Due to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the problem of singularity has taken an important place in new studies on economic growth. Many expect that in the coming decades, AI will be able to reach the level of human intelligence and take over all or most of the tasks performed by people today. This will cause an economic growth explosion so that economy could transit into a singularity regime with superexponential growth rates (in the limit, approaching to infinity). The paper examines in detail the arguments both for and against such an over-optimistic scenario. The arguments in its favor are based on the key assumption of endogenous growth models that the ultimate source of economic growth is ideas (scientific and technological knowledge). The basic theoretical counterargument refers to the so-called “Baumol cost disease”, whereby over time the contribution to GDP of sectors with the fastest productivity dynamics steadily decreases. The main empirical counterargument is that if the singularity were already near, the first signs of it would be visible in an unusual behavior of some key macroeconomic parameters. This implies that even if explosive growth ever become a reality, it would happen not soon.

Throughout the 20th century, economics followed the lead of cognitive science, but in the 21st century it has fallen behind. Cognitive scientists are actively developing the theory of extended cognition, which has gone through three stages (waves) since the mid-1990s. All three waves are based on the ideas of institutional economists, with the third wave associated with the construction of a theory of socially extended cognition based on cognitive institutions. The article offers a substantive analysis of three waves of the development of the theory of extended cognition in the context of interactions with the ideas of institutional economics. Based on this analysis, the first “sprouts” of the theory of extended cognition in different areas of economic research are assessed. In the future, we should expect an update of the behavioral foundations of economics based on the ideas of socially extended cognition, but this process will be uneven.

It is shown that the continuation of the discussion on individualism and holism can have a more general scientific justification on the basis of multidisciplinary approach and achievements of modern philosophy and sociology. As a result of introducing the principle of methodological relativism into economic theory and distinguishing four relatively independent relativist doctrines, the article presents the peculiarities of relativist methodology, which is based on two fundamental statements about the impossibility of existence of objectively neutral criteria for choosing between conflicting alternatives and that these alternatives themselves arise in different cultural contexts. An important consequence of this approach is the new research results in the field of the theory of patronized goods — that part of the economy where the state participates in financing the production of goods and services with social utility. A significant part of the work is devoted to new results: it is about proving the necessity to return to a strict dichotomy in the definition of public goods (according to Samuelson) and the introduction of a new category of “normative-public goods”, the properties of non-excludability and non-competitiveness of which are acquired in the process of purposeful actions of the state, in the extreme case of the policy of meritization of private goods and services. The new results also include the construction of an equilibrium model for patronized goods, an important consequence of which is the justification of an alternative exegetics of the Harberger triangle, which became a theoretical proof of the rehabilitation of the category of budgetary subsidy.

In the present study, we investigate which parameters of small businesses and characteristics of their owners are associated with a higher likelihood of continued operation. Our analysis employs data from ten waves of a longitudinal survey conducted on the SMBiz FOM small business panel from July 2021 through the end of 2023. Using survival analysis, we demonstrate that the strongest predictor of business closure is the fact of borrowing funds. During this period, firms employing hired staff exhibited greater resilience. For businesses without hired employees, closures occurred less frequently when the firm was managed by a man, when the services were provided in the trading sector, when they were promoted online.

The global trend of accelerated growth of bank lending to households in recent decades has macroeconomic consequences, affecting the economic cycle, consumption, economic structure and prices. The article discusses the impact of consumer lending on consumption in Russia. Using annual and quarterly data on consumption and lending, based on econometric methods we show that consumer bank lending in Russia is not a smoothing factor, but a factor of additional volatility of consumption. With an increase in households’ income, they take out loans more actively. An increase in consumption in the year of borrowing is replaced by a statistically significant decrease in the following two years, which levels out about half of the initial effect. Additional consumption due to loans changes the price structure in favor of services, non-food products and alcohol, and also affects the structure of output in favor of non-tradable goods and services. This is consistent with the findings of researchers for other countries.

The regional innovation  subsystem  is  considered  an  integral  part  of the broader regional socio-economic system, influencing and being influenced by the production, social, ecological, and other subsystems. A process-based approach to assessing the technological gap is proposed, viewing innovation activity as a set of interrelated stages, from resource base formation to the generation of specific outcomes such as new products, processes, and services. The assessment of the technological gap in regional innovation subsystems is suggested to be conducted through the analysis of resource factors and outcomes of technological development. Convergence assessment methods are employed to identify technological gaps among Russian regions, allowing for the detection of convergence or divergence in regional technological development levels. The study reveals that technological β-convergence was not consistently observed throughout the analyzed period. Signs of technological divergence were identified during 2000—2008 and 2009—2013. However, during 2014—2018 and 2019—2022, signs of β-convergence emerged. The shift from negative to positive convergence after 2014 coincides with substantial changes in state innovation policy, including policies on import substitution, the initiation of the National Technology Initiative, and the implementation of national projects. taking into account resource indicators, the results of β-convergence evaluation, demonstrate a significant impact of these factors on the nature and pace of technological convergence. The findings have substantial practical implications for shaping public policy aimed at reducing technological disparities among Russian regions. Differentiated strategies for innovation development must be devised for various regional groups: regions experiencing persistent divergence require priority support measures and resource concentration to overcome institutional barriers; regions with unstable convergence need stabilization of conditions for innovative activities; leading regions should focus on supporting mechanisms for technology diffusion into other regions.