrunner. To continue the economic catch-up process, Hungary’s growth model needs to be further developed and adjusted to these new megatrends, and monetary policy must play an active role in this change.

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As a consequence of the epidemiological situation a number of unfavorable economic and social effects has emerged already that need to be mitigated. The State Audit Office of Hungary seeks to address this precarious and difficult situation by continuing to ensure the sustainability of a well-managed state when carrying out its activities; nevertheless tackling it from a slightly different approach. The virus claimed a set of new methods, and other activities became more important, such as advisory activities, monitoring audits, which could not have been done without change and crisis management, as well as the relevant digitization tools. The article presents the work and performance of the State Audit Office of Hungary, which aims to improve the harmful economic and social repercussions of the current virus.

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After the 2008–2009 global financial crisis it became even more important that the countries observed the budgetary rules, while also being flexible in adapting to the changes occurring during the year. This is called fiscal resilience. This article presents the possible means to create fiscal resilience. Taking into consideration the recommendations of international organisations, it emphasises that the measures ensuring the flexibility of the budget shall be realised in a transparent manner. Based on the relevant European Union legislation and the Hungarian regulation and practice the authors argue that the content of resilience changes in the event of external shocks. In that case the resilience of the budget shall be subordinated to the recovery of the entirety of the economy, i.e. its resilience. The primary goal is not to maintain the deficit target but to avoid a severe and permanent economic downturn and then to encourage the recovery.

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The year 2020 saw a new economic crisis shake the world more deeply than the 2008 one. This downturn differs from the previous ones: instead of the internal patterns of the individual economies, the predominant factors to determine the pace of fall are the constraints related to the pandemic. Although most of the currently used anti-crisis tools had already developed as a result of the 2008 crisis, new elements include increased harmonisation between the monetary and fiscal policies and the speed of their application. The various economies will recover from the economic low point fundamentally by economic factors, supported by fiscal and monetary policy instruments, but pandemic obstacles may emerge and compel them to halt. Another problem is that it may take several years to achieve pre-crisis output levels. This is due to population ageing, the cascaded deployment of the anti-crisis tools, the future compulsion to reduce indebtedness, the side-effects of the applied anti-crisis remedies, the time required by the reorganisation of global supply chains, slowdown in China’s growth, the expected slow recovery of the US economy and the too high propensity to save on behalf of the consumers of certain European countries.

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In the late 20th and early 21st century, social and economic sustainability and the mitigation of environmental destruction have been issues of key concern. Tourism is intensely affected, as this sector is among the most polluting and least sustainable activities. Repeated pandemics, including the Ebola, AIDS, SARS, MERS, and then COVID-19, have been destroying the economy all over the world and, not surprisingly, they hit tourism the hardest of all sectors, as mass travels accelerate the spread of contagious diseases. But tourism already encountered problems long before the pandemic. As excessive tourism and the resultant pollution had already increased in the past few decades, anti-tourism attitudes spread rapidly. The current health hazards could be used to transform the unsustainable, polluting tourism into an ecologically and socially sustainable activity. This article analyzes the options we have.

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There have been successes and failures in combatting COVID-19 worldwide. News of the emergence of vaccines and the start of their widespread use give a ray of hope, but the battle is not over yet. Agriculture has a special role to play in this, as food should be maintained in all circumstances all over the world. There can be no question of a temporary shutdown in this sector. This study points out that the pandemic has caused labour shortages in seasonal work in both EU and US agriculture, which not only highlights, but also forces the acceleration of innovation-driven efficiency gains and generational change. Innovation in this case is aimed at reducing the need for human resources, and generational change is aimed at involving young women and men in agricultural production. The preservation and continuation of agricultural production is the basis for maintaining agricultural trade and the supply chain. The study sheds light on the short- and long-term effects and changes that the COVID-19 has caused in these areas. Success requires not only the development of the quantitative, but also the professional, qualitative preparation of the workforce, for which the authors recommend the wide application of talent management in agriculture and point out the most important elements of conscious preparation.

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The samplings included in this study provide insight into the major crisis management measures applied during the more than three-decades of market economy construction that replaced the socialist planned economy system, eroded from the late 1980’s. Due to space constraints, the author merely tackles the 1995 economic policy adjustment package, the 2006 autumn adjustment of the convergence trajectory, and the main elements of the comprehensive public finance reform after 2010, and makes reference to the methodology of dealing with the pandemic crisis “unfolding” from the spring of 2020. In addition to public finance measures, the paper also seeks to account for social impacts. This study basically compares the restraint on solvent demand, favoured by the International Monetary Fund and by the World Bank, with the Keynesian economy boosting measures, through the evaluation of the Hungarian practice, which has followed these patterns, and concludes that in times of crisis the expansion of solvent demand by instruments available for the government and for the central bank is the more efficient solution, especially in an emerging Central European market economy.

