2002-06-24
The first issue of 2002 of Monetary Studies, a journal published by the Bank of Lithuania, has appeared, featuring analysis of theoretical and practical issues in monetary, banking, financial and economic areas by experts in economics and finance.
The article by Mindaugas Vinkus “Currency Board and Neoliberalism in Lithuania:A Problem of Compatibility of Ideas” deals with the view of Lithuanian free market proponents and other representatives of liberalism towards the currency board arrangement, which is based on the assumption that a currency board best complies with the principles of freedom as it consistently reduces the powers of authorities in monetary policy.A question is raised whether such a view is really compatible with the idea of a free market and the neoliberal political and economic philosophy, and whether it is a logical outcome of such a view.
The paper by Tomas Garbaravicius and Raimondas Kuodis “The Structure and the Functioning of the Financial Sector in Lithuania” reviews the financial sector in Lithuania, its structure and main functional aspects.Most attention is focused on the banking sector as in the early stages of the development of the financial system banks served as key financial intermediaries.The article also discusses the impact of monetary policy on interest rates, restrictions on investment by financial intermediaries, etc.
Marija Maciuleviciute and Vaidotas Marcenas in “Turnover of Goods and Value of Real Estate ? Relevant Indicators of the Socio-Economic Development in the Region” present a methodology for estimating the socio-economic development of administrative territorial units (districts, cities) of the country.
The article by Vladas Terleckas “Moot Points in Pagan Lithuania’s Own Currency Circulation” attempts at relating the turnover of money and goods in pagan Lithuania, presenting a critical assessment from the economic point of view of the assumptions about the currency used at that period and presenting new arguments on some issues subject to varying interpretation.
Irena Cepiene and Bronius Povilaitis review the monograph by Vladas Terleckas Lithuanian Bankers.Imprints of Their Lives and Work.1918?1940.
The review “2001 Nobel Prize Winners in Economics” presents three US nationals, Nobel Prize winners in economics, and describes their scholarly and academic activities.