At the beginning of 2020, the world community has faced the problem of the coronavirus, which, in the context of significant globalization of the world economy, quickly spread from China around the world, leading to a sharp slowdown in global economic growth. For Russia, the consequences of the pandemic, in addition to the decrease in export demand and strict quarantine measures, are compounded by a sharp drop in oil prices in the face of difficult negotiations with OPEC + and the need to limit oil production. All this necessitates active anti-crisis policy, which should include not only the support of the affected economic agents, but the intensification of different structural reforms aimed at accelerating the potential (structural) economic growth rates. At the same time, the possibilities of a significant fiscal stimulus are narrow due to the contraction of government revenues, limited borrowing opportunities and the rapid depletion of the National Welfare Fund in the event of a prolonged coronavirus pandemic.

Pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has resulted in economic slowdown all over the world, and in Russia too. This may require midand longterm adjustments in some policy areas, including health and demography. In current circumstances a number of measures could be implemented to improve anti-epidemic service in Russia: development and introduction of mobile application for anonymous social contacts tracking, introduction of mobile testing facilities, embedding household assistance for people that are required to isolate themselves, using hotels as hospitals for treating people with no or mild symptoms, planning investment in inpatient care facilities with respect to their possible reprofiling. Development of telemedicine technologies based on a model “physician—patient” is a useful measure for health policy. It is also possible to stimulate population’s demand by introducing governmental drug reimbursement program and earmarked grants on healthy food to people in need. Support for medical organizations is possible with calculating prices for medical services with respect to modern clinical guidelines. Finally, in order to protect patients’ rights, authority and responsibility of health insurance companies could be increased in a number of regional pilot projects. Introduction of these measures would help achieve national goals that were set by the presidential decree No. 204 from May 07, 2018.

Digital transformation has led to changes in business models of traditional players in the existing markets. What is more, new entrants and new markets appeared, in particular platforms and multisided markets. The emergence and rapid development of platforms are caused primarily by the existence of so called indirect network externalities. Regarding to this, a question arises of whether the existing instruments of competition law enforcement and market analysis are still relevant when analyzing markets with digital platforms? This paper aims at discussing advantages and disadvantages of using various tools to define markets with platforms. In particular, we define the features of the SSNIP test when being applyed to markets with platforms. Furthermore, we analyze adjustment in tests for platform market definition in terms of possible type I and type II errors. All in all, it turns out that to reduce the likelihood of type I and type II errors while applying market definition technique to markets with platforms one should consider the type of platform analyzed: transaction platforms without pass-through and non-transaction matching platforms should be tackled as players in a multisided market, whereas non-transaction platforms should be analyzed as players in several interrelated markets. However, if the platform is allowed to adjust prices, there emerges additional challenge that the regulator and companies may manipulate the results of SSNIP test by applying different models of competition.

In this paper we propose a comprehensive methodology for assessing the development of the tax system and tax service of the Russian Federation in 1991—2018. Then we have tested this methodology on statistical data and calculated the indices, and compiled a chronology of key events in the development of the tax system of the Russian Federation and the development of tax authorities. Also we have verified the hypothesis of the presence of statistical relationship in the development of the tax system and tax authorities. We reveal a high degree of statistical compliance of the tax system and the tax service development indices. Mismatch in the dynamics of their development in the period of 2014—2018 is caused by both the post-crisis slowdown in economic growth and negative trends in government regulation (the emergence of new taxes, increased tax burden on businesses, etc.).

We propose an approach to measure countries’ quality-based competitiveness relying on the share of high-tech products in exports and R&D intensity. We try to cope with the issue of discrepancy between the level of technological development of countries and the share of high-tech products in their exports that arises as a result of assembly production, re-exports, unequal endowments of “high-tech raw materials” and the attractiveness of tax havens. The task of the paper is to ensure the correct use of data on trade in high-tech products as a proxy for countries’ level of technological development. Relying on statistical and graphical analysis methods, we show that the problem is more complex that is generally considered, and that the ways to solve it proposed in the literature (primarily, subtracting intermediate imports) are far from being sufficient. We propose the index of R&D intensity at the product level based on the data on export structure (by products and producing countries) and R&D intensity, and calculate the weighted average R&D intensity that corresponds to each country’s export structure. As a result, we provide an updated view on the leading countries by the share of high-tech products in exports that is consistent with the traditional list of leaders by R&D intensity (Japan, South Korea, Israel, Germany, USA, and France). We also demonstrate that China, even after the adjustment procedure, is still a member of the technology leaders’ club.

The paper discusses the trend towards the formation of a bipolar global technological space in connection with the rapid technological development of China, which over the past 15—20 years has become a global technological leader. Moreover, in many positions in the technological race, China is already ahead of the United States and offers other countries attractive forms of cooperation in mastering the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution. The features of the current stage of interaction between Russia and China in the field of high technologies are analyzed, and an assessment of the risks and opportunities for Russia’s participation in the new project “Digital Silk Road”, which is becoming an important component of the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative”, is given.

In 2019, a textbook “Macroeconomics” was published in London, on the pages of which the authors presented a new monetary doctrine — Modern Monetary Theory, MMT, — an unorthodox concept based on the postulates of Post-Keynesianism, New Institutionalism, and the theory of Marxism. The attitude to this scientific concept in the scientific community is ambiguous. A smaller part of scientists actively support this doctrine, which is directly related to state monetary and fiscal stimulation of full employment, public debt servicing and economic growth. Others, the majority of economists, on the contrary, strongly criticize MMT, arguing that the new theory hides simple left-wing populism, designed for a temporary and short-term effect. This article considers the origins and the main provisions of MMT, its discussions with the mainstream, criticism of the basic tenets of MMT, and also assesses possible prospects for the development of MMT in the medium term.

The article deals with the episodes in the three-century confrontation between the account-debt institutional and the commodity theory of money. The former is rarely discussed; and the ideas of G. Ingham can be considered as a such modern episode. The commodity theory of money continues to dominate in university textbooks. The article analyzes the fate of two books by J. M. Keynes and J. Schumpeter as an example. It shows the connection of the two theories of money with two opposite methodological approaches, namely, a priori-abstract, based on assumptions, and historical-experimental, based on facts. The first of these was clearly identified by J. S. Mill at the beginning of the institutionalization of the academic/university economist profession and continues to dominate this profession to this day. The second was developed in the German historico-ethical school headed by G. Schmoller and in the community of American original institutionalism, the most consistent representatives of which were J. Commons and his students.