Abstract
The year 2020 that is over as well as the year that started will long be remembered by the current and future generations living on Earth. The reason is clear – it is the coronavirus pandemic and the major problems mankind faced. Their list is extremely long, not yet fully grasped, and far from completed.As the pandemic entered our lives the recognition of what is happening around and might yet happen in the near and distant future has kept on changing. This does not only concern every one of us (infection is somewhere far away, it is already here, ‘My God, I am sick!’, life goes on, one can’t bring back the dead ones) but all the various organizations in our society (from households and enterprises to states and the world community as a whole).The most difficult in terms of psychology was the initial period. It was the shock of the unknown – it is a disease alright but what are the symptoms, cures, and what can be the effects? The reaction of us all and the whole community was to restrict mobility and limit contacts to stop the infection from spreading. Countries and peoples chose different paths to follow. We saw different dynamics of the infected and deaths relative to various restrictive measures.Another issue, which matters for the ECO readership, concerns the measures and steps taken to avoid the national financial-economic collapse and which may also serve as the foundation for secure economic development in the future.The need for such an approach is unanimously supported as pointed out by the president of the RF V. V. Putin: ‘…it is important to return to the pre-crisis level of the macroeconomic indicators but even more important is to reach a stable trajectory of development. This is true for the national economy and also for the social sphere, the demographics…’1.This approach produced the “National action plan”2.However, with the entire consensus about the direction of steps and measures for the recovery of the economy from the shock, there is considerable uncertainty as to the particular actions to be taken on this path.They must be ‘anti-pandemic’ by nature and target a whole range of problems that had been postponed or where the results of earlier attempts at their solution fell short of expectations.The author is fully aligned with the Polish colleague G. V. Kolodko who says that ‘the hope for a better future may come from a gradual transit to the new pragmatism represented by a moderation strategy in economic activities as well as economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable development based on the comprehensive innovative, unorthodox economic theory. The pandemic will become a serious challenge for the social sciences (not the economy alone) as the old way of thinking will not be able to analyze and cope with new situations’3.The need to abandon many ‘orthodox truths’ in economic science and politics is voiced today by many experts. Thus, the American colleagues write about the inefficiency of using purely ‘canonical’ measures of stimulating the economic growth such as the low rate of borrowing and the growing national debt: “… even those who support large-scale borrowing agree that it is better to invest that money in building roads, development of green energy and other projects stimulating productivity and economic growth”4.The transit to more pragmatism in the economic policy is linked both to a revision of earlier economic dogmas and a better understanding of how various economic agents behave in the changed conditions.One of the problems connected to the rejection of dogmatism concerns the phenomenon of the so-called ‘discourse schizophrenia’ (coined by J. Sapir), a situation when ‘one says one thing, thinks another and does a different thing altogether’ (see the narrative of E. S. Veselova). The problem that became very apparent during the crisis is not a new one. One consequence of such schizophrenia is the fact that the US financial authorities’ support of low-interest rates “… in the last three decades made 1% of families richer by 300%, the next 9% – by 200%, the following 40% of families – by 100%, and changed nothing for the remaining 50%. Moreover, one in 10 families of the 50% had a negative income growth (i.e. they have less than before)”5.In Russia the above phenomenon fully covers the fact that ‘the real distribution of support funding does not correspond the declared ‘social responsibility’ of the anti-crisis measures” (the opinion of A. A. Shirov, see the narrative of E. S. Veselova). Another impressive effect of ‘discourse schizophrenia’ is that “Russian banks are … the beneficiaries of the ongoing crisis (the opinion of A. K. Moiseyev, ibid). Another demonstration would be the creation and operation of the National welfare Fund (NWF). Despite its socially-oriented name and its declared role, the institute has nothing to do with corresponding priorities of the economic policy, being mostly an instrument for supporting major projects (which, as a rule, are highly effective on their own – such as LNG of Yamal, ZapSibNeftekhim, etc.). At the same time, having 12% of the GDP in the NWF we are make up for the budget deficit with borrowings (the opinion of A. A. Shirov, ibid).The propensity towards dogmas and inertia in resolving problems does not favor the development of new economic processes and phenomena that came into the spotlight during the pandemic. Among those are ‘the economy of free employment’ (the gig economy) and the possibility of unconditional basic income that may (according to the Saxo bank) cause the big cities to fall in disuse. Among the drivers of such processes are science and new technologies. “The time of unconditional basic income is nigh, which means a new kind of life with new priorities. It will require another way of benefit distribution otherwise all resources will end up in the hands of monopolies and moneyed interests. One of such breakaway factors will be increasing per capita energy without a negative impact on the environment – such extra energy will suffice to power up high tech systems somewhat like the cutting edge AI and quantum computers”6. Alas, one may read about the role of science and new technologies in resolving current problems in the “Common national plan…” only if one can read between the lines.One may appreciate the crucial role of pragmatism in resolving social, economic, and ecological problems as it is demonstrated in the papers devoted to two various spheres of economic activity as football (the paper by I. V. Solntsev) and ecotourism and nature protection (the paper by G. M. Mkrtchan and I. Yu. Blum). On the one hand, the pandemic lit up the problems and unresolved questions that had been ‘in the shadow’ before, and, on the other, led to more rational and sustainable approaches to their resolution. In particular, it became obvious that ecotourism as a scheme for employment and wealth of recreational territories does not hold up and requires significant adjustment.A transition towards an economic policy based on pragmatism (understanding specific conditions and approaches to resolving problems in different conditions) in contrast with dogmatic ‘truths’ is not possible without close involvement and participation of all interested parties – not just business and authorities but the society at large including the scientific community and individual citizens.1 Conference on economic measures from 21 January 2021. URL: http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/649122 The national plan of action to restore employment and incomes, economic growth, and structural changes in the economy (approved and the RF government meeting on 23 September 2020 (protocol # 36, section VII) № П13–60855 from ٢ October 2020). 27 October 2020. URL: https://www.garant.ru/products/ipo/prime/doc/74678576/3 Kolodko, G. V. Consequences. The economy and politics in the post-pandemic world. Voprosy ekonomiki. 2020. No. 5. Pp. 25–44.4 Sharma Ruchir Dear Joe Biden, deficits still matter. New president’s plans for more stimulus risk exacerbating inequality and low productivity growth. – FT. com. URL: https://www.ft.com/content/d49b537a-95f8–4e1a-b4b1–19f0c44d751e?emailId=60085dbab753830004c66b5d&segmentId=7d033110-c776–45bf-e9f2–7c3a03d2dd265 Sharma Ruchir – Ibid.6 Khvostik, Ye. Vaccination from COVID-١٩ will destroy corporations and major cities will go empty – Saxo Bank delivered ‘shocking forecasts’ for 2021. Kommersant. 2020. 08 December URL: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4604064?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktopEditor in chief of ECOKRYUKOV V.A.