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For thousands of years Hungary has, for the most part, been a transit zone for other nations’ armies or a target of conquest. As a result, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Conquest, War, Famine and Death were ravaging mostly at the same time. Among them, Death is “the deputy of hell”, which can destroy everything by diseases and epidemics. This study is a brief review of the infectious diseases which ravaged various regions in Hungary during the past centuries, followed by a more elaborate description of those that targeted the whole country: plague, cholera and Spanish flu. With the help of documents which have not been revealed so far, the study sheds light on interesting stories, like the way the plague helped the city of Pest to become the capital city, or how Hungarian doctors could successfully cure tuberculosis in the unique climate of the Tatra Mountains. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, cholera triggered a development in public healthcare and hygiene that still has its impacts felt to date. The coronavirus, which has hit us in the 21st century, is studied with a focus on its effects on our current society.

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This paper analyses the impacts of the globally disruptive COVID-19 pandemic, and local responses to the above challenges, more specifically, the operation of services under the state of emergency through the example of Győr. With the outbreak of the pandemic, state and municipal stakeholders responsible for public service provision became the focus of public attention. Their capacity to provide quick, efficient and firm action in response to novel situations and challenges was constrained by the internal operational deficiencies of large care systems, notably, undersupply in human and financial resources and the absence of flexibility and speed in various domains of state and municipal administration. Experience shows that full compliance with government measures and regulations was indispensable for the elaboration of local responses and good practices. In Győr, despite the municipality’s reputation for the high standard operation of health and social care services in the framework of its mandatory and voluntary functions and the presence of advanced care systems, tremendous human resources were required to tackle the emergency situation. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the relevant locally implemented practices and measures.

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There is a great debate in the European Union on the present role of nation states, and on the role of state sovereignty on their importance in the future. Some say that the concept of nation states is out-of-date and incapable of facing the challenges of the modern world, while others believe that the nation state is a means of dealing with modern challenges. The key questions of the disagreement are the place and role of nation states in the European Union and the interdependent sovereignty of modern states. This study joins the discussion by reviewing the history of the Hungarian state sovereignty and its ethnical background. The second aim of this paper is to provide a historical contribution to the current discussion with outlining some details of the historical trends and external views on Hungarian ethnicity and state sovereignty.

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This paper overviews the economic history of Hungary in the last 100 years, and especially the convergence process to the advanced economies which was hindered by severe external shocks, two world wars, global economic crises and the suppression by the Soviet Union. After the political transition of 1990, many expected a rapid economic miracle, but the economic transition period was prolonged for 20 years. Thus, the sustainable convergence has started only after 2010 when the necessary fiscal, monetary and structural reforms were implemented. The most important lesson we can draw from our economic history is that economic growth cannot be sustained without financial balance, thus economic policy has to find the effective and targeted measures to enhance economic growth and macrofinancial balance at the same time.

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Domestic language use makes a distinction between organisations established on the basis of the internal needs and initiatives of civil society, and non-governmental organisations, the latter understood as formations created and operated as local agents of international networks, from foreigners’ intent and funding. Although their presence in the world is nothing new, the current large volume of such organisations is the product of globalism and the pursuit of global control is the cause of their wide spread, extent and network-like set-up and operation. The one-way direction from the starting point of the influence towards the target areas evokes the situations of classical colonisation, although using the soft and hybrid tools adapted to our era. For this reason, as new forms of foreign intrusion and intervention, they should necessarily deserve the national security attention and approach that was once evoked by the former forms, regardless of how this can be achieved in today’s legal situation. However, the lack of distinction and the inherent conceptual ambiguity already a priori show the intention to hide the genuine features of the latter.

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Civil life works well and is highly active in Hungary, as presented by the authors supported by statistical data. In terms of their activities, organisational sizes and locations, associations and foundations in today’s Hungary give an extremely diverse picture. Year by year, the financial opportunities available for the civil sector increase and resources are provided for the proactive performance of their tasks. Overall, state aid, which has increased to more than 2.5 times of its original amount since 2010, has been able to effectively support the favourable developments that have taken place in this sector, and this helps the lives of many of us, making them more useful and productive, precisely because of the diversity of civil activities. Compared to other countries in the region, we can see that the legal and organisational framework of civil autonomy is ensured at a high level in Hungary, and in terms of content, community building is of paramount importance in everyday life.

