Our volume summarizing the results of one of the important research projects of recent years has now been published in print, edited by Akadémiai Kiadó.

Edited by: György Boda

Akadémiai Kiadó, November 2024

ISBN: 978 963 664 051 4

Amid the pressure of the changing world economic order and the increasingly strong domestic socio-economic problems, analyses that unbiasedly and comprehensively reveal how we have exploited our opportunities so far and how we can choose a more productive path are of exceptional value.

The work of György Boda and his co-authors deserves special attention from three very important aspects, and the simultaneous validation of these aspects makes the book one of the most valuable situation-assessment readings of recent years. It acknowledges the results achieved since the change of regime, but points out why these have fallen short of expectations and possibilities. The focus of its analysis is on the real economy, the corporate sphere, but through this the effects and problems of social governance and regulation also come through. It shows what the main reasons are for the competitiveness deficiencies of companies, and how these necessarily lead to the failure of the expected macroeconomic and social convergence.

Another merit of the book is that it supports its message with very extensive statistical material, data, and calculations. It uses well-chosen databases, and handles these with demanding and mostly easy-to-follow calculation methods. It should be emphasized that while the authors use many controversial concepts in the book, they create clear situations by clearly providing their own interpretation and, where necessary, their thinking related to measurement.

A third important feature of the research is its historical and social embeddedness. It does not stop at exploring the direct causes of the phenomena, but points out the influential, often determining role of the ancient and recent past, and their interpretation. It uses statistical analysis and historical experience together to outline the possibilities for moving up from the current situation. As a conclusion, it defines the establishment of a political mechanism supporting the development and increasing the role of human capital as a fundamental condition for this move up.

Attila Chikán