The Macroeconomist Dr. Andrey Radulescu Delivered a Public Lecture to Our Students

A public lecture by Dr. Andrey Radulescu, a macroeconomist and senior researcher at the Romanian Academy of Sciences, was held at the UNWE. The event was organized by the Economics Department and the Economics of Transport and Energy Department as well as by the Institute of Economic Research at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences /BAS/. The topic of the lecture was The Macroeconomic Climate – World, EU, Central and Eastern Europe, and Romania.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Teodora Peneva, economist at the Institute for Economic Research at BAS, Dr. Andrey Radulescu and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Beev, Head of the Economics Department

Prof. Dr. Hristina Nikolova, Vice Dean for Research of the Economics of Infrastructure Faculty and Head of the Economics of Transport and Energy Department, introduced the guest lecturer to the audience. "It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to welcome Dr. Radulescu, who will present his lecture on the world economy and global trends. I am glad that the UNWE provides a platform for experts who have a lot to share", said Prof. Nikolova.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Beev, Head of the Economics Department, greeted the organizers of the meeting and the students in the hall. "This meeting was made possible due to the active participation of you, the students, and the leadership of the Departments. That`s the way the science develops", said Assoc. Prof. Beev, adding: “The lecture has challenging moments and I hope it will lead to a good discussion”.

"I am glad to be at this seminar which could not have happened without the support of UNWE and the colleagues from the Departments. I am sure that Dr. Radulescu could say a lot about his work and today's topic is very important for our region", said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Teodora Peneva from the Institute for Economic Research at BAS.

At the beginning of his lecture Dr. Andrei Radulescu talked more about his work in China. He drew attention to the word “risk” in Mandarin, which is written using two characters. The first represents “danger” but the second is “opportunity”. "In my interpretation, this means that in the Confucian approach, every risk carries at least one opportunity", said the guest lecturer. "A few conferences in the world focus on the opportunities in the economy. Because we usually have many opportunities, I will focus on them today.”

The macroeconomist gave many examples with the economies of Bulgaria and neighboring Romania. He mentioned that without the transformations brought by the two countries' membership in the European Union, they would not have reached their current economic status. “This year, unfortunately, is the Year of Uncertainty", said Dr. Radulescu. "It seems that the leading economic sector worldwide is struggling greatly with prospects and uncertainty every passing day." The guest lecturer gave examples from his work, noting that he knows many people who have graduated from the UNWE. “They all have great achievements. So, students, you should be proud to study at the best economics university in Southeast Europe.”

Dr. Andrey Radulescu added that the economy should be transformed in a way that creates new jobs, because in a few years there will be a serious shortage of them. The lecturer gave an optimistic forecast for Bulgaria and its economy in the coming years.

The lecture concluded with a discussion and questions by the audience.