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Whereas the Helsinki Final Act’s impact in the Soviet bloc is usually defined by the resistance and pressure inspired by ‘basket three’ human rights clauses, the part of the accord that the Soviet Union desired was at least as significant, especially for Hungary. The Soviets presumed that formal Western acknowledgement of the post-war settlement – a long-term foreign policy – would ensure its permanence. But the acceptance of post-war borders actually imperilled Soviet control in Central and Eastern Europe because it accentuated the contradiction between the de facto subjugation of independent states in the region and their de jure independence, while enshrining the latter, thereby strengthening the hands of those within these states who wished to extend and expand their independence from Moscow, economically and culturally. A key example and test case of this process was the fate of Hungary’s Holy Crown, which had been in American custody. Employing both primary sources and secondary texts, this new analysis contends that it was precisely what the Soviets had hoped for in a European Security Conference that proved most damaging to control of its sphere of influence, and that, in Hungary, the return of the Holy Crown represented exactly the goal of restored sovereignty that Helsinki endorsed, despite Soviet intentions to the contrary.

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Knowledge flow is described by two contradicting theories. One of them claims that knowledge can only be put in practice if in addition to written elements, its tacit parts can also be transferred. This is why proximity and a common culture matter, and RDI (research, development and innovation) intense activities tend to spatially concentrate. According to the other theory, governmental RDI expenditure is a good way to reduce regional gaps. In this paper EU’s Horizon 2020 research funding framework data is analysed and efforts are made at deciding which theory is confirmed by them. Should the leaders in innovation have a different RDI policy than those with poorer RDI results? An overview is given of the main policy debates that form and influence national and supranational research, development and innovation policy frameworks and subsidising systems. The current state of the Hungarian RDI sector is described and conclusions are drawn on subsidisation policy in light of the H2020 data.

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The most recent guideline of the Hungarian Accreditation Committee about the applications submitted by university professors subject to the requirements published in July 2019 entered into force on 1 September 2019. This document establishes new general minimum publication requirements for applicants, supplemented by special requirements for the specific areas. These requirements were necessitated by changes in the international academic paradigm, which encourages the issue of Q1 and Q2 level publications. The purpose of this paper is to examine compliance with these requirements by university professors who received their title in the past three years. The findings show that only 23 per cent comply fully with the general minimum requirements, with a 40 per cent full compliance with the supplementary requirements of the field of economics and business, and a 10 per cent in the field of social sciences.

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The topic of this study is the intensification of competition in different dimensions of higher education in the European and global space. This is examined in light of globalisation and the concomitant reduction in transaction costs. Changes in transaction costs, European regional integration and the impact of globalisation are discussed in a broader sense, and within the scope of higher education. It is argued that reduction in the transaction costs is both a driving force and a consequence of regional integration and globalisation in higher education, and more specifically, it forces both national higher educational systems and individual higher education institutions into a very sharp system of regional and global interdependence. The challenges faced by less developed regions of the European Union, i.e. the southern and central European peripheries, and the opportunities offered in the European integration processes, have been highlighted and the emphasize is drawn upon them.

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The progress made by the entrepreneurial university, which is a newly emerging category in Hungarian higher education after its change of model, has not only deepened relations between universities and the industry and intensified the technology and knowledge transfer processes, but also increased the role of universities in shaping regional innovation policy. This transformation places co-operation between the actors of the regional innovation ecosystem and the relationships between the economic, governmental and academic systems into a new framework. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of the change in the model through a specific example, and to outline the future possibilities of university involvement in the currently changing Hungarian innovation policy system.

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In the 1970’s and 1980’s, foreign trade deficit was accompanied by a high budget deficit. To understand the process, it is essential to answer two questions. One of them is: Was there a causal relationship between the two? The other is: How did they correlate with the investment cycle? After an analysis of the issue, it is concluded that the cyclical surge in investment was the common reason behind both deficits. Pick-up in investment projects and the increase in production required substantial imports. On the other hand, project financing also increased the budget deficit. By imposing restraints on CAPEX projects, imports could be temporarily reduced and budget expenditures could decline. In foreign trade, curbing was faster, while the improvement of the budgetary position took longer.

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The current system of Hungarian local finance and taxation has evolved through consecutive changes since 1990. Among the many amendments to the underlying law, a couple of milestones and junctions should be pointed out. The signature of the European Charter of Local-Self Government in 1994 had symbolic importance. The comprehensive reform after 2010 was the biggest milestone without a doubt, because a new constitution and a new act on local governments were adopted by Parliament. Furthermore, it was also decisive that the central government bailed out local governments. Three different models of confining local borrowing have been applied so far. The market-reliance model was replaced by passive control in 1996. Active control came into force in 2012. A closed-list approach of local taxation was applied until 2015, when the open/-list model was introduced. Even though reforms have been put in place, local business tax still prevails in the Hungarian system of local taxation, as roughly 80 per cent of all local tax revenues come from this fiscal levy. Counties were assigned power to impose local taxes in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus legislation. Before this reform only local governments had been authorised by law to impose local taxes.

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Between 2007 and 2013, Hungary received resources from the European Union in the value of around HUF 8,000 billion, while the country is eligible to use funds of an additional 25 billion Euros (approximately equivalent to HUF 8,300 billion) up until 2020. Since the time of joining, Hungary has been one of the net beneficiary member states, since funds received from the EU budget exceed respective contributions. The positive balance adds up to around HUF 13,500 billion since accession. The drawdown of funds was a priority for the national government coming to power in 2010 and to this end; it initiated major changes in territorial development policies. As a prevalent practice, planning was adjusted to the EU’s policies just as much as to the national strategic objectives, with the intent of promoting economic growth. Furthermore, the institutional background was centralized and expected to operate with improved efficiency. However, in governmental ex-post analyses, there are occasional sharp criticisms of the effectiveness of major structural changes. What were the major characteristics of the territorial development systems in the period between 2007 and 2013? What changes occurred in the subsequent 2014–2020 multiannual financial framework? This study analyses the main motifs of system change and modification. The aim of this study is to provide a fair and balanced assessment of the period through examining these key areas.

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Stakeholder capitalism as an alternative to the neoliberal model of shareholder capitalism has become one of the most important issues in American, European and global business forums. It focused on the purpose of an organisation and on political programmes surrounding Prosperity, People, Planet, added to governance topics. The main driver behind business communities’ political activism is the adaptation to the UN/OECD standards for participation in global and regional investment flows related to sustainable business practices. Appropriate instruments are available for corporations committed to sustainability to adopt the best reporting systems. In contrast to these technical solutions, the national/European excellence awards offer a real and deep involvement, and true development for firms. The EFQM Model 2020 is an outstanding business management model designed for long-term purposes and easily adapted to all kinds of welfare capitalist systems, without political activism.

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The term ‘sharing economy’ means an economy based on sharing, a community economy. The model features elements such as paying attention to the environment, the importance of curbing consumption, and rationalising consumption habits. Its significance could best be highlighted through recycling waste, the purpose of which is to reduce the amount of waste generated from the goods we use, and also to reduce the need for new resources by recycling such waste back into the system. For those advocating the sharing economy it is a potential way to rein in the global overconsumption that is based on individual consumption, while for those opposing the idea it signifies competition and a threat to their livelihood, not to mention the possibility/suspicion of tax optimisation, or in a worse-case scenario tax avoidance. This study does not aim to decide which of the camps on the two sides of the argument is right; instead, it provides an overview of the characteristics of the sharing economy and its main areas thus far. It argues for the model relying mostly on international practice and experience. One of the objectives of our research is to explore the difficulties, obstacles and anomalies relating to the regulation of the area, particularly to tax laws. Furthermore, we strive to identify the circumstances that have resulted in flourishing sharing economies in some countries, so that we can put forward proposals to foster such development in Hungary, making use of the country’s capabilities. The study summarises the results of our secondary research, our primary research conducted in Hungary in 2019, an online survey and indepth interviews. The questions of the online survey were aimed at investigating the awareness and use of the sharing economy, and people’s openness to such initiatives.

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The purpose of this research is to complement and test previous Hungarian studies about organisational culture at public educational institutions, and to provide insight into the current cultural idiosyncrasies of educational institutions. It is presumed that besides having an organisational culture with focus on rules, schools display support and innovative features in growing numbers. It is also assumed that there are significant differences between the perceptions of the management and the employees when it comes to culture. In this study, 1030 persons from 44 public institutions provided data in two cycles of data collection performed in Budapest, and in Komárom-Esztergom, Fejér, Pest, Heves, Hajdú-Bihar and Nógrád counties. Results show that, besides focus on rules, there is a substantial presence of support cultural values, including important examples for innovative culture, even if in modest numbers, mostly in Budapest and its agglomeration, i.e. in Pest, Fejér and Komárom-Esztergom counties. Besides a typological approach to organisational culture, sophisticated distinctions could be made in the findings with the help of cultural parameters. As a result, it may be argued that the number of years spent in an institution, age and gender have the most profound influence on the perceptions of organisational culture. Finally, the composition of the sample also suggests feminisation and aging in teaching.

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The main aim of this study is to analyse and present competitiveness in order to evaluate trends in the Member States of the EU. Competitiveness is explained at a corporate, national and regional level. Two important statistical indicators are considered for its calculation: the Commodity terms of trade (C), also known as the net barter terms of trade (N), and the Income terms of trade index (I), which communicates the correlation between changes in quantity and price. A stable economy requires surplus in the trade balance and improvement in exchange rate. The primary purpose of the goods export indicator is to capture the knowledge capital available in a country in order to provide characteristics and map the structure of trade for use as gauging tools. The three nations in which export surplus to GDP is very high are the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Ireland. Negative trade balances have been recognised in Romania, France, and the United Kingdom. As a result of changes in prices and volumes, nominal trading values were seen to rise continuously in 2018. Global commodity exports globally increased by 10 per cent, predominantly propelled by 20 per cent increase in oil prices. Rapid growth and development in innovation triggers increase in GDP and exports. Additionally, it is observed that export grows significantly faster in the Euro Area Member States than in non-EEA Member States.

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The environmental load of the economies and climate change have increasingly necessitated green investments, financed by the so-called green bonds, invented by financial markets. The author analyses the green goals to be achieved by issuing green bonds as market instruments, and the structuring of funding in terms of risks and cash-flows, through specific cases in progress. The Hungarian sovereign green bond issue is an example of a successful fundraising from the capital markets, and the central bank initiative is a case for helping the private sector in the green transition. It is found that the success of green financing depends primarily on the financial market participants’ perception of the safety of investment in green bonds. An essential element is certification by an external third party, to assure investors that the project being financed will not only result in financial returns but also in environmental benefits.

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Today’s coronavirus crisis has affected not only public health but also the economy. The coronavirus has led to a significant increase in unemployment and a transformation in employment. Each government tries to save its own economy in different ways, primarily by launching programmes that help companies maintain employment. The crisis has also generated spill-over effects throughout the supply chain. Available studies on the economic effects of the coronavirus are currently limited. Based on empirical research, this study endeavours to show the impacts of the coronavirus on the Hungarian economy. Based on the findings, it can be said that as a result of the coronavirus, Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling hard to overcome financial difficulties and declining demand for services/products, and consequently government subsidies and measures are vital for them.

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Everywhere in the world, the culture of grape wine goes back centuries or even millennia. In Hungary, the consumption of Hungarian grape wine plays a significant role in everyday life, while fruit wines are regarded by consumers as unknown, unusual, inaccessible premium products or as beverages for occasional consumption. In the 19th century, the drinking of fruit wine used to be preferred in Hungary. Over the years, a culture of fruit wines and production wineries has evolved throughout Europe on a fairly strong basis, and has, in an unusual way, escaped the ‘attention’ of Hungarian producers and consumers. The aim of this study is to explore the values and opportunities of the fruit wine sector. It is not well-known in Hungary, but there is a great deal of potential in this sector, which, as opportunities unfold, would become more widely known to the consumer society. It could become one of the potential sectors of our country besides the production of pálinka and grape wine.

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The article displays and analyses the results of empirical research, in the context of mainstream public sector motivation PSM literature, and in the context of the recent Hungarian legislation on public service personnel management. The aim of the article is to clarify the impact of the new legislation on the motivation of Hungarian civil servants. The findings ought to be interpreted with references to the complexities of practice in Central and Eastern European civil service, widely considered as Weberian, although with significant elements of legalism, politicisation and post-Soviet management style. As this public administration culture is heterogeneous and its components are contradicting, changes in public personnel management policies might lead to unexpected or largely varying effects. This article presents the findings of public personnel management policy change through the evaluation of the responses of civil servants in regional civil service. The article concludes that the subjective value of job security is less than expected, but satisfaction with the pay is significantly above expected. Streams for promotion are frozen, good workforce is difficult to retain in civil service but those who remain in the service consider themselves highly motivated, receiving helpful support from their supervisors and feeling that they have a rewarding job in serving the public.

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